to love my 4x4

[holidaysarenice]

And to not have to justify it to anyone!!

Pringles please?

I unashamedly love mine too. And I was one of few who could actually get out of my piss poor rural bog road the last few winters when the snow cut most of us off from civilisation.

Haha you know the bar near the door? Well when someones driving is slightly erratic, most people grab it and scream, oh jesus!!!

Or my mum who grabs it every time her kids drive and another car appears!!!

If you can drive it properly then I don't have a problem with 4x4s (unlike DH who has just fallen out with my DM yet again over her use of a 4x4 - he hates the things.) I hate driving behind them as I can't see past (I have a small, low car) but then that's the same for vans & lorries as well, and we can't hate everything bigger than a smart car!

Ripishere - try telling that to the bloke I saw this morning, who reversed his X5 straight out into oncoming traffic without looking properly, who caused a minor pile up as people swerved to avoid him - and he still managed to scrape the car parked next to him. Man's car, pfft.

Why does everyone think 4 x 4's are massive fuck off vehicles. My pinin is tiny, no bigger than my old ford fiesta although granted it's taller! It costs me no more to run and the fact that its expensive for parts is that mitsubishi are robbing bastards, nothing to do with it being a 4 x 4.

Wasnt someone on here moaning the other day that 4x4 drivers avoid the puddles and now blow me down, someone on this thread mentioned the fact that we steam right through them- jeez, we cant win!

My penance is the fact I pay a ridiculous amount for road tax.

Some people really need to get their pants out their arse and their blinkers off their eyes!

they're out of fashion round here now thank god as they really were driven by tiny women with too much make up on who didn't know how to park

I find it weird that you ask AIBU and then people get defensive when others say yes.

I live in east London and was amazed when I went to Chelsea one day and found that a lot of people do actually drive them.

In the city, it is patently ridiculous. Even in the country, it's not exactly necessary. I come from the NE of Scotland, a hillier region of the UK you'd be hard-pressed to find, but we did fine with a normal car.

rip were you in Oman?

Ah I see!

Agree Aby they don't annoy me for the sake of it, as long as people drive them carefully especially in the narrow streets around here/ in cities generally.

I dont give two shits if they go through puddles or not.

Im no saint so I dont get sniffy about fuel consumption.

and keying them is very cunty.

In a city they cause the following problems:

The height makes it near on impossible to see over and check for oncoming traffic if you are on foot or in a lower car. Just last week I saw a teen look to cross the road between 2 parked 4x4's they couldn't see over the height and took a small step and nearly got mowed down.
They cause worse damage to people if they are hit by them.

The larger versions take up more car parking space, which in a city is not great.
Their sheer size means that invariably other smaller cars have to do the maneuvering around tight passing spots in the road.

They don't serve any purpose in a city do they? Maybe they do, please enlighten me to why people have them in a city?

I love mine. It fits all the DCs and their stuff and handles really well in snow and icy conditions. I am an excellent parker.

People who drive badly in 4x4s would be bad drivers in any other vehicle.

Erm, maybe because they like them Not everything HAS to serve a purpose I dont think anyway :)

They would be bad drivers in any car I agree.

Maybe wanky drivers should be forced to drive around in a canary yellow cinqecento for a year. That will be a suitable punishment.

But Betty, when they are blatantly so dangerous for pedestrians etc, surely there must be a reason to outweigh all the negative safety and size issues.

No one has actually given a good reason for having one in a city except to say they 'like' theirs. I am genuinely interested why people like them in the city.

I live in a city, DH drives a 4x4, its used for everything that others use their car for, shopping etc, it is also used as a works vehicle, where it is needed for accessing remote areas.

But why are they so dangerous for pedestrians anymore than big lorries, work cans etc etc...... Obviously if a pedestrian cant see then they need to wait until they can???

I do think that some 4x4 drivers do not really know how to drive them and race around as if they are driving a little coupe or something. When I got mine

I would like tho suggest that a teen being almost mowed down trying to cross between two parked 4x4s has a lot more to do with the driver of the almost mowing car not driving at a safe speed in a built up area than the presence of 4x4s.
I would also like to suggest that the teen should not have been crossing between parked vehicles at all but should have gone to the nearest proper crossing. If you tried a stunt like that in the US you would be yelled at by a traffic officer and possibly issued with a citation and for good reason -- pedestrians popping out between parked vehicles run a very high risk of being struck and killed.

All longer cars whether 4x4 or not are going to take up more space than shorter cars. That has nothing to do with the 4x4 element.

Any car going at an unsafe speed is going to do damage to a pedestrian or object it runs into. A sedan doing 50 mph in a built up area is going to kill a child just as dead as a 4x4 is.

No car should be manouvering around anything on tight spots in the road. Wait until you have room and a clear view before passing.

I like the canary yellow idea, along with ppl who slag of 4x4s for no reason.

To the person talking about the teens between parked jeeps, really should they walk between any parked cars?

As for taking up more parking space we don't have an entitlement to extend over the white lines either! Do u hate all estate cars, vans, long length disability cars, lorries as well for this reason? Or just 4x4's!

Most people on here who have one have a particular reason it seems. Is there anyone who lives in a cramped city who has one for no other reason than they like them?

Personally, I prefer smaller cars as I live in city streets with hardly any parking and a cluster fuck on every corner and I would rather be as small as possible to sneak it into spaces.

I love little cars. I had a Sceicento and I loved it and everyone took the piss out of it but I didn't care.

I have mine in a city cos the rest of the year I live in the rural countryside.

Damn if I'm running two cars to please a 4x4 hater!

Rindercella thats a good idea, my mate has a Range Rover and I would shit myself if I had to drive it.

Im not a hater, just think if your in a city, be careful. Some of them are big buggers.

Yes, I was in Oman. Do I know you?

No one was saying that holidays just asking.

Love Dh's Nissan Xtrail - pretty small 4x4 as they go, more fuel efficient than his old car and we use it for towing (and getting a grip on muddy campsites - funnily enough, came in useful this week). What with regular flooding and poorly gritted roads in the winter round here, it's done really well. The NCAP ratings for both passengers and pedestrians were better than dh's old car too.

Was dubious before we got it (precisely because 4x4s have such a bad rep) but wouldn't swap it now.

Love mine. Just got it this year and would never go back. Space for everything, we can tow the boat and I can nose into gardens. A recent trip to Devon was made much more interesting by being able to see over the hedges. But, before flames start licking my ankles, we live 120 miles from the nearest city and are proper countryside here.