Would you buy an SUV?

 

I came across an MSN.com article from about a month ago. For some people, buying an SUV makes sense.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCa...

In fact, I'm looking for a used full-size 4x4 SUV right now. Now that I've sold my "beater car" to my son, I'm looking for a "beater truck" that can handle some heavy snow in Colorado. As little as I'd drive it (2,000 miles or so per year), gas mileage is not too much of an issue. My Toyota is plenty fuel efficient for most of the daily drive I do.

With $4+ gas and deeply discounted SUV market, does buying one make financial sense to anyone else?

--
nüvi 750 & 760

Buying SUV

I was just thinking about that myself today. I have a 2000 4Runner, which has been great. I sometimes drive a friends Subaru Outback, and while it drives great and gets much better gas mileage than my rig, it's just too small for me. I show dogs, and with the 4Runner I can fold down the seats and get 3 dog crates, all my luggage, an exercise pen and the dogs paraphenelia, including grooming table and stool. No way could I get all that into an Outback without seriously obstructing my view.
And if I got a new vehicle, it would probably be a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, neither of which is a small vehicle.

--
Barb

Not sure...

Not sure if anyone would agree but I just traded in my MR2 Sypder and bought myself a Toyota 4runner V6 Sport. I've been look at the 4runner for a while and when toyota had the 5 year no interest, I went in and got it right away. It doesn't really make sense to me personally if I where to pay an extra 10k to get a different SUV that would get me an additional 3 miles to the gallon. How long would I need to drive to gain back the 10K?

Makes sense

The " total cost of driving" is more important than the cost of gas. You could spend 30,000 on a premium price Hybrid. Or spend 20,000 on a Discounted SUV and have 10,000 more to spend on gas. If you are making payments...this still makes sense unless your Monthly cost of gas is More than your Payment.. I drive 4 miles round trip to my place of work. so gas prices do not effect that. My other vehicle is a Honda Goldwing...and a Honda Cr-v Both get great mileage..so My truck is my back and forth to work vehicle. And since it has been paid for long ago..it is pretty cheap to drive

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Dave_ Nuvi 660 , 760,1490LMT Wooster, Ohio

spider_elliott wrote: I

spider_elliott wrote:

I came across an MSN.com article from about a month ago. For some people, buying an SUV makes sense.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCa...

In fact, I'm looking for a used full-size 4x4 SUV right now. Now that I've sold my "beater car" to my son, I'm looking for a "beater truck" that can handle some heavy snow in Colorado. As little as I'd drive it (2,000 miles or so per year), gas mileage is not too much of an issue. My Toyota is plenty fuel efficient for most of the daily drive I do.

With $4+ gas and deeply discounted SUV market, does buying one make financial sense to anyone else?

For your purpose it puts you in the drivers street because your in a buyers market, around here used car lots don't even want to take them in trade, and have to sit on them. You should be able to get a heck of a deal, knowing your only going to put 2000 or so miles on it you will differently get your monies worth.

Bob

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

Credit card companies need to catch up with the prices

spider_elliott wrote:

With $4+ gas and deeply discounted SUV market, does buying one make financial sense to anyone else?

One thing that many people haven't mentioned is that it's very difficult to fill up at the gas station with a medium to large SUV. My CC puts a $75 limit on gas station purchases and that's no where close to filling up my tank at today's prices.

--
Garmin Nuvi 760 User

Credit card companies need to catch up with the prices

When you use your cc go in and have them activate the pump and then pay after and you can fill up, another way is to do two transactons. Most stations are the ones that put the limit on your transaction not the cc company. I use a card for every fill up and when doing the mh it is 120 150 ea time and have no problem.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Older SUV's

Older SUV's put out much more pollution. There was a report that this could be the first summer ever, that the North pole may not be frozen solid.

http://www.dailytech.com/Global+Warming+to+Melt+North+Pole+I...

North pole may not be frozen solid???

