I seriously want to know what those people are thinking.

I happen to do a major where the majority of the students are rich as hell and they all drive their parents automatic SUVs to go to the university. These things are so unpractical, unnatural, expensive and boring... why would you want to daily drive that to school?? They consume fuel like a mother. And they crash them into other cars alot at the parking lot. It just blows my mind why you would want to use that as daily commuter. What the heck are they thinking?

When I look at their cargo space I am thinking to myself thats nothing my fit cant handle. In general when I see SUV I just think to myself that those guys are suckers. The fit is much cheaper, more fun and doesnt compromise alot in terms of functionality compared to a SUV. In fact I see no reason what so ever to get a SUV. There is almost nothing a FIT cant do what a SUV can. Most of them dont even fully make use of their SUVs capabilities.

Now I can understand why people would want to buy a luxury sedan or a nice sportscar. Thats what I am ultimately aiming for too. But whats with the obsession with SUVs? They are so huge and ugly too.

 

It's a status symbol. Makes them all high and mighty.

Ecspically for college students who are all about their apperance. Might sound harsh, but it is the truth.

 

Its not just the students. Its those regular moms and dads too. Especially if they have no kids. Every time I see a mom park her SUV at a shopping mall to get like a can of soda it just makes me wanna go to her and say what the heck are you thinking?!

They dont need the capabilities of the SUVs but they still buy them. Just regular families. They could have bought the fit for their needs but they dont.

 

Status Symbol to there friends and fellow co-workers....trust me this eeerks the living f**k out o fme

 

Parents also believe that the bigger a vehicle, the safer it is for their precious darling to drive.

FWIW, I never "got" the whole SUV thing. To me, they aren't "sporty" and have no "utility", either.

 

The only advantage an SUV may have over the Fit is 4-wheel drive. But then again.....we have 4WD Fits too!

YouTube - Honda fit 4wd

 

Have you ever driven an AWD or 4WD drive car? it's pretty awesome in the winter...don't necessarily even need winter tires if you're a decent driver. Not sure what the winter is like there, but people will definitely benefit from the higher car + AWD/4WD here.

 

Let's see. My wife traded her 4Runner in for a Fit. I guess you're saying she was dumb when she had the 4Runner and now that she has a Fit she's cool!! Funny stuff.

 

I am not saying she is cool because she has a fit. But I am saying that I think its dumb to buy a gas-guzzling, high-maintenance, expensive, cargo space not much higher then fit, impractical, boring and ugly vehicle instead of a fit that got impeccable reviews. It could perfectly replace it without compromises. The quote top gear.. the honda fit is the closest thing to a reality car.

And make that extremely dumb for people who are using it as their daily drivers just to get from their home to work 25km away. ALONE.

I think SUVs are also a liability on the road. It's just a reason for people to speed and drive reckless because people feel safe in one. I see it in the driving habits of my friends and when I am on the road. 99% when I got a tailgater behind me its a SUV.

 

The syndrome is called...small cock.

 

Hey, let's not tar with too broad a brush. Some of us actually use our utes; our Jeeps always had some mud hiding in the fenderwells and brush scratches on the sides.
'Utes are among the most useful vehicles; part of their utility is the fact that they are actually station wagons. Wagons are very popular in Europe, but not here. As we wean ourselves off 'utes, I'm surprised more people haven't headed to wagons. Let's hope things like the TSX wagon and the Audi Avant help form the notion that wagons can be handsome and useful at the same time. The Fit is actually a little wagon, so I'm preaching to the choir here.
The Crosstour doesn't fit that niche, IMHO.
Moon

 

The best thing about this thread is there is a Jeep AD banner at the bottom.

 

When I asked the Fit to haul 17,000# across the US and up the Rockies, it was the little engine that couldn't.

Takes 550 FT/LB to move that much weight to 10,000 ft, and the fit just won't hold a diesel engine under the hood.



Agreed, there are people out there that don't need them.

We use the Fit for daily commutes, but when I need to haul 8 people and luggage, the Fit won't do it.

Some of that's not true either. The suburban I have is low maintenance. 171K miles and she still tows heavy through the mountains. It is based on the same frame and parts as all those Chevy trucks of that era, so parts are very plentiful and cheap.

I could not replace it without compromising. See the picture above.

This depends on your view of the world (read paradigm). Where I work, some young guys drive BMW 745i's and similar to work. The suburban is no status symbol. Based on your quote, you are probably a young guy at college or somehow connected to college, and this is what you see.

