Why all the hate for SUV’s/4x4 vehicles?

[FluffyRabbitSocks]

Why do so many people on mumsnet hate SUV and 4 wheel drive vehicles? I don’t think it’s a correct reflection of the UK publics preference because you see so many of this type of vehicle on the roads and in car parks these days. I couldn’t get myself so worked up about what car a person chooses to buy and drive and really don’t think a hybrid Toyota Rav 4 or Honda CRV is any worse for the environment than a diesel MPV like a Vauxhall Zafira.

Throwing it in here that I have never needed an SUV despite living in a very rural area. Steep hills annd rough tracks are absolutely fine for normal cars, and I drive on some very narrow, very steep ones - you just need to know how to drive.

I'm not sure why not needing off road capability is so often singled out as a reason. People with sports cars don't need to be able to drive at 200mph, people with convertibles don't need to be able to take the roof down. One of the Tesla models has some feature that makes fart sounds - that is absolutely not a necessity in a car (although I doubt anyone buys one specifically for that feature) No one needs a radio in the car. DH has an estate car (longer and wider than a lot of suvs) half the time it's just him in it and he has absolutely no need for all that boot space.
Most of us if we're lucky have some matter of choice in what we buy rather than the barest necessity.

OH had a terrible accident last year. He (in the SUV) crawled away from the car and was let out of hospital that night. Other man in Astra was airlifted to hospital and had life changing injuries. The added safety features make them my first choice. I also struggle to see the road properly in the Peugeot 108 but have excellent visibility in the SUV.

I really don't begrudge people driving SUVs due to need, but most don't need them.
It's vanity and a weird obsession with jealousy 🤔 (Yes love, I'm jealous of your fake 4x4 that you bought on credit and costs more than your mortgage per month)
The last time I bought a car, the salesman was trying to steer me towards the SUVs, fuck knows why, I'd told him what I wanted already, and SUV really didn't fit my lifestyle (the same way it doesn't fit most people)

None of those things are the fault of either the vehicle or the driver.
But I can see that it makes more sense to blame the driver for the choice of the vehicle for a 1st world problem frustration we cannot fix ourselves.

Jealousy? Where do you get that from?
That’s just you in your head thinking you have some sort of status symbol that other people must surely want, when in fact it’s the other way round. People laugh and despair at SUVs and their drivers. Anyone with money, sense, class, style and driving ability would buy something else.

Doesn’t that just exactly prove how dangerous SUVs are -the damage they can cause to other people?

Some people don’t believe in protecting themselves or their children on the road. You can be the safest driver on the road and not survive an impact because you’re driving a little tin can of a car. Poor guy.
I saw a huge lorry plow into the back of a queue of standing traffic on a motorway. The traffic had built up from the off ramp onto the main carriage way, and this lorry just plotted straight into the back at full pelt.
The first two cars didn’t stand a chance. One went under and the other was flattened against a panel van, but it took out about 10 cars before it came to a stop, throwing them onto the motorway and off to the hard shoulder.
The SUVs and 4x4s all survived substantially better than the smaller cars. You could tell their passenger compartments were intact.
I bought my 4x4 after that.

Some people don’t believe in protecting themselves or their children on the road.

Do you not see that that attitude is part of the problem? Yourself and your children to be protected. Not society, not other people in their cars or bicycles or on foot, not community. Self, self, self. And you are making it out as a moral choice.

Not all SUVs are enormous, a kia Niro or vauxhall mokka for example are a different size category than a range rover or Q7. And not all are 4wd either.

The fact that you have to convince yourself that SUVs are all bought by feckless people on finance screams jealousy.
You may not be jealous but your comment makes that the obvious assumption.
What is a 'fake 4x4' anyway?

Well duh. I choose to feed my OWN family high quality foods. I choose to dress my OWN children in nice clothes. I choose to live in a safe area for MY family. Of course I am more concerned about the safety of MY family. That's normal. It doesn't mean I go out with a machete cleaving a path for my offspring but yes, I make choices that protect my loved ones.

You’re making it worse the more you write.

This. I have the Mazda CX-30 which is their small SUV and I love it. I originally wanted a Mazda 3 but would have had a very long wait so decided to get the CX-30 instead. It's not huge or 4WD, it's just a squarer version of the 3.

@WillowBeeT

"Some people don’t believe in protecting themselves or their children on the road."

THAT ^, is exactly what I am doing by objecting to SUV's!!!^

I've involved myself in local campaigns for school streets, active travel and restrictions on private car use, in order to protect my family.

Honestly, I'd ban private cars (blue badge exempt) from dense, urban areas. Nobody should be trying to stuff a Rage Rover down a Victorian terraced street, it's utterly idiotic.

Totally agree and the six kids and multiple dogs are flippin awful in environmental terms too, not that they give a hoot.

Given the attitudes on this thread, it's clear government needs to step in to discourage the population at large from owning these wankpanzers (thank you PP who introduced me to this phrase 😊). So many individuals who can't see that they're contributing to a bigger problem.

I don't know how it could be done (and it sure as hell wouldn't be done under the Tories), but maybe restrictions on car manufacturers flogging the fucking things in the first place? Weight restrictions for what can be licensed as a car perhaps 🤔. Then overall restrictions in urban areas perhaps? A higher rate of car tax?

I really am not, it's so strange that the cry is always "JEALOUS!! you're jealous!!"
Anecdotally all the people I know that have the fake 4x4s HAVE bought them on credit at huge expense to portray a certain lifestyle (and by fake I mean the ones that are made with aesthetics in mind rather than practicality)
Jesus christ I wish they could drive the fucking things. 🙄
I absolutely love my car, it was made to my specs, a SUV with a silly body kit was never on my list.

As a lover of our estate (bought for practicalities of boot space) and someone who'd like an electric car at some point, I am annoyed at the popularity of impractical SUVs.

Car manufacturers cater to demand, and it's unlikely electric estates are going to be popular.

It's a shame marketing has worked so well on convincing the general public they need big SUVs whilst simultaneously being small on the inside.

stellaris absolutely! And how on earth did the manufacturers manage to convince the general public that SUVs are aesthetically appealing? I see posters on here claiming that they couldn't possibly buy an MPV or estate car because they're "ugly". To my eyes, it's the SUVs that are hideous.

Meanwhile, it's ridiculously difficult to find a decent, fuel efficient genuinely multi purpose vehicle with loads of space.

Because of the fuel (even electric need more power) they use, space they take up and if they hit someone (pedestrian, bike) they do more damage. They are invaluable in rural areas, absolutely no issues with them there, I'm talking about city dwellers whose only dalliances with the countryside each year are a camping trip to the Peak District and the Glastonbury festival!

I live on the edge of a town and commute through open countryside prone to flooding, I still cope with a mid sized normal car.

I have a Tern.

I suspect that the inhabitants of the SUV's are bubbling with jealousy as I zip past the traffic jams

Interesting that driving or parking badly is seen as a 4x4/SUV problem.
As per my previous post they come in different sizes so not all are enormous and thus shouldn't be any harder to fit into a space (I say this as someone with a medium size hatch back who is shit at parallel parking )
But whenever I notice cars tailgating, overtaking at dangerous/inappropriate places, middle lane hogging, crossing 3 lanes of a motorway in one go etc etc it's almost never anyone in a 4x4 or SUV ....but I concede if I meet someone in one in the town, and its a moot point who has ROW mostly I will be the one who ends up giving way!

It's surely irrelevant what kind of car you are zipping past. Why would SUV drivers be any different from Fiat 500 drivers.

Yeah, not really. I'd rather get where I'm going 5 minutes later than you if it means staying warm and dry.