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.

Because they are worse for the environment. The hybrids use as much fuel as a smaller diesel or petrol because they’re so much heavier. They make a mockery of hybrid cars.

They also use more resources to build - more metal, glass, plastic etc etc

You're right!

It is annoying when people don’t park in the space lines in car parks whatever car they drive, smaller cars parked at a diagonal angle with the rear end taking up part on another space is just as annoying. I lot of the newer SUV/4 wheel drives now come with rear park assist where the car parks itself with the lines or parallel parks between two cars, so hopefully that should stop some of the parking issues.

Yes this. Many people can't drive or park them and some feel the need to park across 2 spaces

The area is wonderful as long as it's not between 8.30-9 and 3-3.30
Full of absolute dickheads between those times

I had one for a while and loved it - but we are rural and got snowed in when I had a 2WD .. now I don’t have it I definitely stress about it snowing .. it doesn’t often 🤞

I hate them with a fiery passion, unless they're involved in rugged rural pursuits.

They're bigger than necessary - no-one needs two tonnes of steel and a three piece suite just to get to Watirose - and the flashier ones seem mainly chosen to let everyone else know just how much money and status the driver has. They imbue said driver with a sense of superiority and invincibility on the road, and are inconvenient for anyone in a smaller car, as you can't see past them. People in smaller cars then think 'if you can't beat them join them' and so cars inexorably get bigger, congestion and pollution get worse, the roads are knackered from so many heavy truck-based chassis(es?) and you can't park so many cars on a street.

That's me, anyway.

LOL; no.

The main objection to them is that the chassis sits too high and the entire build is more massive than any regular vehicle on the roads (leaving aside buses, trucks, vans, etc. which have a mass transit or commercial purpose). SUVs block visibility and make navigation significantly more difficult for pedestrians, bicyclists, and people driving normal cars. Have some self-awareness rather than making up hypercapitalist narcissistic nonsense.

it is the bad driving that is much more noticeable in a big car , people who can't/won't park in a proper space. and trying to buy a house with a garage that one will fit into weird i know

Same in our area. It's such a nuisance.

It's the "I'm alright Jack" kind of attitudes with these cars. Especially near schools, getting in the way of kids trying to cycle or walk, intimidating.

All of what @Sarahcoggles wrote. They are more likely to be at fault in an accident. The sense of safety and imperviousness makes people feel safety which bears no relation to their skill at driving. In the same way that anti-lock brakes reduce people's adherence to stopping distances.

If we all drove micro-mini cars there would be massively fewer road deaths and it would be better for the environment.

Oh and I used to work for a 4x4 company and we used to take the utter piss out of the people who clearly couldn't use them. Driving through a large puddle on High Street Ken does not make you an off roader. Particularly when you've now got yourself stuck in off-road as a result.

We have one, handy for towing the caravan and DH has a bed in the back for if he wants to go off and stay overnight in it.

"Chelsea tractor" Have you just stepped out of the 90's? I haven't heard that term for years
I don't live anywhere near Chelsea 😂

Maybe because I don’t live in a crowded city centre but I honestly have never experienced the dick like behaviour a lot of posters experience twice a day on the school run.

1. They use more fuel and pollute more than an equivalent car.
2. They are far more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists.
3. They take up more space on the road, and so pass cyclists closer.
4. They intimidate people in smaller, more economical cars and so it becomes an arms race as everyone buys bigger cars.
5. You can't see over their bonnet at junctions, so it becomes harder to pull out past them.
6. And most of all given the above, they are completely unnecessary. Mostly just a fashion statement.

Thing that annoys me is the twats that think they're safer. They're not. Due to off-road capability they don't have the same crumple zones. A 4x4 hits you at 30mph you'd be lucky to survive, where in 'normal' car you can survive up to 40 mph.
As for the women that can't even park them in a mother&baby space, words fail me. Especially in places like Booths.
If you want to bé high up, buy a transit and customise it, or get a berlingo/partner type car.

They take up loads of room and, on the country roads around here, most of them won't go anywhere near the side of the road in case they get scratched by the hedges. Drive whatever you like, but don't come onto my side of the road if you're not willing to use all of your side!

Well no one complained when it was people driving around the countryside in Defenders. It's only since it's been idiots in cities driving around in Range Rovers everyone minds.

Nothing wrong with them... as long as one or more of the following applies:

You reach your house by driving down a mile-long rutted track and/or a tree-lined avenue through a deer park.

You have several large working breed dogs.

You are a farmer.

You use it to pull your horse box.

The interior of the vehicle is strewn with hay and smells of chicken feed.

There are several pairs of manure-encrusted green wellies in the back.

You are not a suburban twat.

I don't think I would risk a small car on our pothole ridden roads.

A dog-owning, rural-dwelling friend of mine got rid of her RangeRover and bought an electric Hyundai hatch. She hated the RR's excessive size, yet only five seats, it's precious expensive paintwork that cost a fortune if it got scratched, and being viewed as a twat.

Ironically, it's massive heavy cars that are contributing to the pothole problem.

And the EVs

Well we need smaller cars then!