To not understand the obsession with SUVs/4x4s?

[GinDaddy]

I'm genuinely curious to hear people's views below. Nearly every parent I know in my area has a 4x4 car of some sort. That's dozens of folk. The car parks at our local supermarket are covered in the things.

My AIBU is to ask, what is the obsession with these things? Why are they the "default" choice for parents now, considering so many folk can't park them properly, and our roads aren't set up for them?

I watched in amused horror yesterday as a lady with a Vauxhall Grandland X (yep...me neither) tried to park head-first in a bay in our local supermarket. The width of the thing was the issue, but once "parked", the rear of the car was practically touching the front of the neighbouring vehicle.

It was just absurd. Why is this car any better than an Astra estate, or in the same price category, a Skoda Octavia estate, both of which are narrower and better on fuel, and the Skoda which has extraordinary amounts of luggage capacity and legroom?

I think the answer is simple, it's an image thing. People feel their life is more exciting with DCs if they're in something that looks like it could climb a mountain at the weekend.

Only problem is, my DW and I find public car parks absurd at the moment as I find more and more of these hideous things parked terribly at every juncture.

The beauty of living in a capitalist economy is the prerogative of choice, helped by dollops of PCP finance handed out by every car dealer, meaning anyone can get into a boxy car on stilts.

But for goodness sake can people learn how to drive and park these things if they're going to be bought by everyone? Driving down streets with parked cars on either side is a game of "my car is bigger than yours, so move over", which is just embarrassing.

NOTE: I have no issues with envy here; we have a 6-year old estate car from a well known Bavarian marque with a three letter acronym. I don't ride 2mm off people's bumpers, and it serves our family's needs well.

Strange thread.

Cars are sold, people buy one they like, suits their needs, is in budget. It's not really an obsession.

Although I do get that towing a horsebox takes you out of the thoughtless vanity owner class

By and large i hate them. Crap form and function. Massive on the outside and not that big inside and woeful off road unless equipped with skinny off road tyres.
People i know who need large 4x4 use pick ups, or defenders if less space needed

For sure there are those who so genuinely need them, but they tend not to spend £80k on one. In London they are just driven by twats with a look at me look at my fashion accessory attitude.

I have also found that a small front wheel drive car with winter tyres is quite OK in the rural Gloucestershire winters. I do notice how many people round here with no sign of large dogs or a tow hitch seem to need a huge 4wd to go to Waitrose, where many of them seem to be incapable of parking them with ease. I would buy one if I had a horse trailer or lots of stuff to carry about but I cope quite well with camping stuff and two bicycles in my small Fiat.

@TrainspottingWelsh

We know that big diesel 4x4s are far more adept at towing horseboxes than any other class of car. I would be in the market for a LandCruiser, a Discovery, a pickup etc if these were my requirements also.

But my argument isn’t about that.

It’s about this new crop of heavily styled, overly wide car that’s being used solely or mainly in urban areas as family transport.

This is the hugely increasing car sector I’m talking about. Not the traditional classic 4x4 that has been in use on farms and such for decades

@blueoasisits not about overtaking. Almost any car can overtake a Ferrari in the slow lane. We often get over taken in my husband’s car because he doesn’t bombdiwn the motorway. It’s about whether you can drop down to 40 then back up to 70 in a split second in order to fit into a gap as you are coming down a slip road. If you can’t do that you either have to stop at the top of the slip road and wait for a larger gap (which often isn’t possible if you are on s busy route) or you have to rely on the drivers in the left hand lane to create and/or maintain a suitable gap for you (which they won’t always do, some people are arseholes). I’ve driven lots of engines and have driven lots of motorways. I know from experience that cars with less than 200 hp don’t accelerate quick enough and that the people who drive those cars make stupid manoeuvres like barging onto motorways or overtaking without matching the speed in the overtaking lane. It’s fine to drive one of those cars if you are careful and accept that some routes will be problematic for you but you can’t drive with a small engine on a motorway like you would normally. It’s not safe. I have seen so so many near misses on motorways. Every single time it has involved a slow car merging where there isn’t enough space for it (I can understand why they do it, the motorways are far too small to find that suitable gap at peak times but nonetheless no one wants to find themselves forced to undertake an emergency manoeuvre for one of these cars).

and whether they are always entirely necessary

Of course it's not always entirely necessary, just like your bmw isn't entirely necessary, or anything else you chose to spend money on because you like it. Ie new clothes and not second hand.

