[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Autobahnschleicher

Can somebody please explain me why you guys are so obsessed with absurdly large and heavy vehicles?
Also 3,99$/gallon is dirt cheap, here we're looking at the equivalent of 6-7$/gallon.
Get a normal car and you will get the fuel economy you desire.

1. You already answered your own question, partially. Fuel is cheap here. It represents a very small fraction of the total price of the vehicle. The SUV almost died in 2008 when fuel prices spiked a little while wages suffered. That killed some SUVs liked the Hummer and brought over small cars like the Smart. But the spike didn't last long and everyone went back to big vehicles. Only this time most people started buying CUVs as a happy medium.
2. As mentioned earlier, people here have been fed propaganda that large vehicles are the only safe vehicle. They have been told that anything smaller is a "death trap". So you're considered immoral if you don't buy a huge vehicle.
3. As with any fad people make up a billion reasons why they need one. Apparently everyone lives where roads are ridden with deep potholes, where the government doesn't provide enough snow removal and where if you want to be able to do any fun you have to go "off road" out in the back country, which usually means driving on a well developed dirt road.
4. You can also blame Arnold Schwarzenegger for starting the fad that oversized is cool.