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)?

The reality is that it will take a lot of work to undo the suv
. In 2023 over 60 % of cars being made are suvs and in two years it's predicted that up to 75% of new cars will be suvs

It's estimated that somewhere between a quarter and a third of cars are already suvs and this will only grow

Any penalising will be heavily lobbied against by car industry but also likely hit regular people hard. Wealthy people will just buy a new compliant car, and the rest of us will be looking at second hand cars that cost a fortune to run

It's what happened if you live near a ulez zone, I don't live in one but close enough that the used car market suddenly rocketed in value for small cars as people ditched newer cars for ulez compliant ones.

Tell me you are prejudiced without telling me you are prejudiced

But society literally functions by telling people that they can’t just do what they want. Take speeding. You might want to do something that has proven higher risks to the people around you but ”we” deem that you shouldn’t so we make a rule. It curtails your freedom for the greater good.

perhaps this should happen with cars that are a higher risk to people around you.

I think vehicle tax should be based on how many miles you do a year. That way people won’t jump in just for a small trip and hopefully think about walking or cycling more.
Better for peoples health, better for the roads and better for the environment.
If you use vehicles more you pay more, just like everything else.
@crackofdoom

Any car is potentially deadly

People have different needs

Buy the car you like/need and leave everyone else to it

I specifically chose a car that my elderly mother could get in and out of easily, and that could cope with everything else I throw at it, but on the wheelbase of a VW Golf. A Golf was not big enough.

We’re not going to agree are we? I think banning 4x4’s is a step too far, you don’t. Fair enough. Let’s leave it at that.

This is probably inevitable and the government were debating doing this when Blair was in office.

Walking and cycling only works if you live within walking distance of where you need to go though.

Just out of interest should that apply to trains too? If you use them more you should pay more? This was one of the arguments for privatisation of the railways which seems to have gone out of fashion.

I think instead of banning there should be additional licence conditions and substantially higher taxes

Define what is and what isn't an SUV?

Happy to, was just pointing out that you are not able to make totally free decisions in many areas of your life so the “I should be able to do what I want” argument might not be the strongest.

im not sure I do advocate for banning tbh. Perhaps something like stronger safety regs regarding the risks to non-occupants would be better.

If you’re hitting a pedestrian it’s because of poor driving, the type of car you are driving is irrelevant.

It's really not. The point is that an SUV is far more likely to cause serious injuries or death. Modern safety features mean that fewer accidents are happening, but the accidents that do happen are worse.

Unless you live rurally or have a health/mobility problem there is no ethical justification for SUVs. I want the big shiny luxury thing as much as the next person but once I found out the danger to pedestrians, drivers and the environment (including electric - far higher emissions come from manufacturing them than smaller cars) I couldn't justify it and got quite angry that the govt isn't clamping down on them in urban areas.

Ok, so you're admitting you're posting from a position of ignorance here, as what you're basing your opinion on is being able to do what you want regardless of the impact on others, and beliefs rather than facts and a reluctance to check said beliefs against fact.

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?

I'm referring to the accident in Wimbledon on 6 July 2023, when a driver experienced a medical episode and lost control of her car, which mounted a kerb, flattened a fence, ploughed into a group of children having an end of term school party and killed two little girls and injured 12 others. If you Google, it, you'll be able to find out all about it.

We can be absolutely sure that the outcome would have been so much better because there was an official report into the accident which came to that conclusion (based on evidence, rather than beliefs or guessing!).

Most cars would not have had the ability to mount the kerb and flatten a fence, those obstacles would have caused most cars to come to a halt. Not a huge Range Rover, though, that was able to keep going, with no driver to apply brakes, and cause death and injury.

A Range Rover is absolutely not necessary on the urban streets of Wimbledon and had Claire Freemantle, the driver, been driving a smaller car, Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad would be alive today and their families' lives would not be ruined.

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?

Not sure why you think this... we have limited rights to choose what we want, within reason, based on the law, which legislates for things like safety. So you can't legally smoke crack if you want to. Neither can you drive a HGV without a licence, etc, etc. Where there is good reason to legislate, that's what happens. Particularly where the actions of one person can cause harm to others, not just themselves.

Because without legislation there are enough bozos around who are idiotic enough to ignore safety data in the belief it's not real, or the mistaken idea that they are uniquely competent to never make a mistake and so is everybody else.

And yes I do think I have the right to choose what I want, that’s how society works.

