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‘Seismic shift’: driving unaffordable for many in US amid push toward SUVs

www.theguardian.com ‘Seismic shift’: driving unaffordable for many in US amid push toward SUVs

Luxury vehicles, production cuts and soaring insurance prices have sent the cost of US car ownership out of control

‘Seismic shift’: driving unaffordable for many in US amid push toward SUVs
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  • No, hey, I get it. You want a cool toy, not a boring practical solution. That's legitimate. I own many things that are not the optimal answer to a problem just because I like them.

    The sheer rage at the insinuation that the option may not be optimal is fascinating, though. So uniquely American. Which is what this thread is about. "The maximal use case".

    For the record, I had not heard of the "Honda Fit". I guess it's like a Japanese Fiat Punto. Also for the record, what both the Fiat Punto and the Honda Fit seem to have is a back seat. But hey, again, a cool toy, not an optimal solution. Maximal use case. It's a good observation.

    • Considering you have absolutely no idea of what he does on a daily basis and no idea of how often he needs the vehicle for those situations. Plus no idea of his parking space. I'm not sure how you are able to tell him what he should buy.

      • I didn't? Like I explicitly didn't. I explicitly say up there that I get it and even if I think it's not optimal you get to buy stuff you like that's not optimal because you think it's cool.

        This only reinforces my point about the sheer, unbridled rage this subject triggers in a certain stripe of car people, and it's both hilarious and kinda terrifying.

        • The only rage here is you against literally anything that has an open bed, even if it is the same size and gets the same mileage as a compact car.

          • I swear to you, if I ever have any kind of emotion towards "anything that has an open bed" beyond mild bemusement I will quit the Internet, abandon the concept of self-propelled vehicles and ride a donkey to a mountain monastery to rethink my life.

            I just didn't know you could get people on the Internet to froth at the mouth by implying that pickup trucks aren't perhaps the most efficient mode of transportation until a couple of weeks ago. Now that I do know it feels irresponsible not to use this power. Especially when somebody brings up how culturally strange some purchasing choices are in the US.

            • Thank you for finally admitting that you are a troll!

              Imagine being such a worthless piece of shit that you argue with someone who wants a truck version of a car by constantly saying they want something other than they are literally saying. It probably helps if you are jobless and unable to make romantic connections with people because of your inability to maintain proper hygiene. That must really help with the personal need to rile up others so you can feel better about yourself while you cry yourself to sleep on the bare mattress you sleep on.

              • Oh, yeah, this conversation is super irrelevant. There is literally zero reason to have this conversation beyond the morbid fascination of seeing weirdos come out of the woodwork to be super offended that you said mean things about open beds. It's like flipping over a rock to see the bugs.

                I mean, let's be honest, why else would anybody have an intricate, incensed conversation about whether the back of a van is covered with a bit of sheet metal or going commando? It's absolutely bonkers. Think about it. Think about it hard for a second.

                • Why would anyone shit on the idea of a car that is the same size, gets the same mileage, and is otherwise the same as a hatchback but with an open bed instead of a closed hatch? What kind of nut job would suggest a van and a second vehicle that would get the same fuel consumption as a solution? Think about it hard for a second.

                  • Yeeeeah, you didn't quite get the thinking part done right, I think.

                    But also. My friend. Back seats. We've talked about this.

                    • I don't need a backseat in this vehicle.

                      • Cool.

                        So why are we having this conversation, then? Because that's great for you, but as a "optimal use case" as opposed to the "maximal use case", I'd say "seats" tends to rank pretty high the list of car features. For... you know, most people.

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