feeling guilty about my SUV

[mattpegher]

Ok, so I drive an SUV and if you believe popular opinion, I should be drawn and quartered. But I don't see any alternative. I am an emergency physician in a rural community, and when it snows here it is often gets over 2 feet on the roads and they never plow before I go. The wieght of the vehicle significantly effects the ability to plow through the snow. Again I do not have the option of staying home and abandoning the Emergency department without a doc. Also when I pack the family in the car we number 6, two of which are in car seats in the second row and my oldest rides in the third row. Did you know with two car seats in the second row most SUV's are still too narrow to fold down the seat to get access to the third row.

After all of this rationalization, I still feel guilty. Now i calculate that I am using 1280 gallons of gas in my Yukon which is only 450 more gallons than if I use my wifes car which gets about 24m/g (audi A6) That is costing me about $1300 extra per year but am I really saving myself and the planet much.

I am thinking about getting an allwheel drive van but I dont think the savings in gas is much and I'm not sure it will have the ground(snow) clearance i need.

 

[Amused]

You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

 

[Jahee]

Justified in this case in my opinion. What i don't agree with is people having them and using them to go shopping, with just them, the driver.

 

[RichUK]

You have no reason to feel guilty. You?re using (so to speak) the right tools for the job.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

X2...

You're not some suburban housewife using the truck mostly to ferry the kids to soccer practice. You have a legitimate need for the vehicle...

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

it is his business and the fact that he thinks to care about such things says a lot.

that being said i agree that it sounds like you have a legitimate use for it.

 

[FoBoT]

you can't be serious

it isn't anyone else's busyness what car you own

 

[mattpegher]

I do have to wonder about the SUV's I see in places like florida. Granted there are people who need to haul stuff down there but the number i see in the non-rural areas are concerning.

Also anyone have any experience with specific models of allwheel vans in heavy snow?

 

[middlehead]

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Jahee
Justified in this case in my opinion. What i don't agree with is people having them and using them to go shopping, with just them, the driver.

What?

So you see the OP driving his SUV to do the shopping you get p!ssed? He should get a smaller more economical car to go to the shops?! The added expensive of buying that car and the costs with it so people are 'happy' with him driving around in it?

Koing

 

[OverVolt]

Originally posted by: RichUK
You have no reason to feel guilty. You?re using (so to speak) the right tools for the job.

:thumbsup:

100% legitimate use for an SUV.

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

it is his business and the fact that he thinks to care about such things says a lot.

that being said i agree that it sounds like you have a legitimate use for it.

Agreed.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Agreed on right tools for the job. You don't blame a emergency helicopter or a school bus for getting less MPG than civic

Now if you were a small lady riding to work with nothing in giant eascalade but you and a tiiiiny briefcase, then it would be a problem.

 

[mattpegher]

Originally posted by: Koing

Originally posted by: Jahee
Justified in this case in my opinion. What i don't agree with is people having them and using them to go shopping, with just them, the driver.

What?

So you see the OP driving his SUV to do the shopping you get p!ssed? He should get a smaller more economical car to go to the shops?! The added expensive of buying that car and the costs with it so people are 'happy' with him driving around in it?

Koing

I agree, its hard to know if the driver of the SUV in front of you at the supermarket has some legitimate need for the vehicle. Its not like most people can afford a different vehicle for different uses. Its on days like this, though, when its sunny and I am driving to work alone in the truck that I feel bad. I remember a vehicle my GI joe had back in the 70's where the cockpit of the vehicle seperated from the back and became a 2 seater, but the few concept cars that have tried to do that have never seems possible.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Agreed on right tools for the job. You don't blame a emergency helicopter or a school bus for getting less MPG than civic

Now if you were a small lady riding to work with nothing in giant eascalade but you and a tiiiiny briefcase, then it would be a problem.

What if that small lady just dropped off five kids at school right before you saw her, goes on weekend outings with the kids and their friends and has to tow a trailer on occation?

The main problem with the judgmental anti-SUV nutballs is they see a person alone in an SUV and ASSUME it's always that way.

Even a person with a "legitimate" use for an SUV will be alone in it at least 50% of the time.

 

[Engineer]

I don't really care if the OP has a need or not....it's a free market and if he/she has the want/desire to drive a SUV that get's "Gallons per mile", that's his/her business, period. Sure, people have the right to frown upon it but as of now, it's the OP right to do so. If the OP want to continue to drive it, that's his/her business, even if it's just to drive to McDonalds just to take a piss. :Q

 

[mercanucaribe]

Drive an SUV other than a Yukon. I suggest a Jeep!

 

[mattpegher]

I looked into the jeeps but it looked like all but the liberty got pretty poor gas mileage as well. Isn't much of the fuel consuption dependent on the engine displacement and independent of the vehicle tonage.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: mattpegher
I looked into the jeeps but it looked like all but the liberty got pretty poor gas mileage as well. Isn't much of the fuel consuption dependent on the engine displacement and independent of the vehicle tonage.

Jeeps do not get much better mileage than trucks. The Wrangler is also NOT fun to drive for extended periods.

 

[mattpegher]

I've noticed that pickups of the same frame get the same gas milage, but you don't see any comments about pickups in the news. Makes me think that even within the "green" movement there is little science and a whole lot of hype.

 

[LtPage1]

Sounds like you kinda need it- 2 feet of snow, and has to seat 6?

Hang in there. A full-size hybrid or new diesel SUV can't be too far off.

 

[pac1085]

do you like the wife's a6? if you do, buy an a6 allroad.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: Amused
You have a valid use for the car.

Even if you didn't, who's fscking business is it?

Don't let busybody nanny-staters run your life.

Agreed. I have a valid use for the wife's SUV too. Convenience and to haul my boat when we go to the beach (so we are not crammed into my pickup even though its a supercab). I pay a premium for that convenience and I don't mind doing so. Yall can get pissed all you want but until you start paying my truck note its none of your damn business what vehicle I buy or how I use it.

 

[prontospyder]

Would a GMC Acadia fit the bill? I think it gets 3 MPG more than the Yukon and is about as roomy inside.