PaulATL wrote:

Older SUV's put out much more pollution. There was a report that this could be the first summer ever, that the North pole may not be frozen solid.

http://www.dailytech.com/Global+Warming+to+Melt+North+Pole+Ice+Cover+For+First+Time+in+Recorded+History/article12218.htm

Sorry Paul, I'm not a very green or a Global Warmist, weather cycles run the course about every 50 years, the north pole is going to be fine.

Counter points
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/north_pole_ice_m...
http://blogs.usatoday.com/weather/2007/03/its_not_easy_be.ht...

Now on the other hand.

Oil prices took, from the invention of the combustion engine till last year to get to $2.00 a gallon, then in one year it has more than doubled to todays prices. What wrong with that picture?

Start pumping the crude out of Iraq, to off set the price of Iraqi Freedom.

Bob

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

re: Credit card companies need to catch up with the prices

You sure that the gas stations are the ones that put the limitation on your transactions? There was a recent report on FOX news that implicate that the CC companies been doing this for years. That report was about a month ago and if I'm not mistaken, the original limit was at $50. I've had no problems with filling up my SUV so I'd figured that the CC companies has raised the limits to meet with today's gas prices. Maybe not all have followed that trend.

Race for Oil

dog_poop wrote:
PaulATL wrote:

There was a report that this could be the first summer ever, that the North pole may not be frozen solid.

Sorry Paul, I'm not a very green or a Global Warmist, weather cycles run the course about every 50 years, the north pole is going to be fine.

This is also part of why Oil companies are flocking to the North pole to drill since there will not be much ice.

What?

dog_poop wrote:
PaulATL wrote:

Sorry Paul, I'm not a very green or a Global Warmist, weather cycles run the course about every 50 years, the north pole is going to be fine.

Counter points
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/north_pole_ice_m...
http://blogs.usatoday.com/weather/2007/03/its_not_easy_be.ht...

Bob

I don't see anything in the USA today link you have that discusses the North Pole. Regarding your American Thinker blog, are we to assume that date stamps on photos of the North Pole on a blog are more authoritive? Do you have any scientific evidence that this will all fix itself in 50 years? I would really really love to believe that nothing is wrong with the climate and we have nothing to do with it. Believe me. But we can't just think that way because we want to feel that way.
I challange both sides of this arguement to go beyond the blogs and sound bite capturing devices (Drudge Report and whatever the left sided equivilant is out there) and look at the real data and research.

hells no. not anymore. i can

hells no. not anymore.
i can not imagine going to a gas station and having to fill up my SUV and the pumps says... $100 USD. i would be crying like a little girl with a skinned knee. so, bye bye big cars and trucks and SUV's.. hello to the gas economic smaller cars.

--
Thanasi---Magellan RoadMate 1700LM , & Magellan RoadMate 5045LM "Speed is just a question of money. How fast do you want to go!!!!" Movie: Mad Max - 1979

Van mileage can be better than small SUV

archieck wrote:

And if I got a new vehicle, it would probably be a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, neither of which is a small vehicle.

I just made a two-day road trip in my Sienna. Using the method of setting my trip odometer to 0 a fill-up, then dividing miles into the gallons at the next fill up, I got 26 MPG with one tank, and 27 MPG on the next tank. I think thats outstanding for a van. My 2002 CR-V was never over 23 MPG on road trips, and the CR-V is significantly smaller.

.

ton12 wrote:
archieck wrote:

And if I got a new vehicle, it would probably be a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, neither of which is a small vehicle.

I just made a two-day road trip in my Sienna. Using the method of setting my trip odometer to 0 a fill-up, then dividing miles into the gallons at the next fill up, I got 26 MPG with one tank, and 27 MPG on the next tank. I think thats outstanding for a van. My 2002 CR-V was never over 23 MPG on road trips, and the CR-V is significantly smaller.

The same here!

My 2000 Sienna gives about 26 MPG while my 2003 Cr-V only gives around 21MPG.

