Why do people feel the need to drive SUV's when they only have two or less children?

Question

energy conservation

Answer 1

for us it depends on what you normally transport, where you go and how "big" your family is.

my husband is 6'4 and my 12 year old daughter is already 5'8 so she needs leg room

for those of you that said leg room is not a valid reason for needing something bigger than a car have not done a lot of traveling with larger people in the vehicle.

Answer 2

I can't stand SUV's. Give me a classy car ANYDAY. Like a Mercedes or a Jag, etc. NO SUV's or trucks.

Answer 3

1.  Its none of your business what other people drive.  When you start paying for their car loans, insurance and gas, you can question it.  

2.  This is America (unitl the illegals take it over) and people have the right to choose.  Why does Al Gore have a huge mansion and a corporate jet?  He has the right to choose but wants everyone else to conserve.

Answer 4

People drive the cars they drive for a number of reasons.  What a person drives is a personal choice.  They do not need to justify this choice to you, me or anyone else.  This is the meaning of personal freedom.  No one died and put you in charge of what I or anyone else other than yourself drives.  Please get a life.

Answer 5

SUV'a and busses i love thim because they are globle warrming the earth soo later on in life it will be hot all year long from the globle warmming. and i cant wate for that because when i die everyone else should die that is why i like globle warrming

Answer 6

I guess when your family consists of you (6'3"), your wife (5'9") and two children (6'2"), your choices in cars that can fit all of you might be a little limited, especially when you consider all of the luggage, maybe the family pet, maybe you want to tow a trailer to go camping.  Maybe you want a car that can get stuff home that won't fit in a trunk.  There are tons of reasons that I might decide to own an SUV over a car.  Why, except for AGW and that I might save some money, would I want a car over an SUV?

I guess we should just buy an additional car.  I'm sure the gas savings will make up for all the energy required to produce all the car parts, assemble them, and deliver the car.

And for those of you who think it is for "status-symbol," I think our car qualifies as a much larger status-symbol than the SUV.

Answer 7

what business is it of yours?

why do you feel you need to judge others?

Answer 8

My spouse and I with no children need a truck for hauling cargo and an SUV for the occasions when we need to carry more than the two of us (for carpooling, travelling with friends, etc.) because ordinary passenger cars do not have the ground clearance we need to drive the rough, frequently unpaved country roads we have to travel to get to our work and to grocery stores in town.  We do not live in an urban environment, can't bike or walk to work, and when we go into town, we group our errands and always bring a load back.  We don't go to the store for just one item.  S-UTILITY-Vs are a necessity of our life. When passenger car manufacturers get a clue and start focussing on the "utility" part of the car's function rather than the "luxury" part of it, we may be able to drive a more eco-friendly version of the working vehicles we need out here.

Answer 9

Status symbol only.

Many of these gas hogs also have 4 wheel drive, but never leave the pavement.  Unless you live in a area that gets over 300" of snow a year, you don't really need 4 wheel drive.  You don't need 4 wheel drive in the rain.

The manufacturers push them because they are money makers for them

Answer 10

Here are some answer:

1. Safety:  Larger vehicles offer greater protection in the event of an accident.

2. Safety:  Greater visibility, and road perspective.. you have fewer obstructions and greater range of vision when you are up high.

3. Status:  People think you are successful.  You are not worried about the price of gas.

4. Room:  You can hold more people, more equipment, more stuff.

5. Comfort:  They are generally comfortable especially for long trips.

6. A good alternative for someone who otherwise would be purchasing a mini-van.

Answer 11

there are those people who really have a good reason, such

as the woman who said they need the leg room.

but that would only account for 1% of those who purchase a

SUV.  

The real statistic is it's a Vanity Issue.  People want to look

like they have money. You don't typically see low income un-documented Mexican workers cruising around in expensive SUV's.

I live in Arizona and I constantly see how bad the day-laborers have it. They stand on street corners waiting for someone to pick them up and use them for landscaping or manual labor. they are incredibly hard working and are just trying to feed their children.  

But, on Sunday morning I drive by Church after Church after Church ...ALL of those Churches' parking lots are packed full of expensive SUV's !!!!

Answer 12

some people like the extra room for fishing or other outdoor sports and others like to sit up high. cadillac escalades are popular here in sw florida and people always customize them.

it's just a way to show off money, i guess.

Answer 13

This is America and people have the right to drive whatever the h**l they want. Regardless of how many children they have, they are the ones making the payments on the huge vehicle and paying for their own gas.

Why don't YOU mind your own d**n business?

Answer 14

Why do some people worry so much about how other people live?  

Here is a helpful link for ya:

www.mindyourownfukkinbusiness.net

Answer 15

i love these people that hate suvs! its so incredable how stupid some (most) americans are! other countries laugh at us because so many americans reap the benefits of life. there are not many people who just sit back, smell the fricken flowers, and appreciate sht. whats wrong with a car? or wait, whats wrong with just a motorcycle? u usually just need to get from point a to point b. i dont think its fair that theres not a law limiting the size of cars, its simple physics, if a hummer h2 hits a small economy car, the momentum of the hummer is far greater. i think the only way an suv is safer is because of that! but now its a battle of who gets the bigger car and cars will probably keep getting bigger. if u absolutly need a huge suv then the licensing should be alot more difficult to pass and that goes for even normal licences. i guess ill end with this, people need to see the big picture (global warming, fuel consumption, cancer rates, pollution, ect) and grow up.

Answer 16

Another question could be why do so many people who will never travel off a major highway feel the need to drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle?  For the most part, more money than brains is my answer.

Answer 17

My wife had a conversation about this the other day.  Her co-worker came upon a couple of women driving a Chevy Tahoe, stuck in the mud with no 4-wheel drive.  The park ranger asked "What's the point of a Tahoe without 4-wheel drive??".

Not too long ago SUVs didn't even exist, then there were just Jeeps for a long time.  Now all of the sudden it seems like everyone has an SUV.  Some people have a reasonable reason, like they need it to tow things (like a boat or horse trailer or something), but most people don't.  Leg room is not a valid reason - just get a reasonably sized car.  My Prius has tons of leg room, and you can't get any greener than a Prius:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070727/sc_n...

It also has tons of room in the back seat even if you have 2-3 kids.  Really people just want to have big cars for whatever reason.  Some of it is safety.  I can't tell you the number of times I've heard 'nice car, but you'd better hope you don't get into an accident with an SUV!'.  Never mind that an SUV will roll over and catch fire - people think they're safe because they're big.  They can also be a status symbol.

We have to get away from the mindset that you need an unnecessarily huge car to be safe and cool.

Answer 18

there are single people with no children who drive SUV's.  It's a wonderful world we live in to have a personal choice in things we buy.

Answer 19

Leg room, towing capacity (horses, boats, jet skiis - pick-up beds for extra equipment aren't rain-proof, either), head room, better shocks, car sickness (sitting upright better than reclined), bad knees or lower back (easier to climb in and fall out vs. fall in and climb out), frequent camping trips, know of several people who kayak and need to room for all the equipment, transport documents and boxes frequently, pets (safety crates or a gate to keep them from jumping all over during trips), ...  should I go on?  All that rain-proof room is really, really nice ...  and so much easier to deal with car seats if your aren't trying to touch your toes at the same time ...  wow, I am really missing my SUV now ...  also lived on a dirt road for 4 years ...  4-WD was really nice in heavy rain ...

as far as status symbol - meh - beamers and mercedes offer the same status and more ...