American SUV in Japan

Ah, but you miss the point: "If they know how much I paid for it, they'll think I'm important". Or maybe that is only a thought process in some American people. For a LONG time people would buy Cadillac's because they were expensive and if you could afford one, you were financially successful. Of course, people would buy them even if they couldn't really afford them; the appearance of success was most important to them. Now some people buy BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Hummers, etc for the same reason.
Most likely, GM is hoping American's living in Japan will buy them because Japanese are too smart for that.

 

I've always been curious about American SUV vehicles in Japan. Yes, how could they ever sell? Impratical here in the states, completely stupid for other countries. Some people get it (prius), some don't (nothin' dumber than a hummer). Sometimes it's just sad to see the American 'lifestyle' out in the rest of the world. Love my Prius!

 

The H2 isn't even a real HumVee. It's just a cheap truck with an oversize body. Arnold drives HumVees because he wants to pretend that he's really the character he played in movies. People buy H2's because they're too stupid to know the difference, or because they want to pretend they're Rambo or the Governator.

My dad drove a Cadillac, and he was the last person to care what anybody else thought. He drove it because it is an old man's car: Heavy, smooth, easy and comfortable for an old man to drive.

I drive my Prius so I can pretend I'm Kermit the frog. I guess we all have our little fantasies.

 

OK I will be the bad guy. As far as I know I would not get a SUV in Japan. I live in western Washington. I like to fish (big time), camp and tow a pop up camper. I drive off road at least on logging roads and these are really bad. The hump in the middle of the road is so high I have to put one wheel of my Explorer on the hump or I would high center the car. My point is the wild west is still a bit wild and there is a use for those SUV's. The problem is I don't need that functionality all the time. So I drive the Beast 90% of the time back and forth to work. That is bad. Too many people drive them in the city all the time. That is very very bad. I now have a Prius for every day and the Explorer for those few other occasions. I am very blessed to be able to do this and have been working towards this for some time. The best solution is a subscription service through out the country that allows everyone to use a pick up, Van, panel truck, SUV when needed.

 

That would be brilliant!. I think we have something like that in our city. People can pay a monthly fee to a company. Then, when they need a car, they book a car and pay a low hourly rate plus gas. The company's fleet consists of one minivan and nearly 20 Toyota Echos. The main clients are folks who live downtown but occasionally need to go to the suburbs to see friends and get stuff.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a similar service for people like you who need an SUV on fairly regular basis, but not every day?

 

Yes it would. But it would have to be SO convenient that you could just drop by and get it whenever you want and it would have to be cheap. You can rent big SUVs here but I don't know if they would allow/want you to tow a big trailer or take it onto the back woods logging roads.

Henry is doing it right, 2 vehicles, each used for the appropriate purpose. I'm pretty sure people like SpeedRacer just can't do it. At $200/month to park 1 car, it is pretty much unaffordable for most people to have 2 special purpose vehicles. I suppose I could keep my '95 Odyssey when my Prius comes in, and use it when I need to cart bigger stuff or 1 extra person. However, as I really have no convenient place to park a 3rd vehicle, it isn't practical. Now if my neighbors want to give me their house & lot (we are talking 40' x 100'), I could rip it down and have a 2 or even 3 car garage

 

We've got something kind of similar. It's called car rental companies. Except that instead of paying every month whether you need the car or not, you only pay when you actually need the car, SUV, whatever. And you get to keep it for as long as you need it.

A subscription service would be more economical if you need a vehicle for the same number of days every month, but would probably not be economical if you need it some months but not others.

Tom & Ray are constantly advising people who need a heavy SUV or pickup once in a while to rent one rather than buying it.

 

Yep I agree. I live on 3 and 3/4 acres. I would expect almost no one in Japan can do that. It still is the wild west (for a while). There is a service in Seattle and Portland where you can sign up to use a car when you need too. You pay for so many hours (or what ever I am a little vague on details not having done it). They also have Vans and Pickups. I don't know about SUVs as I say the details are a bit vague. Really great for folks in big cities with good day to day public transportation. This could be one additional part of a practical transportation plan. People need to live and do "stuff". I am lucky to have two cars to cover most of my needs, and yes I have rented a pickup in the past year to cover yet a third need. We need to recognize peoples needs and build it into the transportation system of the future. OK I did it again. Down off the soap box. Deep breath. Center my chi. I am OK! You Ok!