SUVs as trucks, was RE: to repair or not....

[TWFAUST at aol.com]

Didn't mean to disparage those who might have a actual use for an SUV.  
Although, like VW cabriolets, I have noticed that they are usually driven by  
single women (meaning unaccompanied). You must have overlooked my mention of  
"seats removed".  Seeming to never go out without acquiring  something, I 
keep one around for utility.  Although it was the SWB  model, and would not 
accept full sheets of plywood, my favorite was the '89  Dodge minivan. It was 
small , light weight, and with the turbo  4 cylinder  bumped to 300hp it 
would squash most everything else on the road into the later  90's and produce 
25 mpg. (I took it to a drag strip in the 90's and turned 14.4  in street 
condition but empty, current A6  turbo 2.0 is rated at  16.2)Although FWD, it 
would truly "go in the snow", traveling in snow is largely  a matter of 
ground clearance. Once I was pulled over for speeding while hauling  a Chrysler 
440 on a pallet. The police officer saw that and blanched, he thought  it 
was hooked up and driving the minivan. Sadly, it rotted away. I also  have 
Audis.
 
Tom
 
 
In a message dated 5/19/2016 3:34:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
theringmeister at triad.rr.com writes:

 
 
Having owned an '08 Q7 3.6 since new ( only Audi I've ever bought  new) I 
have to tell you the Q7 is rock-solid and goes where you put it. We  test 
drove behemoth SUVs before coming back to the Q7 and I couldn't stomach  the 
thought of paying that much for an enclosed pickup. We had sworn off  minivans 
long ago... going from an A4 1.8T Avant to an allroad and finally to  the 
Q7 as we needed room for 7 to carpool to school and sports practices.  Heck, 
we took it from NC to WDW with the in-laws in the middle row and 10  and 13 
year olds in the back row with a box on top for luggage, and it cruises  
effortlessly at 100-110mph loaded (95S btwn JAX and Daytona is like  west TX). 
It's also very tossable on mountain roads and although it  could benefit 
from a turbo or two, it never seems "slow and cumbersome" like I  imagine 
every other large SUV out there may feel. 


Just my 8 years of ownership experience. Yours may differ  greatly. 


Wylie  Bean