Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To irrationally resent SUVs ?

408 replies

SavoirFlair · 30/01/2023 09:09

For those who have impossibly avoided the term, I’m talking about “fake 4x4s.”

A car that would have been a hatchback a dozen years ago, but is now wider, higher up, with fake 4x4 styling (flared wheel arches, roof rails, big plastic moulding).

I can’t stand them.

As someone who has owned two generations of Range Rovers when we lived off a track a mile or so from the main road, I realise people are free to lob back at me. but those cars had a purpose. We wanted to be comfortable; but we absolutely needed the traction and clearance that vehicle gave us.

Does anyone need what a Grandland X offers? A Mokka? (Jesus save me from that awful car. Worst on sale today - just buy a Corsa and stop being previous). Who needs a Sportage or a Qashqai? (the hallmarks of the aspiring, when years ago a Focus or a Golf would have done just fine).

The worst offenders for me are actually the so called luxury ones. BMW X5 is an abomination - can’t do anything off road, is massively wide on road, and two mums at our school park terribly with them and block the road for the other direction.

And that’s the thing - a large segment of folk who own them, can’t drive them properly. I go to the hospital car park twice weekly with my DD. If someone is careless (often are) and parks close to or on the white line… renders the next space completely useless. Which when hunting for the one or two spaces available for my vulnerable DD, can be infuriating.

We don’t need these things, but I get people love them for

• being “high up” (still doesn’t make the drivers any better at driving)

• Being “high up” to load DCs and allow elderly parents to get in and out without bending back

• some of them have a big boot

Ok, but my answer to all these three is..

an MPV. Cars like the Ford Galaxy, S Max, Touran, Alhambra - all high up seating, easy to get in and out of, massive boots.

But no.. the truth is fashion. Why buy a Corsa when you have a jacked up version. Why buy a 5 series when you can have an X5 and dominate the school run.

Meanwhile the greater fuel consumption, the materials cost to make the thing …

AIBU to irrationally hate these stupid wide massive things?

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
LadyofLaundry88 · 06/10/2023 16:30

Couldn’t agree more with this. Old post but was looking for people who’ve had experience with Ford galaxies (our next car consideration when DC 3 arrives and we’ll have 3 under 5 all needing car seats). We live off road and the lane is potholed but Skoda is fine. I find the amount of space that these cars take up so offensive. Being in a normal car, you get dazzled during winter by the SUV led absurdly bright headlights. They’re a PLAGUE on our roads 😂😂

bellamountain · 01/02/2023 19:44

In many European countries, the estate car still rules. BMW, Audi, Mercedes estate models imo are far more attractive / sporty looking than their SUV counterparts and handle a lot better.

OneTC · 01/02/2023 19:10

What's the point in not talking about the practical width though? I get that that's what everyone was talking about. Just seems a bit remiss when they're actually (normally) wider than that figure. And that we're talking about them on roads, not catalogues.

You can't drive a fiesta through a 5'10" garage door, you can't pass 2 fiestas through a gap that's 11'8" wide (that's meant to be double sorry if it's not I genuinely can't count) because they're more than 6' wide in practical terms.

JassyRadlett · 01/02/2023 16:07

OneTC · 01/02/2023 14:20

6 5 includes the mirrors. Yours is the arch to arch. Mirrors are still a consideration to the functional width of a car in car parks and narrow lanes. Your offside mirror can be subtracted normally but 5'10" plus 4" for the driver side mirror is still 6'1"

Noticing cars are getting bigger is not a question of perception it's just a fact.

www.directlinegroup.co.uk/en/news/brand-news/2018/wide-load--most-popular-car-models-increase-in-width-by-17-per-c.html

Show quote history

Ah ok. In a thread where every other discussion of measurement has used standard car measurements, you'll understand why I was confused. I get it now, it wasn't like for like with the rest of the discussion.

Noticing cars are getting bigger is not a question of perception it's just a fact.

Not sure anyone's suggested otherwise.

Rummikub · 01/02/2023 14:24

SavoirFlair · 30/01/2023 09:09

For those who have impossibly avoided the term, I’m talking about “fake 4x4s.”

A car that would have been a hatchback a dozen years ago, but is now wider, higher up, with fake 4x4 styling (flared wheel arches, roof rails, big plastic moulding).

