The Death of the SUV

A few years ago, I purchased a sport utility vehicle. I wanted something that was going to elevate me off the ground. Besides this, I thought that the commercials were really catchy. I pictured myself driving over rugged terrain and along sandy beaches, spraying out a neat sheat of surf under each tire as I drove off into the sunset. No such luck in real life though. In real life, my mother and father were slightly annoyed with my decision to purchase a brand new Jeep Liberty. It turns out that that having an SUV isn't all that it has been cracked up to be; I should have done my homework.

Owning an SUV is instantly more expensive than owning a car. What's more is the fact that just after I purchased my sport utility vehicle, the economy decided to take a nosedive. Gas prices shot up, and suddenly I found out that my beloved sport utility vehicle was costing me much more than I had ever bargained to pay for. For example, I went from paying just under $20 for a tank of gas in my old Nissan Altima to suddenly paying upwards of $60 for a tank of gasoline. It was hardly a bargain. I began to resent having an SUV almost immediately.

While there are some perks to having an sport utility vehicle such as having more space for yourself, friends and storage as well as being higher off the ground, was it really worth it? Sure, my Jeep handled much better than the Altima when it came to inclement weather; and a large part of this had to do with the fact that my Jeep had four-wheel drive in it. Also, being higher off of the ground meant that whenever we would get torrential downpours that left the roadways with tons of standing water, I was better able to navigate my way through them without hydroplaning or bottoming out as often as I had when I owned a car.

If I had to do it all over again though, I would not only opt for a slightly used vehicle from a certified pre-owned dealership, but I would make sure that I purchased a car. Let's face it, owning an SUV is not really that practical, especially when you're driving on paved roadways for twenty minutes or so at stretch. Jeeps were originally built to handle tough, rugged terrain. They were used in wars (and still are). Meanwhile, the last time I drove to work hardly qualifies for "tough" surroundings. Jeeps are great, and sport utility vehicles are great for a number of things that people want to accomplish. However, if you are trying to save a little money, it is probably best to make a wiser choice and stick with purchasing a car.

Will the sport utility vehicle survive over the next few years? Only time will tell. As many of us have already been witness to, we have seen the Chrysler and General Motors companies struggle to stay afloat. Sales of sport utility vehicles are down and are the worst that they have ever been because people are realizing that sport utility vehicles are, for the most part, inefficient. Perhaps as the years go on, sport utility vehicles will be something that only people who have a lot of money drive around because it will simply cost too much to own one otherwise.