Why do people buy SUVs?

[MuskIsACnt]

I need a new car and I’ve always had a small car but it seems every other car now is an SUV, so I’m wondering why and whether I need one.

The boot space is often the same as smaller cars, they’re more expensive and arguably harder to park. Am I missing some great benefit that I should be considering? Or does driving a big car just make people feel big (I used to drive a Luton van and that made me feel big)?

We have one as we have 3 kids so needed the space plus large boot space.

Slight derail

Also public transport is dire around here. Buses are 3 times a day to nearest town. 10 minute drive. To get to next village 5 minutes away drive. I have to get the train to nearest town and to go out again. Would take me more than an hour so would obviously drive. Occasionally through flooded roads and woods.

They are also very wealthy areas where people have plenty of money to spend on cars. Which I think is the clear subtext of this thread. Nothing to do with safety, the environment or practicality some people just don’t like that people have more money than them.

I drive a Volvo XC40. It was the safety features that sold it to me. I love it and have no problem parking because I have BBs. I also have a new Hyundai. It feels so light on the road and is harder to park than the Volvo in a normal space.

People bang on about mums in SUVs but given the car seats which are recommended now you will struggle to fit a family in a small car as the rear facing seats take up a lot of room. My husband couldn't physically sit in the front seat of my old car with a 'compact' seat behind it. And we couldn't fit the pram in the boot!

If you need three rear facing seats, so say three kids under 7, you'll likely need to buy a 7 seater. Not many cars can take three seats across the back and even those that do not easily.

It's not about a driver of an SUV being more likely to hit someone, it's about the increased injury and deaths if/when they do.

I'm not 'screaming' safety, am I? There's no 'screaming'. It's simply a measured presentation of the data and evidence.

Of course trucks and buses pose a greater risk. That's one of the reasons why we don't have more of them on the road than necessary and there's no encouragement for private vehicle drivers to buy lorries. We accept the risk of having as many buses and lorries on the roads as we need to accomplish what we need to accomplish - ferry people from A to B for journeys where it's more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way than using a car (or for those who don't have a car). We need lorries to transport goods.

But we don't look to take more risks than necessary if we're sensible, which is what you get to in your closing paragraph. All the measures you mention are sensible and necessary. At one time, many of them were viewed as OTT in the way you seem to be viewing a call to highlight the risks of SUVs. But we live and learn as our knowledge grows and where we can reduce unnecessary death and serious injury then generally, as a society, we tend to look to do this, thankfully.

I think the issue with SUVs and their increased danger is that most people are currently unaware of this. They then feel attacked and get defensive when it's pointed out to them, then they dig in their heels etc. Unfortunately, many people do not have the emotional maturity to respond to new information of this kind in the first instance without feeling got at. So we need to raise awareness and shift the Overton window on it, much as we have with other safety issues, eco issues etc. It will take time and I would like to see the government play a role in getting car manufacturers to take safety into account in car design and incentivise vehicle owners to choose their vehicle more pro-socially.

I agree that's it's 90% snobbery. If you bought something else it would be about londoners coming down in their stupid tiny cars, flashy sports cars getting stuck on country lanes

There's also something in the persistent terrible woman driver, unable to park, tiny lady, mum stereotype that feels sexist.

Likely hood is that mums trying to rearface, manage prams etc are always going to be in bigger cars, but mum's have always been criticised for their terrible choice of cars because they are boring choices, blocky or too big.

The headlights are so annoying. I’ve been flashing people for years thinking they had their fog lights on.

I live rurally assume local roads are single track and really muddy. In Scotland, so there is snow and ice to contend with every year for months, there is regular flooding.

We camp and have a toddler, so need space for all the stuff we haul around. It just makes sense.

Or, and hear me out... maybe they like the look of the car? Just a thought. Jesus

For me, I prefer the upright sitting position of a SUV car. I have back problems and if I drive a regular car I end up with an aching lower back and flat-arse syndrome (it goes numb).
I would love to downsize my SUV but I am worried about the affect on my back.

All the gain in lowered carbon emissions from switching to EVs in the UK has been wiped out by the rise in SUVs. Shocking, isn't it.

I disagree about not having more trucks and vans on the road than necessary, I saw 3 different Amazon delivery vans in my area the other day. Which is my bugbear when people bring up the environment in relation to cars - people will order stuff shipped directly from China via Shein etc, or order off Amazon for next day delivery but have a go at others for their choice of car being the problem with climate change. Huge double standard in my opinion.

I’m still not convinced 4x4’s are any more dangerous than other cars but that’s fine, we can disagree on that.

Where does it stop tho? Ban SUVs. What about cars that are too big for peoples needs, I drive a saloon car that is bigger than I need it to be but that’s my choice. It’s a hybrid so less emissions in the city (although I’m not convinced by the overall impact of hybrids and electric cars due to sourcing of the metals etc to manufacture the batteries. I also live in a flat so a BEV will never be practical for me).

I agree government plays a role here but that’s already happening - cars are safer than they’ve ever been, laws about seatbelts, child seats. And emissions legislation has had a huge impact on the car industry. I bought a hybrid because it was the only affordable version of my car, not because I particularly wanted one.

