Thanks for the intelligent replies thus far, I appreciate the discussion. I hope it can remain civil. I will do my best too.

I live in the northern midwest, so I completely understand bad weather and the need for 4 wheel drive. I own a 2003 Nissan Frontier pick up that sucks gas like a thirsty camel. The only times I drive that truck though are when I need it in the winter, or hauling stuff year round. Otherwise it sits, most of the summer it sits for weeks on end. Otherwise in the summer I ride a little Honda scooter to work and errands. It gets 100 mpg.

So for those who make the arguement about inclement weather, or even the off roading culture, I can agree with. At least your vehicle is serving its intended purpose.

It's the owners of large SUVs who pimp, bling, trick, etc, them out and they never see a speck of dirt that I don't get. To me, that is just being wasteful for the sake of being wasteful. Trying to prove a point to someone that doesn't really need to be made. Why is there this inherant need to "prove" or make a "point" by driving a vehicle that is so wasteful? I guess it's the morality of the thing that I have a hard time with.

One poster below talked about the left wing, socialist, tree huggers that are taking over the country. A couple of points on this. First of all, you are generalizing a large group of people as believing in one ideal. The same thing you feel they do to Hummer owners. Seems hypocritical. Secondly, (generalization here by me) right wingers seem to be focused on "values". Is wastefulness one of those values that you are promoting? My Nissan Frontier was built in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Lastly, I understand the difference between pollution and gas consumption. They are two different arguements. I think the Hummer probably pollutes less than a lot of vehicles on the road. It is built with new technology. It's the 1985 Dodge Minivan spewing blue smoke down the highway that is polluting more. One thing is certain though, large SUVs (whatever the brand) use more gasoline than many other vehicles. That's where my wastefulness argument comes in. If you don't drive your off road vehicle off road, or if one of your main arguements is to "impress people" why be wasteful?

Oh, I also agree that focus is unfairly placed on SUVs and not on the sports car world. They too are excessive to the point of being wasteful, and perhaps less functional than an SUV (if the SUV is used as intended).

Again, thanks for letting me participate.

 

You are one of the first and only people that has come to our forum to have a normal conversation about this topic that hasn't intentionally tried to cause trouble. That is VERY appreciated, believe me.

Most of the Hummer owners on this forum use their vehicles for off-roading, road trips, hauling, and just typical every day stuff. We do have a few members here (HummBob ) that love to upgrade the looks. Bob does it though because he likes how it looks and takes alot of pride in his truck. He doesn't do it to get attention. There are obviously many people out there who do, but I honestly can tell you I don't know if I've ever came across anybody on here that cared what people thought about their trucks other then their own personal opinions. If anything, I have personally expressed more interest in caring what people thought then anybody, and I'm not normally like that, but it came from wierd custom things I did that just looked rediculous at the time.

I think a big misconception (a bit off topic) is that Hummer owners that DO in-fact "bling" their trucks do it for the attention. Of course there are those who do, but in our little realm on this forum, nobody really cares about showing off. It's more self-expression then it is showing the world how shiney you can make your truck look. Nobody has ever come on the forum in the 2 years I've been here wondering how they can make their truck get the most attention.

Back to the gas consumption, I think we all have been conditioned in this society to rely on gasoline but not all the blame can be placed on the consumer. There are plenty of studies out there to support the theories that things such as drilling in Alaska actually promote wildlife. I have watched a few documentaries on PBS about this. It went against everything I was programmed to believe from the media. Who is right? We never seem to know. Just as with Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" there are now documentaries popping up from even more credible sources in the scientific field that say it's a very misconstrued look at what is really happening. Many climatologists argue that global warming as it is now is just a normal cycle of the earth that unfortunately we are living right now.

The point is personally, what choice do I have as a person and an American? I can't go and buy an electric car, a solar-powered car, can't ride a bicycle where I live, so what are my choices? I really don't have any. I HAVE to purchase a gasoline vehicle. Can I purchase something that uses less? Of course I can. Do I worry about the environment? I do, more for my children then myself. Can I control the technological advancement of automobiles and promote new technology? Nope. I sure can't as an individual.