--
Nuvi 350 Nuvi 3597LMT Nuvi 1450LMT Nuvi 55LM

I would purchase an SUV, but

I would purchase an SUV, but only if I had the disposable income to put towards the ridiculously poor fuel economy.

Re: hells no. not anymore. i can

Only makes sense if you have another car for you daily commuting. I would not use my SUV to drive to work everyday.

Toyota Highlander Hybrid

archieck wrote:

I was just thinking about that myself today. I have a 2000 4Runner, which has been great. I sometimes drive a friends Subaru Outback, and while it drives great and gets much better gas mileage than my rig, it's just too small for me. I show dogs, and with the 4Runner I can fold down the seats and get 3 dog crates, all my luggage, an exercise pen and the dogs paraphenelia, including grooming table and stool. No way could I get all that into an Outback without seriously obstructing my view.
And if I got a new vehicle, it would probably be a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, neither of which is a small vehicle.

Dear Archieck,

Have you considered the Toyota Highlander Hybrid?

http://www.toyota.com/highlander/index.html

david

--
nüvi 1490T, V1, Sanyo PRO-700a, maps, sunglasses, hot co-pilot, the open road

Credit Card Limits on Gasoline

It's definitely the station or the company that owns the station that sets the limit on purchases with credit cards. I can use my ExxonMobile M/C at a number of stations with no problems. There are several stations where they pump shuts off at $50.00, using the same card. I also used to work in the credit card division of a major regional bank and the only restrictions were that cardholders did not exceed the purchase limits on their cards.

I just bought one

I've been looking at replacing my 1994 Volvo 940 wagon (170K miles) with a newer Volvo wagon. The prices are $28,000 or higher.

Last week, after filling my Volvo with 1/2 tank of gas - $60, my eye caught a silver SUV for sale across from the service station. I went and looked at it, called my husband to research it online for the reviews and the price. It was a good deal, so we immediately called the owner, took it for a drive and bought it. Wasn't in the market for an SUV, but the price was right.

It cost me $16,500. Figure I can buy a lot of gas for the money it saved me in not buying the Volvo, as well as interest on car payments because we bought it outright.

It's a 2002 BMW X5 4.4i loaded, with 70,000 miles and a certified service contract up to 100,000.
As soon as we took possession, I had it checked through by the BMW dealership, and all is well. I was afraid that "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" would have applied.
The MPG computer readout varies from 20 to 22 mpg. which is what the Volvo got.

I don't do as much driving around now that my kids have their own cars, so I'm good with driving around in a BMW SAV (they call it a sports activity vehicle). smile

--
Originator of Keeping Your Windmill Alive. Live in MA & have a cooking website. 6 yr. member. http://kitchentoysmakecookingfun.blogspot.com/

Yes, its the gas stations

The subject of CC limitations has been debated to ad nausium over on RV.net.

CC companies do not limit our gas purchases at the pump. What they limit to $50 or $75 is the amount they will reimburse the gas station if the card used is stolen. So the station is saying there is a limit, but its imposed on them, not the consumer. I realize this makes little sense because I would think the same limitation applies to in store transactions.

Speedway is where I usually go to fill up, recently they lifted the "limitation" that they previously had on paying at the pump.

Back on topic.
I have a Chevy Trailblazer. Its purpose is to carry 6-7 passengers on a regular basis, and to tow our travel trailer. I don't owe a dime on it, so it would be counter productive for me to get a new truck. Right now we're only putting about 100 miles a week on it.

What I'm hoping is that in a few years when it need to be replaced, GM will have a Suburban with the new 4.8l diesel. Its expected to 25mpg in the city. I've owned 3 'Burbs and would love another one.

--
Chuck - Nuvi 200, Nuvi 255W

When Russia Drills for Oil at the North Pole, Will Dems Continue

PaulATL wrote:
dog_poop wrote:
PaulATL wrote:

There was a report that this could be the first! summer ever, that the North pole may not be frozen solid.

Sorry Paul, I'm not a very green or a Global Warmist, weather cycles run the course about every 50 years, the north pole is going to be fine.

