How environmentally bad would it be to buy a "used SUV"

I don't see a problem.
I have an old crappy Grand Cherokee at our cabin that is strictly for pulling the fishing boat a couple of miles to the lake or for hunting. This allows me to drive the Prius to the cabin, and still have the utility of the Jeep when I get there.

The only catch, is the insurance cost. It's a few hundred bucks a year to have the unused vehicle sitting there. But it's worth it to me. It Keeps the Prius open for the non-hunting cabin goers (Wife) to use and also provides a backup vehicle if the beater sedan at home (vehicle #2 in the family) goes down.

 

We have an older SUV which we're keeping to use as our second car and for camping trips. If we sold it and someone bought to use it as their primary vehicle, that would be pretty bad. But at some point we'll have to sell it, I guess.

We've actually started renting vans and/or trucks on the basis of needs. For example, last weekend we had to rent a Suburban (they ran out of vans) to go down to Houston because we had three adults and three kids (clearly more than what a Prius could hold). Still, the cost of renting on occasion is still better than paying for a permanent "big" vehicle that's not needed all the time.

BTW, the 2008 Suburban has a display for things like Instant Avg Fuel Economy, Amount of Fuel Used since last reset, and on the highway it can switch from V8 to V4 mode to supposedly improve MPG. Nonetheless, for the mostly highway driving we did, the average came out to be about 15mpg. I almost got sick at the pump while refilling that beast...

 

"we had to rent a Suburban (they ran out of vans) to go down to Houston because we had three adults and three kids (clearly more than what a Prius could hold). "

Wouldn't renting a 2nd Prius for the trip cost less in gas?
Two Prii at 50 MPG use less fuel than one beheamoth at 15 MPG.

 

I still own my Trooper. It barely goes anywhere, however. It mostly just sits there. It gets crappy MPG, but very low GPM - Gallons Per Month.

By the way, I just bought a used SUV.

My RAV4 EV! It uses no gas at all. I suggest you get one.

Nate

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Sep 18 2007, 05:28 PM) [snapback]514493[/snapback]</div>

That's a lot of embodied energy to be sitting around. If you have a regular defined use for it, hauling a boat, biannual firewood collection, giant Christmas tree expedition, or even 4 people ton regular summer biking trips, it would seem reasonable. But buying it just to avoid rare delivery charges seems a little too close to the whole affluenza thing - buying stuff just to have cool stuff (says the guy with two sports cars sitting unlicensed, in the garage since '05 or so)(hey, hobbies are exempt from justification .

 

I couldn't part with my full size Chevy truck when I got my Prius. It mostly sits in the driveway during the week and makes expensive trips to Home Depot on weekends. It also takes up to the snow in the winter.

 

There is no need to own a pickup truck to go to Home Depot. They'll let you use theirs for only $19.

Nate

 

Insure the SUV as a recreational vehicle (less than 6000 mi a year) and you get a big discount on the insurance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Sep 19 2007, 12:02 PM) [snapback]514824[/snapback]</div>

Surely two Prii would cost less in gas. But there are problems with that solution. The first being that we have a small baby, so one of us (my wife) has to take care of him (the other adult is a visitor from New Zealand and cannot drive in the US). The second problem is that there's no Prius for rent around here (that I can find), and even if there was one, it's doubtful I'd be able to get the kind of deal I got for the Suburban ($35/day). The third is that driving two cars would take away all the fun of a family get together, which is what the trip was all about in the first place.

Thus, while some options may look good on paper, they may not actually work in real life.

 

Since you are not using it in every day commuting I don't see a problem. The impact of buying a used vehicle certainly has to be less than buying new. So it all hinges on how much you use it. There has to be a breakpoint at which use of it would make it less impactful to buy something newer with better fuel efficiency (like a Prius). But for weekend use, I see no problem. That said, go for a relatively fuel efficient model if possible (no Hummers).