Outside the Beltway

A HUMMER

James Joyner · Wednesday, May 7, 2003 · 3 comments

Fritz at Sneaking Suspicions reports that some Hummer owners are dissatisfied with their purchase:

It seems that a recent JD Power and Associates survey shows that Hummer owners are the leading complainers about their new vehicles:

In the group’s annual survey of consumers during the first 90 days of ownership, General Motors Corp.’s highly profitable Hummer brand had 225 complaints per 100 vehicles. By comparison, the top-ranked Lexus, by Toyota Motor Corp., had 76 complaints per 100 vehicles.

Somehow many of these folks, possessing perhaps more cash than common sense, managed to be put out about the most predictable drawback to buying a 6,400 pound vehicle with a huge engine:

Gary Cowger, president of GM North America, said the H2’s fuel consumption was the No. 1 complaint among owners, outpacing the No. 2 gripe — that the SUV’s headlights were aimed too high — by a 2-1 margin. GM has fixed the headlight problem, Cowger said.

Nice to hear about the headlight fix, I suppose.

GM admits that Hummers average between 11 to 13 miles per gallon. Because of the vehicles’ sheer size, however, the MPG ratings don’t have to appear on the window stickers.

Personally, I really doubt that any civilian Hummer owner made his SUV purchase dependent on fuel consumption comparisons.

On the other hand, reading that the burn rate that these behemoths produce is the primary complaint of their owners doesn̢۪t produce much empathy in me, and I don̢۪t think I̢۪m alone in that reaction.

I̢۪ll even bet these same complainers aren̢۪t happy about all the space the Hummers take up in their garages, too.

(Hat tip: Janis via e-mail)