IME the worst offenders for being unable to reverse their shiny wankpanzers on country lanes are couples on their 60s- 70s with the man driving. I do love seeing them go puce with rage when I refuse to reverse back 500m because they don't want to reverse into the muddy pull in 10m behind them 😆

Yes, agreed, this is a major problem. The manufacturers obviously think this is the way to go. It might take government to get them to stop doing this. Also making people aware of the safety issues (and the environmental impact, even if they’re EV) so that public opinion shifts. This can take quite a bit of time.

I learned to drive in a focus, and I hated it. Ridiculously uncomfortable for my hips and knees, and I also disliked the clink of changing gears in it. (It was a diesel, does that make a difference? I drive petrol now and it’s much more pleasant.) I’ve always been bemused by the love for them, but have to concede not everybody has my broken skeletal system.

Most comfortable car I’ve been in was a c3, but there are no Citroen dealers near us so had to go with something else.

This whole debate illustrates why the government needs to step in and legislate on vehicle size. I don't know whether there should be an outright ban- maybe there should just be a much higher vehicle tax on any car over a certain weight/ engine size. Current vehicle tax is already tailored to specific vehicles, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do it that way.

That way, if you "need" some fuel guzzling, CO2 spaffing, child killing monster because you "need" it for your ponies or your one camping trip a year, you can. If you pay through the nose for it.

Because they are idiots.

Cars on winter/all season tyres can easily out perform SUVs on summer tyres. But people want them because they have 2 days of snow a year.

For those who think some SUVs are efficient relative to cars, they may well be. But just think how more efficient they would be if people weren't carrying around half a ton of extra metal they don't need to.

SUVs are bad for the environment, and often are difficult to handle in our narrow roads and small parking spaces. Studies have shown they present a greater danger in accidents to pediestrians and other road users due to their weight and profile. They aren't really the choice of anyone that cares about the environment, or indeed anyone else on the road, and in my opinion they should be taxed off it.

There are much bigger profit margins for the car manufacturers in larger vehicles. That's why they're doing it. When I look at it this way it makes me so angry that I look forward to them all being bankrupted by a wave of small, cheap Chinese EVs.

I’m still not convinced 4x4’s are any more dangerous than other cars but that’s fine, we can disagree on that.

What is it you’re not convinced of? The safety data? Look it up. The stats are clear. More SUVs on the road in place of normal sized cars means proportionally more serious accidents with higher deaths and serious injuries. Fine if you think it won’t happen to you. Devastating if it happens to your DC or someone else you love. What must the parents of Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau feel, knowing their daughters would be alive and uninjured if the driver had been driving a car appropriate to the environment in Wimbledon?

Or the physics? You’re not convinced that a heavier object will do more damage than a lighter object travelling at the same speed? Imagine this: you’re hit in the head by an object going at 40mph. Would you rather be hit by a a lighter or heavier object? A sponge or a lump of lead? A Ford Focus at 1,270kg or a Range Rover at 2,454kg?

Or is it you’re not convinced by risk management best practice to mitigate risks that are serious if they crystallise, where it’s practical to do so? That’s just risk management 101.

Or is it this: I drive a saloon car that is bigger than I need it to be but that’s my choice. - you want to be able to choose what you want, because you want it, and not feel guilty?

I don’t get it either- best boot space we ever had was Skoda Octavia, I don’t understand people with five in the family buying cars the size of tanks with very average boot space!!

I live in a city, lots of pedestrians and bikes around, who don’t always watch where they’re going. So I drive slowly and watch very carefully to try and make sure I don’t hit one. The car that I’m driving is not relevant to that it’s the approach everyone should take. Cars have also never been safer for their passengers or pedestrians. You are far less likely to hit a pedestrian or seriously injure/kill them if you drive a modern car.

Not familiar with the people you mention but how can anyone be sure the outcome would’ve been so much better if they had been hit by a different type of car?

And yes I do think I have the right to choose what I want, that’s how society works. Why should you or anyone else get to be the arbiter of what kind of car I drive? Do you think we should legislate so that people can only drive a smart car unless they get permission from the government to get something bigger?

Editing to add as someone who was nearly killed a car accident (caused by someone driving a 4x4 if it matters - an Evoque which seems to get special hatred on here) I feel no guilt at all for driving the safest car possible. And larger cars do better for their occupants in the event of an accident. So I do what I can to protect myself and my passengers in case some other fuckwit decides to overtake where they absolutely shouldn’t (last I heard the guy in the car behind me who also did nothing wrong is still in a wheelchair) and drive as carefully as I can to avoid any kind of collision in a car with all the latest safety equipment.

Take a look at the Ignis. Smallish but upright driving position

Because they can :

a) look at the stats where collisions have occurred and

b) model the effects of cars colliding with pedestrians and cyclists with different masses and front profiles, both in real simulation (with dummies) and with computer modelling.

Our tip would charge you to get rid of the kitchen whether it was on a moped or in a van!

(total thread derail obviously!)