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Originally Posted by briansabeans
Can someone give me a rational reason why they would purchase a Hybrid SUV?
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Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by briansabeans
You get a hybrid to get better gas mileage and be more socially responsible. Yet there are tons of cars with better gas mileage than the best hybrid SUV -- if gas mileage is your thing, get a Prius.
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My last tank was 38 MPG. My current tank is 39 MPG. I'm expecting to get tanks well into the mid 40's, as I did last summer. Show me any vehicle outside of the HCH, Prius, and Insight that get that kind of MPG or better, let alone as a 4WD SUV.
I have a higher lifetime MPG with my 4WD SUV then 33 Prius Gen I, Gen II, HCHI, and HCHII owners here at GH's database alone. So obviously while what you drive is important,
how you drive it is important as well, which also points out a flaw in your logic; test drivers of the Prius (
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...mileage_1.html ) got a whopping 34 MPG in economy mode over 104 miles and the test driver tried his hardest to get the EPA MPG, owners complain about not getting EPA MPG. I'm exceeding mine with ease, and in fact outside of a single tank in -30 temperatures which
merely met the EPA instead of exceeding it. I've seen several Prius drivers on the road that I'm positive I'm far more fuel efficient due to the way they drive.
So, if there's a good chunk of Prius owners getting MPG near mine, who paid more for theirs then I did for mine, and mine fits my needs to earn a living, why again should my choice be called into question?
Besides, at a stop light every hybrid has the same instantaneous MPG.
Lastly, if MPG is the only reason, then why not go PHEV? PHEV FEH's get 150+ MPG. Why own a gas guzzling Prius when you can convert your FEH over and be both more fuel efficient and have more cargo space? Or go full electric?
Quote:
Originally Posted by briansabeans
It's not socially responsible to own any kind of SUV because their height off the ground increases deaths when an SUV hits a car head-on. Not to mention the added danger to everyone on the road who has to follow you and cannot see how traffic is progressing in front of you.
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Muwha? Socially responsible
in your opinion. In some peoples
opinion owning a hybrid is socially irresponsible to the blind.
How about being socially responsible in buying an affordable vehicle? My FEH cost me less then most people pay for a Prius and was within my budget that I could actually buy the vehicle, not get a loan.
How about being socially responsible in buying an American car?
How about being socially responsible in buying a fuel miser (12 gallons a month) when gas was $1.60?
Is it socially responsible to roll through stop signs or not stop for them at all?
The FEH is involved in fewer fatal accidents then nearly every car on the road, take a look at the National Highway Traffic Institutes recent pdf file on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by briansabeans
The only sensible answer I've heard goes something like this: I need an SUV, so it's responsible for me to get a hybrid SUV. I call BS on this one. Who really needs an SUV? Some people, to be sure, but almost none. In reality, these folks just want SUVs and are rationalizing their hybrid SUV purchase by pointing to some activity that they do rarely and probably don't need to do it at all.
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Ah, a favorite arguement of mine. Why don't you list all the reasons you have a Prius instead of taking public transportation or a bicycle, then I can judge if you're worthy of owning a Prius or if you just
wanted one and didn't want to feel overly guilty about owning a car. How about you list all the reasons you don't own an Insight which can make the Prius look like a gas hog? Or perhaps you should move to a home closer to your employment so that you can easily walk or bike without problems, and then not own a motor vehicle at all.
For the record, I'm a fencing instructor. I haul fencing equipment around, and living in MI, there's some brutal winters here with unpaved and unplowed roads. I haul a great deal of equipment and I frequently carpool with another instructor, resulting in an amount of cargo that simply won't fit in a Prius. I know, my mother has one, and what I haul multiple times a week won't fit in her car, it's not a matter of cubic space, it's a matter of physical dimensions of the fencing equipment and the sizing of the Prius' internal space. Heck, when I picked up the new equipment this week that I requisitioned, the box that it came in fit in my FEH with no problem, but couldn't fit in the back of the Prius by a good 8 inches.
Quote:
Originally Posted by briansabeans
So if you live in an off-road cabin or have to haul stuff for work, I think your hybrid SUV purchase is a great idea. If you are buying it so it's easier to haul your skiing equipment, your hybrid SUV purchase is irrational and wasteful.
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Ah, but then you quantify reasons why it's OK to own one. So, then you answered your own question, with some conditions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by briansabeans
I'm sure I'm just asking to get flamed, but this is a legitimate topic. For me, if you are going to "go hybrid" and get a fuel efficient car, why would you get a much less fuel efficient car just because it has a hybrid engine?
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Again, why did you get a Prius and not an Insight? Why didn't you get an NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle)? Why aren't you using public transporation?
I hope that I've given you some food for thought rather then sent you into a dismissive state. Personally, I'm always a bit irked when I see people in brand new luxury SUV's or supersized Pick-ups. Did you really need that brand new truck with the 5.7 litre Hemi engine on it to drive to and from work (not at a manual labor/construction site) with gas prices skyrocketing?