I'm not saying there is no place for pickup trucks, and I'm certainly not suggesting people load their minivans up with dirt.

But now that GM and Ford give away full sized trucks for less money than smaller ones, I seem to see more and more people commuting in them with absolutely nothing in the back. And the trucks are a lot bigger than they need to be for most people's needs. How many truck owners tow something that weighs 2000lbs+ more than 4 times a year? I bet the answer is below 5%. Most of these people would be better off with a small truck, but that's hard to justify when the small truck costs as much or more.

When gas goes up to $8 a gallon, we'll find out what people really 'need'.

I don't disagree at all in the general observation that most large SUVs and trucks are chosen for reasons other than usefulness. And there is a huge waste there. Just don't regard everyone in a large SUV or truck as an "idiot."

My "idiot" comment was for the lady who needed room for carpet samples. She probably does a ton of city driving and she bought something that presumably gets 12MPG at best. Minivans get better milage, are more flexible in terms of cargo capacity (stow and go looks great for that), and they aren't as much of a safety threat to the rest of us. I don't mind her paying the stupid tax at the gas pump, but I don't like my safety being compromised because she was too cool to drive a van or minivan. Any bets on how often she's flapping her lips on the phone while driving this barge since she's using it for business?

At any rate, my *****ing will not change any thing... gas prices probably will. Or maybe SUVS will just lose their cool factor. They can't get much bigger or they won't fit in a normal garage. A guy at work (software developper... he tows a camper every once in a great while) bought an F250 and it won't fit in his garage, so he bought a remote start for it. LOL

I don't get it. This sounds like the cigarette manufacturers' invention of "light" cigarettes. Great. Now everyone smokes twice as much.

You don't save gas by buying a Hybrid Durango any more than you save money by going to the mall and spending money because they have a sale.

"What steams me in a snowstorm is when someone driving their 2WD 40 mpg vehicle gets stuck and stops all those behind them. They probably still think they saved gas despite the hundreds of cars behind them with engines running and going nowhere."


What, like 2 times a year? Yeah, 4WD is REAL practical.

'04 Seaside Pearl #7. Fumoto oil drain, mudflaps, rear bumper scuff protector & rear warn system, compass mirror, EV mode button, 8" subwoofer in right rear cubby & 6" subs under seats, power lumbar in the front seats, Coastaletech hitch w/ Aspen bike/snowboard rack. iPod2car, 2 amps, Alpine component speakers, and DVD video, solid 47 MPG @ 70000 miles.

Actually, my point was that little 2WD econoboxes become astronomical gas hogs when their owners take them out on the roads during snowstorms and the like. I didn't advocate having a 4WD solely for two snowstorms per year, though it makes sense for some people who absolutely must be able to go in treacherous weather.

What makes me laugh and yet also alarms me are the amount of 4WD vehicles that get pulled out of ditches every winter when the tard that "needs" 4WD ends up running off the road--- meanwhile those 2WD 40MPG vehicles have to move over to one lane so the recovery vehicles can perform the extraction.

The vehicle pulling it out? It might be a duallie-- but that's the extent of its 4WD. Strange how the truck pulling a vehicle out of the ditch is able to get there more safely than the truck that ended up in the ditch, and only has one drive axle.

90% of the vehicles I see that skidded off the road every winter are some kind of pickup or SUV. 4WD often instills the driver with a false sense of security-- cautious driving is much more a requirement than 4WD in the wintertime.

4WD is very popular in New England. And when I was in Alaska and the Yukon no one drove 2WD.

Maybe they'll wise up.

You know, this doesn't have to be yet another stupid, polarized discussion. I'm a fan of technologies that increase efficiency. I have one hybrid and will soon have only hybrids.

I can see the justification of 4WD in Alaska and the Rockies. Most people don't live in an environment like that.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated