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.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

and whether a car/pedestrian/bicyclist/horse is hit by three-quarters of a ton or a ton and a third of metal moving at the same speed and angle of impact, I suspect.

You suspect wrong. The Kia Ceed for example scored much lower in NCAP AEB pedestrian safety tests than the Landrover Discover.

My school run (I walk) is infested with SUVs. The school is on 1 side of the road at the end of the block. Everyone has to cross this road because the pavement is (And all the access is from) this side. Cars park all down the pavement.

I am about 5'6. I can easily see or be seen over a 'normal' car. I cannot see over the plethora of 4x4s - I have to lean out between them to have any chance of seeing if the road is clear! No chance of seeing a child waiting between the cars either...

SUVs (and although the catchment is semi rural not one of the SUVs that park on that particular road is a working vehicle like a Disco) make my 4 minute walk to school less safe - and are probably the reason that some of the other mums down my road drive their kids to school!

We used to have a 4x4 to tow our caravan, the caravan was sold a few years ago and the car was wrote off not long after (lorry lost its load and crushed it)
Now we have a tiny hatchback. So simple, parks anywhere and best of all we are completely invisible.
I don't need nor want people to think we have money, I value my low profile and love being under the radar.
Most of the 4x4/suv brigade are nowt but 10bobs - everyone knows that these days!

It occurred to me a few years back that the vast majority of cars actually standstill for 23hrs a day!

Made us look at them in a completely different perspective.

Each to their own.

@contendedsoul

I value my low profile and love being under the radar.
Gosh. Are you famous?

I agree OP. I am sure some people do use them for the kind of thing they were intended for but still more people just see them as status symbols, especially white ones, which are really not my cup of tea.

Late to the thread and haven't read it all. (I can probably have a good guess on the two main camps though).

I'm not a fan of SUVs and no idea why anyone would need/want one if they don't live very rurally. People can say what they like, where I live they're a status symbol and that's about it. Most people absolutely don't need one, they just want one because they want to keep up with the Jones's. They're not interested in any environmental impact or 'nonsense' like that. Got to look the part ya know ...

I’m with you, unless you live somewhere rural and have a practical need for a big car like that it is just a status symbol. SUV drivers feel safer because they sit high up and are bigger than other cars but in an accident you are actually more likely to get injured in them because of their weight.

We live in a city with lots of SUVs doing the school run - they park everywhere, haphazardly as there just isn’t the room for them on our narrow streets and in the narrow parking spaces.

I am with you OP. I live in a very rural area so i can understand the need for them. Townies who only ever use them for the school run seem to have them as a status symbol to feel important and then they can pretend they are WAGS or Kartrashians. What does make me howl is the owners who cant drive the ruddy things, most have no idea how wide there car is and sit waiting to get through a gap when you could have driven a bus through it and had room to spare. My SIL has a huge bulky car but the inside is so tiny and tight, i think there are more cup holders than seats. It is all for show

I hate bmw and Audi drivers. I can’t comment more on here.

@Ghostpost you hate all of them? 😂 I have neither btw.

Now I know 4x4s are doing such sterling work driving 7 netball players to matches whenever I see them, I'll withdraw my objections

@Shmithecat2

No, I'm not rich or famous
But it seems an awful lot of people would like to give the impression they are Rich.
For the record we have zero debt, a huge portion of our combined income is surplus every month - we both work full time.
We live a frugal life enjoying time to do as we wish
By comparison neighbours on our road view us as paupers - lol
They have huge marque cars, massive mortgages and latest phones on contract, etc etc - all for show yet they don't have a pot to piss in, everything is either owned by the bank or financed (this they've told us)
I don't understand why people want to get into so much debt just to portray an image.

That's why I made the comment I love being invisible. I can just be myself.... A contented soul

I have no desire to line someone else's pocket, they certainly won't line mine!!

A car recently crashed into the back of our car with my kids in the back. Thankfully we’re all fine. I don’t drive a SUV but it made me think maybe I should.
This probably sounds really stupid so apologies in advance but in an accident are you safer being a bit higher up than other cars? I don’t know about dimensions or anything but the SUV’s seem higher up?
Regardless no matter what car I get in the future I’m going to make sure it has a tow bar

Can I ask why a towbar?

A towbar is bolted to the chassis and is 100% rigid a rear shunt would twist the chassis and deliver the full kinetic force to those sitting in the car - hence why cars have crumple zones to absorb the impact.

A Land Rover. 90 and Mondeo estate were in collision outside my place of work last week the model was crumpled but the driver was walking around. The Land Rover wheel had sheeted off and gone under the car, the driver took the force of the steering wheel and suffered damage to her wrist and arm (airbag had not deployed)

Smaller 4x4s are becoming interesting. Mini hybrid. New jimny. Good old fiat ‘panda’. Lots of the benefits (high driving position included) plus many now hybrid or electric with better range and spec generally.
I use small old 4x4 for deeply rutted gale lashed moor tracks around somewhere I frequent and have to drive on to get there. Absolutely no need for the vast majority of them I’d guess.

