Are big SUVs on their way out?

[BENZ BOY15]

Do you think that the glory days of big SUVs are over? Will Americans still buy them in large numbers?

With gas prices being $4.29-$4.45 for a gallon of regular (in my town) and the recession...I just don't see SUVs making a huge comeback. Gas prices are sure to rise even higher than they are now due to Iran.

I love SUVs...big, comfortable, you can see see the road better, you can haul a lot of shit and you can go off-road if you need to.

Then again, $4.45/gallon in a 31 gallon tank for the Suburban equals $137.95. Although I thought it was 26, but here says otherwise: http://www.vehix.com/car-reviews/2004/chevrolet/suburban/4dr-1500-4wd-z71/vehicle-specifications.

Regardless, SUVs are terrible when it comes to gas millage and our average is 13mpg. For that reason and the price of gas, we will not be buying another Suburban/large gas-guzzling SUV.

I think that's the norm rather than the exception.

What do you guys think? Are SUVs over or not?

[Rupert]

They'll never stop making them.

[dazzleman]

I hope so.  I hate sharing the road with them.  It's impossible to see around them.  And most people who have them have no business driving them.  They're hugely wasteful of scarce resources.  Get rid of them.

[Rupert]

Hippie.

[Soup DeVille]

They'll never stop making them.

No, but I do see them being used less and less commonly soon. it may be that the three car family stops being two SUVs and a pickup and starts beign two sedans and a more practical SUV, or it may be that people just cut back the mileage they're driving them.

[sportyaccordy]

My parents' live next door to another family that in my opinion exemplified the typical LI family. When we moved there in 2001 they had an Expedition. Then gas got expensive so they got an Aviator. Now they have a little 3 series. I think that is a typical story. $100 weekly fill ups are just too much for the average American to bear. That's damn near a third of the avg American household's take home pay.

[Soup DeVille]

My parents' live next door to another family that in my opinion exemplified the typical LI family. When we moved there in 2001 they had an Expedition. Then gas got expensive so they got an Aviator. Now they have a little 3 series. I think that is a typical story. $100 weekly fill ups are just too much for the average American to bear. That's damn near a third of the avg American household's take home pay.

I'm not going to disagree with your conclusion, but i think your numbers are off in both cases. The average household takes in far more than $300/wk, but I think you underestimate how much they're paying for gas by a huge amount. Chances are, its closer to $200-300/week just for gas.

[FoMoJo]

They'll never stop making them.

They'll just make them a little different...2012 Ford Explorer 2.0L EcoBoost .  Some more work is needed.

[ifcar]

My parents' live next door to another family that in my opinion exemplified the typical LI family. When we moved there in 2001 they had an Expedition. Then gas got expensive so they got an Aviator. Now they have a little 3 series. I think that is a typical story. $100 weekly fill ups are just too much for the average American to bear. That's damn near a third of the avg American household's take home pay.

Did their kids move out or start driving themselves in that time? Because more factors than gas prices can change what a family is driving in 12 years.

[hounddog]

I hope so.  I hate sharing the road with them.  It's impossible to see around them.  And most people who have them have no business driving them.  They're hugely wasteful of scarce resources.  Get rid of them.

Scarce?  Seriously?

Please tell me you do not believe we are running out of oil.  

That myth was debunked with so much force it created even more oil....

And, yes, it seems some are on the way out, I know the Sequoia is done with the 2014 remodel of the Tundra.

[Rupert]

They'll just make them a little different...2012 Ford Explorer 2.0L EcoBoost .  Some more work is needed.

That's not really a big SUV. I'm thinking of the Suburban, mostly.

[Madman]

I hope so.  I hate sharing the road with them.  It's impossible to see around them.  And most people who have them have no business driving them.  They're hugely wasteful of scarce resources.  Get rid of them.

For once, I actually agree with everything you said!

I think in years to come, monster SUVs will be looked upon with the same sort of distain and ridicule we have today for the ostentatious land yachts of the 1970s.  With the demise of SUVs, I wonder what insecure women and men with small penis syndrome will be driving a few years from now?

[Raza]

Ford still sells 10 million F-150s a year, so what does it matter?

[dazzleman]

Scarce?  Seriously?

Please tell me you do not believe we are running out of oil.  

That myth was debunked with so much force it created even more oil....

And, yes, it seems some are on the way out, I know the Sequoia is done with the 2014 remodel of the Tundra.

No, I don't believe we're running out of oil.  But if oil is so plentiful, why is the price so high?

Americans are stupid and short-sighted.  Oil prices are volatile.  Every time there's a dip, sales of big SUVs shoot up, and then when the price goes up, those idiots whine that they can't afford the gas.  And there's really no need to drive around in your living room.  Those big things hog up road space, parking spaces, etc.  Maybe I look at it differently because I live in a more congested area.

Plus, we've been sacrificing the lives of our young men (and some women) to maintain involvement in the most backward, barbaric and volatile section of the world, largely because our addiction to the oil they produce.  There's a patriotic aspect to using less gasoline, and making ourselves less dependent on oil that must come from vile, backward, 7th century knuckle draggers.

[dazzleman]

For once, I actually agree with everything you said!

