Why does everyone need a massive car these days?

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This is just nonsense. Lease buying isn’t for you, fine. But amongst people who do buy new cars, (because they want them, and can afford them)- it’s a legitimate and very common way to buy them.

acting like poor people do it to seem richer because that’s all that matters to them is not only flawed, but rude and makes people who say such things look bitter and petty.

4ft 10 grandma would be safer in a booster too. As would anyone under about 5ft 3 really.
But it's not just about height, it's skeletal maturity and body proportions. A gangly legged 12yo the belt might not fit correctly.

@pinkyredrose to be fair, it's actually 135cm or 12 years old - whichever comes first. But that doesn't mean many families won't have at least 2 enormous car seats for a long time.

I went to Tesco yesterday, in my mini. So many huge cars, parked on or over the bay lines. I parked in 2, could barely get out and then noticed car seats in the back, so moved my car twice

I don’t have an issue with big cars. I do have an issue with parking bay sizes being based on 1960s dimensions. We have a place in the US. Now, there’s lots about the US that’s rubbish, but parking spaces is not one of them.

Because not everybody has the same needs or budget. Get over yourself.

Yes when you weren’t required by law to put children in car seats which take up a seat.

No, it's 12 or 135cm/4'5", whichever comes first.

Just moved from my lovely little 1 series BMW to a Volvo v60 estate to fit the kids who are now pushing 6 feet tall and the floofer who now has to reside in the boot as the kids argue over space

Some 12yrs olds are very tall these days, would they still need a child seat while 4ft10 grandma doesn't?

It’s not just a case of ‘bad’ parking - it’s also case of too many car park spaces not really being wide enough for these mega-beasts. Add on a percentage of clueless parkers, and esp. around here that includes people who take a fortnight to reverse into a space and hold everybody else up in the process! 🤬 - and it’s no wonder people get pissed off.

Agree @Ginmonkeyagain in the 90s and Onwards my Astra, focus and Mondeo have coped perfectly fine with rutted tracks to friends houses, driving across fields and flooded roads. All they’ve needed is winter tyres to cope with snow too.

As long as they don’t complain about the number of potholes their vastly overweight vehicles cause…

I agree, I hate them as I live in a city and they take up so much space on the narrow, busy, roads and block light when parked on the street. Most homes around me are Victorian and have no off-street parking so it's an especially bizarre and antisocial choice. I'm all for spending one's money however one likes, but to me driving one in a built up area us as antisocial as buying a massive sound system and playing it at night in a block of flats.

It's ironic how many people say the larger vehicle makes them feel safer when the roads in general would be safer with far fewer large and heavy vehicles on them.

I do agree there's a gap in the market for larger hatchbacks and estates. And I get that for people in some areas and with certain interests they're a practical choice. But for most, it's just a status symbol.

We have three children with a 4th one on the way, so my husband and me both sold our cars recently and bought a 7 seater together....

We have a Shogun out of necessity. Bought to replace an even older one. We don't often go into town centre - we borrow a child and their (small, cheaply taxed runabout type car) if we need to. It's over 10 years old but in VGC and relatively low mileage, and was bought cash (we don't do lease). @Fiverfiver if you buy on a lease you have a humungous repayment, if you save what you'd pay on humungous repayment each month, you'd quickly amass more than the cost of a new car by the time you need one. And a well kept shiny looking car without masses of mileage will hold its value to some extent. Shoguns are now going up in value as they're no longer made, but are so useful as utility cars. We wouldn't ever buy new and get another car once 3 or 4 years are up, we typically buy them at 2-4 years old THEN get the value out of it. A car depreciates most straight out of the showroom.

This week the car has been used for: collecting goods bought at a farm auction and also at a machinery auction (towing a flatbed trailer), while the trailer was on daughter used said car to transport 10 bales of hay. Also visited a ploughing match (4x4 needed as parking in a muddy field, daughter's little car wouldn't cut it), and I have collected paving slabs for the garden from Wickes. I've also used it to transport a builders bag of scalpings for a gateway. And been to the local supermarket and also the corner shop twice (I can park it properly, I assure you). The car has also taken 2 x largish horses to a competition (needs the size vehicle to tow 2 together legally due to weight) .
It's not a status symbol but a necessity. We live rurally. Only the supermarket trip and the corner shop trip are suitable for a smaller car - but actually I have a plan for that, I'm going to get a vintage motorcycle!

Finance makes little sense either. Interest payments and a balloon payment to ‘buy’ a depreciating car that may or may not be the actual value of the car means you will end up having to roll it over shortly afterwards to a new loan and a newer car any way.

Paying cash for an affordable car you will own outright is always the better option.

Everyone knows a big new car is on credit anyway so why bother trying to impress.

School run full of them, and most of them drive like it’s a tank, unable to know if they have space to get through gaps so everyone has to wait

We had a "big" car when the kids were smaller and we needed to fit in chunky car seats, travel systems and all the paraphernalia that goes with that, but now they're older we have smaller cars as we don't have as much shite to carry everywhere with us. Alot of people with young kids, require the extra room a bigger car gives, I'd say 80% of the cars on the school run are suvs. Is assume most people driving bigger cars have a young family to accommodate tbh

The county where parking over the white lines I used to think was compulsory when we first moved here, where we had come from the parking attendants had started giving tickets for even touching the white line!

I think people are getting confused. I don’t know many people that lease a car, but loads that buy them a car finance.

A very small proportion of all drivers have 3+ kids, dogs, equipment in the car and even then it's unlikely to be every journey.

The average number of people in cars is just over 1 isn't it?

The seems to be the case on many models, the 'mini' that I had in the late 70s was about half the size of the current model, the Polo is about the same size as the first Golf models.

The discussion is about leasing.

Just own it, you want them, you like them? you can afford them, you're not too bothered about the knock on effects?

I guess requiring a special driving test for vehicles over a certain size/weight would sort the parking and manoeuvring issues somewhat?