It's not a car, truck, van or SUV....

...it's a CUV. A "crossover utility vehicle". Bigger than a car, but not as big as an SUV. A whole new class of vehicle designed with the goal of attracting the masses with something new. I'll be honest, I can't help but be reminded of when they came out with station wagons. Remember those? LOL The best ones were with the "wood paneling" down the sides and the blue body tones. As if!
I must admit though, the crossovers I have seen are pretty good looking vehicles. Certainly not a station wagon, that's for sure.
But who do these vehicles appeal to? Perhaps the family driver who isn't into minivans or SUVs. Maybe the driver who is a bit phobic of a big vehicle, but wants more space than a car. Or the person who likes SUVs, but wants to save on fuel consumption.
But wait! Before you jump on the crossover train, there are a couple things you should know. First, the crossovers cost anywhere from over $7,000 to $13,000 more than an SUV. For my research purposes, I compared the Hyundai Veracruz (starting at $39,995) to the Hyundai Sante Fe (starting at $27,000) and the Ford Edge (starting at $34,350) to the Ford Escape (starting at $27,000).
And if you think you'll be saving on fuel, guess again on that one! According to the website, the Sante Fe takes 11.9L/100km in the city, and the Veracruz takes 13.9L/100km in the city. So the Veracruz takes more gas! And the Ford Edge takes 13L/100km in the city, whereas the Ford Escape takes 10.3L/100km in the city. Now, these would obviously vary by model here, I just looked at the basics. But it does show a telling tale.
So...you pay more money, use more gas...for a vehicle that isn't a car nor SUV...hmmm...I think I will pass and stick with my not-so-gas-guzzling SUV!

Does going green cost far too much green?

Recently my husband and I were in the market for a new vehicle - an SUV in particular. Given that we would like to be environmentally responsible, and given the soaring prices at the pumps, our first thought was “let’s go hybrid”. Hybrid vehicles use a fraction of gas that regular vehicles do, so it seemed like a wise choice.
However, upon visiting some dealerships, we were astounded as to the price difference between the hybrid and the non-hybrid. For a sedan, you are looking at roughly a $5,000 to $8,000 difference and for an SUV, roughly $5,000 to $9,000 difference. Throw your sales taxes on top of that, and we aren’t talking chump change here.
Now, I understand that the technology will cost extra money, but considering that a vehicle is never an investment, it is a huge difference in price point. On top of that, if something were to go wrong with the vehicle, repair costs are higher, and you are limited in who you can take your vehicle to as not all mechanics are familiar with hybrid technologies.
So for us, as I imagine for many others like us, being economically responsible outweighed being environmentally responsible.