I can’t stand them.

As someone who has owned two generations of Range Rovers when we lived off a track a mile or so from the main road, I realise people are free to lob back at me. but those cars had a purpose. We wanted to be comfortable; but we absolutely needed the traction and clearance that vehicle gave us.

Does anyone need what a Grandland X offers? A Mokka? (Jesus save me from that awful car. Worst on sale today - just buy a Corsa and stop being previous). Who needs a Sportage or a Qashqai? (the hallmarks of the aspiring, when years ago a Focus or a Golf would have done just fine).

The worst offenders for me are actually the so called luxury ones. BMW X5 is an abomination - can’t do anything off road, is massively wide on road, and two mums at our school park terribly with them and block the road for the other direction.

And that’s the thing - a large segment of folk who own them, can’t drive them properly. I go to the hospital car park twice weekly with my DD. If someone is careless (often are) and parks close to or on the white line… renders the next space completely useless. Which when hunting for the one or two spaces available for my vulnerable DD, can be infuriating.

We don’t need these things, but I get people love them for

• being “high up” (still doesn’t make the drivers any better at driving)

• Being “high up” to load DCs and allow elderly parents to get in and out without bending back

• some of them have a big boot

Ok, but my answer to all these three is..

an MPV. Cars like the Ford Galaxy, S Max, Touran, Alhambra - all high up seating, easy to get in and out of, massive boots.

But no.. the truth is fashion. Why buy a Corsa when you have a jacked up version. Why buy a 5 series when you can have an X5 and dominate the school run.

Meanwhile the greater fuel consumption, the materials cost to make the thing …

AIBU to irrationally hate these stupid wide massive things?

Completely agree with you.

I dislike them intensely too.

Plus add in dazzling headlights at my head height in my fiesta.

OneTC · 01/02/2023 14:23

6'2 sorry you can see maths is my strong point 😅

Londongent · 01/02/2023 14:23

A Qashqai is pretty much the same width and length as a Focus, very slightly bigger than a Golf. Comparable fuel consumption. Seem like the only issue you have is the height. People prefer a higher ride.

19lottie82 · 01/02/2023 14:23

to all the people complaining that a big car is bad for the environment……. You know what the absolute worst thing you can do for the planet, by a country mile is, don’t you?

having a child. An SUV doesn’t even make a dent in comparison.

19lottie82 · 01/02/2023 14:20

Of course most people don’t need them, but then again why buy a nice leather handbag when a 20p Asda bag for life would do the job just fine?

OneTC · 01/02/2023 14:20

JassyRadlett · 01/02/2023 13:36

They... aren't?

You're still using the measurements where six feet = 1.829m, right? Because the Fiesta is well below that.

But the problem is very much in the eye of the beholder - in our street with limited parking, the super long estates are absolutely the problem.

Show quote history

6 5 includes the mirrors. Yours is the arch to arch. Mirrors are still a consideration to the functional width of a car in car parks and narrow lanes. Your offside mirror can be subtracted normally but 5'10" plus 4" for the driver side mirror is still 6'1"

Noticing cars are getting bigger is not a question of perception it's just a fact.

www.directlinegroup.co.uk/en/news/brand-news/2018/wide-load--most-popular-car-models-increase-in-width-by-17-per-c.html

ItsCalledAConversation · 01/02/2023 14:18

I have been low key bullied about my car choice by other parents on the school run. It wasn’t nice. Who are they to judge me on what car I have and why?

JassyRadlett · 01/02/2023 13:36

OneTC · 01/02/2023 11:57

Yeah the problem with cars is width and they are all much wider than ever, regardless of length. Even fiestas are over 6' wide now

They... aren't?

You're still using the measurements where six feet = 1.829m, right? Because the Fiesta is well below that.

But the problem is very much in the eye of the beholder - in our street with limited parking, the super long estates are absolutely the problem.

Frabbits · 01/02/2023 11:57

LlynTegid · 01/02/2023 07:15

To drive one you should have to take your driving test in one.

Smaller cars would be chosen by many instead.

Yeah, that's totally practical.

