Cool, Michael! Please post pix of the Vespa! Love 'em!

 

I can tell you that about 85%-95?% of the SUV owners I know use the SUVness of their cars about 0% of the time, and would have benefited as much, or even more so, with a simple minivan. Problem is, minivans aren't "cool" enough.

 

Just last night we went to home depot and picked up some 2 x 6 x 8' decking. After loading it inside our "suv" and driving home we were laughing at the thought of trying to do this in a MINI ... and the typical comebacks like... "rent a truck" LOL, Why,?I got one.

If your fixing up and hauling stuff, everything has a time and place.

 

As a few others have said, SUV's and trucks have a place. Besides the MINI my other passion is bow hunting. Tried hauling all my gear once in the MINI just for grins and it didn't quite work.

I've been looking for a used SUV for 2 months now and hoping that the rising gas prices and begining of summer would find them languishing on dealer's lots and practically free for the taking. Not a chance! In fact, both of my choices ('03 Nissan Pathfinder and 'Toyota Tacoma) have actually risen a little in price and the Pathfinder is notriously bad on gas.

 

I envy you. I'd love to have a Vespa, (or even a Stella). I rode an Allstate Cruisair to high school many years ago. It was a rebadged 125cc Vespa sold by Sears for $329.......a lot of bucks at the time.

I loved it.

 

and what percentage of MINI owners use the MINI's in a sportscar kind of way? I bet its around the same number

 

MINIs are not sportscars in the traditional sense but that is a matter of opinion with arguments on both sides. But, you are right ... I would bet 95% of MINI owners don't use their cars at anywhere near their design limits never mind the owners of Ferraris, Porsches, Lotus, etc. SUV bashers sometimes look to numbers to validate their opinions but statistics are easily manipulted to work both ways.

 

And your point? I was just saying that 85%-90% of the SUV owners I know don't need any aspect of an SUV that a MINI, or some other car, would fulfill. I know a lot of people that have trucks/SUV's, and use them, and I have no problem with that. But the people who just bought it because it's the in thing, well, they can suffer. I don't really see why I should care about hurting their feelings. Not that I'm trying, mind you.

But my brother had one kid, and they HAD to buy that SUV immediately. I mean, HAD to, like the day they got the kid home from the hospital. His Intrepid and her Camry apparenlty weren't enough. If you want some statistics to go by, look at the number of accidents caused by SUV's verses those caused by MINI's.

Besides, the MINI isn't a two seat, dedicated sports car. It's quite versatile. And the one's that don't need the sportyness, well, they can go buy Coopers.

 

Well Will doesn't use his as a racecar, at least not on the local autocross circuit
May 28, come on out.

 

AutoX is for Coopers!

hehe!

I'm still trying to get the point of tormenting orange cones, though...

 

yah i know....and most SUV's aren't built to be offroad machines either.....which was my point

 

The only thing that bothers me about SUV's is when their owners start whining about gas prices. Please... don't.

 

Well, take offroad out of it, and you have hauling and towing capabilites, which are inherent in the design, and go unused.

 

Guess what. Some of us own MINIs AND full size SUVs. Are we rich? Some are, some aren't. Are we dumb? I'm not and I'd bet most of the other members here aren't either.

I'd be dumb if I tried to hitch up my tandem axle trailer loaded with my '57 MGA to my MCS. Some of us here are really tired of the SUV bashing. If you don't want one/can't afford one, fine, but the constant critisism from the "elitists" on the board gets old after a while.

A co-worker here was shopping for a new car online the other day. He has four kids. What do you think would work best for him - an SUV or a MINI?

 

A MINI-van....

 

Oh, please. Don't even go there. I could afford to heat my apartment to 85 degrees all year round, but I don't because that would be dumb.

 

Heard on the news this morning that GM is stopping production on the Hummer H1. They just aren't selling.

 

Exactly. My parents hauled 2 kids around my entire life without the need for an SUV. There are these things called Station Wagons. Just like a car, only bigger

My pet peeve is the person that commutes, solo, in an SUV that could double as an ocean going bulk carrier.

 

lol!!

yes, im the "elitistest" that drives a Civic to work and im super hot.

 

Don't laugh too hard. You may be the one spending $99 to fill up before long.

...Have a truck (not SUV) in addition to the MINI and having to drive it every day while MINI is in the shop. I miss using the MINI 95% of the time and the associated mileage. But if I catch you laughing at me filling my 35 gallon tank, don't look away, I'll swipe your MINI and stick it in the back of my truck to use till my MINI is back

 

The only reason I was able to order a MINI is because my fiance just bought a SUV. So, now I can sell my blazer and get the "smaller" car.

I don't see how any household can live w/o a SUV.

 

I'm sorry, but that's just an absurd thing to say. Plenty of people have lifestyles that don't involve spending every weekend hauling loot home from Walmart and Home Depot, or surrounding their kids with 100 pounds of plastic accessories everywhere they go.

 

Uh, maybe we're all dead then. SUVs are now a necessity of life??!! Oh the humanity!!!!

 

Art... the "hauling stuff" argument depends entirely on frequency. If you only go to Home Depot to haul large objects once or maybe twice a year, tell me... which is cheaper, the corresponding one or two day truck rental (or even by the hour, as is often available), or the year-round increased cost, maintainence and fuel consumption of an oversized (for other tasks) SUV?

I'd be willing to bet that the rental option is cheaper for MOST PEOPLE (I'm not saying ALL people) who use the "Home Depot" argument, unless they are real DIYers who are ALWAYS working on their house.

 

I'll tell you how, I have a MCS, the wife has a Saab 900SE ... with the exception of the drywall, the Saab moved all the building materials to finiah my basement from Home Cheapo to the house and still got 28MPG.

SUV's? We dont' need no stinkin' SUVs!