Ha so much envy on this thread it's an amusing read

I drive a 4x4. I love it, it's soooo comfortable, drives like a dream and looks great. It's powerful and fuel efficient.

I bought it outright from new with my own cash.

I can park it expertly, with my eyes closed.

I'm a very good driver, I don't tailgate

I live rurally, down a muddy track, I have to throw it into places where a lesser car would get stuck to let other overly cautious people pass me (often in BMWs), it can cope brilliantly with getting out of ditches, where I live gets icy, my DH's BMW cannot cope in the icy / snowy weather, my car however copes with all manner of conditions. I have horses and often offroad in deep mud, try doing that in a BMW

I need my car for all my horse stuff and my two dogs.

I feel safe from other crappy drivers. I would not drive a small car in today's road conditions, waaaay too vulnerable

It was amazing when I drove 6 of us plus luggage to Heathrow a few weeks ago. Again, try doing that in a BMW!

Yes, white 'Ranges' with body kit are an abomination but my gorgeous but practical 4x4 is fan bloody tastic, I will never drive another car.

How judgy you are!

I have an SUV. Nothing to do with status or whatever you think. Purely because it was more useful and functional for me at the time of purchase.

I was fed up (and in pain) from lugging a pushchair over and into the boot, I wanted a low load boot for ease.
I also find it had better access / door shape for putting dd rfing in the car.

YABU to be bothered by what cars people drive. Plenty of idiots out there who can't drive or park little cars too.

@MonChatEstMagnifique unfortunately they are for a lot of people. And then there are people for whom it forms part of a larger obsession. They have a new build house, wear joules head to toe, have a sausage dog/pug/lab, send their children to the local indi and they drive their evoke. There a literally hundreds of these people where I live and this kind of thing is ridiculously important to them. It puts you off getting any of those things yourself lest you be mistaken for one of them which is a shame because evokes are really comfortable.

Boggles - you're obsessed with this arbitrary 200bhp - what about power to weight ratio? Coaches have 500bhp or more and they're not zipping into small gaps. Smaller cars need smaller bhp to perform well - and a decent power weight ratio gives you better steering too.

If you live in the country and have a use for it, great. If you live in SE London on terraced streets it's completely ducking stupid.

Fucking. I have no issue with swearing...

I live in suburbia.

I have a Range Rover (the proper size one) because I like it.

I also have an SL because I like that too.

I garage the latter, the former lives on the drive. I can park both, in fact the RR is somewhat easier.

Personal Choice + available cash = decision made

**BossAssBitch

Ha so much envy on this thread it's an amusing read grin**

I repeat, Tiffany Jones wasn't laughing at your shoes because she envied you, no matter what mummy told you at the time, she was laughing at them because they were shit

I think they’re just a trend. I don’t know if my car is classed as an suv (Vauxhall mokka) but it fits a wheelchair in because it’s tall rather than long. I think estates are ugly but don’t mind if a lot of people drive them.

Well, if you saw me driving solo in nearest city you might wonder why I have a big SUV.

But what you wouldn't see is:

• I sometimes need 7 seats (once every few weeks)
• we live rurally on a pothole ridden twisty and icy road. Daily commute is often on awful roads
• we do long distances with lots of stuff and so the huge boot is useful
• we had our old car written off in an accident. It wasn't my fault. I had the kids in the car and it really scared me. I've bought one of the safest cars in the market. I have prioritised their safety.

