Have you ever driven an Outback with the 3.6 liter engine? Because of the very low placement of the horizontally-opposed engine, it actually has a low center of gravity, and I delight in seeing how most sedans cannot keep up with me when we hit “the twisties”. 
And, most SUVs have a security shade that you can use to conceal whatever might be in the cargo area.
yes, that came standard with my station wagon, but had to buy it for the forester.
There is a massive glut of unsold new cars out there. There is potential to be a auto bubble busting in the near future. As the banks pull back on the sub prime lending, there will be a surplus of used cars which will drive the prices way down and many people will find themselves upside down on their auto loans. This will pull down your trade in values which will translate to higher payments on the new vehicle. Higher payments on new cars will translate to even longer credit terms, higher interest, and necessity for higher credit worthiness.
I am in the market for a used 4 door 3/4 or ton truck to replace my 1.5 ton and half ton trucks. I have been seeing prices fall on these trucks over the past several months. I don’t need to buy today so I will wait and see what happens.
I got an SUV for boat towing, wife has a sedan, but I miss the minivan for 4x8 sheets of building materials. We are done with long tows, my next car will be a sedan or minivan, and just rent a uhaul pickup truck for the 4 times a year boat launch.
Long-time (don’t ask) sedan owner, next vehicle will probably be a CUV. I need lots of headroom, most vehicles I’m interested in come with a sunroof, which only works for me with a CUV. Besides that, I like the easier in/out and the cargo versatility. The mpg penalty is small these days, and I’ve noticed no handling penalty when driving my wife’s MKX. The CX-5 will get a long test drive, along with the RDX and RAV4 hybrid.
Manufacturers will try to make what they can sell, and if we buy SUVs, they will make them. The sedan market will be smaller, but I think the taxi, Uber and Lyft market as well as the government, corporate and rental car markets will keep sedans around. Police departments went over to mid size SUVs when the rear wheel drive sedans disappeared, because they need the space inside for all the gear they carry. Standard sedans are the base of the line for makers and give them a low price teaser car to get people into the showroom, where they can upsell to a crossover or SUV. There’s no technical reason why an SUV has to cost thousands more than a sedan, except profit. Same for a pickup. Pickups should be cheap to make, and maybe they are, but the prices don’t reflect that.
That is not entirely true
Many law enforcement agencies are using mopar rear wheel drive sedans, but I agree that Exploders and Yukons are especially popular choices
I was talking with a cousin of mine a few months ago - who happens to be a NY State trooper.
NY State is phasing out a lot of their Sedans and going with Ford Explorers. Performance wise - they are pretty equal…but the added snow and height advantages they found the Explorers are a better choice.
Oh, yah? Cool! In which NY theater does she/he perform? [quote=“MikeInNH, post:28, topic:106135”]
NY State is phasing out a lot of their Sedans and going with Ford Explorers. Performance wise - they are pretty equal…but the added snow and height advantages they found the Explorers are a better choice.
[/quote]
It’s on somebody else’s dime! That always opens up the choices.
CSA
About 9 years ago, after a crazy woman T-boned my friend’s Accord, he and I were given a ride to my house–in a different county than the place of the collision–by a very nice cop. That ride was in the back of a Crown Vic, and I had to sit sideways and put my legs up on the back seat. That’s how little leg room there was in the back of a Crown Vic with a police partition.
When you consider how much less legroom there is in the back of a modern Charger, I have to wonder how the cops are able to stuff people into the back of those…marvelous Mopars.
Damn spell checker…
Sorry about that, Mike. The devil made me do it. I couldn’t resist! 
CSA
I never said they were Marvelous, either
But I like the look of some of them
That’s good, because–IMHO–they are anything other than marvelous.
I remember back in 1962 the Indiana State Police used Studebaker Larks for patrol cars. Part of the reason was that Studebakers were made in Indiana. My dad owned a 1963 Studebaker Lark and it had more legroom in the back seat than many larger cars of that time period, and, in fact, today’s times.
The real champ for rear seat legroom was the Checker.
The Dodge Charger has more leg room than the Crown Victoria.
Consumer reports lists the leg room as;
2011 Crown Victoria; front 40.5", rear 27.5".
2017 Dodge Charger; front 42.5", rear 29".
Well, figures obviously don’t lie, but I have to say that when I have walked past Charger police cars and looked into them, it looked to me as if the legroom was even more scanty than in the old Crown Vics. Perhaps the placement of the partitions has something to do with the situation.
It was a good one…
The Federal highway cops in Mexico, who patrol the Federal highways, drive mostly Chargers. I have no idea if they have the highest power option, but I have seen them go and they are very quick!
Has anyone taught you to submit to them?
Of course, I am speaking of submitting the traditional mordida to them.