Posted on 10/02/2005 8:00:09 AM PDT by grundle
Safety, reliability, cargo space, passenger comfort for my family will always be worth more to me than gas economy and making a liberal agenda statement. I'll take big American iron any day over some wimpy toileta prius death trap.
"in far far too many cases it's strictly a vanity statement made by people trying to keep up with the Jonses"
When I was a kid it was big Buicks and Caddy's that we called "Boats" with the same class envy as your SUV statement.
I think before that it was carriages pulled by four or six horses instead of one or two that set people off.
see post 26 for clarification..
None of your business what people buy with their money.
What?? You haven't yet traded in your Tahoe for a Rick-Shaw? (Yeah, that means you need a driver, doesn't it?)
I HAVE a mini-van and it's too damn small, especially with the government mandated car-seats that will now extend to 60 pounds AND six years old, whichever is more inconvenient.
But you are missing the point. This is America and FreeRepublic. I shouldn't have to explain or apologize for my consumer needs and desires. The products are available for sale legally and I am willing to make the sacrifices and pay the price to have one. End of discussion.
see #26
Plus SUVs are more fuel efficient than cars made in the 1970s and 1980s. People who don't like SUVs are anti-family liberals who don't want ordinary Americans to be convenienced.
It becomes my business when gas prices are at an all time high. I live in a Texas city filled with unnecessary SUV's. Just drive through one of many local corporate office parking lots for a view. High fuel consumption hurts, even those of us that try to do what is right by driving a non-gas guzzler. Poseur logic...costs me.
"will be
> available in half of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury
> line-up by 2010. "
By which time no doubt some other new latest-greatest technology will already be out.
"This is America where we can obtain what we want based on our own personal needs."Good point.It's all a matter of priorities.The downside of capitalism is that owning a large house,driving a gas guzzling suv,having the most expensive home entertainment center,etc are signs of success in our society(or is that more an effect of 24/7 marketing/advertising/brainwashing?).What makes capitalism the best system(imo)is i have the freedom to choose how i spend my money(and i have $$ to spend in the first place:).My neighbors have all the latest electronic gadgets,and of course an SUV in the driveway.Me?A 10yr old 6cyl PU.DVD?My vcr still works just fine.
"Do tell, how is someone that drives a small car 100,000 miles a year a better steward of the environment than someone that drives a "Gas Guzzler" 10,000 miles?"
Not that I'm anti SUV or truck, but that's easy. Assuming all of the 100k miles are necessary, than that person would have driven them anyway and would have burned more gas w/ the guzzler.
And I don't think there's any reason to believe that the econo box driver's miles are any less necessary than the guzzler's miles
So between the 2 vehicles, you're averaging over 30 mpg anyway. Good for you!
By 2010 Ford will be a small niche market if they keep up the "forward thinking" and don't get a move on.
"Their excuses for owning them were ... amazing."
What,did they use silly excuses that like "this is america and I can drive what I want" or "you have no business telling me what I can drive?"
Damn people making their own choices!
" - get my family of seven 500+ miles to be a part of family"
Family? You don't need no stinkin' family - the goobermint has hired swarms of goober to take care of all of us.
It is for our own good. The nice goobers from teh gooberment said so.
:-(
I'd sure like to know everything you own so I could have the opportunity to decide whether you are trying to "keep up with the Jones' or not. Like, what size house do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? How may TV's do you have? Get the picture yet?
In fact, I just checked out some of the other threads that you've posted to and found this: "I ride a big cruiser bud". Maybe you ride a big cruiser for vanity or is it to "keep up with the Jones'....after all, if you rode a smaller bike you'd save money on gas!
Ford caves in to political correctness.
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