It's how the capitalist society we're currently in works. I would prefer to live in a society where safety and environmental regulations trump car industry profits.

First of all, I don’t drive a SUV, don’t get the appeal.

But where do you draw the line? A smaller car would do fine for me but it’s my choice to drive what I want. It’s a hybrid so the environmental argument (arguably) doesn’t apply. I’m not sure it could be called an anti-social choice, I can park it fine (to be honest anyone claiming they can’t park even a large SUV shouldn’t have a licence in my opinion but I digress).

I’m allowed to smoke, eat junk food, drink alcohol. All of which have negative consequences at a societal level, because in the U.K. we have socialised healthcare that will pick up the bill for my (more others, I don’t smoke, don’t drink much and eat fairly well although no one’s perfect in that regard) poor choices.

I’m not in favour of banning any of these though because it’s not for me or anyone else to regulate someone else’s life excessively. And I think a ban on 4x4’s is excessive.

I am in favour of limiting/taxing/discouraging these things in favour of the greater good. And I do wonder if in 25 years time we’ll talk about emissions in the same way we do smoking - can anyone imagine going back to the days before the smoking ban? Which only happened in what, 2006?

We probably agree 95% of the way but disagree on an outright ban.

Have you read about the history of people trying anything other than a capitalist society. Has resulted in millions dying, way more than are killed by SUVs.

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.

And a 4x4 on winter/all season tyres will outperform a two wheel drive on winter/all season tyres.

I went the 2 wheel drive and winter tyre route before I realised I really needed four wheel drive.

Surely the ethical justification is that you struggle to get anything else? Currently it's predicted that within 2 year 75% of cars manufactured will be suvs, currently it's still over 60%. A third of cars currently on the road are suvs and the non suvs are aging so lots won't be around in a few years

There's no way to suddenly remove presumably half of the uks cars

In 5 years people will be at used car forecourts looking at most of their options being suvs

I drive one because I like it . No other reason than that tbh. I work in the community and I feel safer in my SUV and it's comfortable. It's also roomy and is no more expensive than my last saloon type car .

Erm, there are more tempered forms of capitalism you know. More regulation on SUVs = communism is actually the funniest thing I've heard today 😂

Sorry but not the finest minds on this thread today

@Gnomegarden32 "Unless you live rurally or have a health/mobility problem there is no ethical justification for SUVs"

Or unless your Dh is 6'3" tall, built like a rugby player and you have sat in 20 plus cars in a car supermarket and been to numerous car dealerships to try to find something he can sit in comfortably. Because with the new built up centre consoles his left leg is jammed between the centre console and the steering wheel and no amount of height adjustment in the seat or steering wheel helps. Or his legs rests against that built up console and hurts and there are reddit posts about other people having the same issue. I wish choosing a car for him was simple.

We also have 2 adult sons (uni aged) who need adult sized leg room behind Dh's seat when we all go out together and once he puts the seat back into a comfortable position for his legs there isn't any legroom for the rear passengers in so many cars. Fine for the driver, not fine for anyone who has to sit behind them.

Plus sometimes the roof lining comes down really low or the new automatic windscreen wiper sensor blocks his view too. Forget a sunroof as well because if they allow room for that mechanism his head in on the ceiling. All of this impacts what car I can get too, it must have a height adjustable passenger seat otherwise his neck is at a funny angle.

That is why we have an SUV, not vanity, not mobility, not health just a family car that fits the family in. He hates my car as he is cramped up but then I am 5'4" and he literally only in mine when I give him a lift for his car service.

I will add 'or if you are exceptionally tall' to my previous statement then 😅 I think it's pretty obvious the point is they are unjustifiable for status/luxury reasons.

What are you considering as an "SUV"?

Not size since some are smaller than small family cars, not weight since some are much lower kerb weight than "normal" family cars, expecially electric cars.

SUV is just a design label in most cases for cars with a higher seat position which may be small or large, light or heavy. Smaller SUVs are popular with people who have mobility issues or simply back problems due to the good visibility (without requirement too much movement) and ease of getting in and out. They are popular on most adapted/motobility car lists for this reason.

Forget the label and work out what you want from a car. Then see what meets your priorities which may or may not have an SUV label.

When did I say that?

@Gnomegarden32 He carries a tyre inflator kit because there have been SUVs targeted where he parks for work. I never realised how difficult it would be finding a car for him and we have been car buying together for almost 30 years. He feels sad that he is judged for his car choice. The other thing to add to why we chose it is budget too, I wish money was no object.