There is Biblical support to oppose both SUVs and minivans. In the book of Acts in the Bible it states that the disciples all came together in one Accord. If the eleven disciples that were present at the time could fit into this Honda sedan, we certainly don’t need SUVs or minivans.
I guess I am immoral, because we own a Toyota 4Runner and a Toyota Sienna. However, if I am going to hell, I would sooner take the 4Runner or the Sienna than go in a handbasket or a Smart car.
What “caller” are you refering to? I’m responding to what the OP asked.
I have a “eight foot bed that never has to be made” I guess that about says it all.Pickup trucks forever.
If you routinely carry three passengers and stuff that they own, you’re not hurting the environment as much as when the SUV or Minivan has only the driver in it all the time.
When four people multiply the fuel economy by their number, it comes out to 84 MPG. Or 84 MPGPP. It doesn’t, but four SUVs will get 5&1/4 MPG. It’s twisted reasoning but it didn’t take all day to write it.
The OP is referring to a caller from this week’s show.
Thank you Caddyman. I was wondering who would end the “pile-on” first.
LifeofBrian, please keep in mind this caller didn’t want an SUV or a minivan, and it was Tom and Ray who talked her into considering an Odyssey. I wonder how she will feel about Tom and Ray when the transmission fails, or a motor mount breaks, or she has to spend $1,100 for a timing belt job.
Please also keep in mind that the caller didn’t frown upon your decision to drive an SUV. She simply stated her preference. It’s her right to be morally opposed to owning an SUV, and your sensitivity to her statement says more about you than it does her.
Were we listening to the same show? I thought the caller merely stated her preference based on her own morals. Who, exactly, did the caller belittle?
That’s a good point.
I would also like to add that bringing a child into the world has a bigger environmental impact than driving an SUV, so this women obviously has misplaced priorities.
However, I still maintain reducing our dependence on oil (not just foreign oil) is a worthy goal. It’s one benefit of riding a motorcycle! 
Tom and Ray haven’t seemed to grasp that concept since they backed-off their station wagon recommendation.
Large cars seem to have biblical support as well. The Fury (a large Plymouth many will remember) is mentioned many times in the Old Testament…at one point it was turned away from Jerusalem.
Not sure how “moral” a VW Microbus is or was. Where I live this vehicle was mostly associated with draft dodgers and anti-social behavior without a great deal of concern for the environment.
Moreover, many Americans were CONCEIVED in these vehicles!
The magic of nostalgia!
This is true. In Genesis, it says that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden in his Fury.
I didn’t listen to the show, nor was a I aware that the OP’s question was referencing the show. If that’s the case it would seem that this question is in the wrong section.
Also worth noting, “real” SUVs are considered trucks and do not have to meet the same emissions guidelines that cars (and minivans) do. SUVs’ larger footprint makes parking more difficult for others, and their height makes driving behind one rather unpleasant.
“Also worth noting, “real” SUVs are considered trucks and do not have to meet the same emissions guidelines that cars (and minivans) do.”
Actually, minivans are classified as light duty trucks, so they have to meet light duty truck emissions standards, not passenger car emissions standards. Check the underhood emissions sticker on any minivan and it will say “light duty truck”.
The difference between the SUV and the minivan is not in how much alike they are in terms of things like MPG. It is that almost no one owns a minivan who doesn’t have direct, practical need for its capabilities. A minivan is a safe, pragmatic choice for many to meet their needs.
Many SUV owners, on the other hand, have absolutely no practical need for a vehicle of that type. The extra size & resource consumption meets no real practical need.
I am not going to make a moral judgment about that. I am just going to say that there is a big difference between the minivan & SUV - not in engineering stats, but in how they are knitted into the fabric of life. In concrete terms, one thing you could do is use the math adjustment provided by pleadedodgevan
Even God could not save the Fury.
Job 27:20
Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.
We had a Pontiac Tempest wagon once, It had the gear selector on the dash.
That seems to be a totally IMAGE based opinion of the vehicles, cigroller. You wish to assert that people buy mini vans because they are being practical but their neighbors buy SUVs because they are… nuts, maybe? You are making a moral judgement. Do mini vans have an emasculated image while SUVs seem to have a tough guy/gal image? And does that change the “knitting” of their fabric?
I didn’t listen to the show. Like FoDaddy, I expect conversations about the show to be in that topic area.
I’m going on my own direct experience with A LOT of actual people in addition to just living in this culture. Sorry that I don’t have a probability sample on hand. But it doesn’t take a genius. SUVs spent a long time “in” - and still are to a great extent. Minivans are laughable in the public eye. They’re for geeky soccer moms. Witness the hateful Toyota commercials along with Honda’s recent campaign to try to make the Odyssey “cool” and “manly.” Sorry but you’d have to be nuts to be living in the US over the last 20 years and think that all I’m going on is a “moral” judgment.
“Do mini vans have an emasculated image while SUVs seem to have a tough guy/gal image?”
I think that its pretty obvious that this is the story.
“And does that change the “knitting” of their fabric?”
I’m not sure what would change about the knitting or what I would say about it. The typical SUV buyer and minivan buyer are operating with very different ideas of what they are trying to accomplish with their vehicles. Once again, I’ll just apologize for not having a probability sample on hand.
I have owned both types of vehicles, btw.