Hello,

I just joined the forum, I don't own a Hummer but have a couple of questions. I am not trying to be a troll. I have real questions and wish to be enlightened by the group, rather than just forming my opinions without hearing both arguments. Hopefully that is something that you can get behind and have a real discussion without flaming and bashing.

Hummer is obviously the poster child for gluttonous gas consumption (whether that is true or not). I was reading in your forums about little kids putting down Hummer drivers and members complaining about what this world is coming to. Many members talked about them not know the "truth" about pollution. Yet I didn't see anyone explain what that truth is. I'm interested to know.

Secondly, I completely understand "freedom", including the freedom of choice and speech. I understand that many brave men and women have died to give us those freedoms. Therefore, if I wanted to drive a Hummer I certainly could. What I dont' understand is doing something, just because you can. Just because you can drive a Hummer (or any other gas guzzling vehicle), doesn't make it the right thing to do. This is how I feel anyway. Just because you can be wasteful, or canafford to be wasteful, does it make it right to be wasteful? Please help me understand your thoughts on this idea?

Thank you for letting me visit your forums. I am interested to see the discussion this produces. Again, I am not trying to be a troll or incite arguement. I am simply trying to learn.

Jeremy

 

The thing about the kids is that they put down the h3 because they think it gets such bad mpg when it gets better than alot of other suvs out there and no one points fingers at those suv's, its just people being ignorant to the fact that the h3 gets good milage but are under the asumption that it doesnt. Alot of people dont even know the differance between h3's and h2's. I drive an h2 so i can tell you the reason why i driveit. Its not to be wasteful the h2 is very comfortable for one, another reason is that the h2 can go places that no other suv or truck can. Ive been places in my h2 along with h1's and h3's that other suv's or trucks couldnt dream of going. Another good point is that when it starts to rain and this may not be an issue for everyone, anytime it rains around here the streets flood badly, if driving a car some places are just out of the question when its raining. Also many people here use there hummers for good, some are in the hope program which helps across the states when the red cross needs aid and i have read stories and i myself have pulled fellow motorist out of ditches that they have backed into and ive use my h2 to pull many people that have got stuck on the beach.

 

Good question's. I think a lot of us drive HUMMER'S because we're proud of are country and it's place in the world. A HUMMER is a big f-u to the lefties, socialists, tree huggers, ect. that are ruining this country.Sure its a little over the top, but thats the whole point, were not quiet, wimpering people.And, there are lot's of us who need a big truck for work, or impressing clients so theres a business reason too.

As for polution and global warming, you show me one sceintist who says this and Ill show you one who says that. Who's egghead are you going to trust? Theres you're truth and then theirs my truth. Bottom line is just cause I can afford a HUMMER and gas why should I have to be the target of rediculuos, ignorent hate and jelousy. My truck employed several hundred Americans to build, how many did yours?

 

Also another way to look at the wasteful thing is fast cars. Why do people buy fast cars and why are car companies allowed to make fast cars. The highist speed limit in the states is 70, does that mean that cars should only be designed to go 70 at there top speed. I mean all cars can atleast go 100 which is an illegal speed to drive at. What it mostly boils down to is people like to bitch about things and no one will ever be happy. Good points america.

 

We (my wife and I) bought our H3 for two main reasons; A) Where we live, the streets are rarely plowed and cars slide all over the place in the winters, not to mention the flooding B) We wanted to try out the off-roading culture and use it to take road trips because of that. We traded our Scion xB for the vehicle.

The H3 gets better mileage then most comparible SUV's out there. There are many of the forementioned vehicles that get worse mileage, ie; sports cars. Nobody has ever attacked them nearly as much as Hummers.

I believe people attack the Hummer brand because it is a consolidated brand line and easy to do so as opposed to saying "The Escalade, Tahoe, Silverado, Ridgeline, Explorer, Expedition and all those cars kill the environment" Why not just make it EASY on yourself and say "Hummers kill the environment" and group every bad thing about SUV's into one consolidated brand that everybody knows and is easily recognizable.

Before Hummer made a name for itself in the mainstream market, people just referred to all SUV's as being gas-guzzlers and polluting machines. Now adays, people find it easier to say the word "Hummer" and all hell breaks loose. Most of these people don't know anything technical about the vehicles, but since it's so easy to do, they choose the easy, uneducated route.

