yeah, I am hoping there are SUV hybrids by the time we are ready to get rid of our 1970's Caprice. Better yet, used hybrids by then, but I'm not counting my chix on that one. We will probably have to balance pros and cons of new car vs. hybrid. It is a pretty big strain to make a vehicle, beyond the thoughts of the gas consumption once it's built. DLJ wants a truck, and I understand that. We can't haul our own mulch, soil, house project stuff, and we want to be do it yourself-ers as much as we can. A truck really is something that would be useful to us, both for that and so we can haul our motorcycles behind us. Now, hauling motorcycles probably is not so easy with a hybrid, less power, right? It's going to be a fun thing to sort out. Yay for hybrids! I love my Saturn, and hybrids weren't out yet when I bought it in 2000.
All I ask is that you get a small SUV. I always find it maddening to be stuck behind a large SUV with tinted windows in my little Saturn. I can't see a thing!
And Saturn's first hybrid is going to be an SUV. Why they're not making a hybrid sedan or a compact is beyond me. They've lost my repeat business.
oh, we have already decided if we get a truck, it won't be huge. We don't want a huge one, but we do need to be able to go buy a bunch of sand, gravel, wood, etc. Plenty of research to do. I think it's good Saturn is tackling the SUV hybrid. No one else has yet.
Actually, several major US automakers are on track to release hybrid SUVs, again before releasing hybrid sedans or compacts. *boggle!* Guess I'm buying Japanese next time around.
When I look on the road, I see more SUV's than smaller cars, most of the time. Isn't it better to fix the larger problem, the one that would make more overall difference, and followup with the sedan?
I see your point tho, hard to buy American if you want to get a hybrid. :( That's where all the balancing comes in, I guess. Price of import to jobs in US resources, shipping, etc., vs. post-buy efficiency.
Sigh. It's all such a puzzle. But you know, you are aware, you care, and you are trying. That is the best thing and what will make the most difference in the end.
When I look on the road, I see more SUV's than smaller cars, most of the time. Isn't it better to fix the larger problem, the one that would make more overall difference, and followup with the sedan?I'd rather encourage people to go to sedans and compacts and abandon their SUVs. SUVs are a real danger on the roads, and we need less of them, not more (for instance, if an SUV collides with a sedan, the mortality rate for the sedan passengers shoots up in comparison with sedan/sedan crashes). So I'd rather see people go, "Look at how much money I can save by driving a hybrid sedan--let's get rid of the SUV!" than have people go, "Gee, I really want a hybrid, but the only American-made ones are SUVs, so I guess I'll get rid of the sedan and buy an SUV." I'm not saying that there isn't a good reason to buy an SUV, just that most people who own one don't seem to have a good reason, and I'm afraid that if we give them more bad reasons to buy them, they'll buy more of them. And that makes me more afraid for my life when I hit the road in
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1. What would you suggest then for those that do need to haul stuff? Minivans?
2. I guess it shows how I think of the majority and their thinking; I didn't even give them the choice of abandoning an SUV for sedan. I just assumed they never would. =(
If you have to haul stuff a lot, SUVs and pickup trucks are both good choices if you also need off-road capacity because of their higher bumpers. Minivans tend to have car-level bumpers, and are good choices for people who haul stuff a lot in the city. It's the combo of car weight and bumper height that's the real (literal) killer with SUVs and pickups. And let us not forget the humble station wagon! My first car was a station wagon, and I could get tons of stuff into it. The poor things seem to be going out of style
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I remember the station wagon from my childhood with a fair amount of fondness! I loved sitting in the back-back!
A friend just bought something like that, and it looked pretty sporty....yet good for kids, too! So long as we can throw dirt in the back and can fit reasonable amounts of wood, etc., I'm happy. But DLJ, who knows, he's a guy. Maybe its a guy/truck thing, tho for the most part he is suprisingly un-like that. Maybe when the time comes it's best to feed that urge, since it is so rare for him.
I haul all sorts of stuff, including loads of lumber, in my '91 Nissan Sentra (which gets ~33/38mpg, btw) ;) However, it is wearing out. When I do replace it in a couple of years, it is imperative that I get a vehicle which gets at least as good of gas mileage as my current one. But I also want a vehicle that can haul home improvement items, such as lumber. I won't buy an SUV for many reasons - horrible gas mileage, lousy emissions standards, less safe than smaller cars, less cargo space than many cars, and a lousy stigma. I'm hoping that there will be some sort of small hybrid station wagon on the market in a few years that will meet all my needs!
(My current car is a Saturn, is 7 years old, and still in great shape.)
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And Saturn's first hybrid is going to be an SUV. Why they're not making a hybrid sedan or a compact is beyond me. They've lost my repeat business.
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I think it's good Saturn is tackling the SUV hybrid. No one else has yet.
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I see your point tho, hard to buy American if you want to get a hybrid. :( That's where all the balancing comes in, I guess. Price of import to jobs in US resources, shipping, etc., vs. post-buy efficiency.
Sigh. It's all such a puzzle. But you know, you are aware, you care, and you are trying. That is the best thing and what will make the most difference in the end.
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1. What would you suggest then for those that do need to haul stuff? Minivans?
2. I guess it shows how I think of the majority and their thinking; I didn't even give them the choice of abandoning an SUV for sedan. I just assumed they never would. =(
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Yeah. Doesn't want to scratch a pickup.
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Sorry we didn't connect over the weekend. Soon!
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A friend just bought something like that, and it looked pretty sporty....yet good for kids, too! So long as we can throw dirt in the back and can fit reasonable amounts of wood, etc., I'm happy. But DLJ, who knows, he's a guy. Maybe its a guy/truck thing, tho for the most part he is suprisingly un-like that. Maybe when the time comes it's best to feed that urge, since it is so rare for him.
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