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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
We bought a Saturn *SUV* in 2004 because we needed a stick shift and Saturn had discontinued stick shifts in their station wagon (which had been our previous vehicle). Our old wagon had gotten 24-26 mpg in the city, and an astounding 39 mpg on the highway. Yes, the "SUV" label was evil and we felt guilty (and our friends all looked at us like we had four heads), but it had the cargo capacity we needed. And a stick shift. And a 4-cylinder engine. And the mileage was at least not horrible. I was disappointed in its rock solid 22 mpg regardless of city or highway, but it did weigh 400 lbs more than our wagon did and the gear ratios are set for more torque than actually needed. Then we moved to Flagstaff last spring, and now it consistently gets 26/29 city/highway for some reason (altitude? different fuel mixture?). In 2004 it was called an SUV, but it's an SUV body on a car chassis, which is what is now called a "crossover". My point is this: what's in a name? And the answer is : who the hell cares? What matters is what it actually is and does. Get over the silly label fixation, and tell your friends to get over it, too.
Not for buying an SUV, but for writing an article about how much of an environmentalist you are while buying an SUV. Seriously, dude, you suck. Go back to your job of telling everyone else how you expect them to make sacrifices you don't plan on making yourself, while the Big Three crumble because they have spent so many years making giant behemoths that now they can't remember how to make normal cars.
I, too, drive a Honda Element. It's a 2006 model. It has a 4 cylinder engine and, to the best of my knowledge, so does every other Honda Element ever made. I believe the Honda Pilot has a V6 though. I like my Element a lot, it's been almost the perfect compromise do it all vehicle that gets 23-24 MPG. I especially like the fact that it doesn't have carpet. But given the weather we've been having in Oregon lately, I've been wistfully eyeing something with more ground clearance and more off-road capability - like a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Just sayin'.
This was really a worthless article.... oh, wait, I get it now.
All right, here you go:
Dear Mark,
On behalf of the yuppie community, I would like to declare that you have made the right decision. We hereby absolve you of your oppressive suburban yuppie eco-guilt.
Please sleep well tonight, knowing that you obviously did the best to save the planet that you could. Tomorrow, we hope that you will consider using your newfound peace of mind to write an article of value to the rest of us.
If you want to chalk up not buying an SUV to "liberal righteousness" then go ahead. It's just plain reasonable behavior to buy something with affordable gas mileage.
As for your "needs," you don't need to put to bikes in the back of your car. You don't need to haul around a bunch of crap with you. You just do it because you are American and that's what we do. We equate convenience with necessity. No wonder our economy is going down the crapper. Even with a gun to our heads we can't stop buying STUFF.
Can we expect more mea culpas? Maybe, we should stop labeling ourselves as environmentalist since somebody is always going to be more "pure" than you and not shy about telling you where you fall short of their ideal selves.
You can't fit you bike in the back? Why did you buy it then? The minivan would have been more practical. Also, Mitsu's may be a nice Japanese brand, but the aren't in the top 3 (Honda Toyota, Nissan) so good luck with reliability in the long run. I know what you mean about the Volvo tho. I'm a mechanic that specializes in them and yes, they cost an arm and a couple of legs to keep running.
...because you were at least thoughtful in you decision. The reality is that driving a car, any car, is bad for the environment. There's a pretty good chance that many of the people who may criticize your choice (including your former self in the older Volvo wagon) are getting worse mileage in their Volvo, BMW, etc. of choice. (For example, the mileage performance of the current Volvo V70/XC70 is downright shameful.)
Sorry, but that's the worst excuse for buying an SUV that I have ever heard. I grew up as one of two kids in a family that had two collies, and we managed to get along just fine with our sedan and even (gasp) went on 10+ hour road trips with it a few times a year. This was even less than ten years ago, after the advent of the Age of the SUV. Sure, it might get a little tight sometimes, but why can't your kids suck it up?
In addition, while your two-row station wagon was great for hauling stuff around, was that really necessary, either? I live in Europe and the only people I know here who absolutely needed to buy station wagons (as opposed to sedans or coupes - I live in a rural area, so almost everyone has a car) use them to tow horses. I find it absolutely appalling for a self-described environmentalist to say that a station wagon was inadequate to haul around two kids and a dog, especially when they're strong enough to tow horses.
Your rationalizations for not considering a minivan dont work, you just can't deal with the image "problem". Image is the reason most people by the large SUVs in the first place, there is little logic involved in the purchase decision. If you aren't towing you don't need a large SUV.
We have had two long wheelbase Dodge minivans since 1987 and have driven them all over the east coast and into eastern Canada. 7 passngers, 22-24 MPG, huge interor volume, comfortable (and very reliable, lucky for us...).
If you really need the interor space, dont need to tow anything much, and you want the best combination of space and efficiency, the minivan is the only choice.
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