I think in years to come, monster SUVs will be looked upon with the same sort of distain and ridicule we have today for the ostentatious land yachts of the 1970s.  With the demise of SUVs, I wonder what insecure women and men with small penis syndrome will be driving a few years from now?

They're no different than the ostentatious land yachts of the 1970s.  Just an updated version.

But must you always go off into unpleasant personal attacks on people?

[AutobahnSHO]

The Suburban will always be around- to me that's a "True" SUV. The original Explorer was more 'mainstream' (refined) than a Jeep Cherokee but still off-road capable. People will always need a real workhorse, but I wouldn't mind if they were sold to the people who used to buy them- people driving to a worksite whatever. When I was a kid Suburbans were very rare compared to the explosion that the Explorer's success brought on.

I will be happy to see all the poseur SUVs gone, I don't think much of the "crossover" trend either- how do they build a vehicle that much taller than a wagon without much more usable space??

[AutobahnSHO]

BTW, didn't Ford STOP building the Expedition? or whatever that HUGE one was?

[r0tor]

I love my JGC... comfortable no matter the weather condition, fits shit well, and I can finally volunteer to take family along in comfort

... plus it gets 19+ MPG around town on regular grade so it doesn't cost all that much...

[Eye of the Tiger]

Excursion!
Which, IMHO, was a far superior vehicle to the Poseur Expedition.

[ifcar]

BTW, didn't Ford STOP building the Expedition? or whatever that HUGE one was?

Ford stopped making the Excursion -- which never caught on for being less family-friendly than the Suburban -- but quickly replaced it with an extended-length Expedition:



You don't see too many of those either, though.

[Lebowski]

I think their glory days have been over for several years now, but they will always be around in some form.

[BENZ BOY15]

LOL

My favorite SUV is the Range Rover.

[CALL_911]

I think their glory days have been over for several years now, but they will always be around in some form.

[Soup DeVille]

For once, I actually agree with everything you said!

I think in years to come, monster SUVs will be looked upon with the same sort of distain and ridicule we have today for the ostentatious land yachts of the 1970s.  With the demise of SUVs, I wonder what insecure women and men with small penis syndrome will be driving a few years from now?

How dare you compare these two!!!!!

[TurboDan]

I don't think we'll see another V10 Excursion type vehicle made again unless gas prices fall at some point and stabilize for a while. But more down to Earth SUVs that get 20MPG will always be around, IMO. The "utility" in the "sport utility" comes in handy for towing, hauling crap around, driving off-road, etc.

I think what someone else said is correct -- families that have three cars will have one SUV and two smaller cars. I love the LR2 so far, but when it's paid off I'm probably going to buy a two-seater as my daily driver and keep the LR2 for foul weather use, towing boats, hauling stuff, road trips, and the like.

[AutobahnSHO]

That makes sense, but some people just don't.

Have a friend (who is mildly crazy) who married a slightly crazier woman last year (they're both Army Officers so they're not THAT unstable). They don't live together yet- but very soon he is moving to Colorado to live with her. She has a smaller Toyota 4door truck.  This month he bought an F150 crewcab (4door and hella legroom in the back) and she complained he bought a truck that's too small.

[AutobahnSHO]

PS- looking at cars.com for used cars in Clarksville, TN.  Starting with the lowest price, 30 of the cheapest 50 are trucks, SUVs, fullsize vans, or minivans.

[ifcar]

That makes sense, but some people just don't.

Have a friend (who is mildly crazy) who married a slightly crazier woman last year (they're both Army Officers so they're not THAT unstable). They don't live together yet- but very soon he is moving to Colorado to live with her. She has a smaller Toyota 4door truck.  This month he bought an F150 crewcab (4door and hella legroom in the back) and she complained he bought a truck that's too small.

Did she mean too small of a bed? I can see that complaint with a crew cab pickup.

[J86]

I don't think we'll see another V10 Excursion type vehicle made again unless gas prices fall at some point and stabilize for a while. But more down to Earth SUVs that get 20MPG will always be around, IMO. The "utility" in the "sport utility" comes in handy for towing, hauling crap around, driving off-road, etc.

I think what someone else said is correct -- families that have three cars will have one SUV and two smaller cars. I love the LR2 so far, but when it's paid off I'm probably going to buy a two-seater as my daily driver and keep the LR2 for foul weather use, towing boats, hauling stuff, road trips, and the like.

Basically what my parents did.  They bought a 1999 ML320 in 2001, daily drove for ten years, then Dad bought a Mazda for daily use and the SUV got parked for boat hauling and dump run duties.  (It's also very convenient when I go visit!)

[BENZ BOY15]

Basically what my parents did.  They bought a 1999 ML320 in 2001, daily drove for ten years, then Dad bought a Mazda for daily use and the SUV got parked for boat hauling and dump run duties.  (It's also very convenient when I go visit!)

Same here. The Suburban is going to be the ranch truck within the year, hauling crap around and getting through the mud/tough terrain & towing trailers for a boat/horses. Basically it's going to be sent out to pasture until it dies.

I wonder how long it'll last. It's going to be sitting there for long periods of time without anyone driving it, but it'll get used...I just don't know how often we'll make it up there.

It has 110,000 miles or so.