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Automotive News & Views Are you happy you didn't sell your SUV?
122 messages, Last post on Apr 15, 2009 at 5:57 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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complain about no one towing with a SUV I do. No one goes off road with their SUV and again I say I do. And for those that say a small car performs as well if not better in a head on with a SUV from experience I can say the SUV will win almost every time. My wife managed to pick up a friend to go to the post office and store in the snow about 5 years ago. We had 4wd and they didn't. A woman coming back from town decided she would try and make it home the 1.5 miles without using her chains on her small compact. My wife saw her coming and pulled to the side of the road and stopped but the woman hit her brakes and slid head on, license plate to license plate with our SUV brush guard and all. My wife bumped her head on the side window but no injury and the passenger she picked up managed to spill about half of her coffee. But they took the compact away on a flat bed and the woman driver left with the paramedics. I drove the SUV home and had to have the bumper replaced and one tow hook reprinted. The brush guard simply needed buffing. No one wants to be in an accident. Everyone wants to avoid an accident but the fact that they are called accidents indicates chances are you can't avoid them all the time. Given that a truck or Suv can tow. Given that a SUV or truck has more ground clearance for light off road work and given that most accidents I have seen are car on car I would rather be in a Suv or Truck rather than a small car in a conflict between the two. I have noticed when the weather gets bad in most northern states the rescue people tend to drive SUVs with 4wd. Not many leave their patrol cars and opt for a Prius in those conditions. There must be a reason. When I lived in the mountains the CHP and Sheriff tended to drive Suvs for some reason as well. Until I get too old to tow a trailer, 5th wheel, jet skis, boat or even a utility trailer I will try to keep my Suv thank you very much. I am down to two of those by the way. In fact there were times when I used to commute to LA that if they had sold a Abrums tank that got 12 MPG I would have driven that.
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 14, 2009 9:01 am) the kid hits a curb in your little car, 500-1000 to fix. same in an suv, don't tell dad, he will never notice.  i am the dad. i notice, but the repair bill is zero. 
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 14, 2009 7:45 pm) Thank you for pointing out one of the major reasons for owning a PU truck or SUV. Cost of repair for cars today is atrocious. I looked at a dented car the other day and the whole back end was one piece. Many of these relatively small accidents will total a car because they cost more to repair than they are worth. It is part of the planned obsolescent society we live in. Cost of repair is the reason a $25k car costs a lot more to insure than a $50k Sequoia. |
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 14, 2009 7:45 pm) Anyway, here's a pic of my truck, taken a day or two later, before I got it fixed...  My repair bill? A whopping $350. I don't think the bumper itself got damaged, but the brackets holding it got bent. They replaced the bumper, brackets, and I think even the license plate lights. And the best part is, I no longer have that danged Crimesolvers sticker that my stepdad put on the truck!  If I had been in the Intrepid, I wouldn't be too surprised if it got totaled from a hit like that. The next two hits were much more minor. In one of them, a Hyundai Elantra wedged itself under my bumper when the driver tried to cut around behind me too close when I was stopped at a traffic light. I didn't even feel the hit, but happened to look back and see it wedged under there. It was just enough to bend the bumper, so I got it fixed (on their dime). The third time was a parking lot hit and run I'm presuming. Just one day I happened to walk around behind the truck and saw the bumper was bent again. So this time I just left it alone. Oh, and I have hopped curbs in that truck, too. Even though it has rally wheels with chrome rings, it's still no big deal. |
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 14, 2009 7:45 pm) He will be getting a small electric vehicle ( like a ZAP ) or else riding the bus. We live in Phoenix, so Mass Transit can get him just about everywhere he wants to be if I decide he doesn't need a car before graduation.
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 15, 2009 6:23 am) The longer you can dissuade him from getting a car the better for both of you. That is the word of experience. Most people get their kids a car out of peer pressure. I can tell you that it is expensive. Probably not as expensive as sending them to Harvard. But costly none the less. The bike and bus is a good way to go if you live in a city. Most buses around here have a bike rack.
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Replying to: gagrice (Jan 15, 2009 6:38 am) I decided at birth that my kids were not getting cars AT LEAST until they are 17, preferably only as a graduation gift. I'm lucky in that I live in Phoenix and there are a lot of good "teen-oriented" driving schools here. I'm going to send them to the best one, maybe the best TWO schools, and have them driving with me as passenger a LONG TIME before even considering getting them a car of their own. And nothing but a two-seater also.....having a carload of kids is a huge danger risk factor. It DARN sure ain't gonna be no dang SUV. There's a guy working here in my office who lost his 17-yr-old daughter to a car crash a couple of years ago. I'm going to try to avoid that with everything I can throw at the risk.
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Replying to: gagrice (Jan 15, 2009 6:38 am) In my case, I think having a car worked out well. I worked 6 days per week, and before I had a car, my grandmother would usually pick me up from school on her way home from work and drop me off at work, and then my Mom would have to come pick me up at 7:30. And someone would have to drive me to work on Saturdays. Out where I live, public transportation is practically non-existent. Although if I had to (and I have) I could have walked from the house to work in about a half-hour. |
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 15, 2009 6:50 am) If you want a safe vehicle for teenagers, I'd suggest something reasonably large but boring, and not designed for performance...think older Camry or Taurus. |
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Replying to: grbeck (Jan 15, 2009 7:07 am) It was fairly low to the ground and handled pretty well. It really only seated 2 and was as slow as molasses. |
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