Why Do People Drive SUV's?

[gusmahler]

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SUV's have their place. The real question is why do idiotic yuppies who live in the city or commute on highways own them?

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Because you see them on the weekdays when they are driving to work alone, instead of the weekend or other times the car is filled with friends/family/gear/etc.?

[Klompy]

Holy cow, you're complaining about being uncomfortable at 6'2", I think i'd be comfortable in most things at that height, consider yourself lucky.

[GeniusToad]

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Most things in America are built for someone of about 5'9", but have to be built for the use also of women, who I've seen listed as having average heights in America of 5'2" to 5'5".

This makes everything from countertops to desks to, yup, cars anywhere from notably less than ideal to actually very uncomfrotable for a great many men. At 6'2", I've been uncomfortable in most cars I've been in when in the front seat, and of course we all know how awful back seats can be. It's one reason why long car trips make me super grouchy -- I feel achy and b*tchy about it after hours of sitting scrunched around like a pretzel.

SUV's are a real pleasure to be in for a tall person. You finally feel like the world is built for you rather than to an average that really isn't all that friendly to your height. It's great to be comfortable for a change!

When people spend the kind of money they are willing to spend on things like SUV's, they're sorely tempted to buy something they're actually comfortable in. People often adore their cars and take them as extensions of themselves and their sense of fun or style -- who wants to be feeling less than great in his car? So for reasonably tall men, of which they are countless millions in America, it just feels good to sit in an SUV and feels surprisingly crummy to sit in so many othter perfecly nice -- and even preferable in many ways -- cars.

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i take it you passed over the "Dirk Nowitzki drives a Mini Cooper" post. apparently not all small cars are small on the inside.

[onthebutton]

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I dunno, I just thought it was common knowledge that everyone who rides a motorcycle will crash it sooner or later, but maybe that's untrue.

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workers in hospital ER's refer to them as "organ donors".

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My GF is a 4th year med student (thinly veiled brag post, I know). The term used is not "motorcycles", it's "donorcycles". This sucks, as I really want to get a bike very soon.

[Smelly]

my beef with suv's isn't the crappy gas mileage. a lot of nice sports cars get crappy mileage as well- i could care less about that environmental factor.

what i do care about is not being able to see when i pull out of parking lots because I'm blocked by two SUVs. what i do care about is the SUV driver's gigantic blind spot and getting run off the road as a result.

[Smelly]

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Yes, if a car and a SUV get in a wreck, the car will suffer more than SUV, that sucks for the car owner,

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That's a nice attitude. Maybe we should all drive 18-wheelers and you can drive in your SUV- and if you die, tough s*it.

[Smelly]

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I am 6'5" 245 lbs. and basically can not fit inside of a car. I feel much safer with a massive steel frame around me. I am not overly concerned about gas mileage.

In all honesty, I am amazed by how much people with a high level of income worry so much about gas prices.

If you drive 15,000 miles a year and get 15 mpg in your SUV you pay about $3000 for gasoline. Double you gas mileage to 30 mpg and you save $1500. That really isn't much money to anyone playing for a living on here. If you are willing to spend $40k on a car, then $1500 shouldn't be much of an issue.

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Personally, I would feel socially irresponsible if I drove a lot and chose to drive a car that got very poor mileage. As it is, I rarely drive and it doesn't make a difference what I buy.

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Why would you feel socially irresponsible? You'd be paying for the privilege. While we're at it let's ban private jets as well. They're really socially irresponsible with their use of tens of thousands of gallons of gas to fly 1 or 2 people around. You know, like the one John Kerry used while he railed against SUV use. Hypocrite much?

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[MikeyPatriot]

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My requirements for my car,

3 rows of seats-front for me, rear for the little Utahs, and the middle seat for Harry.
The back windows have to go down, this does not happen with a mini van-again, for Harry.
I will live with the crappy gas milage. What is your source regarding accidents?

It would be hard to take the kids and Harry on a motocycle. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Unless I'm reading this wrong, apparently you drive an SUV because the windows go down in the back? Most minivans I've driven in had 3 rows of seats.