"Upgraded"

I had a unique experiance this weekend - I got upgraded and downgraded at the exact same time.

I had arranged to rent a car from Budget while in Pittsburgh. As I normally do, I went for a nice cheap compact car, figuring that for two days that would be fine. On arrival at the counter in Pittsburgh, however, they told me they were out not just of compacts, but of everything up to SUVs. So, they were giving me a free upgrade to an SUV. I was somewhat disturbed by this, but figured "oh, how bad can it be?"

Well, I learned. I got a recent model Ford Explorer. After driving from the airport to my destination that night, I'd concluded that it had less acceleration, less braking, less stability, poorer gas milage (a guess, but confirmed later), less comfort, and far worse controls than my twelve year old station wagon. We'll ignore the giant blind spot off my left rear corner and the awkwardness in parking.

I have resolved that next time I'm told they're giving me an SUV I shall walk to the next counter and say "Hi, can I rent a car?"

In the spirit of the title of this blog, I shall end with a question. Why do people buy SUVs?