YOU may feel that way. The captives obviously feel otherwise, and since it’s their money you’re borrowing, your feeling really doesn’t matter much.
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It’s because the SUV can basically do everything. Sporty, off-road, people hauler, etc.I would take an SUV over a sedan, truck, or minivan. You basically get the benefits of all 3.
You are attempting to make an argument by pulling out a single detail. Yes, my minivan is easy to get in and out of and offers fantastic space. However, it handles far worse, has a far larger footprint, and is less efficient than my SUV. The van sits in the driveway unless we are carrying lots of people and/or stuff.
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Minivans used to be a bit smaller, but, like everything else, they’ve just gotten larger over time… ::sigh:: I’d love something like a Mazda 5 (but more upscale). Ain’t gonna happen…
Anecdotal, to be sure, but when we go to the beach with all the beach accouterments, my sedan simply won’t do, even for the (3) of us.
I reckon you can substitute “hockey practice” or “model rocket exhibits” or “tuba conferences” for “beach” and it starts to sorta kinda come into focus.
If the events for which one uses the vehicle happen more than once every month or so, well, it makes sense to be self-sufficient.
My $0.02. Add $1.97 and let’s get lunch at Costco.
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We had a mazda5. I loved it (I was actually fantasizing about used models with manual transmissions just last week). Wife felt it was TOO small. I think the last iteration of the MPV was just about perfect in terms of size.
Yea for EU/UK expats to the US at least, it was a huge benefit to be able to leverage their European/British credit history.
My wife was in the same boat (this was before we were married), but didn’t want a VW (she’s already had VWs in London, didn’t want another) and didn’t want to budget for a luxury brand. However, since she did have an AmEx card and it provided enough ‘US-accessible’ credit history to get her a loan for her Elantra (though not at tier 1 rate).
A colleague from the UK had wanted a Jeep Wrangler, but could only get approved at one of the aforementioned Euro brands (again because they would take his UK credit history into account) and ended up leasing a Tiguan Limited.
I can’t speak for expats from outside of EU countries though.
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Very good info thanks!
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I actually don’t think this has product market fit anymore. About the same size as a GLS, and that has an AMG version. E63 wagon also exists.
Blockquote Agreed! Also (for OP), probably best to not pursue “love” based on how much they like your car.
(In this picture, I actually prefer the look of the wagon over the F Pace)
Ha…ha… that’s definitely true. That is a good looking car.
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However, since she did have an AmEx card and it provided enough ‘US-accessible’ credit history to get her a loan for her Elantra (though not at tier 1 rate).
That’s good info. I didn’t know you could use your overseas Amex card info here. Thanks.
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YOU may feel that way. The captives obviously feel otherwise, and since it’s their money you’re borrowing, your feeling really doesn’t matter much.
Hmmm…that’s a fair point. I didn’t think of the other angle of how easy it is for someone overseas to just pack their bags and leave when things head south. And overseas your US credit history does not matter at all. I feel they can always take post-dated checks or security deposits etc, instead of a flatout no.
The beauty of “American” Express: they (like Chase) have an internal score (along with usual suspects), and once you have a US tax id they can populate your US bureaus.
Correct me if I’m wrong because I haven’t seen (this example) in a while, but on your wife’s bureau(s) it should show it opened the date of first reporting (eg if you moved to US in. Jan 2019 and let them know your bureau would open February 2019), the AmEx shows the open date from when it originally opened (eg Member since 2010), high/low balance, reported on time, but the history doesn’t get loaded (so it doesn’t show monthly history from 2010-Feb 2019).
All that as input to whatever credit scoring model the lender uses.
You: Ingress/egress claims made by SUV advocates don’t really hold water IMO.
Science: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000368701630148X
Good question. I’ll have to take a look at her report and see how it shows. It’s possible that the AmEx only helped with ‘length or time of credit history’, since she would have otherwise shown as a thin file due to only having been in the US for 5 months or so when she financed the Elantra. And maybe that was enough to get her the auto loan through HMF.
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IDK what you drive but Tahoe’s and Subs handle way worse and have larger footprints and worse Mpg than Odyssey’s.
Even if we expanded the definition to include crossovers, apples to apples between a Highlander and a Sienna there’s no meaningful improvement in handling, footprint or MPG that actually rationally justifies the substantially inferior packaging that leads to drastically inferior third row passenger room and cargo capacity.
Funny how the “we need more interior space” argument then gets contorted into “we don’t need that much interior space” when trying to argue against minivans. Also no one desiring a Sub has ever made that latter statement even though it comes with substantial exterior dimension trade offs.
You simply stated SUVs, not specifically behemoth SUVs. You may divide SUVs and CUVs in your mind, but the vast majority of people use the terms interchangeably. There is no consensus on the difference. Anyway, I agree that something like an Expedition/Suburban is interior to a minivan in many ways. Neither is good as a daily driver, IMHO, unless you actually have to transport 6+ people every day.
Just another recommendation for the good old Amex route to establishing credit US history ASAP. We used UK credit history to get a US Amex as soon as we had an address here. 6 months in, we got Tier 1 approval on a Highlander from Cody - essentially as soon as the FICO Auto score is generated. 18 months in and i’m now at 780.
We rented from Hertz for the first 6 months which honestly wasn’t actually that much more expensive given it includes insurance etc and was actually kinda fun trying out various vehicles from their Presidents Choice section. It doesn’t work in the summer, at least in LA anyway as the rates can often double, but off season we were barely spending any more than $450 a month on rentals.
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I stated 3-row SUVs. Like I said, none of the supposedly rational arguments really hold up even when you include the non-behemoths like the Highlander-sized segment.