Many of you are speaking with a pre-concieved notion about owners of SUV's (read prejudice) and i am quite surprised from at least one of you. Your particular view of the world and SUV owners is not the true representation of all SUV owners. If I was to generalize about the Fit because of a few bad drivers, you'd be biting my head off. Read this and really analyze your inner motives for your statements: Is this true of all drivers, or is your view limited and you can't see the whole picture?

 

I'd say a big chunk of the general public buys an SUV when they don't really need it. (i.e. going to the mall, going to work, ect.) I'll admit that SUV's are for the most part great at handling less than ideal conditions, but when was the last time I had to negotiate a rock trail on my way to work? Or how many times have I had to haul a 10,000 lb trailer to school?

There are those who need it, and those are the one percenters.

 

True it may not be a true representation of all SUV owners... just most of them. The ones that don't make use of the utility features. Your Suburban definitely does not look like a status symbol. My friend's Land Rover sport HSE? yes. A Cadillac Escalade? yes. Any SUV with giant chrome wheels and low profile tires? yes.
When batteries get to where they need to be and someone designs a nice electric SUV I might be one of the first to buy. By that time solar cells will probably pretty efficient and cheap and think of all the square footage on top of an SUV!
Wilcoholic, if you think there are a lot of SUVs in Thailand, you probably wouldn't want to come to America.

 

In the US a key problem is the demise of the station wagon which has been relegated to a niche/high-end market since the 90s when the Roadmaster and Caprice wagons were discontinued. I think a lot of Americans did not realize how much LESS utility an SUV has than a wagon does. My father traded his Roadmaster for a Tracker 10 years ago and it wasn't until he tried to put his toolbox in the back of the Tracker that he realized just how useless it was as a hauler. He loves the 4WD for when it snows, but there were times when we had to take 2 cars to the beach because there wasn't enough room for 4 passengers, luggage, and whatever supplies we needed to complete projects at the house! They have since downsized and the capacity is not a problem.

Learning from his mistake, I specifically set out to get a station wagon (or a reasonable facsimilie thereof since you can only get a normal wagon from an upmarket brand like VW/Benz/BMW/Volvo and they were too expensive. I looked at a couple of Subarus, but I really liked the Fit when I saw it. I was afraid it would be too small, but I opened the hatch and the "trunk" is adequate with the seats up and of course huge with the seats down. I've got this tiny little 35MPG runabout but on the 4 days out of the year I have to move a piece of furniture or bags of mulch, I no longer have to borrow my buddy's SUV!

I was reading Car and Driver's look at the Accord Crosstour and they made the (very believable) claim that once people drive a station wagon, they never want to go back to a "regular" car, which is part of the reason for Subaru owners' loyalty to the brand. I am hoping we see a resurgence of station wagons in the next 10 years....culminating with one that's under $30k, over 25MPG and can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

 

omg they are worst things on the planet. I had to take my mom's Lexus GX to the dealer to get it serviced, but I had a morning class first. The non existent steering feel (wiggle the wheel on the highway and nothing happens) is a joke. Even with the suspension set to sport mode (), I still had sea sickness on the highway. It felt like the crosswinds were gonna tip it over. Turning on the instantaneous MPG reading just for laughs, I get single digit MPGs whenever I push the accelerator. When I get to the parking garage I had to keep pulling in and backing out to get into the parking space which was still futile because the wheels are touching the white lines.

Although I have to say that it was quiet and relaxing and the Mark Levinson stereo was refreshing compared to the six speaker crap we have. And I'll admit, driving it for an hour, I felt high and mighty.

....But I still think it's a vulgar vehicle

 

in defense of my mother, she and my dad owns a donut shop and they frequent Sam's Club and Costco and frequently need to fold all the seats to fit in everything. At least they utilize their sport utility.

 

The Roadmaster and Caprice wagons are about 90% of the reason that wagons are hard to sell here. Folks still have a mental image of a frumpmoblie waddling down the road. Modern wagons aren't like that at all, but the perception is hard to live down.
Let's not have any more talk about a wagon that can hold a sheet of plywood; personally, I don't want anything THAT big...

BTW, it's hard to imagine two things that perform the same basic task of hauling my Irish ass around that are more different than the Wrangler Jeep and the Fit. It's a treat to drive both, but you have to remember not to drive over rocks in the Honda nor hammer turns in the Jeep...
Full agreement that, once you have a wagon, its tough to go back to a car. My wife and I went thru' this car shopping, we had a Passat wagon for 9 years and had trouble finding a replacement we liked.
Moon

 

I've noticed the big draw of SUVs here is the elevated driving position. People here all want to feel like they're kings of the road looking down on lesser folk who drive cars.

Just an observation.