to not know why people drive Unnecessarily Big Cars?

[herecomesthetide]

So, the thing is, lots of people I know have started to buy what I call Unnecessarily Big Cars (henceforth known as UBCs). One example would be a VW Tourag (not totally sure how you spell that). Not the space wagon one, the sort of four wheel-y drive one. Or another family we know have just bought a Landrover Discovery. These are families with two or possibly three children. They live in a very big city. They do not regularly if ever drive 'off-road'. I just really don't know why people buy these cars, so this is a genuine question. Is it because they need the space? Because we have two children and don't feel that we do. If it's something else, what is it? I just ... I don't know, if I'm totally honest I find these cars a little obnoctious. And the funny thing is the people we know who have bought them would have laughed with us a couple of years ago about wallys driving around in Chelsea Tractors but now they are the ones driving the tractors and I'm too scared to ask them what changed! Any thoughts?

id love a bigger car.i have 3dc and a ford fiesta.we all fit but its becomming a sqeeze!
ds1 has asked why we cant get a merc or a 4x4 like all the other mummys at school!one day,one day!

RWD cars are notoriously shite in the snow, I thought everyone knew that. Unless of course you put winter tyres on them.

What has it got to do with anyone else?
I must admit that I look at some people in very big aggressive looking cars and wonder why they need to have a big car and if they feel a little inadequate, but I usually stifle the thought.
No doubt people feel sorry for me when they see me in my Ford Ka, especially when I have two DCs in car seats in the back!

RWD cars are shite in the snow because there is no weight over the wheels, unlike a FWD car which has the weight of the engine.

All putting winter tyres on proves is that winter tyres are better than standard ones.

Well...there are externalities you can't tax away, and owners of big cars might think (but probably don't)that these externalities impact on the rest of us:
space - your choice takes space from the rest of us. This is really irritating in cities when trying to park, or get down residential streets
traffic calming - the fact that you can cruise over speed bumps at 30 miles plus means that councils build 'em higher. Which makes driving more uncomfortable for everyone else, means that there is more noise and more pollution, and uses tax resources for pointless building of higher speed bumps
accidents - if I hit someone at 20 miles an hour in my Renault that comfortably sits five, there's a good chance they will roll over the bonnet and get up. If you hit someone at 20 in a 4x4, there's a good chance they'll die.

None of these things are reasons not to buy a big car if that's what you want; they are reasons for me not to buy big cars.