Unless, of course, you live on a mountainside in Canada.

I have a 2000 Ford Explorer with 110K miles on it that we're not
getting rid of for anything.

It doesn't leave the driveway more than once a week or so. But when
we need it, we need it:

-- Family camping trips
-- Hauling sports and other kid equipment around (I can haul muddy
mountain bikes in the Prius -- but, having done the cleanup
afterward, I'd really rather not)
-- Expeditions to IKEA, the dump, or the plant nursery
-- The three weeks per year that the snow and ice on the roads are
too much for the Prius, and the snowplow takes days to come clear off
our hill. During that season, it's either four-wheel out, or stay
home. The Prius (we learned last year) is simply not up to this weather.

It's not worth a thing on the open market now -- but it's paid for
and it runs and the insurance is cheap beyond belief. (And it meets
CA's emissions requirements and still gets 18 mpg.)

It was originally purchased as a farm truck when we had our ranch in
California. Barn paint, hay, tack, tools, seed, rental machinery -- I
don't think I ever had the back end of it empty then, either.

Sara

On Sep 24, 2007, at 7:52 PM, Michael Bender/MBP wrote:

> David Kelly wrote:
>> Thats why I threw in the suggestion of a Chevrolet Suburban.
>> She drives so little that the difference between 15 MPG and
>> 50 MPG isn't going to dig very deeply. That insurance is
>> likely to cost several times her annual gasoline bill, and
>> likely be cheaper for a Suburban. That a much hated Suburban,
>> used, will be very cheap to buy because of common perception.
>
> That "used Suburban" sends the wrong message - it says to
> people "look at this large thing, I want one of those!" when
> in fact most people don't need an SUV. I challenge anyone
> that disputes that to spend some time in Europe (or, outside
> America) and then tell me how it is that most of the rest of
> the world gets along just fine without behemoths like the
> SUVs that are so prevelant in the US.
>
> mike
>
>
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