Filling his 1999 Ford F250 truck — 21.6 gallons — cost Guy Souza $49 at Lex Brodie's. But he needs the truck to haul his kids' gear. Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

At 4 feet 10 and age 29, Lei Racadio insists she needs her 2000 Toyota 4Runner for a different reason.

"I'm too short," Racadio said. "I need my car so I can ride up high."

Don't expect to see those fuel-efficient, futuristic hybrid cars replacing the gas-sucking behemoths that Hawai'i drivers love to motor in anytime soon.

Drivers who love to complain about the cost of fuel are also quick to justify the need for their thirsty sport utility vehicles, luxury sedans and high-performance engines that sometimes eke out just 12 to 14 miles per gallon.

Their love affairs persist even as the price of gasoline continues to set record highs across the Islands.

Instead of downsizing to something more practical, Lee just upgraded to a newer, bigger Jaguar.

He deals in high-end real estate and insists he won't be caught in a compact car, let alone a puny hybrid that can run twice as far on a gallon of gas.

"In my business, we need a comfortable car for clients," Lee said. "There's no way I can see myself being able to conduct my business in a car like that."

The high price of gas these days fits the mindset of drivers who enjoy tooling around in cars that consume more than their fuel-efficient cousins, said Sun-Ki Chai, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Hawai'i.

"It's the expense itself," Chai said. "As with any status symbol, being expensive is part of the deal. It makes people recognize that you have a certain level of wealth."

The phenomenon runs particularly deep in the United States, Chai said. "Among Americans, prestige is often associated with having a large car, having a large house, having large meals," Chai said. "If you live in an affluent society where meeting the basic needs of feeding yourself and having a roof over your head are met, then it's not surprising that people will spend more to maintain their status."

Of several dozen drivers of luxury vehicles, full-sized trucks and SUVs interviewed for this article, only Gina Finkelstein of Kapolei said she would consider trading in her blue 2003 Honda CRV sport utility vehicle for something that gets better gas mileage.

At around 20 miles per gallon, Finkelstein's CRV performs better than most of the cars of the people interviewed.

But Finkelstein has had enough of constantly filling up her SUV. "This car, I'm getting rid of it," she said. "It's ridiculous. I keep pulling up to have it filled."

As her two sons, Jesse and Josh, pushed and pulled at each other in the back seat, their mom rolled her eyes as the gas pump figures ran to $15.17 for 6.59 gallons of regular.

"Ridiculous," she said. "Just ridiculous."

The rest of the big-vehicle drivers interviewed insist there's no way they would ever buy anything smaller.

Gilbert Pelletier of Papakölea says he needs his 2002 Dodge Durango to haul around his five grandchildren — despite paying $43 for less than 20 gallons of gas.

Tiffany Giang of Kailua — like Racadio — maintains that she needs her Toyota 4Runner because she's only 5 feet2.

Guy Souza won't give up his 1999 Ford F-250 truck because he has to haul around his children's surfboards and other teen-age gear.

And Mary Worrall connects her 2004 Jaguar Vander Plas with her Kähala-based real estate company.

"It's not so much a luxury as a necessity," she said, signing a charge for $46.40 for 14 gallons of full-service, premium gas and getting herself back on the road.