This is also part of why Oil companies are flocking to the North pole to drill since there will not be much ice.

Yea I also read about the land grab at the North Pole, Brought on by Putten and his band of russian throw backs!
http://tinyurl.com/5kbmeq

When Russia Drills for Oil at the North Pole, Will Dems Continue to Deprive the US of Such Oil and Allow Jobs?
while Russia, China, UK, Venezuela, and OPEC produce oil to help support the financial needs of their people, and the United States of America becomes a third world country.

I would be concerned about this!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/world/asia/10iran.html?_r=...

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

suv

spider_elliott wrote:

I came across an MSN.com article from about a month ago. For some people, buying an SUV makes sense.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCa...

In fact, I'm looking for a used full-size 4x4 SUV right now. Now that I've sold my "beater car" to my son, I'm looking for a "beater truck" that can handle some heavy snow in Colorado. As little as I'd drive it (2,000 miles or so per year), gas mileage is not too much of an issue. My Toyota is plenty fuel efficient for most of the daily drive I do.

With $4+ gas and deeply discounted SUV market, does buying one make financial sense to anyone else?

i look at it this way, i have a 07 durango,4x4 with the 5.7 hemi multi displacment, does it cost me alot to fill up yes about 100 dollars, but i get close to 520 to a tank (27 gal) the cost of a hybrid would not pay for itself for many years, i keep cars for 8-10 years or until they break, i always get 200-300000 miles on my cars, so for me i rather have the extra cash for gas and drive something well suited for me, not a cramped death trap :)plus both my dodges have lifetime power train warr. so i am really great to go !

--
Everyday is a GREAT day :)

suv

ton12 wrote:
archieck wrote:

And if I got a new vehicle, it would probably be a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, neither of which is a small vehicle.

I just made a two-day road trip in my Sienna. Using the method of setting my trip odometer to 0 a fill-up, then dividing miles into the gallons at the next fill up, I got 26 MPG with one tank, and 27 MPG on the next tank. I think thats outstanding for a van. My 2002 CR-V was never over 23 MPG on road trips, and the CR-V is significantly smaller.

my dodge grand caravan gets 30-32 mpg, i have installed a vortec type throttle spacer which helps alot, it didnt cost that much! my durango already had one installed when we bought it!

--
Everyday is a GREAT day :)

Not for me

You won't see me in a SUV. I never haul anything and very rarely have more than one passenger so it would be pointless and a waste of resources. Besides, it is much more fun driving a small car with a manual transmission! Oh yeah, and the gas mileage thing also.... smile I do see alot more motorcycles on the road lately, what kind of mileage do they typically get??

--
Magellan Maestro 4250, T-Mobile G1 with Google Maps, iPaq with TomTom, and a Tapwave Zodiac with TomTom and Mapopolis

Work :(

Need one for my work sad

--
nüvi 660 & 670 - Hello I'm a Mac :))

Death Trap????

werskine wrote:

for me i rather have the extra cash for gas and drive something well suited for me, not a cramped death trap smile

OK...Cramped....Maybe. Now for the other part...
The reason why it would be a death trap is when it gets hit buy a giant SUV of over 7000lbs with a 27 gallon tank of gas. Any vehicle that does not get >15mpg should be charged twice for gas. You should be charged by the fuel efficiency of your engine and also charged extra for insurance since you would be the only person that walks away!

May need one for winters around here

I moved to a snowier locale last year and thought about purchasing an SUV at that time. The two SUV's that I narrowed down my search to were the Jeep Liberty (gas only) and the Ford Escape Hybrid.

When I used the True Cost to Own calculator on Edmunds, I found that even if you assumed $5 to $6 gas, it was difficult to overcome the big price differential in the initial purchase price between the gas Liberty and hybrid Escape. In the calculations, the Jeep always came out cheaper over ten year's time!