We need to stop being so dependant on foriegn energy, ie; oil and concentrate more on using our own resources. The problem is there are not as good of profits out there as there is in oil.

It's unfortunate that greed drives the world the way it does, but as consumers, what can we do? Not buy gasoline? What other alternatives do we have? Most of us have none, other then to drive vehicles that use less of it. That is the choice the world and auto industry has given us normal everyday people. Drive a vehicle that gets 30 MPG average, or 20 MPG average. Unfortunately, that's not good enough to make a change.

If someone gave me the option to drive an electic SUV or a gasoline one, I'd be all over the electric one. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen, so mind as well drive something I have a need for then something I'm settling for that isn't waht I really want, just to save a few gallons of gas.

Again, this is all just my personal opinion, but our world, and even country, we live in, doesn't give us many other options unfortunately, unless you start saying "Why not walk instead of drive, why not ride your bike instead of drive?" Well, some of us can't do that when we live 30, 40, 50, 100 miles from where we work, especially in the midwest where many of us are. I live outside of Chicago, so being from the midwest, you know our choices are limited, especially considering the winter we just had, which was the longest recorded length of cold weather; 230+ days of temps under 70.

I want to hear what other people think.

 

I'm in Northern Iowa and have lived here all of my life (32 years) and I understand inclement weather.

I also agree that the main problem is our dependency on foreign oil. We either need to produce it ourselves (not my favorite option) or move technology forward so we can eventually become oil free. The greedy oil companies are going to do their best to stop technology.

I can appreciate the SUV owners out there who actually use their SUVs for their intended purpose. I'm glad to know that many of the members of this forum are that way.

I used to own a Nissan Xterra which didn't get the best gas mileage either. I used it for off roading occasionally, towing a small camper, and 4x4 in the winter. I traded it for the pick up because I thought the truck bed was more functional.

I'm sure you're getting plenty of trolls lately, which again is unfair to the Hummer crowd. I honestly just want to discuss it.

Thanks - Jeremy

 

I have been fortunate enough not to get anybody commenting in person about my truck. I've only had the finger thrown at me once (which probably wasn't because I drove a Hummer) and I haven't had anybody at the gas station make comments. Many of the forum members have though unfortunately.

If you ever traded your truck for a Hummer, there is a definite tight-night brotherhood I guess you can say with owning one, but it's more so because we seem to have this expectation of having to explain ourselves to everybody and quite honestly, we shouldn't have to. You'd would see alot of that if you purchased one.

They aren't as bad as people think. More people seem to buy H2's for street purposes the H3's. The H3's end up being the real work horses.

I want to see what people purchasing the H3T are going to use it for more, leisure or hauling.

 

I love the looks of the H3, but I can't justify, nor do I want to own one.

 

You'd be surprised how many people have come on here saying they would never own one until they went and test drove one and ended up leaving the dealer with their own. It's a story we hear over and over again. You should test-drive one some day, just for the heck of it, even if you don't want one. You'd appreciate how easy they are to drive and handle. I'm not saying you should buy one, but it never hurts just to test one out.

 

Ohhh no. dont go test drive it. That leads to "the dark side" of the force.....

(Its how I went froma perfectly good chevy avalanche to a Hummer lol.... )

 

Jeremy,

Welcome to the HUMMER Forum. I appreciate your respect, and hope that you get the answers you are looking for. I think you will find that HUMMER owners are for the majority really good people and not out to destroy the earth. There are many reasons for owning a HUMMER. I agree they are not for everyone. If you don't like to have fun...get another vehicle! I also have to agree with Bitdriver...don't drive one if you don't want to own one! One trip on the course and you are hooked!

Our house has two H3's. Both drivers need the space that they provide. Everyone is correct in stating the H3 gets much better gas mileage than most SUV's. This also includes mini-vans. I find it so ironic that many are bashing us, yet drive around in mini-vans that consume more gas than we do. Unfortunately, instead of asking question, they just make assumptions. I think this is why your questions are so welcome. Cars we replaced with H3's are 3000GT (big time gas guzzler) and a Ford Expedition that was averaging 10-12 mpg. I consistently get 17 mpg in my H3. I know many that even do better than that.

