In my part of the world, I’ve recently noticed a growing number of rooftop cargo baskets on vehicles. Most of the baskets I see are not being used. I was curious if the rest of you have been seeing this, or if it’s just me?
I’ve never been a fan of putting stuff on the roof of the car, for a variety of reasons. Main one being, it’s sometimes hard to get the stuff up there, and then you have to get it back down later.
I see the baskets on top of trucks/SUVs, and some cars, all empty. Usually the trucks/SUVs have some other “upgrades” too, leading me to believe cargo baskets are the new (and also unused) LED light bars, color coordinated tow hooks, or winches. In fact, in my neighborhood there’s a 2010 or so Chevy Tahoe with a cargo basket, impossibly wide low profile tires, and a crooked “Z71” sticker prominently displayed on the rear glass.
Any other reports/observations? And stay off my lawn!
It’s an unused embellishment on an overpriced, over optioned “off-road” package on gaudy extravagant suvs that are purchased by over extended yuppies trying to impress other over extended aimless yuppies.
I haven’t (yet) observed what ledhed noted, but they may be out there in my area also.
I hope that the folks who choose to carry extra stuff on the roof of their SUV aren’t the same ones who complain about either gas mileage or wind noise because that extra stuff on the roof is likely to negatively affect their gas mileage and to increase the wind noise.
What I have noticed several times lately is the phenomenon of new-ish Jeep Wranglers with the doors removed. Even if this is legal, I have to wonder if those folks have considered how they might fare in the event of being T-boned. I observed two of them yesterday, on I-287, and both of them were driving like maniacs, at a much higher speed than the rest of the traffic, and cutting from one lane to another very often.
But… what the heck… the only thing that counts in life is one’s “image”.
I’ve seen a few, they are pretty much no different than the Wranglers all decked out with spare gas tanks and shovels and a clean room would be jealous of how clean the bottom of the vehicles are… lol
I almost never see them in Central Maryland. It seems like the cargo basket could be removed when not in use, but maybe they don’t have space to store it.
See more of them on Toyota 4Runner’s which doesn’t look that out of place, the one’s one later model Highlander’s and Nissan Rogue’s stand out more but who knows how often the owner actually needs the rack. My brother’s family has a hard cargo box on their toyota Sequoia year round and it might be empty for a month at most before their needs switch to Ski season or road trip duty.
It’s just puzzling to me, why people spend so much money “upgrading” their vehicles with capabilities they never use. Clearly it’s because of “style” or the appearance of being “rugged”, I’m aware. But there is a cost in both fuel and money, or both.
Granted, all of the cars/trucks I see with unused cargo baskets could be fully used every weekend, and emptied every Sunday. But odds are that I’d see at least a few being used during the week. You would think…
When I go hiking, it’s not unusual for me to park next to a car/truck/SUV with its engine idling, and it’s also not unusual for me to find that the same vehicles are still idling their engines when I return to my car 45-60 minutes later.
I recall that one of those long-idling vehicles had a bumper sticker stating some sort of complaint about the price of gas.
In high school at the restaurant a car was in the lot running while the owners were inside having their lunch. I told the boss but he said they had air conditioning and a little dog inside so leave it alone. Not many had air back in 1965. I learned a lot about business from that guy. Never questioned customers, not even the guy in his Sunday best with TP hanging out of his pants. I just cleaned the toilets.
Someone in my neighborhood has an older F250 diesel work truck. He goes home midday sometimes and leaves the truck running while he’s inside. I never hung around long enough to see how long he lets it idle, but I imagine he’s eating lunch and it idles a half hour or more. Seems like a waste of fuel to me.
