Alright, mini-rant time here for me...
I'm sitting here watching the Leaf game and I see a commercial for the New 2011 Ford Explorer. Hmmm...new Ford Explorer, I think I'll Google it and check it out. Now let me say and admit, that I'm not really a Ford guy per se. I'm more of a GM man, although my preference has always been to buy from one of the "Big Three" as that's what I like best and also, I like to support North American companies.
So anyway, I Google "2011 Ford Explorer" and what do I find? Another one of these damn, frickin' "soccer-mom" cross-over thingys! Say it isn't so Ford!
Let me ask...what is it with these stupid "cross-overs"? Can we not have at least one real, truck based, mid sized sport utility? Just one!
Why is it that we are being forced as buyers, to buy these car based, uni-body FWD or AWD cross-overs? What about if we tow a boat? What if we actually go off-road? Or take our vehicle out of the city and to the cottage?
See, here is the basis for my frustration...we've had a bunch of sport-utes and pick up trucks over the years. Normally I have one and Yolie has one. We usually have one pickup and one sport ute. We've had so many over the years, that there are too many to recount here to be honest. And for us, these type of vehicles fit our needs and lifestyle best. So what we do is, one week we take my truck to the cottage and the next week we take Yolie's vehicle to the cottage. But a few years back when Yolie's GMC Envoy lease was up and we were ready to replace it, there wasn't one real, truck based mid sized sport utility in GM's line up to buy. Sure there were Yukons and Tahoes, but they're too big for us. I asked our trusty old sales guy what he hell was up and he more or less touted all the advantages of these cross-over things. Better fuel economy, nicer car like ride, etc. etc. Suffice to say, they were supposed to be the best of both worlds.
Now for me, I wasn't really interested in the cross-overs, so I was only half listening as what I'm wanting is a real truck based vehicle. One with real four wheel drive and capable of taking on the old back roads to the cottage, towing the boat once in a while etc. Now my sweetie on the other hand, is diggin' the GMC Acadia as it looks like her beloved Envoy and she is also diggin' the Caddy SRX. And Yolie is demanding whatever we get, has to have some kind of 4 wheel drive capability, for winter and the cottage. And that makes total sense. But truth be told, what she's really wanting is just another Envoy.
Me on the other hand, I'm pushing for something truck based and I'm poo-pooing the cross-over crap. So I'm pushing for a GMC Canyon, perhaps the Chev Colorado or as an option I'm suggesting we move to Ford and get an Explorer or move to Jeep and get a diesel Cherokee. We test drive a bunch and in the end, can't really agree, so we decide to just get by for a few months, essentially, short one vehicle. Two or three months pass and I find an almost new Caddy SRX on Lease Busters at a really good price, so we decide to take it on. The result? It's worse on gas then the Envoy, in fact, it's worse on gas than my full sized GMC Crew Cab Sierra 4X4! This thing goes through a complete set of brakes at 45K. We're talking full set of brakes all around! The timing chains fail at 55K. It needs a complete set of tires at 60K and on and on the list goes. And keep in mind, this is a fairly new vehicle on a lease. Never on a three year lease have I had to do anything substantial on a vehicle...NEVER! Needless to say, Yolie and especially me are not too Happy as you can well imagine.
So, the SRX Lease starts getting close to the end, with three months to go (thank God!) and without asking, I just go out on my own while the GM Employee Pricing Event is on and I just take my chances and order a Chevy Colorado Crew Cab pickup. A week or so before the new truck is to arrive, I announce to my sweetie that I've ordered her a new vehicle. She sorta gives me the Spockian eyebrow look, so I tell her what I got her. At first she seems sorta sceptical, but when we go to get her new truck, she fall's in love instantly. It's black has 4x4, Z71 off road, leather, it has nerf bars, a tonneau cover, lots of chrome and it's a crew cab.
Right away she notices that the Colorado is WAY better on gas versus the gas guzzling V6 SRX AWD. It's more sporty and lighter feeling and best of all, she can load whatever she likes in the bed at any time.
Which brings me back to this new Ford Explorer. Why Ford? Why GM? Why Jeep? Why won't you have at least one real, mid-sized ,suv in your lineup? One with real 4 wheel drive? One with a body on frame construction? I would suggest there are others like me out there, who feel the same. And essentially what we're being forced to do is to buy a full sized SUV or to settle for a soccer mom cross over thingy!
Please, is it too much to ask for you to have just ONE real mid-sized, truck based sport ute?
Just one is all I ask!
Just my .02 cents.
