Begin rant ...
To be honest, all the SUV bashing I've been reading lately is starting to wear thin. It's much too much like the BMW haters of a decade or so ago. It seems to be driven as much by envy as indignation over wasting gas.
But then it snows in Knoxville. And all those wankers who drive $40k SUVs on dry pavement all week can't get in to work. And I start wondering if maybe the folks bashing SUV drivers are dead-on. Why are they wasting all this money on 4x4s that they're afraid to drive when it gets a bit slippery. Grocery carts don't need four-wheel-drive ...
... end rant
Replies: 5 comments
As the co-owner of an obscenely expensive and immorally fuel-inefficient SUV, may I be the first to say that the SUV bashing is warranted. Hyperbolic, but warranted. Most people driving around in these 8-cylinder beasts don't need them and wouldn't know how to drive them if they ever did. (The snow in Knoxville story is one of many I've heard and seen showing that SUVs' 4WD ability is wasted on most people.) To atone for my significant other's automotive excess, I self-righteously continue to drive an 8-year-old Ford Escort that gets 35 mpg in the city. My kids, animal and human, are cramped in its tiny interior. But my conscience is clear.
Posted by Leanne @ 01/24/2003 02:16 PM EDT
How I adore ranting.
Posted by Leanne @ 01/24/2003 02:17 PM EDT
i am about to take the hedonistic plunge into the world of suv-dom. the two models that i am considering get relatively good mileage (25-30) if i go with the 4 cylinder. i need the space for large canines and the ground clearance for a miserable dirt road/driveway. i will definitely feel guilt over giving up my 40 mpg saturn tho.
living in rural pa, the awd/4wd is certainly desirable but i know that it will not give me super powers. i watched a guy put a brand new blazer into a guard rail a few weeks ago. he was annoyed with me because i was backing down an unplowed mountain because a pile of cars littered the top and no one could get through. in his zealousness to show me how lame i was in my little 2wd vehicle, he bit the guard rail (twice before coming to rest wedged against it). there is a god!
Posted by jo @ 01/24/2003 03:14 PM EDT
Speaking of god and SUVs: What Would Jesus Drive? Tee-hee. I just love this campaign. Protestant evangelicals espousing environmentalism!? The last time there was an ideological pairing this bizarre was after the FBI raid that retrieved Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives. "'Bout time federal agents armed with semi-automatic weapons kicked down the door of a private home and ended this circus!" Democrats exclaimed. "Oh my God!! Guns in the same room as a six-year-old child!" gasped Republicans. Insert "Twilight Zone" theme music here.
Posted by Leanne @ 01/24/2003 06:07 PM EDT
i now know that i can conquer the world! let bin laden send his cronies. i've got all-wheel-drive to chase those terrorists through the hills! errrr... better wait, i didn't mount my gun rack yet... will a .22 send 'em packing?
i think that jesus would drive a vw bug. one of the originals, not the new glossy ones... or maybe a microbus with a split windshield and anti-fur bumper stickers... maybe a harley... definitely not a buick.
Posted by jo @ 03/04/2003 08:03 PM EDT
