- Oct 28, 1999
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Ok, I've pretty verbally expressed my distaste for SUV's...but now I have to eat my own words because I am now an owner of one :Q
Two weeks ago I took posession of a 2000 GMC Jimmy
As for why I bought it, well, it met the "utility" qualifications of "utility". I also nabbed it for right around $3,000 under the sticker price and got 5.9% financing over 60 months. I also had some other nice benefits under GMC's graduate program.
Here's my 2 week evaluation
Pro's -
1) Elevated seating - Love it. I went from a low running Mercury Mystique to sitting above the roof level of it. Makes it very, very nice for visibility.
2) Ride - Very nice ride. Don't realize that it's a truck at heart that you are driving. All the little gitters and bumps that I would normally feel in a car are smoothed out and easily navigated.
3) Seats - Great. Second only to the seats in a contour SVT...at least for me anyhow.
4) Cabin space - more for less. The vehicle is considerably narrower than my monte carlo, but yet offers what feels like more cabin space.
5) Turning radius - better than many midsize sedans. Not as good as my Mystique, but leaps and bounds superior to the Monte Carlo.
6) Cargo space - It's an SUV. Not much more to say. Open hatch, drop door, insert luggage. No longer restricted to the depth of the trunk. Works out great for when I have to haul around big ass laser jet printers and 17" monitor boxes.
7) Insurance - Believe it or not, the insurance was only $60 a YEAR more than what the '95 mystique that I had! A VW GTI that I was looking at went for $600 more a year.
8) 4WD - will prove it's handiness once winter rolls around. I do a lot of driving through rural Wisconsin and Northern Iowa. It may prove it's worthiness on a trip up to Madison.
Now for the cons:
1) Gas milage - Uhg! Averaged about 18 miles to the gallon for my first tank w/ mix highway/city driving. One plus is that it doesn't require premium fuel like many of the vehicles that I was looking at. I can pretty much put the cheapest stuff at the pump in it and it'll be happy.
2) Rear/side visibility - One word - horrid! As you can see in the pics, the pillars where the second set of doors would normally be are pretty thick. Well, you can't see sh!t out of the side of the vehicle. It helped once I put the convex "fish eye" mirrors on my side mirrors. Also, the spare tire on the back makes for about a 75% reduction in rear visibility. The incredibly tinted windows are also very hard to see out of on overcast days.
3) Stability - Very bad in windy days. The wind whips this thing from one side of the lane to the other. Have to be very alert when driving in windy conditions.
4) 4WD - overconfidence? Will find out soon enough.
Conclusion - Need more time. Two of the biggest cons, stability and visibility are mainly "comfort" issues. I just need to get comfortable with the vehicle in order get used to these issues.
I can see why SUV owners do enjoy/appriciate these vehicles. I just can't imagine why somebody would want the land barges known as the Ford Excursion. A Suburban is big. An Excursion is fuxing huge.
But, going back to my cons, I still fear the soccer mom who thinks her Tahoe has the nimbleness of her hubbies BMW and tries taking an off ramp at 60 MPH. I also worry about the people who don't know how to use their mirrors and damn near run the person in their blind spot off of the road.
I don't feel totally justified in my purchasing of one, but I do feel that it was more justified than just hauling your kids back and forth from soccer practice at 14MPG.
Go ahead, flame away
Two weeks ago I took posession of a 2000 GMC Jimmy
As for why I bought it, well, it met the "utility" qualifications of "utility". I also nabbed it for right around $3,000 under the sticker price and got 5.9% financing over 60 months. I also had some other nice benefits under GMC's graduate program.
Here's my 2 week evaluation
Pro's -
1) Elevated seating - Love it. I went from a low running Mercury Mystique to sitting above the roof level of it. Makes it very, very nice for visibility.
2) Ride - Very nice ride. Don't realize that it's a truck at heart that you are driving. All the little gitters and bumps that I would normally feel in a car are smoothed out and easily navigated.
3) Seats - Great. Second only to the seats in a contour SVT...at least for me anyhow.
4) Cabin space - more for less. The vehicle is considerably narrower than my monte carlo, but yet offers what feels like more cabin space.
5) Turning radius - better than many midsize sedans. Not as good as my Mystique, but leaps and bounds superior to the Monte Carlo.
6) Cargo space - It's an SUV. Not much more to say. Open hatch, drop door, insert luggage. No longer restricted to the depth of the trunk. Works out great for when I have to haul around big ass laser jet printers and 17" monitor boxes.
7) Insurance - Believe it or not, the insurance was only $60 a YEAR more than what the '95 mystique that I had! A VW GTI that I was looking at went for $600 more a year.
8) 4WD - will prove it's handiness once winter rolls around. I do a lot of driving through rural Wisconsin and Northern Iowa. It may prove it's worthiness on a trip up to Madison.
Now for the cons:
1) Gas milage - Uhg! Averaged about 18 miles to the gallon for my first tank w/ mix highway/city driving. One plus is that it doesn't require premium fuel like many of the vehicles that I was looking at. I can pretty much put the cheapest stuff at the pump in it and it'll be happy.
2) Rear/side visibility - One word - horrid! As you can see in the pics, the pillars where the second set of doors would normally be are pretty thick. Well, you can't see sh!t out of the side of the vehicle. It helped once I put the convex "fish eye" mirrors on my side mirrors. Also, the spare tire on the back makes for about a 75% reduction in rear visibility. The incredibly tinted windows are also very hard to see out of on overcast days.
3) Stability - Very bad in windy days. The wind whips this thing from one side of the lane to the other. Have to be very alert when driving in windy conditions.
4) 4WD - overconfidence? Will find out soon enough.
Conclusion - Need more time. Two of the biggest cons, stability and visibility are mainly "comfort" issues. I just need to get comfortable with the vehicle in order get used to these issues.
I can see why SUV owners do enjoy/appriciate these vehicles. I just can't imagine why somebody would want the land barges known as the Ford Excursion. A Suburban is big. An Excursion is fuxing huge.
But, going back to my cons, I still fear the soccer mom who thinks her Tahoe has the nimbleness of her hubbies BMW and tries taking an off ramp at 60 MPH. I also worry about the people who don't know how to use their mirrors and damn near run the person in their blind spot off of the road.
I don't feel totally justified in my purchasing of one, but I do feel that it was more justified than just hauling your kids back and forth from soccer practice at 14MPG.
Go ahead, flame away
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