The cost of Laziness, and the demise of the practical human - ya gotta laugh.

[Reality Cheque]

90% of 4 wheel drive owners buy them for their brutish looks and only get one puncture every 25 years!

Come out to the real world, where 90 % buy them out of necessity,they get a puncture once a week and no one has even heard of run flats!

 

[redwing]

Looks like turning into an off-road VS soft-road debate thread

 

[AlmostBob]

4 wheel drive
vChunky tyres + steel studs in the tread for grip,
have been in low range all week, icy
change all tyres twice a year, summer tyres winter tyres, somebody elses problem.
Change my own flats when AutoClub are going to take more than 20minutes to get to me, which is always, very rural average 3-4 a year, ice damages the roads.
Sun is up, its a beautiful -6 day
am likely to get a 4 wheel in Aus next year, anything with built in jacks like the race cars, or the beat up Austin 'floats on fluid', coz i begin to hate jacking the car

Edit, Its 4:30, sun is gone, its Dark

 

[joanmc]

I have an xtrail and I bought it mainly for one reason. I have elderly parents that I have to ferry to doctors, shops etc and they cannot get in and out of low slung cars easily. It is easier for them to step up into the car and down out of it. If I had a "normal" car (commodore etc) I would need a block and tackle to get them in and out at every stop!

So there are many reasons people choose the cars they do. Assumptions are worth what they cost-nothing.

 

[lizzie]

we have a landcrusier - bought because of 4 kids, dog and towing a 2tonne boat to the ramp .

although we are down to one kids - we are off boating today, so are towing it to the ramp

runs on gas, so is cheaper than my corolla.

when i drive it, i find the rudest drivers are those in small cars that cut in front of you at the lights when your trying to pull up 2tonne of vehicle ... we do need a little more stopping space than the average sedan guys.

 

[Rolf Latham]

The anti large vehicle brigade has been goind for at least 20 years and is slowly gathering some momentum

The reality in somewhere like Australia where you have certain freedoms at the cost of others it will be hard to legislate in any common sense or practical way.

Another area could be vegetarianism. Off topic but interesting, and comparable in the challenge if you feel strongly about it.

Vegetarians would argue that the eating of meat by others is affecting them and the world directly and indirectly through various different ways.

So what to do ? Ban the production and consumption of meat products ?

And just to complete the pff topic tangent, lets not even get onto other more immediately relevant arguments like what modern comms and information provision is doing to our world...........

ta
rolf

 

[Perp]

But I bet for most of them it's about being able to tell people they have $3K worth of tyres on their car. ... it sounds like a bit of a w**k.

I'm wondering if somebody else hacked into my computer yesterday morning. I must've posted before my morning meds kicked in.

Whilst I really don't care whether people have $750 tyres on their car, I still think this particular feature is unlikely to stack up on the "efficient use of time" front (due to my point 2). But it is more persuasive on the basis of possibly being off-road in an inconvenient location, or simply not wanting to have to change a tyre yourself or wait for roadside assistance.

Shoot, if people want $750 tyres, power to them, I don't really care. I don't know why I sounded so worked up about it yesterday. LOL

Its all about perspective. We might think this guy is lazy because we cant fathom the cost. What about the people who think you are lazy because you eat takeaway when you could be cooking at home!

Too right, absolutely true. There are people in third world countries who'd think we were crazy for buying any fruit and veg, when we could grow it ourselves! Or owning a car when we have legs and public transport.

It's not about 'paying other people to do what we could ourselves' but rather utilising our time in the best way possible.

Nice to see you visiting the forum, Mark. I've noticed your absence.

 

[lizzie]

I have an xtrail and I bought it mainly for one reason. I have elderly parents that I have to ferry to doctors, shops etc and they cannot get in and out of low slung cars easily. It is easier for them to step up into the car and down out of it. If I had a "normal" car (commodore etc) I would need a block and tackle to get them in and out at every stop!

So there are many reasons people choose the cars they do. Assumptions are worth what they cost-nothing.

that is the exact reason my elderly inlaws have an xtrail. neither of them can get "down" into a sedan.

 

[BayView]

that is the exact reason my elderly inlaws have an xtrail. neither of them can get "down" into a sedan.

We have a SSangyong Musso 4WD we bought for a similar reason when our first son was born 8 years ago.

It made it much easier for both my wife and I to lift him in and out of the car without bending.

Still worked just as well today when we bought the new arrival home from the hospital.

 

[bobbiemenzies]

it's alright juliew the tyres have sensors on them to tell you when they are flat ...

The problem is that some people refuse to believe the sensors (or, for that reason, any other evidence). Unless something is staring them in the fact, they reckon it isn't happening

 

[The Y-man]

The interesting thing is that most of my flats have been on big(gish) 4WD's.

Everything a small car would have harmlessly drive over, the 4WD managed to press them into its tyre with the 2500kg weigh.... so I have had the following rip through (at low speed in a car park!!)

1. a bolt (all I could see was the head of the bol showing in the treads
2. a nail punch

as well as

3. unknown while travelling on highway at 100km/h
4. tree branch staking sidewall on bush track
5. unknown while on gravel road.

Now when it comes to changing the wheels on those buggers.... I realise why I prefer narrow, high profile tyres on them! (not some 300mm thing on a 20 inch rim weighing 70kg each...)


Cheers,

The Y-man