Convince me that having a larger car than you need is not selfish.

[Rooners]

Because I cannot think of a single reason why it's not. I'm talking about cars that are huge for the sake of it, not cars that carry wheelchairs, or loads of people, in a relatively compact and utilitarian manner.

But something that only has 4/5 seats yet is the size of a small tractor - and no, I don't think this is wrong if you live somewhere with poor terrain. But if you don't?

1. They take up more space when the last things we need on our crowded roads are unnecessarily supersized vehicles.

1. You can't see past them because they are often much higher than 'normal' cars - great for the person driving the thing, rubbish for everyone else

1. They tend to use a larger amount of fuel than a 'normal' car - which is, unarguably, utterly unfair given the fuel crisis the world is facing.

1. They don't fit into a normal parking space which causes untold problems in car parks.

1. They don't fit in a narrow road so cause hold ups as people try to pass each other.

So please convince me, if you can be bothered, that I ought not to be so cross when I am trying to use the roads and one of these massive tanks makes it difficult, dangerous or just really bloody awkward.

I am willing to listen. It's that or spontaneous combustion really.

In your opinion

Yes I suppose it is, Struggling. I thought on MN there would be a bigger quota of people bright enough to understand what those implications are, and why 'I want' isn't always best responded to by 'here you go then', and stuff the consequences for the rest of the world.

Or isn't that what we're teaching our children?

I drive a very small car and dislike giant vehicles being driven twattily. Perhaps large cars are not always driven by twats but you do tend to notice them more because they're so big. So one could end up thinking all 4x4 owners are twatty drivers purely because you notice their twattitude more than that of other drivers, IYSWIM.

I agree that very few people really need a massive vehicle, but they freely admit that it's just because they want one, which is inherently selfish, but also up to them.

If that made any sense.

Personally I completely struggle with that concept unless the person doing the lecturing is going to go the whole hog themselves and not have any children at all.
Then I would take notice.

Becuase just 1 child takes and uses up a whole heap of stuff in its lifetime.
Far outweighing the difference between a small car and a large one!

So would a Toyota Prius be a suitable vehicle for OP?

Oooh, oooh, I can play this game!

I have no children. I get the bus to work. I have a rescue dog and volunteer for the shelter we got him from. I rarely fly and never take exotic longhaul holidays.

Please may I have a car big enough for the dog Miss? I've done all my effical homework and everyfink.

How big's the Prius? Can't find any specs on Wiki.

The Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback.

Length: 3940 mm
Width: 1710 mm
Height: 1490 mm

Oops, scrub that. Should be:

Length: 4450 mm
Width: 1725 mm
Height: 1490 mm

I actually need my big car more than I need my iPad. So why does having the big car make me selfish but having the iPad not make me selfish?

My big car is very fuel efficient btw, and as i said earlier we don't suffer from heavy traffic, narrow roads or small parking spaces here.

I am genuinely interested.

yy it scores on height and width, but length is 40cm more than meriva.

That's pretty good. I told you the meriva was too big.

I need a Prius.

Wobbly, may I refer you to my thread title?

I could make do wish a slightly smaller car if I had to Rooners. I drive a 7 seater but have 5 kids. The space is useful but not completely essential.

It is more useful than my iPad but not completely essential.

3 kids sorry. 5 would kill me...

Your car holds 7 people. Many of these wanky cars only hold four, five - with loads of bulking out for the fun of it.

Your car is useful, and has a purpose relative to its size. I don't think that's a problem tbh.

So you like bikes Rooners, I take it you would only have say, a 125cc. It gets you from A to B etc or do you look at bigger bikes and think ' that's nice' I wouldn't mind that.

In this modern world, we have Ipads/Ipods, computers, mobile phones (which appear to HAVE to be upgraded every couple of months)microwaves, dishwashers, washing machines, fridges/freezers, vacuum cleaners, etc, etc, etc, ad infinitum. Is there actually a special police force who can tell us precisely what or what not we are allowed to have?
No? I thought not.

Rooners - are you sure you want a Prius?

Paul K. Piff, a researcher at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley, has conducted a study linking bad driving habits with wealth. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where the hybrid gas-and-electric-powered Toyota Prius is considered a status symbol among the environmentally conscious, the researchers classified it as a premium model. “In our higher-status vehicle category, Prius drivers had a higher tendency to commit infractions than most,” Piff said.

