Now, to bring up a few important points about large SUVs to consider before purchasing. As you know, large SUVs have been stirring up a lot of controversy lately that buyers should know about before purchasing. I recently purchased a new car, but considered an SUV first and did a lot of research into them and promptly changed my mind.  
 
First of all, there are lots off hidden costs on large SUVs, like the Navigator. Of course, unless you have $40,000+ to spend on one, you are going to have a high car payment. Which is obvious, most consumers expect this. But did you budget the high fuel cost as well? A Lincoln Navigator weights between 5,424 to 5,774 pounds. Because of this, it has a V8 engine. Which means it gets 12.5 miles per gallon or less average. Meaning that a Navigator driver is paying on average 3 to 4 times more for gas that a car driver. This will add somewhere between $100 to $250 a month to your car payment. Okay, gas is cheap now..but for how long? When it goes back up, typically the resale value on the Navigator and other large SUVs goes down considerably, no one wants something that is going to use that much gas when the cost is unsteady. Thats a lot of money to lose.  
 
Then theres insurance. Because the Navigator is big and heavy, if the driver gets into an accident, it will cause a lot of property damage and injuries that your insurance company will have to pay for. On top of that, there is a big risk that the drivers or drivers family of the smaller cars will sue you. Which means you and/or your insurance company could be out a lot of money. They plan for this by charging a lot higher premium on SUVs than normal size cars. This can vary with no-fault states. You should get a quote from your insurance company first.  
 
Now, on average, the Navigator puts out over 3 times the carbon dioxide of a normal sized car. This really angers people who care about the environment and causes them to do things to protest against this. One of the popular things is SUV tagging. Where theyll put bumper stickers on your SUV say things like your changing the climate and you dont care about the air. Please check out the sites I have listed below for more information on this.  
 
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/madtaggers001225.html  
http://www.baaction.org/SUVticket/index.html  
http://www.idontcareaboutair.com/bumpers/index.shtml  
http://www.charm.net/~marc/chronicle/suv_may01.html http://poseur.4x4.org/topten.html  
 
This is a new trend and who knows where it will go. But do you want to constantly worry about your expensive Navigator being vandalized and then pay for the repairs? Thats just more costs to worry about.  
 
Like keeping your vehicle in your garage? Not the Navigator and most large SUVs, they wont fit unless you have a custom oversized garageanother expense. But, if you leave is outside, its always dirty and thats a lot of SUV to wash or have washed.  
 
One more popular misconception about large SUVs is that they are safer for families. For the most part, they are not. Especially the Navigator, its based of the Ford F-150 chassis which has terrible ratings because it is still a truck body with out properly designed crumple zones or a firewall keeping the engine out of your lap. Please check http://www.iihs.org first! The new VW Beetle gets better crash test ratings that most Ford/Lincoln SUVs and trucks. Do your research first on any SUV.  
 
I recommend outlining why you need an SUV, maybe a minivan would be better because you can save $10,000 to $15,000, have a safer, more versatile vehicle and get better gas mileage. Or maybe something that large is not needed at all.  
