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Uh no. I dont get it. Was that supposed to be funny?
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278
Same thing when i see people driving econobox cars it's mostly one person driving. They don't need a car they need a motorcycle if they are just driving themselves.
I guess if we want to be silly...all many people need are Segways. But since a lot of us dont know how to ride and a lot of us carry things with us back and forth to work with us and a lot of us dont want to ride in inclement weather a motorcycle just wont cut it. I dont think people really need a lesson on the average effeciency of an ecobox car or typical FWD midsize sedan vs a full size BOF SUV. So what you are saying really has no merit.
Again...these types of vehicles are falling out of favor because most people dont need them. The full size three row crossover market is fast growing. The GM lambda triplets. Ford and Nissan ditching BOF with the Explorer and Pathfinder and so on and do forth. People are mostly just needing the room for passengers. The added towing and offroad capability of the 4x4s is wasted on most buyers. So the market has responded with more fuel effecient and mall parking deck friendly options. But... if you insist GM and Ford and others still offer them the Tahoe and is cousins rule that segment.
Nissan ditched the BOF on the Pathfinder once before then returned to it. We'll have to see if the unibody design sticks this time around.
While there are good points made here about people and cargo capacity, there are some other factors in the SUV-minivan choice that haven't been given much play, like location and weather. I live in the boondocks of northern New England and have an Xterra (my third one), whose 4WD and ground clearance mean I don't have to worry about 12+ inches of snow on my road, or the flooded road to camp, or the dirt road that hasn't been graded in 6 months. An average minivan with FWD/AWD and 5" of ground clearance doesn't cut it in those conditions. You'll see more than 50% of the non-commercial vehicles on the roads here are 4WD pickups or SUV's, and very few minivans.
Another factor is lack of trash pickup. If you have to shove all your trash and recycling into your vehicle every week to take it to the dump or transfer station, you have a very different perspective on storage space and interior finishes.
And there are a lot of other things that led me to choose an Xterra too. I have a back injury, and ingress/egress are easy and the seats are supportive and comfortable. It's easy to get my parrot cages in and out for trips to the vet. Etc, etc. And yes, I sometimes drive it to the supermarket without any passengers. I cursed Nissan the day they decided to discontinue this model.
Nissan ditched the BOF on the Pathfinder once before then returned to it. We'll have to see if the unibody design sticks this time around.
While there are good points made here about people and cargo capacity, there are some other factors in the SUV-minivan choice that haven't been given much play, like location and weather. I live in the boondocks of northern New England and have an Xterra (my third one), whose 4WD and ground clearance mean I don't have to worry about 12+ inches of snow on my road, or the flooded road to camp, or the dirt road that hasn't been graded in 6 months. An average minivan with FWD/AWD and 5" of ground clearance doesn't cut it in those conditions. You'll see more than 50% of the non-commercial vehicles on the roads here are 4WD pickups or SUV's, and very few minivans.
Another factor is lack of trash pickup. If you have to shove all your trash and recycling into your vehicle every week to take it to the dump or transfer station, you have a very different perspective on storage space and interior finishes.
And there are a lot of other things that led me to choose an Xterra too. I have a back injury, and ingress/egress are easy and the seats are supportive and comfortable. It's easy to get my parrot cages in and out for trips to the vet. Etc, etc. And yes, I sometimes drive it to the supermarket without any passengers. I cursed Nissan the day they decided to discontinue this model.
We could list the reasons many of us have the SUVs until we are blue in the face. Some people who don't seem to like them ignore this and will continue to argue their opinion on why we don't need them, so it's really a mute point. How someone can form an opinion from 2 minutes of passing an empty truck or SUV on the highway is beyond me, but to each his own.
We are only a small family of 4.
We too have a full sized truck that can take 6 people (bench seat front n back) no problems. Even haul our huge 150 lb great pyrenees in the cab with us on long journeys with no problem.
All the luggage is thrown in da back.
But one of the best thing about our truck...
Is that it clocks in at 29 miles to the gallon on highway miles. Can do 4x4 off roads on sand dunes (took it to Corolla beach OBX). And is a lil speed demon on times it needs to accelerate. And besides the 6 ft bed, can still tow a small to mid size camper no probs.
We are only weekend warriors at needing to tow stuff..
So our F150 is perfect for the versatility our lifestyle needs. We depend on it for all our vacations, travelling n visits to in-laws.
We could list the reasons many of us have the SUVs until we are blue in the face. Some people who don't seem to like them ignore this and will continue to argue their opinion on why we don't need them, so it's really a mute point. How someone can form an opinion from 2 minutes of passing an empty truck or SUV on the highway is beyond me, but to each his own.
The word is moot.
The thread subject is on people that dont use them for anything but family use. Theres no reason to make any false assumptions that someone doesnt "like" them because they realize the reality that many people dont need them and dont utilize their full capabilities. The facts and market trends support this.
To get defensive about what a small percentage of people do is moot. To argue that posers and soccer moms dont exist and arent the majority of the buyers is just plain ignorance of the market. But if you think every Suburban, Escalade ESV, Denali XL, Navigator EL, Sequoia, QX56/80 and Range Rover you come across down at the mall sees off road and heavy duty towing or even full passengers on a regular basis...well believe what you want it wont make it true.
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