I've been stalling my purchase because hybrids are just so much more expensive than their gas counterparts. Now if Ford is willing to deeply discount the Escape Hybrid this summer I would definitely go for one.

Don't need an SUV

I have lived in snowy locales my whole life, (WI, MI, and MN), and the best snow car I ever had was a beater Ford Festiva. Don't laugh, it never got stuck, maybe because it was so light. smile Anyway, you don't need an SUV in the snowy areas unless you are going off road. MOst of the time after a blizzard, it is the SUV's that are sitting in the ditch. Higher profile vehicles just don't hande snow well. I think the bigger problem is the drivers "think" they are safer and take more chances than people in normal cars do. It is more about driving smart than what vehicle you have. Off course if you are planning on driving off road in the snow, nevermind!

--
Magellan Maestro 4250, T-Mobile G1 with Google Maps, iPaq with TomTom, and a Tapwave Zodiac with TomTom and Mapopolis

compact SUV not always so great in the snow and ice

Nuvi_Newbie wrote:

I moved to a snowier locale last year and thought about purchasing an SUV at that time. The two SUV's that I narrowed down my search to were the Jeep Liberty (gas only) and the Ford Escape Hybrid.

Nuvi_Newbie,
Hybrid part asside, I would ask friends and neighbors how they like driving their compact SUV (Liberty is in this category) in the snow and ice. There is clearance, but their torque is almost too much for their relatively light weight. Last year we had a lot of snow in my town, and my neighbors with compact SUV's got stuck as a result of tire spin more so than those of us driving pokey sedans. However, if you live somewhere with dirt roads and the plow rarely comes by, then the compact SUV might be a better choice.

Does AWD help on the compact SUV's?

ton12 wrote:
Nuvi_Newbie wrote:

I moved to a snowier locale last year and thought about purchasing an SUV at that time. The two SUV's that I narrowed down my search to were the Jeep Liberty (gas only) and the Ford Escape Hybrid.

Nuvi_Newbie,
Hybrid part asside, I would ask friends and neighbors how they like driving their compact SUV (Liberty is in this category) in the snow and ice. There is clearance, but their torque is almost too much for their relatively light weight. Last year we had a lot of snow in my town, and my neighbors with compact SUV's got stuck as a result of tire spin more so than those of us driving pokey sedans. However, if you live somewhere with dirt roads and the plow rarely comes by, then the compact SUV might be a better choice.

Good advice ton12 thanks--I'm was going compact to make the car size more manageable for the missus but if it winds up being the wrong choice for our needs that would miss the point.

I know that on both the Liberty and Escape there is a AWD option, which is what I was planning to make sure was included. Do you think that your neighbors had the non-AWD versions of their respective compact SUVs and maybe that is why they had difficulties?

Apologies in advance for hijacking the thread everyone....

Not for me; why buy what I don't need?

spider_elliott wrote:

I came across an MSN.com article from about a month ago. For some people, buying an SUV makes sense.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCa...

In fact, I'm looking for a used full-size 4x4 SUV right now. Now that I've sold my "beater car" to my son, I'm looking for a "beater truck" that can handle some heavy snow in Colorado. As little as I'd drive it (2,000 miles or so per year), gas mileage is not too much of an issue. My Toyota is plenty fuel efficient for most of the daily drive I do.

With $4+ gas and deeply discounted SUV market, does buying one make financial sense to anyone else?

No.

However, I did buy a Stage One PCM for my PT. I didn't really "need" that, I just wanted it!

--
Ted in Ohio, c340, 1490T with lifetime maps

AWD is better

Newbie,
The Saturn Compact SUV I helped push out of the snow was two wheel drive, so AWD helps I would assume.
That being said, my front wheel drive 4 cyl sedan never got caught in the snow last year. And even if it did once or twice the cost savings with retail price and MPG is still a better option than a compact SUV cost wise. Think about what is your best option most of the time, not what is best occasionally.