@DameFanny the 200 is an absolute minimum because you simply aren’t going to get a car light enough to go fast on less than that. I have tried so so many of them that I know by now. I suppose it may make a difference if a car is very heavy but I’m not a fan of thereaply big four wheel drives so I can’t say I’ve ever tried any baringan evoke I drove once but didn’t go on the motorway so I can’t say that counts (do they even go that low?). My last car was a small hatch back with a 1.5 l engine, it was far too slow. The car I had before that was a massive estate with I think a 2L engine roughly. It was much much quicker despite being much bigger. I’ve never seen any cars that are going to have a less than 2L engine that can take on a busy motorway without causing issues for other drivers.

And "YABU to be bothered by what cars people drive. Plenty of idiots out there who can't drive or park little cars too."

THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT IS THAT SMALL CARS DRIVEN OR PARKED BADLY ARE LITERALLY A SMALLER PROBLEM THAN ENORMOUS CARS DRIVEN OR PARKED BADLY

And breathe...

Ha so much envy on this thread it's an amusing read
Standard MN: someone has an opinion that's different to mine therefore they must be jealous or envious or secretly wish they had my life

Or they could just have a different view.

I nearly got a 4x4 when I lived rurally. I think the number of them gathered around some decidedly suburban schools near me is ridiculous. It's a status symbol for some (just like designer bags, having the latest iPhone etc).
I'm not envious. I just happen to have an opinion on large vehicles designed to country terrain as a status symbol in suburban areas where they are (based on my experiences between more rural living and town living) disproportionately driven worse than countryside drivers.

@DameFanny

You only need one * to highlight

Good one though you really got me good

@Blueoasis what size is your engine though? Under 2L and you’ll be relying on other people to move out of your way when coming on etc. I do a lot of motorway driving, I’ve driven little cars myself. Less than 200 hp (usually around 2L) is just selfish.

Don't be ridiculous.

My car has a 1.4L and actually has pretty good acceleration. I can easily match the speed of the inside lane at the point I join the motorway. It trundles along very easily at 80mph and could go faster if I wanted to.

I do thousands of miles on the motorway in my small car every year.

People who park or drive SUVs like cunts would also be driving or parking their Fiesta like a cunt. It’s the person not the car determining their actions. Most of the SUVs I see parked near me in suburbia aren’t significantly wider than most estate cars so if you can’t open your door next to one it’s because the person is badly parked or the space is too narrow, not because it’s an SUV.

We have the Jaguar F-pace, we live rural, like the higher position, it's very comfortable on the long drives we do, plenty of room next to the car seat for 2 adults so great for days out. Due to living rural we also had a beast of a pushchair that to get in the old car we had to take the wheels off, not ideal.
While it's a sport model is mostly left in eco mode. Again bought the car outright after he saved for it.
After nearly being run off the road various times by lorries when in the smaller car, we decided on this when we had our daughter as wanted to be more visible and to be safer.
My husband is a very good driver, can park it very well and never expects smaller cars on narrow lanes to move out of his way, he will reverse if needed or go as far into the side as he can to make room, he doesn't think the car gives him 'right of way' on narrow roads.
Have nothing against any other car, stepdad loved his estate, dad has a huge range rover that he needs to tow his caravan, as and when i learn i will drive the Jaguar but will also get myself a small car for when my husband is away, i really like the Vauxhall Adam :-)

@BossAssBitch

I presume this is a parody? Otherwise surely you cannot be serious with this post.

BMW saloons, hatchbacks and estates come with the option of XDrive (four wheel drive). So we can drive in the snow and mud too!

If you want to take 6 or more people and luggage? There’s a BMW for that too: 2 Series Active Tourer for those who don’t need 4x4 dimensions or space, and the huge X5 has seven seats and four wheel drive.

I just don’t get your post... I’m really happy for you that you can do all those things.

But why poke at BMWs, a brand i have no shares in or vested interest in, just to badly prove your point?

BMW sells tons of SUVs that do all the things your car does.

So yeah... weird post there