Should you Buy an SUV?
Do you go off-roading? Do you need to drive on goat paths? Do you need lots of cargo space? Does your vehicle need a lot of clearance from the ground? Do you need to tow a heavy load? No? Then you might not need an SUV.
Let's look at some numbers in terms of safety and cost. I picked four popular SUVs of various sizes and four popular midsize to full-size sedans by the same four auto makers and compared them on purchase price and miles per gallon. I calculated what it would cost to pay a loan and drive each car 12,000 miles per year (not including maintenance, taxes or insurance). Click image to enlarge.
People buy SUVs for various reasons. Traditionally, people bought them for off-roading or driving on treacherous terrain, or for the cargo room, or for pulling a heavy trailer or a big boat. Now it seems more people buy them because they're trendy or because they're scared of driving in bad conditions. I see SUV drivers gingerly driving around potholes and creeping along snowy streets. I pass some of them in my old Camry. But even in the 28 years that I had a Colorado driver's license, I got along with a car; so did most of my relatives in Colorado. If you need transportation to get groceries and go to the office on paved roads, a car will probably do.
Some people drive an SUV because they're safer than driving a smaller car. Having been broadsided by an SUV once, I understand. After the driver totaled my Civic and left me with TMJ problems that still flare up after twelve years, I bought a bigger car, especially since I drove in Denver, a city full of traffic, SUVs, and aggressive drivers.
Here in Indianapolis, on the other hand, there's not much treacherous terrain, drivers are a lot more polite, traffic is lighter, and people like to save money. In general, it's cheaper to drive a car (and a lot more people here do).
Some people drive an SUV because they're safer than driving a smaller car. Having been broadsided by an SUV once, I understand. After the driver totaled my Civic and left me with TMJ problems that still flare up after twelve years, I bought a bigger car, especially since I drove in Denver, a city full of traffic, SUVs, and aggressive drivers.
Here in Indianapolis, on the other hand, there's not much treacherous terrain, drivers are a lot more polite, traffic is lighter, and people like to save money. In general, it's cheaper to drive a car (and a lot more people here do).
Let's look at some numbers in terms of safety and cost. I picked four popular SUVs of various sizes and four popular midsize to full-size sedans by the same four auto makers and compared them on purchase price and miles per gallon. I calculated what it would cost to pay a loan and drive each car 12,000 miles per year (not including maintenance, taxes or insurance). Click image to enlarge.
For the most part, the SUVs shown are more expensive to buy and fuel, except for a Pathfinder vs. a Maxima.
Moving on to safety, your odds of being killed as an SUV driver v. a car driver, in a given year, not controlling for any other variables, are .002% v. .005%, or 22 per million v. 46 per million. Oddly, you are statistically better off driving a mid-size sedan than a large car. (Cars in the graphs below include minivans.) Relatively speaking, SUVs are much safer; absolutely speaking, you're slightly safer driving one. (See relative v. absolute risk explanation.) The statistics are more complicated than what's shown here; go to the IIHS site to see tipping accidents rates, single-car v. multi-car fatalities, etc.
However, the following suggests your odds of killing someone else in another vehicle are greater if you're driving an SUV:
A few other things to consider are whether a particular SUV (or full-size sedan) will fit in your garage and if you or your passengers will have trouble getting in and out of a vehicle that sits high. My only reason for getting a (smaller) SUV would be because Indianapolis floods at times. But since vehicle break-ins happen in my area, and I don't enjoy scraping icy windows or getting into a roasting hot car, I also want to park my car in the garage. A large vehicle wouldn't fit.
Before running out and buying what everybody else drives, consider the cost, safety and your own special circumstances. Research insurance and maintenance costs, make sure your baby seat, cargo or grandma can easily get in and out, check your garage measurements v. the vehicle, check clearance and towing capacity if needed, and check your budget.
Source: https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/passenger-vehicles#cite-text-0-0
Moving on to safety, your odds of being killed as an SUV driver v. a car driver, in a given year, not controlling for any other variables, are .002% v. .005%, or 22 per million v. 46 per million. Oddly, you are statistically better off driving a mid-size sedan than a large car. (Cars in the graphs below include minivans.) Relatively speaking, SUVs are much safer; absolutely speaking, you're slightly safer driving one. (See relative v. absolute risk explanation.) The statistics are more complicated than what's shown here; go to the IIHS site to see tipping accidents rates, single-car v. multi-car fatalities, etc.
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| Source: IIHS Fatality Facts. https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/passenger-vehicles |
However, the following suggests your odds of killing someone else in another vehicle are greater if you're driving an SUV:
Small/light vehicles have less structure and size to absorb crash energy, so crash forces on occupants will be higher. People in lighter vehicles are at a disadvantage in collisions with heavier vehicles. Pickups and SUVs are proportionally more likely than cars to be in fatal single-vehicle crashes, especially rollovers. However, pickups and SUVs generally are heavier than cars, so occupant deaths in SUVs and pickups are less likely to occur in multiple-vehicle crashes.
A few other things to consider are whether a particular SUV (or full-size sedan) will fit in your garage and if you or your passengers will have trouble getting in and out of a vehicle that sits high. My only reason for getting a (smaller) SUV would be because Indianapolis floods at times. But since vehicle break-ins happen in my area, and I don't enjoy scraping icy windows or getting into a roasting hot car, I also want to park my car in the garage. A large vehicle wouldn't fit.
Before running out and buying what everybody else drives, consider the cost, safety and your own special circumstances. Research insurance and maintenance costs, make sure your baby seat, cargo or grandma can easily get in and out, check your garage measurements v. the vehicle, check clearance and towing capacity if needed, and check your budget.
Source: https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/passenger-vehicles#cite-text-0-0
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