[shortonoil]

.

If you block it up and pull the tires off, it will also make a great chicken coop!

.

[DesertBear2]

Maybe they could be used as farm work vehicles. Like pulling hay wagons and plowing....with "Farm Use" license tags.

[turmoil]

Well, as a male, if I were to buy this SUV, it would be like having a dick that is 220.8 inches long...Although the pickup line isn't very good: "Any ladies want to test-drive my jumbo expedition?" Doesn't have that ring, I don't think... Ladies?
good riddance ya loonies (at ford)

[RdSnt]

So a Suburban by any other name.

[Seadragon]

IIRC, the giant SUVs have been the most profitable vehicles for GM and Ford: they made millions all through the last 15 years selling these things. The party's over, but they so desperately need those profits now that they just can't help themselves. I suppose the stupid American public kind of thinks the same way: wishing/hoping to return to those halcyon days of $1.50 gas. The denial makes me think that we will absolutely need an "off-the-cliff" moment, a genuine major crisis, before anybody will wake up. I mean, what are people watching now as Bartlett talks about peak oil in public (House of Representatives)? Why, the "War on Christmas" on Faux News, of course.

[WisJim]

For many years we had one or two car seats in the back seat of our VW Rabbit or Jetta. It was a lot easier than getting the seats in our old 1971 VW Beetle, but even that wasn't a big problem.

Ah, the years of driving with 5 of us in a 1982 Rabbit. Our mpg/person was really good.

[johnmarkos]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WisJim', 'F')or many years we had one or two car seats in the back seat of our VW Rabbit or Jetta. It was a lot easier than getting the seats in our old 1971 VW Beetle, but even that wasn't a big problem.

Ah, the years of driving with 5 of us in a 1982 Rabbit. Our mpg/person was really good.

[quiltea]

Yup, I'm now in my second minivan, and we went this route mainly for the kids (easier dealing with car seats is one of many reasons for having a minivan if you have kids). And every day I'm thankful for my very short commute because it only gets about 15 mpg.

But I myself was feeling envious of SUVs during the last snowstorm as I slid all over the road in my front-wheel drive minivan. I know for a fact several of our friends have SUVs so they can deal with driving in the snow here in the NorthEast, especially when heading north to ski country in the winter.

Another gas hog is the pickup truck. But if I'm going to be a farmer, an idea I am seriously considering, how am I going to deal with all the various hauling that farmers use their pickup trucks for (hay, feed, animals, etc) without one?

[SolarDave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', 'T')hey should name it the EXTINCTION.

[Dukat_Reloaded]

Too bad for them that oil has just spiked up again past $60

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ccording to a study conducted by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Companies, rollover crashes occurred twice as frequently in SUVs as in passenger cars and children were three times more likely to be injured in a rollover crash than in a non-rollover accident, according to a statement from the hospital.

[Starvid]

This is hardly news.

SUV's are dangerous both for their drivers and to other motorists.

If you want safe buy a Volvo.

[Leanan]

And yet we still have people here who claim they buy SUVs because they're "safer."

Larger cars are safer. But if you must get a large car, get a large ordinary car, not an SUV. SUVs' height is the killer - often literally. They are more likely to rollover with their high center of gravity, and it's their height that makes them so bad on fuel efficiency. An ordinary car is fuel-efficient to about 55 mph, as we all know. But an SUV or truck hits the dropoff point at about 40 mph.

[Specop_007]

I'm so tired of half assed "Feed the masses" reporting.

(Not referring to you Leanan)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'A')nd yet we still have people here who claim they buy SUVs because they're "safer."

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou just admitted large cars are safer, including SUV's. As you said, rollover is the problem.

[Clouseau2]

The only time SUVs are safer is when they are pummeling a smaller car in an accident. And even then, because of the poor construction of most SUVs a passenger car of the same mass would be much safer. Car based SUVs are not as bad here. And of course as soon as you rollover your changes of injury go up dramatically.

Just looking at who wins out during a collision is too simplistic a way of looking at the safety of SUVs ...

Another reason SUVs are less safe is due to their poor handling, which means that you are much more likely to have accidents that could have been avoided had you been driving an ordinary passenger car, due to poor handling, braking, etc.

[elroy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd sometimes they are. You get in your little Honda, I'll get in my Expedition and we can run into each other at 40 MPH, lets see what happens.

[Leanan]

Actually, trucks and SUVs have huge blind spots to the rear - again, due to their height. A lot of kids are being run over by their own parents because of this. There's even talk of mandating some sort of safety equipment to deal with the problem.

SUV backover deaths: What can be done?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t's called the "bye-bye syndrome" said Janette Fennell, founder of the auto safety group Kids and Cars.

Wanting one last chance to see mommy, daddy, or grandmother before they go, a child will run up behind the vehicle at the worst possible time. Small children don't realize that the driver may not be able to see them.

While most drivers are aware that there are areas behind their vehicle in which they cannot see, many don't realize how large those areas can be. The problem is worse in trucks and SUVs than in other cars because of their increased height and the distance between the driver and the tailgate or rear window.

[coyote]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'A')s for milage, thats not entirely accurate. My Expedition gets 14. I can leave it parked in the driveway idling or blast down the Interstate at 90....14.

[Dukat_Reloaded]

SUV's are safer if you crash into people. If your a bad driver, it's a good safety hedge.



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')an. 3 - Florida police are investigating the death of a couple killed when a woman rammed her sport utility vehicle into the back of their motorcycle and then drove several hundred yards with the bodies on top of her hood.

Police report the woman only stopped when the Harley-Davidson embedded in the front of her SUV burst into flames, setting the vehicle on fire.

The SUV struck the Harley with enough force to activate the vehicle’s airbags. Reports indicate the woman told police she didn’t know what happened.