OneTC · 01/02/2023 11:57

Yeah the problem with cars is width and they are all much wider than ever, regardless of length. Even fiestas are over 6' wide now

Friendofdennis · 01/02/2023 11:40

I love my SUV. My husband can get in and out easily and we can put his mobility aids in the boot easily.

balloontrip · 01/02/2023 11:32

@lieselotte

Do you actually think responding to a disabled person that your mother manages with a Honda jazz is at all appropriate?

You have no fucking idea Sad

Slowingdownagain · 01/02/2023 11:28

SavoirFlair · 01/02/2023 07:27

80% of the stuff posted in AIBU isn’t really “people’s business” . you could say that about the dog threads, or the reclining threads.

It’s so easy to dismiss anyone’s gripes as “it’s not your business, I have freedom of choice”.

Well yeah. That’s why we are where we are today.

Show quote history

Sure, but most of the time people aren't complaining about the thing that they themselves are doing.

lieselotte · 01/02/2023 11:28

Problem is it's so difficult to get a small car these days. I'm a small car person. Had an Aygo. Went to replace it and they don't do that small Aygo anymore

That is true - the new Jazz is quite different to the older model my mum has.

As for it not being other peoples' business what other people drive, it is when you unduly pollute the atmosphere, take up too much road space, can't park between the lines in a car park, and drive dangerously because you feel too safe.

lieselotte · 01/02/2023 11:26

SchoolTripDrama · 30/01/2023 17:14

I get SUVs because I’m disabled.

Crossovers are great for the sheer volume of people who struggle to get into standard hatchbacks but don’t want to buy a big 4x4. There’s a lot of us! 650,000 disabled people use Motability and of which, 60% have SUVs. Then there’s the many people who don’t use Motability but still need a higher up vehicle to get into!
I was given a hire car by Motability once - a Mercedes hatchback and I genuinely could NOT get into it! They had to take it back.
my SUV is extremely economical and better for the environment than a big standard Fiesta!!!

My mother drives a Honda Jazz, she manages just fine without an SUV despite needing a very comfortable seat and good driving position (as she has back problems).

Toyotas have good seats as well, you don't need to drive an SUV because you have a disablity. Admittedly there may be a few people who can only get on with a certain type of seat, and that only comes in an SUV.

But lets face it, we know most people drive SUVs because they are middle class status symbols (see also ski-ing, woodburners).

naturalchiller · 01/02/2023 07:31

I agree. I live in an area with narrow roads and lots of parked cars and these are the drivers who never reverse when they should - probably because they can't in their stupid massive car.

Problem is it's so difficult to get a small car these days. I'm a small car person. Had an Aygo. Went to replace it and they don't do that small Aygo anymore it's an Aygo X which whilst still smaller than the cars you refer to, is now in the style of and much bigger than before.

I miss the Metro!

Original poster
SavoirFlair · 01/02/2023 07:27

nalabae · 01/02/2023 06:30

I mean, not really your business what others pay to drive legally.

80% of the stuff posted in AIBU isn’t really “people’s business” . you could say that about the dog threads, or the reclining threads.

It’s so easy to dismiss anyone’s gripes as “it’s not your business, I have freedom of choice”.

Well yeah. That’s why we are where we are today.

OP posts:
Slowingdownagain · 01/02/2023 07:17

LlynTegid · 01/02/2023 07:15

To drive one you should have to take your driving test in one.

Smaller cars would be chosen by many instead.

So everyone should drive what they did their test in or equivalent? Why only suv drivers? Lots of cars (including the apparently much coveted mpvs) are loads bigger than your standard driving instructor car.

4thonthe4th · 01/02/2023 07:17

LlynTegid · 01/02/2023 07:15

To drive one you should have to take your driving test in one.

Smaller cars would be chosen by many instead.

I took my driving test (and all my lessons) in one in 2008. It’s not unheard of. Infact quite a few of the driving instructors round here have Q3s and Q5s.

LlynTegid · 01/02/2023 07:15

To drive one you should have to take your driving test in one.

Smaller cars would be chosen by many instead.

Januarysickandtired · 01/02/2023 07:01

Given the state of our roads now, full of potholes and collapsed road edges I would not want to drive anything without decent road clearance around here. One of our roads is so bad that most traffic has stopped using it.

Swipe left for the next trending thread