Sport utility vehicles

They're huge. They're heavy. They have tons of room. Some have style to them. But what is the real appeal of the sport utility vehicle?

The ultimate 'bling' machine is the Cadillac Escalade. Which can be seen in many Hip/Hop and Rap videos. It's almost a cult status. Showing that you have tons of money. I mean you'll have to have a lot of money to buy a Cadillac Escalade. Just to give you an idea on how much the Escalade costs. I decided to configure one. With an 'Ultra Luxury Collection', which adds heated and cooled front seats, power relase fold-and-tumble second row seats. Heated steering wheel, power tilt-sliding sunroof with express open/close and sunshade. IntelliBeam headlamps with automatic high/low beam switching, side blind zone alert. Magnetic ride control and 22 inch chromed aluminium wheels with P285/45R22 blackwwall performance touring tires. Yes that's a lot of kit in one package. But you'll never believe how much all that equipment cost. (Ahem) it cost a whopping $6,043!! Ouch! Pushing the already high $64,755 asking price to nearly $71,740!! But with a $6,000 cash allowance. But with tax, title and license fee it's going to cost almost the same.

But when you look at the Escalade. You'll be turning down a field of vehicles that are better and cheaper than this. Buying an Escalade means you don't want an BMW X5 which is $56,600 with a V8 engine. You don't want an Infinit FX which cost less than that. You don't want a Land Rover which you can buy one or around the same price. You turned down the Mercedes ML. Most certainly you turned down a Porsche Cayenne. There are so many sport utility vehicles out there. Some small, others large. But the question still remains. Why are sport utility vehicles so popular?

My father owns a Mitsubishi Montero Sport. It's a nice looking vehicle and it drives very well for an 2001. The feeling of being high off the ground is really addictive. I love feeling tall over other cars. But at the same time, I want an SUV that can handle turning and driving in comfort without the 'bling' factor. The Volvo XC90 (one of my favorite sport utility vehicles) can do this just as good as any SUV. It's not a flashy car. But it gets the job done and does an excellent job at it. Why would anyone need an SUV with 0-60 timing in less than 5 seconds? Yep Porsche - I'm talking about you. Or why would anyone want the fastest hybrid SUV? Yep that goes for you as well BMW. Sport utility vehicles are large and heavy. But they do provide much space and you do get that tall over the road feeling. Like you can see all of the road. But then again, when it comes to power. I rather stick to a hatchback or a wagon. If sport utility vehicles were to vanish, people would simply buy crossovers or wagons again. But for now, if you want a sport utility vehicle. Make sure you do your math first. Find a SUV that fits your needs and what you really intend to use it for.

That means if you have a Porsche Cayenne Turbo with 55ohp and you only drive two miles to work every day. Maybe that means you should reconsider your car choice. After all you don't need 550hp to drive two miles. Or do you?