Your Car 4WDs / SUVs

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Jafa said:
We have two landcruisers - pretty well a requirement around these parts (Seems like every 2nd vehicle is a 4wd of some description). We don`t see alot in the way of SUV type vehicles - which might suggest that they are perhaps more of a city type status car.



A visit to the bowser cost me $1.45 / litre for Diesel yesterday. Harsh.
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Cheap , $1.659 here. Lucky my amarok did the last 993km on 73 litres
 
khanate said:
personally i hate them...

'economically' speaking, people have been marketted to perfectly. they have been told "you have two kids? protect them with a four-wheel drive!", and that is why something like 2/5 of all car sales are now 4wds...

they are not safe AT all. they are death traps. roads have been designed to cater to regular sized cars (such as the 1.9 million kilometres of the skirting rail around this country), and now that cars have gotten larger, all that is shot to sh*t.

they're marketted as 'family cars'. has anyone ever tried to bloody get out of one of those nissan patrols??? i'd hate to be the disabled mother in law trying to get in/out.

and it's all image. think about the office-bound middle manager. he pulls 10 hour days five (sometimes more...) days a week, and in between being stuck in an office, and getting GRILLED by his missus for NOT 'spending enough time with the family', the only place where he's NOT being told what to do or being emasculated is in that 45 minute gridlocked traffice jam trip to and from work. the only place his overweight balding self is no long some 5 foot, 100 kilo submissive type, and is now a prado driver...

that's just my opinion, really...

gotta love the fuel efficiency, too...9 ks per litre...that's terrible. but then there's the diesel engines which, unfortunately, chew up our ozone layer...

they are a status symbol nowadays...it's funny watching all the bored housewives clog every road around a primary school JUST to drive little junior the 3 minutes it takes to their home. why are women driving them??? it makes NO sense!!! i thought they only appealed to the paper-pushing marketting/real-estate types who think they're 'letting their hair out' in their market and demographic researched jeep cherokee...

they rollover, too...don't take corners too fast, either...

also, poor rear visibility...you're five times more likely to run over a kid (maybe your own...) while reversing out of your drive way in a fourwheeldrive...

4wds are a stupid fashion trend which cost tens of thousands of dollars. it's pretty stupid, really...we need to follow every thing america has already done, don't we? there is SERIOUSLY no need to own one in the city or ANY urban setting. if you do go up north or bush, rent one for the prescribed anount of time. instead of spending $60000 for a car you use, what, 4 weeks a year, spend HALF of that, and buy an practical car. why do people buy one when they say "i go to the snow". you drive on a ROAD you moron. what difference does it make? seriously...

the appeal to the "sucking my way up the corporate ladder" carrie bradshaw type (who end up becoming 'soccer mums') and the frustrated corporate types. you'd think with the way urban planning is going these days (people moving into the inner city into apartments with SANCTIONED carspaces and TINY ROADS), people would want a SMALLER vehicle...it's SO stupid. and what about the DUMB names??? ford escape? escape from WHAT??? southland shopping centre??? land rover discovery??? a discovery of a LARGER BLIND SPOT. suburu forester? more like DE-forester. automotive corporations are selling EMANCIPATION to the masses in the form of an IMPRACTICAL vehicle. you know that the CONSTRUCTION cost of a ford falcon is MARGINALLY less than the constrution of a ford expedition. yet the RETAIL value is like, nearly twice. that's why they are promoted and marketted. notice how ALL the ads feature some part of nature, as if you're EVER going to go there. i love how some people use the "four weeks annual leave" excuse to spend twice as much on a car that is a death trap.

why do people buy them? because they were told to.

they aren't safe at all...the width of a 4wd tyre is MINUTELY larger than that of a sedan's wheel. often the 4wd's chassis and everything else is TWICE as heavy as that of a sedan. they obscure traffic and cause accidents. people who buy them because "they'd rather do damage to someone rather than be damaged" often regret the 'vehicular manslaughter' conviction before the second week of their 12 year jail term.

like little lemmings, people are told to buy them, and buy them they do...

my partner's family have a property in central nsw, and they NEED their fwd. the terrain is UTTERLY rough. 4wds aren't meant to be on paved roads. google it if you want studies and research on it.

and because the market is currently FLOODED with 3 year old second hand 4wds, these are the types of cars future P platers will have easy access to. this is so typically endemic off our greedy, excessive mentality. that's another word; EXCESS. you don't need it, hell, you don't even WANT it, but you MUST keep up with the jones. you're mortgaged up to your eyebrows, you've maxed out all three of your credit cards, and car repayments are draining you, but who cares, you LOOK LIKE you can afford the car.

