Who needs an SUV?

Its the same reason I decided against getting an SUV. Being a photographer, I haul a lot of gear. right now, that gear doesn't fit in my mustang & i was looking at SUVS (hybrids), but their MPG doesn't make up for the extra expense. When we got my husband the Prius, I had a job & decided to load all the gear in there. & IT FITS! Mind you I cant put more than 2 people in the car with the gear, but dog-gone-it, I don't need to spend $30k to get a sort-of gas-guzzling SUV either!

 

You can haul a LOT of stuff in the Prius. I agree, unless you're talking like an Expedition or larger, you can haul just about as much in the Prius as you could an SUV.

What still makes me want an SUV instead of the Prius however is for the snow, and when on vacation driving semit-offroad getting back to cabins etc.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 7 2007, 11:25 PM) [snapback]437323[/snapback]</div>

I have a similar problem. We live in Wisconsin and my wife works nights. She has driven back late at night in the middle of snow storm. I did some research and settled on a 4-cyl 4motion passat to replace our SUV. It gets 25 mpg and has an all wheel drive system that beats most SUVs for snowy or wet conditions.

An additional benefit was having an usable roof rack. Since its at shoulder level its easy to load and unload stuff.

Cheers!

 

Who needs an SUV?

Not me.

 

I helped my gf move and I got around 70 MPG. My car was fully loaded. The trip was over 50 minutes long.

Part (1/2) 1 minute long
Part (2/2) 50 minutes long

 

You don't need a Prius to have the room of an SUV. Pretty much every mid-sized vehicle can get the job done. To think you were actually getting your money's worth on your old SUV is just....nevermind.

 

THATS not true. Midsized cars, whether the seats fold down or not, cannot haul as much as a Prius or an SUV because of the low opening through the rear seat and the lack of a hatch.

 

My wife and I went to Babies R Us yesterday to get a loveseat-sized glider chair and footrest to boot.

Another couple with a small SUV purchased a similar chair and loaded it at the same time, and I think the loaders had an easier time getting the oversized box into our Prius!

In reality, the majority of truck/SUV owners would only need the capacity/off-roading capability of an SUV only a few days a year. That being the case, it makes a lot more sense to just rent one for the days you need it and buy a more efficient car for the rest of the year.

I, for one, may rent an SUV this summer for a day to get to a remote Colorado cave.

 

There are a couple of other threads a while back, including someone
who got an 8-foot tree including root ball in their prius, and I've
hauled enough interesting loads that I maintain a webpage about it:
_ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/worktruck/
I decided I didn't need an SUV back when I got this car, and absent
the 200MPG or all-electric box truck I can't have yet, I still don't
need one.
.
_H*

 

I fit a 52" DLP (not a flat panel) inside the box into my Prius. When I bought it at Fry's, (this being Texas) the cashier asked if I had a truck to arrange for pickup. I said, "No. I have a Prius." She asked if that was some type of van. :lol:

The loaders laughed when I brought it up and said, "That won't fit." It fit. They tried to push it halfway in and leave it hanging out of the hatch. I opened a back door, reached in and pulled the box forward. Then I closed my door and my hatch. One of them said, "This is the smallest car I've ever put a TV into." Yeah, whatever... I have coworkers that work white collar jobs and live in apartments that drive full size pickups. The ones with 1/4 acre lots (this is a small amount of land anywhere but CA or NY) probably have Ford F-350's or other commercial class trucks.

Unfortunately, you DO need a truck or SUV to officially tow! (Toyota, please fix that!)

 

But then you have to go through the hassle of being in a vehicle thats not yours without all of your stuff, no navigation system, etc.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 8 2007, 09:03 PM) [snapback]437932[/snapback]</div>

Maybe it's because I travel so much with my job but renting a car is not a hassle. Lets see.

1.) I arrive at the rental place (Airport) or instead have them come get me (Personal rental).
2.) Sign papers
3.) Put my stuff in car
4.) Stick Garmin Nuvi GPS on windshield.
5.) Drive to destination

This takes at the most 30 to 45 minutes for a personal rental with pickup. At an airport it is 15 minutes tops.

I find the Garmin far easy to use then any factory GPS that I have used. I haven't used a Toyota system but have used MB, BMW, VW, GM, Ford. It has all my destinations preprogramed and I can move it from car to car. I just can't see paying $2k to $4k for the navigation option in a car when a can get a better GPS for $500.

I don't have a problem driving a car thats not mine. It doesn't matter if it is mine or the rental company's if I damage it I pay to fix it. I actually enjoy getting to try out different cars without having to buy them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 8 2007, 09:03 PM) [snapback]437932[/snapback]</div>

Many rental cars now come with nav systems.

 

Ok, so let me ask this question: what's the height between the folded down seats and the ceiling of the 2G Prius?

I've got a 1997 Tacoma and I'm considering replacing it with a 2G Prius. After all, the upholstery could always be protected by a thick layer of plastic, and with the amount of space these cars have, it could make an excellent alternative to the Tacoma.

However, I'm also curious to know if a washer or dryer could fit in the Prius...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(allargon @ May 8 2007, 09:50 PM) [snapback]437925[/snapback]</div>

I couldn't get my 37" flat LCD into my Prius. <_< We took it out of the box, though, and I could have then fit ten of them in there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ May 8 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]437947[/snapback]</div>

I do too, but on top of the hassle you also have to deal with the expense. For instance to rent a nice, comfortable SUV with nav for a week is going to be like $400. So, if you have three weeks in a year in which you would use such a vehicle, plus the times you'd use it in the snow you're looking at a serious expense.

I didn't think I'd miss an SUV either, but I do for that very reason. So, whenever we replace the Prius it will be with another SUV.

 

This is the very thought I'm wrestling with now. The anti-Pius (see below) is a very nice vehicle. Great to drive etc. Not fun to fill up, of course, and getting worse. It gets half empty after 250 km and takes 45 litres of PREMIUM gas. Sigh. BTW, I call it the anti-Prius because it has systems in it that work just like the Prius systems (climate control etc), but it uses fuel fast enough to compensate for two to three of you.

So I'm selling the RX-7 and replacing it with a Prius. I'm wondering what will happen to the anti-Pius. Will I decide I don't need it either? Time will tell. I worry about our 6 month winters, -40 temps, avg. temps of -20. And the unploughed side streets are wicked! People get stuck just because of the snow ruts!

As far as interior room, I'm betting on a practical basis it has the same usable space as a Prius. This is because the body "necks down" at the rear hatch opening. Not very well designed re opening use and seat fold-down.

I do like the fact I "sit high" and can see a lot better. Good thing too, piloting a 4400 lb behemoth.

I used to drive a Suburban at work. Now THAT is big! Parking lots aren't designed for vehicles that large. That thing was 6000 lb empty! It did carry a lot, which was why we had it. Took lots of high tech stuff to forest fires.

 

I'm struggling with whether to keep my SUV as well ... or just add a Prius ... the $70 tank of gas I put in yesterday doesn't make me happy.