My dad owns a 4x4, why did he buy it? Because he bloody wanted to. He prefers being higher up- it helps with my mums travel sickness. And he prefers the way they drive

Why does someone have to justify the reason they bought a car? Maybe they just wanted that god damn car. Leave them alone.

Oh, and OP nobody cares that "you can afford whatever you want" get off your pretentious horse and stop judging people

Regardless no matter what car I get in the future I’m going to make sure it has a tow bar

Why? All it will do is shred the front of any car hitting you from behind.

Some people on this thread are seriously lacking in basic physics knowledge.

@contentedsoul well, glad you're not referring to me then, as I'm not in debt, have no mortgage, and own my 13yo car outright. Phew!

@Kathyskonfessions

My nephew, in a 206, had a collision with a Ford Kuga. The driver of the Kuga emerged unharmed. My nephew died at the scene.

OP I agree that the growing trend for these vehicles is worrying, particularly as we are a small, country with limited space and old, congested towns and narrow roads to contend with.

The 'safety' aspect grates hugely First off, those who study the psychology of safe driving report that the safer one feels in their car, the less safely they are likely to drive.They don't make you safer, they make everyone else less safe, and in particular cyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrian deaths in the US have risen due to SUVs. Some European cities are calling for SUVs to be banned in city centres. The SUV is the bully of the road. I agree people should have to pass an additional driving test to drive vehicles over a certain height and weight.

It is the mismatch of weight and higher bumper position (your SUV mounts the bonnet of a smaller car and bypasses the crumple zone and mows straight into the chest/head of an occupant in a regular car) that means SUV occupants will survive a crash and regular-sized car occupants more likely to die. It doesn't make you safer from collisions with equal sized or bigger vehicles. In fact, an SUV colliding with an SUV the occupants of both cars are more likely to die Vs a regular car crashing into a regular car where all occupants are more likely to live. If people keep buying bigger cars to feel safe from the bully, then everyone has to buy a bigger car and so on and so on.The more SUVs on the road, the less safe everyone is. I'd like to see how you feel about SUVs and your opinion on safety when your precious first born is about to turn 17 and you're sending them out onto the roads in a hatchback to learn to drive.

I also had the perilous school run walking to and from my DD's primary school. Parents from another school with a 15 minute later home time would pull up to park at the side of the road or on the pavement in such a rush they'd not notice the pedestrians and didn't seem to be aware of how much the other side of their huge car swung over the pavement as they parked. I couldn't let my DD walk home alone in Year 6 because of it.

I live in a small city and most people I know who have bought them have two children beyond car seat age, work locally, have all their family live locally and only leave the city a few times a year to go on holiday.

I accept that some people genuinely require a proper large 4X4 SUV for their job or if they live with inhospitable terrain. People citing dog ownership, teenage kids, carrying bikes, camping, 3 x car seats, large boot space, a need for 4 wheel drive for 1 week of snow and even a genuine need for a higher upright driving position can find their needs served by cars that are not SUVs - just as people have been able to for years before. Many of us have those same needs but we weigh up our desire for convenience over how our decisions inconvenience everyone else.

Sadly I just see the trend growing because most people don't think about the impact of their purchases on others - they see what everyone else in the street drives and are influenced by that even if subconsciously. I notice a growing trend in retired people buying these vehicles which is worrying. Once they're used to the higher driving position, they're not going to give that up, so we'll likely have loads of 80+ year olds driving these around in a decade.

Going off road to retrieve gliders, loads of logs in the back, great when the roads aren't gritted...not in the UK, but that is why we had one. I would consider another as we move back to UK soon, and can't get out if the village if it's icy, as the gritters don't always come, and we have to go up a hill to get out, whichever way you go.

@allthethings

In fact, an SUV colliding with an SUV the occupants of both cars are more likely to die Vs a regular car crashing into a regular car where all occupants are more likely to live

Interesting. Source?

Also @allthethings -
People citing dog ownership, teenage kids, carrying bikes, camping, 3 x car seats, large boot space,...

Not sure if you've RTFT. I need a large boot. Haven't found a vehicle smaller than my 4x4 that has the equivalent bootspace - 1192l with the second row in use to be precise. Any suggestions?

Shmithecat2 I don't know you so I don't have any way of knowing what it is you need to regularly load into the back of your car. Usually debates on forums involve people speaking in general terms. I am not addressing you specifically.

YABU
You don’t have to ‘understand’ why other people do things they do, choose cars they do or generally how they live their lives as it is none of your business.