status.

i love the 4wds that have the shaded cloth. that to me just shows how SHELTERED and 'taken care of' the car will be. it's a family car. nevermind the housewife couldn't drive her toyota starlet to begin with, let's get her a car twice as wide and thrice as big. it's safe. people are stupid. ABSOLUTELY stupid. they should be outlawed and BANNED in the cities. if you go up bush, rent one for the week. how much will it cost you per week? $1000??? if that...compare that one grand to the 25 grand extra you paid. it's TOTAL excess and serves no other purpose other than showing off the fact you can AFFORD it.

and how contradictory is the entire 'luxury' 4wd??? luxury? is there ANY luxury in driving at ALL??? has anyone ever driven 10+ hours interstate? it's anything BUT luxury. and how the hell are leather seats and cup holders 'rugged'? they're not. it's all clever marketing and image which people sop up.

i love that x-trail ad. rugged good looks. yeah right! look at the 1970 landcruiser. that's rugged. i love how they are associated with 'extreme' sports like off road bmx and mountain climbing. the people who buy these cars are bloody regional managers. go manage something you twit.

gah. it's such a toss, really.
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Outstanding post and sadly still rings true 11 years on.
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Lebbo73 said:
I own a Ford Territory SZ Titanium 2011 RWD. We bought it because they are great for our long trips we make to North Qld. Great luggage space and reasonable fuel economy being a diesel. Plus, I have 3 daughters who like inviting friends over so the 7 seats is one of the main reasons we bought it. Not to mention the multiple times we have taken the grandparents on trips with us. Our main car will always be an SUV from now on.
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sorted
They only had white or silver. The new model must be about to be released as they took 5 gees off the price. I went in to buy a CX-3 (too small) and walked out with a CX-5 Maxx Sport. Traded in a battered up Craptiva that needs new tyres and is out of rego in 3 weeks time.
 
Use to own an ex company Ford BA Ute with 700k on the clock, then decided to trade it in for an 2008 Mazda CX9 for $10k. After owning a ute for over a year, I found that I rarely used it for its intended purpose. However I needed a large car for convinence of carrying large items and the CX9 works pretty well. Comfy to drive and good power for long country trips but it does feel heavy to drive and fuel economy is not great either.

My only gripe is the FWD / AWD and traction control system is pretty rubbish. Wheel spin then TC cuts in and bogs the car down which is not great if you need to acclerate hard from stand still. I am hopeful that a decent set of tyres should fix that issue.

AWD system only works on demand and cannot be manually activated so forget any moderate off road action.
 
I have a question

I’ve had a new Ford Ranger as a work vehicle for the last 6 months.
Every time I wash it the drivers side front parker and rear tail light come on, when the water hits the windscreen.
My theory is that this is a safety aspect of the car, simulating the car parked up on the side of the road, day or night, and the above mentioned lights come on purely so oncoming cars are aware and can see my vehicle in the rain.

I cant find this safety feature listed anywhere, in fact some seem to say it’s a fault with the car, I really think it is designed to do this but the fact that I cant find it explained anywhere on google, makes me wonder.

thoughts?
 
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a little off topic, but wondering whether anyone has a mini cooper. thinking of getting one & would b glad of some feedback.
 
Test Tickle said:
I have a question

I’ve had a new Ford Ranger as a work vehicle for the last 6 months.
Every time I wash it the drivers side front parker and rear tail light come on, when the water hits the windscreen.
My theory is that this is a safety aspect of the car, simulating the car parked up on the side of the road, day or night, and the above mentioned lights come on purely so oncoming cars are aware and can see my vehicle in the rain.

I cant find this safety feature listed anywhere, in fact some seem to say it’s a fault with the car, I really think it is designed to do this but the fact that I cant find it explained anywhere on google, makes me wonder.

thoughts?
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No idea but I am shocked that you wash a work car
 
Test Tickle said:
I have a question

I’ve had a new Ford Ranger as a work vehicle for the last 6 months.
Every time I wash it the drivers side front parker and rear tail light come on, when the water hits the windscreen.
My theory is that this is a safety aspect of the car, simulating the car parked up on the side of the road, day or night, and the above mentioned lights come on purely so oncoming cars are aware and can see my vehicle in the rain.

I cant find this safety feature listed anywhere, in fact some seem to say it’s a fault with the car, I really think it is designed to do this but the fact that I cant find it explained anywhere on google, makes me wonder.

thoughts?
Click to expand...
Sounds more like water creating a short and lighting up those globes.
 
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