I bought my first SUV in November (a small one - Honda CRV). To be honest we just got tired of having to pay for delivery when buys things at Home Depot, etc. and I do feel safer in it, especially now that I sometimes have my little grandson in the back seat. I was rear-ended in my last car (Toyota Corolla) by a Volkswagen Jetta who in turn was rear-ended by a Ford Explorer. The Jetta was totaled, my car suffered $2,000 of damage and the Explorer was fine. I have always driven Toyotas and usually got around 28-30 mpg. I am currently getting about 22 mpg. with my CRV. I don't think that's bad at all.