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)?

To show people how much money they have

And yet our parents managed to tow horse boxes with Volvo estates back in the 90s.

I wanted a hybrid, we needed higher seat height because of disability. There wasn’t a great deal of choice, even less where we could find a dealer within sensible distance to go test drive.

Hopefully next time we need a car there will be a better range of options.

I have an SUV,

Its boot is bloody massive.

I regularly have two wheelchairs in there - mine and my daughters.

Mine is 12 years old now and has been the family workhorse for many years, moving my son and daughter to uni and back many times, taking four people plus big musical instruments to band rehearsals and gigs and my son used it regularly to move his drum kit around to gigs when he was a teenager.

It's getting to replacement time and I don't need a car quite as big, but to be honest any car that takes two wheelchairs (my criteria) is pretty big.

Safety! Ungraded small car to a small suv with a much better safety rating.

We have a smaller suv. We got it for the height as we don’t have to bend over so much to strap the grandchildren in their car seats. The clearance from the road is also a factor as we hill walk and go on some quite rough roads and tracks.Also safety rating for driving our grandchildren.

I just bought a small SVU because it had features that I personally need. However, as for size, it is only 60cm (two feet) longer than my old Kia Rio hatchback which is a small hatchback by most standards, and also seems to have as tight a turning circle and lighter steering than the Rio.

We have a small SUV because ds is disabled and needs the space to put his wheelchair in the boot.

But we are sub urban and if I ever needed a cat just for me I'd get a small i20 or similar.

So imagine most people that get them do so for similar reasons - boy space, car seat space, lots of travel etc.

We need two cars for work and because we live fairly rurally. We've one bigger car and one small one. We used to have two small ones, but found when travelling as a family there wasn't enough space for the luggage and us to be comfortable.

I need a 4x4 for winter To stop us always getting snowed in.
I like that it's high up.

Because there are increasingly more potholes than road surface around here.

Main reason for us is safety especially when driving on motorways

For the height and space. I wanted something that 3 growing children could comfortably sit in and a boot with enough headroom for our dogs. I also prefer to not have to drag myself in and out of a low seat after 14hrs of being on my feet at work. Plus I'm short so I can see the road better from higher up. It is a ballache to park though.

There are some odd replies here but in Aus SUVs are much more popular so we're used to them. Overall SUVs give you a much larger boot space than a sedan where the boot is quite inaccessible. They also give you a much higher driving position (with a tall car and a height adjustable seat) so you're more likely to be able to see the nose of the car than the road. Despite the number of posts laughing at shorter women driving these cars 🙄that's why they're popular with shorter people.

Not all SUVs are large or use petrol! The Suzuki Ignis (petrol), Citreon C3 (EV), Renault 5 (EV) and new Hyundai Inster (EV) are all small. The Hyundai Inster is smaller than the Toyota Yaris.

Why don't you try one of the new tiny SUV EVs OP? Maybe you'll fall in love 😛

Lots of people here saying it’s because they like the high up sitting position which is fair enough but I think also there is the car industry pushing for bigger cars and people being talked into it.

They're more expensive to buy ( more VAT for the government ) and more expensive on parts including tyres ( more Vat for the government).

We do camping with proper canvas bell tents and metal poles. I find it laughable when people use camping as an excuse to buy an SUV. We have an old estate, the boots of SUVs are tiny compared to what we fit in our estate.

Yeah, you’re not buying it for camping space! Our estate drives over muddy fields perfectly fine too.

I hate SUVs as they’re what manufacturers think everyone wants, so there’s few decent estates on the market for people who ACTUALLY want boot space and not a status symbol.

Same where I am. You need a 4x4 to be able to go down one side of a pot hole and back up the other.

We have a Vauxhall Grandland. I love it. Much easier to park than the Freelander 2 we had before.

To tow our caravan mainly but it's much better than my small car at handling the very bad roads we have nowadays so we use it more than we used to. We used to use the small car a lot but don't so much now because of the state of the roads

People's height, mobility issues getting in and out, availability, leg room in the back. Probably lots more reasons.

I would hardly see an SUV as a status symbol!

DH often sleeps in it if he goes long distance, he can't get an airbed in the Ford Fiesta unfortunately

There's a variety of reasons buy an SUV. Status isn't a main reason for most people I know who own one. I live in the US, and many car manufacturers have 2 to 3 sizes of an SUV. I chose my Honda CRV (smallest of their SUV line) (1) I can get in/out of the car, especially if you have arthritis, (2) AWD is important as it's I drive w/out worry in the winter, and w/out buing, changing and storing an extra set oftires, (3) my trunk is probably similar to a 4 door sedan as it's taller, and (4) I do like being higher up on the road without own a truck. A truck where I live is a big status symbol. Big tires, those that insist in diesel then leaving it running everywhere they go, you need a step stool to get in/out, and it may have a big "trunk," but not worth the gas. Probably get maybe 8 milez to the gallon. My DUV geys about 28. If i didn't have to worry about snow,, and I wouldn't fall into my car when getting in, I'd definitely look at a 4 door sedan..

This. I love estates and always buy a car 2 or 3 years old rather than brand new. It’s so hard to find an estate these days. Even a normal hatchback…..there’s less choice of those than SUV. I’ve managed to avoid the SUVs so far as I really don’t want one. But god knows next time if I’m restricted by availability I might end up with one.

My mum has an SUV because after having a stroke her legs are quite weak and she finds it easier to get in and out of taller cars. She curses my Fiesta when I take her anywhere!

My sister has one purely as a status symbol, which we all rip her for (with love of course).
She claims it makes her feel safer but she drives it awfully and can’t park it, and that she needs the boot space (her boot is the same size as mine).
In reality, she has one because all of her friends do and she felt left out.

It is a status symbol. And for people who do not care about the environment.

But surely most SUVs aren’t 4x4? And if yours is then do you have it running in 4x4 mode all the time for potholes.

Sorry, I might be completely wrong but I thought they had a 4x4 mode that you literally switched on and off. So would switch on if in a field? And that it’s bad for the vehicle to have it on all the time, it damages the drivetrain .

So are you driving along constantly flicking a switch on and off before and after potholes? Or do you just leave it on and not bother if the drivetrain is wrecked? Or do modern ones not get wrecked and can be left on all the time?