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.

Many SUV styled cars are not actually 4x4s, so apart from height difference are not offering any benefit in snow / muddy tracks / very hilly or rural areas etc where you probably would need a decent 4x4 with larger engine.

I know some people do prefer the height advantage though and makes them feel safer on the road. Personally I drive an estate car, my sister has an SUV (mazda cx5) and the pool cars at work are mostly Nissan quashqais - both of these from my experience have far less boot space than our fairly boring estate. So if space was an issue for you, would recommend estate car or to look carefully at boot space in an SUV type car if you have (like me) plenty of use for boot e.g. a medium size dog and a pram!

I agree there are more around these days, but that's what the car manufacturers are making so of course they are the current popular choice. Company A sees Company B having great sales of SUVs so they will also design/sell them. But it's up to the individual, I'm not bothered by what someone else chooses for their vehicle, but do get concerned that some people may believe that the SUV 'style' (the ones that are not 4x4) are better for snow/ice as we get a lot where I live.

I have a Mitsubishi asx. There’s a few reasons I chose this even though it’s bigger

1. I work in healthcare and need to get to patients or work no matter what the weather

1. We live in a valley (very steep) I couldn’t afford a car with 4wd at the time and this has a large wheel size so I don’t need it

1. We use it for camping as we don’t own a trailer for towing

1. It’s classed as the most reliable used car behind a Yaris (it’s now 11 years old and other than its MOT I’ve never paid another penny for it, it’s never had an issue and my mechanic says even now it’s fine)

1. I like it’s handling and how it drives. I can also fit all the ridiculous things a child needs in it (when dd was born we lived in an apartment so the pram stayed in the car, now we’ve moved but her bike and scooter does to prevent lugging them around)

My husband bought the Mini Countryman 4wd and it’s nice but I much prefer the driving position in my car when we’re on the motorway as I feel a bit safer when passing really large vehicles

Rubyupbeat I thought only people appearing on MTV Cribs owned 4 cars.

I have been through this debacle recently. We live down an unmade up, rather bumpy lane and to date have been driving a battered old Renault estate, which could clear the bumps. New non- SUV cars are all so low - designed to look sporty I suppose, compared with old non-SUV cars. So we've had to buy a Peugeot 2008 which is apparently a 'crossover'. Small engine, economical, but will clear the bumps. Also similar width to the old estate. Come on car manufacturers - go back to the old designs!!

I have one, we go camping several times a year, it's the only size car we can fit all our stuff in

i like it’s handling and how it drives.

On paper the ASX should have worked for me. I hated the handling. It’s like driving a marshmallow.

We live in a valley (very steep) I couldn’t afford a car with 4wd at the time and this has a large wheel size so I don’t need it

You appear to have invented w new branch of physics.

Not particularly but I meant in reference to the mud baths and snow depth the valley turns into when driving. If the snow is a few inches deep the larger wheels really help and in fact I pass a huge amount of cars on my way home in winter which get abandoned

Thing is everyone - the larger your tyres, the more likely you are to skid in snow. A bicycle is safer in snow than a 2wd car with wide tyres.

“Thing is everyone - the larger your tyres, the more likely you are to skid in snow. A bicycle is safer in snow than a 2wd car with wide tyres.”

Nothing I have driven, except a tractor, has been as good in snow as my Fiat Punto was.

I am talking urban snow, including on hills, not off road / mountain snow. I have only driven on those sorts of roads (N Scandinavia) with snow chains.

I'm interested that so many people are saying they drive them for health reasons.

The most comfortable car I have ever been in is a Honda Jazz (my mum has one because it's the only car she likes the seats in, she has major back trouble). But of course it's boring and a granny car. It's a pity because it's really reliable, too. IMO Honda should rebrand it.

We don't have a proper 4x4, but have what they term a soft roader, so one of the newer style SUVs.

We live rurally, so it is not that out of place as it may be in a big inner city.

There are two big reasons we like it. The first is it is higher up, so you feel as though you get better visible. The second is it is really comfortable to travel in for long journeys as it is a higher seating position and easier to get in and out of (older family members are happier travelling in the car as they do not have to try to lower themselves down into a saloon car).

I drive a nice sized BMW but unfortunately like most modern cars the 5th seat is useless for anything other than being a cup holder. This means that when DC3 arrives I will be switching to a 7 seater. I do agree with you that their width is a pain in car parks but needs must. Also some people wouldn't be able to park regardless of whether they were in a micra or a Range Rover.

Must say i sit and have a good laugh at the people in tiny hatch backs that take multiple attempts to park them.

Bad driving is bad driving regardless of the size car you have.

Bad driving is considerably more dangerous the larger the car you have. Obviously. Hence my personal wish for there to be an advanced driving licence needed before you drive an SUV off the forecourt.

I have a good hoot watching the behemoth cars circling round the streets 5 times trying to find a space big enough for their essential-for-the-city monstermobile while I slot my hatchback neatly into the first space I see.

The thing is, for people with three children still in car seats there is very little choice.

Must say i sit and have a good laugh at the people in tiny hatch backs that take multiple attempts to park them.

I have to confess to watching someone have a couple of attempts at parking a Toyota Yaris at Aldi this morning and thinking of this thread with a wry smile. I'm not great at parking as I was never taught how to so I don't judge. I'm very good at bay parking my SMax though.

I used to drive a tiny 14 year old car that I loved. I then had a baby and struggled with space for the pram etc.

I got a bad back and so invested in a suv and a 360 car seat as the height and 360 feature made things so much easier for me. Also has the benefit of a large boot for the pram and other baby stuff.

It's not actually any bigger than my husbands estate car. It's just higher.

I mitigated the fuel consumption by getting a hybrid.

My DH last car was a 4 x 4 . We lived on zone 2 in London and apart from the occasional camping trip it was never tested off-road.

He bought it for no other reason than he wanted it!
He can park. He now has an estate car which is much longer and (IMO) harder to park and more unsociable in parking spaces because its bum sticks out!

Walking is better than a fucking Vauxhall. Cars built to a budget and bought by people.who have had one in the past and don't realise you can get much, much better cars.

We were in france last week in our 3008 and I said to DP our car felt massive there. Everyone was driving basic hatchbacks. I wonder why that is, their lifestyle isnt that different. It was brittany so weather isnt that different to ours.

I’m another that finds it amusing to watch someone do a 15 point manoeuvre in a tiny car, before promptly parking perfectly myself. Not quite as much as I enjoy watching what are usually middle aged men intently checking their many cameras and repositioning their luxury sedan or sports car numerous times while I wait for them to move before neatly parking a large horse box or trailer. Mainly because it’s these twats that feel compelled to start ‘helping’ with hand signals as soon as they see a female in a large vehicle with their reverse lights on.

Agree about vauxhalls. Ex-FIL always had them and kindly passed on an old one on to ex. Well it was lovely to have a car, but not until it conked out and we got a VW did I realise cars didn't have to be like that! Squeaky, ugly, shit brakes, handled like an old tin of sardines.

Some of the ‘reasons’ from SUV owners are 😂😂😂

I'm a crap parker, but an amazing reverser. Sometimes I give people the benefit of the doubt and watch them struggle, zig zagging, from hedge to hedge. When it becomes clear they are never going to manage that 10m reverse, I like to smartly reverse 50m into a space and then watch their face of thunder as they drive past. Happy days.

For most of these townies the 4x4 is pure vanity.

It's a free country. They're free to the car they want. But I've got better things to spend my money on.