Didn't want one when gas was $0.25 per gallon>>>

can't see any reason I'd buy one now smile My wife drives a Subaru Forester, that is certainly truckish enough for our needs like hauling dogs smile

Regards, Ted

--
"You can't get there from here"

Many SUV's are car based platforms

One thing to remember, many SUV's are based on another car in the manufacturer's lineup. For instance, we have a 2008 RAV4 that utilizes the same engine and drive train in the Camry line and aside from aerodynamic and weight issues, gets about the same mileage. One is seen as economic and the other as a "gas guzzling SUV". Some of this is more perception than reality.

As to 2WD v 4WD, our RAV is front dive. We went through last winter in CHicago with no problems, the vehicle has traction control and limited slip standard. We had a 4WD previously, other than off roading we rarely put the vehicle in 4WD.

--
Nuvi 680, Magellan 300

Almost...

kapnketel wrote:

One thing to remember, many SUV's are based on another car in the manufacturer's lineup. For instance, we have a 2008 RAV4 that utilizes the same engine and drive train in the Camry line and aside from aerodynamic and weight issues, gets about the same mileage. One is seen as economic and the other as a "gas guzzling SUV". Some of this is more perception than reality.

According to Toyota, the 4 cyl Camry gets 31 MPG highway, and the 4 cyl Rav 4 gets 27. Same engine, but that's about it. That being said, I think the Rav 4 has the best fuel economy of any compacts out there. I had a CR-V, built on the Civic platform with the Accord engine. But at 21-23 MPG on the highway, that's no where near the Accord mileage. The sedans cruise on the highway at lower RPM's than their SUV counter parts.

Wow, the CRV gets that bad of mileage?

ton12 wrote:

I had a CR-V, built on the Civic platform with the Accord engine. But at 21-23 MPG on the highway, that's no where near the Accord mileage. The sedans cruise on the highway at lower RPM's than their SUV counter parts.

Your CRV only got 21-23 hwy? Wow, thats terrible for a vehicle of that type and drivetrain. I get 21 hwy with my Chevy Trialblazer.

As far as sedans getting better mileage, that to me has more to do with aerodynmics than RPMs. Most SUVs are boxes on wheels that have poor wind resistance. Sedans are designed with wind resistance in mind. To illustrate, I tow a travel trailer, my mileage drops dramatically when towing. And its still running at the same RPMs as when not towing.

--
Chuck - Nuvi 200, Nuvi 255W

motorcycle

mashryock wrote:

I do see alot more motorcycles on the road lately, what kind of mileage do they typically get??

i have a 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade. It is like a Honda Goldwing(just much better my 2cents ). I get 32-35 city 38-42 hwy. If you get something like a 250 rebel you can get 50-70 mpg.

It can also be gear ratios

SUV's use different gear ratios which may effect mileage even in the same engine package. 4WD impacts mileage v. 2WD. Another thing I have seen is that the 4 cylinder in a SUV while in theory is more efficient, they are underpowered and have to beat their brains out to keep up. I have the larger 6 in my RAV, it gets 21 in town 25-27 highway because it works easier at lower RPM. Bottom line, no simple answer.

Regarding cycles, I have a 2003 Vstar 1100, I get 45-50 MPH in town, 45 highway at 75MPH. I try to ride all I can with those numbers!

--
Nuvi 680, Magellan 300

Use for your SUV

So I have a use for your SUV's. You can load the Vespa file I just submitted and drive down and pick one up. mrgreen

4Runner

I have a '99 4Runner Sport (used to be called the Highlander before Toyota made another SUV by that name) and would buy one again with no hesitation. Consider it almost new with anything less than 150,000 miles and drive it hard. I've pulled over 30 small trees and bushes out of the ground by the roots with mine. It is a true off-road SUV also on a truck base with 13" of ground clearance where many SUV's even with 4WD should not go off-road.

--
Garmin: Dezl 770 Nuvi 780, Nuvi 260W, GPSMAP 295, GPSMAP 396, GNC250-XL Magellan: Meridian Platinum, GPS-315 (first GPS in 1999)