Originally Posted by
B. Carfree
Before you buy that SUV please consider what the U.S. military said in a report they put out this May (echoed by the German military a few months later). They predict the end of cheap oil sometime between 2012 and 2015. When oil is $500/barrel and rising, maybe we will truly have an idiot in every SUV. Hopefully you will find this info both more helpful and more interesting than my prior comment.
I do, of course. :-)
I hope to be able to find a reasonable vehicle when it comes time to replace our current hauler - an 8 passenger, AWD van which averages about 15 MPG... so not exactly a winner based on the standards of the day. The issue is the need to, on a regular basis, transport 7 or more people, plus their stuff, and the desire to be able to do so through snow, sand and other less-than-ideal surfaces. The bulk of the 7 passenger and larger vehicles are SUVs, and only one non-SUV option is presently available with 4WD or AWD (the Toyota Sienna). Of course, minivans share most of the same problems as the SUVs which began this rant -- esp. now that most SUVs are based on minivan chassis. I was impressed this weekend, though, at the mileage achieved by the rented Dodge Grand Caravan I drove -- 21.3MPG overall for 750-800 miles, and I achieved over 25 from the final fill up to the airport to turn it in (about 7 miles). We will definitely be looking for economical options when the time comes, but for the most part we will expect to offset our expensive hauler with the Prius we own, and my bike :-)