Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Is a Navigator really too much? Part Two. 

That's a Navigator on the right,
Don't forget that a semi truck is bigger than both!

As I explored in the last post, a person that chooses to travel by large SUV is going to be spending more money than a traveller in a compact car.

If that person chooses a luxury SUV, they are going to spend a lot more, especially if they are buying new. But either way, there are higher fuel costs involved. Yes, they are going to have a larger carbon footprint, right?

The greater the number of passengers in a vehicle, the more efficient it is for the fuel consumed. The SUV has a great potential to be efficient in a passenger per mile consideration. Just like a bus.

It really all boils down to your needs. I used to ride a motorcycle all over the place. Usually by myself, but my Wife did ride behind me on one trip. Though I rode "solo," most of my trips were made with my buddy Rick riding his own bike alongside mine. Couldn't we have doubled up?  It would have saved gas!

Yeah, sure.

Two seat sports cars are great for singles, or young couples, two bucket seats are all you need. It's when you start adding kids, as in a family, that things get more complicated. 

It also boils down to your preferences. There are people that like taking their friends along, that calls for a larger vehicle.

Among the commentariat, there are those that will always stand in judgement, no matter what you choose. As if anyone cared what they think!

Sounds like good advice to me!

Of course we are all entitled to our opinions, like the Winston cigarette ad stated, "Judge me all you want, just keep the verdict to yourself!  

So my post here is just my observations and opinions, your results and conclusions may vary.

A Cougar like this was our first new car.

In the early years of my marriage, we had one kid and a Mercury Cougar. It was a nice car that did the job. After we added a second child, and there was the prospect of at least one more, my Wife wondered if we should get a bigger car, or at least one with four doors.

I immediately thought of a Taurus wagon. We visited the dealer. It was nice, but it felt kind of like a four door Cougar.

My Wife was actually thinking of a minivan, I wasn't, but we also went to the Dodge dealer. My Son, who was only a few years old, scampered into an open van and sat contentedly in the middle seat. I guess the choice had been made. It wasn't like I wanted a minivan, but it sure looked like something that we could use. 

These were extremely popular, for a good reason.

We took a lot of road trips in that '90 Dodge Caravan. It was an immense improvement over the Cougar, we couldn't have even used the Cougar once the third kid showed up. That Dodge served us faithfully for ten years.

Then we traded for a newer, used '97 Chrysler Town and Country LXI. The Dodge had been a base model, but it still had all the important stuff. Over the years I thought about all the things that would make our travels even more pleasant. The Town and Country had all that stuff; long wheelbase, four doors, second row Capt's chairs, rear air, leather seats, power everything, plus an Infiniti sound system with 16 speakers! It even had a joystick fader control!

This vehicle provided us with a plush way to travel, I nicknamed it the "Luxury Liner" I imagined it to be our own private railway car. 

While minivans are very practical, they no longer incited any envy, they were already being derided as "soccer mom" cars. SUVs like the new Ford Explorer, were becoming the hot set up. "Who needs an SUV?" I used to ask myself, I sure didn't, didn't they use even more gas than the minivans? 

My '90 Dodge had the 3.0 mitsubishi V6 with a three speed automatic. My '97 T&C had a slightly bigger 3.8 V6 with a four speed transmission, but fuel mileage was almost identical, between 20-22 mpg. on highway trips. 

We also had a Cadillac sedan which was comfortable when our oldest moved out and only two kids were left, neither needing a car seat. Fuel mileage on this was around 25 mpg. however premium gas was required.

Our '07 Mustang V6 was also used for frequent family trips, I suppose that it was a bit crowded for the kids, but as I stated before, they didn't get a vote! Gas mileage was a bit better at 25-27  mpg. on regular. 

Recently my Wife and I have taken a lot of road trips by ourselves. I've used my F150 to go up to Oregon, and even on our trip to South Dakota, Phoenix Az, and several trips to LA. For the two of us it was extremely comfortable with a huge potential for luggage. In fact we filled it up with swap meet and antique faire finds during our South Dakota trip. Driven at the 65 mph. speed limit, it would return a dependable 20 mpg. 

I had a few years with a V8 Explorer, my first SUV. I really grew to like it, we took some trips. It was useful for our cargo needs, but it's fuel economy was not too good. It got around 17 mpg. on our trip to Indio.

You can think of it as a lower, front wheel drive Expedition.

It's as spacious as it looks.

Of course as ol' Einstein has said many a time, Everything is relative." At least that was his theory.

Realistically, anyone that bought a big SUV wasn't cross shopping Nissan Versas or Toyota Prius'. So the difference in mileage comes down to 3-5 mpg. Not that big a difference. 

If you consider that my Navigator is one of my hobby cars it looks even better. My old Rivieras only got 12 mpg. at best. My '70 Mustang got 15 mpg. I don't think that my '56 Cadillac would do even close to those. 

So as an alternative to a vintage car, my Nav seems to makes a lot of sense.

Plus it has much cleaner exhaust emissions than any pre '75 car. 

The "family car" of the new Millenium.

Crew cab pick ups are one of Today's most popular family vehicles, and their fuel economy is pretty close to any of the big Suvs. I've scoured my magazine collection as well as the Internet and concluded that gas mileage is pretty consistent between, American, Asian and European trucks and SUVs.

So why are some people so down on Navigators and their cross town sibling, the Cadillac Escalade?  Probably for the same reason that people were down on BMWs in the 90's, they just see these automotive choices as a way of showing off, as blatant conspicuous consumption. They are quite expensive when new, and I suppose that many do buy them as status symbols. But many choose them because they are as capable as any Tahoe, Suburban, Big truck or Expedition. They choose the function combined with the comfort and the pizazz. 

To some people, these luxury SUVs aren't just seen as fancy trucks, they're seen as symbols of the destruction of the environment, the decline of Western civilization, excessive consumerism, elitism, and who knows what else!

I think that I'll just drive my old Navigator on my upcoming vacation trip. Then I'll know whether or not it suits my needs.