-Chris
I'm sitting here watching the Leaf game and I see a commercial for the New 2011 Ford Explorer. Hmmm...new Ford Explorer, I think I'll Google it and check it out. Now let me say and admit, that I'm not really a Ford guy per se. I'm more of a GM man, although my preference has always been to buy from one of the "Big Three" as that's what I like best and also, I like to support North American companies.
So anyway, I Google "2011 Ford Explorer" and what do I find? Another one of these damn, frickin' "soccer-mom" cross-over thingys! Say it isn't so Ford!
Let me ask...what is it with these stupid "cross-overs"? Can we not have at least one real, truck based, mid sized sport utility? Just one!
Why is it that we are being forced as buyers, to buy these car based, uni-body FWD or AWD cross-overs? What about if we tow a boat? What if we actually go off-road? Or take our vehicle out of the city and to the cottage?
See, here is the basis for my frustration...we've had a bunch of sport-utes and pick up trucks over the years. Normally I have one and Yolie has one. We usually have one pickup and one sport ute. We've had so many over the years, that there are too many to recount here to be honest. And for us, these type of vehicles fit our needs and lifestyle best. So what we do is, one week we take my truck to the cottage and the next week we take Yolie's vehicle to the cottage. But a few years back when Yolie's GMC Envoy lease was up and we were ready to replace it, there wasn't one real, truck based mid sized sport utility in GM's line up to buy. Sure there were Yukons and Tahoes, but they're too big for us. I asked our trusty old sales guy what he hell was up and he more or less touted all the advantages of these cross-over things. Better fuel economy, nicer car like ride, etc. etc. Suffice to say, they were supposed to be the best of both worlds.
Now for me, I wasn't really interested in the cross-overs, so I was only half listening as what I'm wanting is a real truck based vehicle. One with real four wheel drive and capable of taking on the old back roads to the cottage, towing the boat once in a while etc. Now my sweetie on the other hand, is diggin' the GMC Acadia as it looks like her beloved Envoy and she is also diggin' the Caddy SRX. And Yolie is demanding whatever we get, has to have some kind of 4 wheel drive capability, for winter and the cottage. And that makes total sense. But truth be told, what she's really wanting is just another Envoy.
Me on the other hand, I'm pushing for something truck based and I'm poo-pooing the cross-over crap. So I'm pushing for a GMC Canyon, perhaps the Chev Colorado or as an option I'm suggesting we move to Ford and get an Explorer or move to Jeep and get a diesel Cherokee. We test drive a bunch and in the end, can't really agree, so we decide to just get by for a few months, essentially, short one vehicle. Two or three months pass and I find an almost new Caddy SRX on Lease Busters at a really good price, so we decide to take it on. The result? It's worse on gas then the Envoy, in fact, it's worse on gas than my full sized GMC Crew Cab Sierra 4X4! This thing goes through a complete set of brakes at 45K. We're talking full set of brakes all around! The timing chains fail at 55K. It needs a complete set of tires at 60K and on and on the list goes. And keep in mind, this is a fairly new vehicle on a lease. Never on a three year lease have I had to do anything substantial on a vehicle...NEVER! Needless to say, Yolie and especially me are not too Happy as you can well imagine.
So, the SRX Lease starts getting close to the end, with three months to go (thank God!) and without asking, I just go out on my own while the GM Employee Pricing Event is on and I just take my chances and order a Chevy Colorado Crew Cab pickup. A week or so before the new truck is to arrive, I announce to my sweetie that I've ordered her a new vehicle. She sorta gives me the Spockian eyebrow look, so I tell her what I got her. At first she seems sorta sceptical, but when we go to get her new truck, she fall's in love instantly. It's black has 4x4, Z71 off road, leather, it has nerf bars, a tonneau cover, lots of chrome and it's a crew cab.
Right away she notices that the Colorado is WAY better on gas versus the gas guzzling V6 SRX AWD. It's more sporty and lighter feeling and best of all, she can load whatever she likes in the bed at any time.
Which brings me back to this new Ford Explorer. Why Ford? Why GM? Why Jeep? Why won't you have at least one real, mid-sized ,suv in your lineup? One with real 4 wheel drive? One with a body on frame construction? I would suggest there are others like me out there, who feel the same. And essentially what we're being forced to do is to buy a full sized SUV or to settle for a soccer mom cross over thingy!
Please, is it too much to ask for you to have just ONE real mid-sized, truck based sport ute?
Just one is all I ask!
Just my .02 cents.
-Chris
a crew cab f-350, I also had a f-350 a few years ago that I used for a work truck and really liked it.
