snowbunny

Yo!

Everything is relative. If a family is driving a carpool in LA, for example, then having the extra capacity to carry more kids saves gas overall, and reduces traffic congestion and smog.

The irony here is that both Bush and Cheney are in the oil bidness and their answer to high oil prices is to make more gasoline, NOT to cut consumption, when the latter is the only way there will be relief in prices any time soon.

There *are* people who buy SUVs for the wrong reason -- more often than not I hear that someone's gotten one for their wife or teenaged kid so that the driver will be "safer." SUVs are NOT inherently safer; they have dangers of their own, and they are far more likely to cause catastrophic injury to someone they hit than they are to protect their own occupants.

I only wish that we could get some straight talk from our leaders; and that more people would do some research and *think* before they buy *anything*.

woodsey

I made a reference to the A class because Tim asked the question as to whether an Expedition would have been needed in the UK so I was just saying what car I had then compared to the car I have now. My circumstances were very very different there but my hubby had an A6 Estate as well when we all went out together..I wasn't saying it was my only option. He was also implying Expeditions are gas guzzling monsters but as a comparison my 'little' Merc wasn't much better. I get 15 to the gallon in my Expedition, did get 25 to the gallon in my Merc, if a gallon here was the same size as a UK gallon, it would do almost 19 to the gallon, only 6 less than my 'considered to be ever so fuel efficient Merc' same with every other so called fuel efficient car I ever drove in the UK, even my Ford Ka was shite and that was no bigger than my handbag.
Anyway are we just Expedition bashing here, or is it SUV'S in general? I am not going to apologise for having a big car, these are my circumstances at the moment and my SUV fits those circumstances. When all my kids are grown up and no one wants to come and visit us anymore, I'm buying a Mini.
Strangely enough I did actually look at the Volvo SUV but it was so expensive in comparison to the Expedition and wasn't available from International Auto Source and as I wouldn't have been able to get credit to buy one when we arrived it was not an option.
As for the Volvo Estate being safer, I believe the 6th and 7th passenger seats are rear facing and are only fold up/down ones and taking into account the number of rear end crashes in this country I wouldn't want my kids or anyone elses kids (can't fit an adult in them, unless you want your knees in your face, not nice on a seven hour drive to San Francisco, I know, I've sat in one) sitting so close to the back of the car, thankyou very much.
I agree the build quality is better in a Volvo.
Last point, wtf does it matter how much I spend on a car anyway, what does the cost to buy my car have anything to do with anyone else. It's my money and if I want to spend $100,000 on a car I will.

P.S my Expedition is the only car I've ever owned that has actually done more miles to the gallon than it says it should..

Eskimo

First of all couldnt really give crap how much it costs - I actually had a look in one of these and the town and country - when configured for eight it doesnt have the boot (sorry trunk ) space needed. Anyway we beg to differ, each to their own and all that. Its a big car, we have a lot of people here most of the year, I love been able to go the airport, drive up to the bay or down to Mexico as we will in few weeks, with all my family and all my sisters family in one car rather than two. Nothing more deep or clever than that ..

Eskimo

LOL

elfman

Just a minor point of interest, and I probably shouldn't keep coming back to this, but according to their respective websites the scores on the doors regarding cargo volume behind the third row of seats (in cubic feet) is:

Honda Odyssey 38.4 Ford Expedition 20.7

snowbunny

I love my Odyssey, and apparently other people love theirs too cos there are so many on the road that it's like seeing someone who's wearing the same dress you have on! I would only ask that those people who feel that they have to drive an SUV or they are not real men, or real Texans, or whatever.... to please look at the choices. Eskimo and Woodsey, you really did your homework. My damned brother *knows* that for his needs, the Odyssey is far and away better than the Honda-family SUVs and despite being fairly liberal is having a very hard time trying to accept driving a minivan -- a "soccer mom-mobile."

In this country, you are often judged by what you drive; it is the ultimate statement, I guess, in that you go everywhere with it and it's a serious wad of cash, more than any outfit most of us will ever wear. I remember the 80s when my owning a Japanese car was considered nearly traitorous by most people, especially in rural areas. I told them: I got Consumer Reports, I looked at which cars broke down the least and got the best gas mileage/safety records, and bought. Simple as.

USBound

we checked out many vehicles before buying the Expedition...

Odyssey - didn't eel solid when I drove it, didn't like the lack of power, inspection of a post-crash vehicle is also rather surprising; it's not dangerous but don't expect anything left to salvage... on the up side.. good mileage

Town & country - liked it, good power, fold away nice seating... ZERO luggage space when rear seating in use. Average mileage.

Winstar - crap crap crap - felt horrid, no power, crash sees it crumple into nothing, average mileage.

Explorer - nice car, good power, solid build, can take a few bumps without dying, not large enough (need seating for 6+), good mileage.

Expedition - good power, good seating, plenty of luggage space, fold away seats, good crash survival rate, build seems pretty solid low to average mileage...

we got the Eddie Bauer Expedition in the end... and because we went for a pre-owned one (18months old) it was by far the cheapest.


andy

tony126

The conclusion formed in reading these messages is that:-
1. I have a crap crap vehichle.
2. The crash safety is crap.
3. Judgement by other people is not going to be good.

I have not read such a load of shite in all my life. I am who I am and drive what I drive and am not here to fit into anyones preset ideas of whom I should be. If anyone does not like it they can do the other thing and piss off.

Bob

Aye, such a status symbol...weird really that people get so hung up on their motor.
There's nothing wrong with an SUV is that's what you need, or you seriously do take to the off-road, but when as for a lot of people, it's just to go to work in, and they never go on holiday, or have the need for the space, as is the case most often here, then it really is silly, especially when never car pooling.

Ray

Back in the UK in the 70s I drove an 8200cc Cadillac Eldorado... around Sarf London for a few years
Why!! you say ...

Cos I could ....

You drive whatever YOU want... and BOLLOCKS to the whiners....

BritGuyTN

not as macho though is it?

Eskimo

Oh Jesus give it a rest...OK I bought an Expedition cos Im twat with a small penis. If you really want to know the minvan IMHO general gives volume space vertically so you have to stock everything - felt terrible on the road as well (the worse car I have driven here is the dodge caravan ). By the way I drive tiny two seater so I think as a family on balance we as green as the average non SUV family

ukemigrant

I bought an SUV because I wanted one. I didn't worry about what anyone else would think of me when they saw me driving it.

Bob

And that's fair enough...I don't really care what people drive, but it does piss me off when you see people complaining about petrol prices on the news and there driving and suv

snowbunny

And that's why I bought my minivan. It is a sad fact that Americans judge each other by their cars for all sorts of reasons. We judge each other by each other's shoes, clothes, house, you name it.

I do, however, reserve the right to judge someone based on their bumper stickers