Also, don't Prius (make this a plural by whatever means necessary) have a greater environmental impact from dust to dust? The batteries are horrible things.

I don't think having a big car should be such as massive problem in terms of other users. A car being slightly longer and broader shouldn't make that much of a difference to your journey times by using up more road space, for instance. And they are no worse for visibility/overtaking issues than vans.

My 4x4 is more fuel efficient than some of the smaller cars on the road, BTW.

The last obstruction from another car I encountered was in the snow we had up here recently- a VW polo was trying (and failing) to go up the steep hill near our house. Eventually car starting sliding backwards, causing a hold up initially and then a hazard as it started to slip. My 4x4 (also use to pull horsebox) had no problems. So it works both ways.

And using your argument, many people should not be using cars at all as most could use public transport or walk (although would be less inconvenient). Those using a car should only do so if their car is full to capacity, or it is wasteful.

Nor would commuting be acceptable- uses up fuel, space on roads or public transport etc which would not be needed if we all moved and stopped commuting (although this would be economically impractical and near impossible in terms of housing availability). In fact, nobody but those who need to live in the country should do so, as it creates more traffic/fuel use than is strictly needed. All sounds very prescriptive to me.

Also, nobody "needs" foreign travel, so technically taking flights etc for holidays should "not be on" if applying your comments universally.

The list of things we do/own beyond our actual needs is endless. Are you going to be getting cross about all of these too? If so, you are going to spend most of your time irritated and cross.

Erm I wouldn't choose a vectra because they're shite and I don't like them. I wouldn't choose a meriva for the same reason.

In much the same way as other people often have things I don't like and wouldn't choose for myself - clothes, gadgets, cars, houses etc. It's all down to personal taste and priorities.

Your points on fuel usage are misguided at best, idiotic at worst though. Fuel consumption is affected by so many different things, first and foremost engine size and power. I have a large and powerful engine in a 2 seater. I have 2 friends, 1 drives a 3 series, the other an m3. Same size car. Different engines, different tyres, suspensions etc. Very different fuel consumptions.

I watched someone struggling to park a picanto for almost 10minutes just last week, and even after all the back and forth manoeuvring, still managed to park it halfway into the next space.

My car is very low, so I usually can't see much at all in front of the next vehicle, regardless of its size. I tend to find that dropping back a bit sorts that one out. Or maybe people shouldn't be so selfish as to have cars taller than mine and thus blocking my view?

Yes, I am generally speaking a very irritated and cross person

I refuse to use aeroplanes, totally. Partly out of fear, because I still don't believethey are really in the sky, I think it is a huge conspiracy. Nothing that big can fly for that long. Fall yes, fly no.

You can take it to extreme levels. Of course you can. But it is all relative. If these cars didn't get in my way, and cause parking issues, and use enormously more fuel than is really necessary, then no, I wouldn't mind them too much. I wouldn't think about them that much, but when you drive every single day then you do notice what other people drive and I suppose after a while you build a picture of what is causing the most issues, then you start a thread about it.

Mrs Bennet - well bikes are different in several ways. One, you need a fairly solid one to get out of trouble quickly and to hold the road. Size really does matter in this instance. 125s are flighty, little squiffy things that just wave about and haven't got any power. They aren't as safe.

And that doesn't mean the bigger the bike, the safer you are. Not in terms of size or petrol use.

It's a whole different scale really and not something it's quick to explain to a non bike person.

But safe to say I wouldn't want a 1300 hyabusa when a 500 would be perfectly adequate. That's as direct a comparison as I can make.

And bikes don't get in the way of cars, use less fuel in general, park in smaller spaces and rarely cause other road users to die in a head on collision.

'Or maybe people shouldn't be so selfish as to have cars taller than mine and thus blocking my view?'

Too right they shouldn't!

Also, you can't get much more than 40 out of a 125 so if you are travelling anywhere significant then it's useless.

Nearly all modern cars are happy-ish at the 70 speed limit.

My point was Rooners, you like bikes and have admitted you have no interest in cars. If you did, perhaps you would see them in a different way.
Just like ( for instance) non dog owners/lovers cannot see the attraction of owning a dog and give all the negative reasons associated with dogs, whereas dog owners/lovers can see past those for the joy they get.