My H3 gets between 20 to 23 MPGs consistantly on the highway because I simply changed my driving patterns and got a few minor upgrades. I can't speak for the H2 owners, but us H3 owners more-so seem to buy the vehicle for safety, off-roading and weather conditions then anything. I personally have rarely met an H3 owner that bought their truck just to drive around the street and look pretty. Some people do and some don't. That doesn't necessarily mean I agree with it, but I'm not going to publically denounce it.

The ironic thing about the entire negative Hummer stereotype is that for decades there have been far worse polluting vehicles out there, including today, that are causing and contributing more then our vehicles.

And how about other vehicles that cause pollution and aren't regulated to our vehicles extent, like train locomotives, semi trucks, farm tractors, coal factories, oil refineries, Nascar and Indy car racing, motorcycles, lawn mowers, RV's, ATV's, contruction bulldozers, cranes, public busses, BOATS, Cruise Ships, wave runners, jet skis, snow mobiles, Go-Carts, etc.

How many of those above items are luxury items? How many of us Hummer owners use our vehicles every day for practical purposes?

There are SO many things in this world that contribute to pollution and as a whole, I would bet Hummers contribute a very small amount of pollution compared to all of those vehicles and engines I mentioned above.

How about the BIG one? Airline jets. How often do you hear people protesting their pollution levels? You don't, and you know why, because people fly in planes more then they drive Hummers.

It's a complete hypocracy in the Hummer-bashing world. Plain and simple? We are EASY targets. There is no effort involved in research because everybody knows that Hummers are bad, right?

Don't worry, I'm not upset. I'm just stating my case. I won't even get into how damaging the metals are in Hybrids in the long-run to our environment.

 

Hmm thoughtful questions. Hopefully some of my answers make sense too.

Why I drive my hummer. I have a family. SUVs make sense for me. If I can haul 4-5 people getting about 15mpg vs a smaller car that can comfortably seat 2, with two crammed in the back (also very unsafe), I actually get better 'used mpg' (do the math. 2 people at 30mpg vs. 4 people at 15mpg = same. ) Plus i have dogs, big dogs, that need to go places at times. Cant squeeze an english mastiff in a Prius... (Aint gonna fit.) . (Besides, when he farts, he contributes more to global warming and pollution than my truck ever will. Trust me on that one).

Is it a daily commuter for me ? No. Its used when it has to be used. I work from home, so my average fuel use is lower than any import matchbox car. I fill up once a month. So , for me, the SUV makes sense for what I want to do. And if its gonna be an SUV, may as well get the toughest ****** out there that will perform to my expectations. Hummer. Like Nothing else. Period

(and welcome to our little corner of the cyberworld )

 

Just an FYI, some of us Hummer owners own Prius's are our second vehicles. There are a handful on this forum. I just purchased a second car that gets 35 to 40 MPG. I'm not sure what that would make me anymore, a tree killer, or a environmentalist? I'm not sure. I spent almost an extra $10k when our home was being built to make it as green as possible.

Anybody that tries to tell me anything bad about me driving a Hummer, I always ask about what they've done to help the environment. Most of them say "I recycle" but I bet you don't have gas-treated windows in your home, the first green classified washer and dryer on the market, double-insulated walls and ceilings, a computer-controlled HVAC system, ceiling fans, every lighting fixture in the house converted to flourescent bulbs, using laptop computers instead of desktops, etc.

Those things costed me a pretty penny to do to my home, but I didn't do it to save money, I did it to save my health.

Not all Hummer owners are out to kill trees

 

I did forget to welcome you to our forum. Forgive my rudeness. You are most welcome to ask us anything you'd like!

We are a good bunch of people here, many of which have personal friendships outside the forum because of this place, but we do get our emotions wrapped up in our responses sometimes, ie; myself. Don't take it personal. We are so conditioned to be defensive, it's a shame we have to do so, but it's an unfortunate circumstance of owning one of these vehicles.

 

And hey Hummerguy... dont forget the fact that Hummer owners help aerate the soil when we offroad which helps promote healthy plant growth

 

There is quite a bit of vegetation in the off-road park we go to.