"fbloogyudsr" > wrote in message
...

> What "story" am I telling, Ed? I was pointing out that your
> figures are WRONG and that you don't know as much as you
> think you do, hence your conclusion is possibly incorrect.
> If you think that I've written something anti-SUV (and my wife
> owns a Highlander and we used to own a Trooper), you're
> on something hallucinogenic.

Sorry I was confusing you with the original poster. But my question is still
correct. Do you think the difference in width between an M-Class and a
Passat (1.8" per side) would make much of a difference in the ability to get
into the M-Class assuming all the cars were parked properly?

I am over sensitive to anti-SUV stories. Every time I turn around somebody
posts a story that seems to make it seem as if the SUV was the reason
somebody did something bad. Even when the type of vehicle has absolutely
nothing to do with the bad outcome, if an SUV was the type of vehicle
involved, it is prominently mentioned in the rant. The post that started
this thread was somewhat typical. If you look at the picture, the SUV was
parked dead in the middle of two spaces. Any other vehicle would have had
consumed two spaces when parked as shown. The fact that it was an SUV was
tangential to the story. It was clearly the driver's bad behavior and not
the fact that he was driving an SUV. Even the site that included the picture
was another anti-SUV site. A large percentage of the SUVs sold in the US
(Explorers, Small Blazers, Vues, etc) have a foot print (length x width)
that is comparable to cars. Therefore they don't consume any more of the
precious parking lot space than Camrys and Accords. Even the larger SUVs
(Expeditions, Tahoes, Durangos) are not as long as and comparable in width
to full size station wagons from the 70's and 80's. And they aren't any
larger than many of the full size mini vans (is full size mini van an
oxymoron?). So why all the hate filled posts directed towards SUVs? Why was
the original post titled SUV and Parking and not Bad Parking? The SUV didn't
park itself squarely in the middle of two spaces, the bad driver did. And
ironically, it looks to me as if the SUV could have actually fit in one of
the "Compact Car" spaces if the driver had tried. I'd say this was just
another self important person worried about door dings. I believe if he (or
she) were driving an Avalon, chances are he (or she) would have done the
same thing.

And yes I do own an SUV - actually two- an Expedition and a Vue. The
Expedition is for long trips and towing things. The Vue is actually smaller
than many mid-sized cars and is easy to park in almost any lot. Even the
Expedition is easy to park at the local malls, although I almost never drive
it to the mall.

Ed