Here are a few reasons we drive H3s in our household:

1. We live in Florida and have been hit by multiple hurricanes. It was terrifying for us a few years back when we were trapped in our neighborhood and could not get out. It is wonderful to have a sense of protection that we can drive thru water/non-paved areas to get to safety. Today alone our town received a lot of rain in a very short period of time. This is a summer time pattern, and with poor drainage, not a good thing. We have several times been called to pull a stalled car out of the street coming into our neighborhood.
2. Safety.
3. We were looking for a luxury vehicle that would fit our lifestyle. HUMMER did an amazing job with the H3 Luxury package. The interior is really nice/comfortable, yet the vehicle stayed affordable. We also love the look of the vehicle. Why work hard, and pay for a car that you do not enjoy??
4. We have a large family and large dogs that love to travel with us. If we did not have an SUV, we would be required to take two vehicles, which in end be more of a waste.
5. We were looking for an activity that would interest our entire family. Off-roading has not only bonded our immediate family, but we have made some amazing friends along the way. We have replaced boating with off-roading. I can assure you our boat consumed much more gas than a HUMMER. It is also easier to do with smaller children.
6. I can't speak for all dealerships, but where we purchased our first H3, they have taken such great care of us, that is was very easy to go back. Anytime our vehicles are in for service, we have a loaner to drive. As busy as people are today, we cannot be without our vehicles. I remember having my Expedition in for a recall and being out of a vehicle for almost a week. Their attitude was horrible (like it was my fault they built the vehicle incorrectly). My HUMMER dealership is all about customer service, and that is HUGE to me.
7. Lastly, the price/financing offers were very attractive.
We do many things to protect our earth. We grow many of our own vegetables. I buy the reusable shopping bags, so that we are not wasting the plastic ones. We converted our pool to a salt pool, so that we are not dumping chlorine into the water and dumping cartons into the landfills...and I could go on. I do not think that getting 6-10 mpg gas mileage will make that huge of a difference. Many people laughed when I purchased my vehicle, because they think of me as "green". I still am! Just enjoying life while I do other things to make a difference.

To end...has anyone ever seen a Prius with 3 carseats in the back?? Just wondering??

 

Excellent point! I get tired of the Hummer finger pointing. How about boats ? whats the intended purpose? Mostly for fun. Boats burna ton of fuel with no emission system. How come the news doesnt go off on boat owners. How about people who live in large houses. Perhaps they dont have any children or the children have moved out. They are heating/cooling all those extra rooms with no one in them. How about out dated home heating systems sucking down the fuel. I could go on and on. What exactly is the percentage of Hummers on the road versus other SUV's with simlar gas MPG? I bet its pretty low. Being green and enviromentaly correct is now pop culture and its driving me crazy!! I do my best not to be wastefull, but what exactly is wasteful ? I mean we could all have terrible looking, burnt, weed infested lawns if we didnt water them. I mean, am I wasting water because I take pride in my lawn ? Should we all only drink small coffees to save water? It gets to a point where this all gets confusing and rediculouse (spelling). Are water saving toilets working if we are mostly flushing twice. ? I think you all get my point. I own an H2 and love it. Cant I have something in my life that I work extremely hard for and makes me happy ?

 

I have to have a large SUV (H2) for my business....I need to haul large boxes. AND we have really bad snow up here in the winter.......I wouldn't be able to make it out of the driveway....if I didn't own a Hummer.....trust me, I tried last winter, and the car I had just wouldn't cut it....(dodge charger AWD)......It couldn't make it out the end of the driveway...it was to low to the ground! I had an H3...which I loved, but it hurt my back and couldn't haul what I needed it to......so I had to go bigger.
Mostly I get a thumb's up........I only had one finger salute given to me....actually was today.....but that was because this girl in front of me was waiting for the world to end, before she turned on the main road. She didn't move even though there was no traffic coming.....I blew the horn, and her boyfriend turned and gave me the finger......go figure[:@]