Crossover vehicles are designed to please car buyers who aren’t interested in a normal sedan but still aren’t ready to drive a normal SUV. Crossovers are a popular product in the auto industry, but some of the Ford Motor Company’s older and bigger vehicles hold up well when compared to the new products.

This story in the Dallas News doesn’t look too kindly on the new crossovers. Instead, the writer describes them as a new “fad” that is pushing out the better, more established Ford cars on the market. He uses the Ford Explorer, an SUV that has experienced dwindling sales in recent years, as the catalyst for comparing the crossover models to the fuller-sized SUV models.

According to the test driver, the Explorer is, at the very least, competitive with the newer and sleeker Ford Edge (or trucklet, as he calls it). So why do people appreciate the Ford Edge and other crossovers more than the Explorer?

Maybe it’s the gas mileage.

Nope. When comparing the gas mileages of the two vehicles, there is only a difference of about two miles in the city. That seems minimal for making a car-buying decision.

It must be the price.

Wrong again. The Eddie Bauer four-wheel drive that the test driver tested was roughly $4,000 less than that of the Ford Edge. When all was said and done, the writer appreciated and enjoyed the Ford Explorer, a model that has been around for several years. The only explanation for its decreasing popularity and the increasing popularity of the Edge is the uniqueness of something new.

For me, I prefer an old friend to a new one any day. But that’s just me. If you’ve driven a crossover lately, do you have reasons for preferring it over a full-sized SUV? Feel free to comment and let us know.

For a new Ford explorer, please stop by our Ford dealers - Waterloo, Illinois or our Ford dealership - St. Louis today.