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.

Oh and I don’t imagine anyone is jealous of our massive car for one minute. With the luxury of choice I’m not sure why anyone would have one!

I drive a large saloon but am competent at parking it
I don’t think it’s just big 4WD type vehicles I see people out and about every day who have no idea about the size of their vehicles, how to park, reverse, do a 3 point turn etc
Parking sensors and cameras are over cautious and can make drivers lazy

I live and drive in an older American suburb that was built in the days of horses and carts.. The streets are quite narrow as a result. I drive a 4x4 that seats 8 because I had 5 DCs plus their gear and friends/ teammates to schlep around and though they are all much older now with most of them moved out and on, and the car has 120 miles to its credit, I haven't replaced it because it's going strong.

When I venture out on the highway or into the nearby city the 4x4 handles well, and its high clearance makes it great for driving in snow. There are two driving seasons here, winter and roadwork.

I really didn't want to get our 4x4 when we replaced our 'big' car so we test drove various estates, suvs and 4x4s and looked at what we needed to get in it and found out that really the LR was worked and drove best for our family requirements.
Bikes/no's of kids/rural location/site work and good driving position for 4'11 me and 6' DH
The higher driving position of a 4x4 is also better for driving with arthritis in the hips, some cars the seating position is just too low, our choice of cars was mainly limited by finding a good automatic (I can no longer use a clutch thanks to those dodgy hips) and that really made a difference on big cars. Some large automatics were really not great to drive.
I can park mine and also know how big a gap it can squeeze through (helps in my village so you can squeeze past the tractors or you'll be waiting all day)
To be fair day to day I drive a small PHEV car as it's better in town

Many of these narky posts are from people who simply cannot justify having one so get defensive. Many of whom I suggest may be eco warriors - a bit like the XR protestors.

Say what?

As an active member of Extinction Rebellion, I can assure you that not many of us own SUVs! I've certainly never seen anybody with one. clapped out smoky vans are another matter

@BogglesGoggles I drive a 1.2 polo, no issues. Country roads to the stables plus a fair bit of motorway driving. It cruises happily at 70-80
I'm 35 and have never had a car over 1.2l engine and it's never caused an issue
I actually miss my fiat uno as it was awesome in snow! But I learnt to drive in a part of Lancashire which has horrific snow/winters so I'm used to a small engine car and how it drives
Sometimes I take a car from work which will be a jag or LR, and it makes no difference really except it's nicer inside and outside

FYI the Skoda Octavia is 4.667m long, our LR is 4.597m so fits in a space slightly better
It also has 7seats so when I need it I can get everyone in properly.

British roads are terrible. You basically need an 4 wheel drive if you ever leave the centre of town. If you have car seats then that also rules out a lot of cars sold in Britain because a normal sized adult simply wouldn’t fit. I’ve had done great little hatch back things which are great in town but they can’t hack motorways or country driving*

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on MN! How on earth have I managed to live in the countryside and drive many many miles up and down the M1 every two or three weeks to visit my mum 100 miles away and my MIL 150 miles away, in only a Nissan Micra and then a Citroen C3 Picasso?
My driving lifestyle is clearly impossible according to this!
Good grief.

@wonkylegs

What's the width of the LR?

I'm willing to bet my car on the fact your LR is wider...and it was width that was the problem in the original example

My reason for wishing there were fewer huge, tall vehicles on the roads on which I also drive is simple.

Many, maybe all but I haven't gone round measuring, have their headlights positioned high enough to shine straight in through an ordinary car even when they are dipped, and they do; this means I am dazzled and blinded by them when they come up behind me in the dark, and (sorry about this, I know it's a pain) in order to drive safely and within my own vision's braking distance, I have to slow down. That delays all of us: me, the big car, and everyone behind them too.

It's also horrible when they come towards me and blind me. That's made worse when they have the extremely powerful (xenon?) bulbs which are vastly brighter than headlights all used to be.

I can perfectly understand why people get them: more than three children, back pain, and the god-awful state the roads have been allowed to get into are all reasons, not excuses. But I can also see why many people might not like there being more and more of them on the road, because (country road experience here) if you meet one, one of you is going to have to give way, and it is going to be the smaller car. (Unless the driver is like me when I meet the fourth or fifth in less than a mile and am clearly expected to get out of their way yet again; I sit back and wait for them to work out some way to deal with it, and if verbally attacked claim to have a frozen shoulder which makes reversing very difficult and painful, so sorry, can't they get back to the - perfectly good, large enough - passing-place thirty yards straight behind them rather than my having to reverse up a small hill and round two blind corners?) And that makes the driver of the smaller car feel that they are being turned into a second-class citizen: does anyone really enjoy that feeling?

Many of these narky posts are from people who simply cannot justify having one so get defensive. Many of whom I suggest may be eco warriors - a bit like the XR protestors.

Not an eco warrior here, unless you count things like being reasonably conscientious about recycling and saving on unnecessary use of electricity. I simply have no need or wish for a 4x4, and I suspect if someone gave one to me I would simply sell it at the earliest opportunity rather than use it.

@crackofdoom
"I think part of the problem is a lack of other vehicles that fulfil the criteria that PPs have mentioned- multiple seats, fit a lot in, can tow etc."
Excellent point.

Also, we just went on holiday to Cornwall where it was absolutely heaving with giant cars which were completely impractical for the narrow roads - not just the country lanes but also in the towns and villages where the problem was compounded by huge cars parked on the tiny streets.

I am not disputing the rural 4x4s - I grew up in a valley frequently cut off by snow or floods. Whenever I visit, my dad gives me the latest digest on active potholes (actually, the locals have developed their own website for reporting them).

However, the absolute stalwart car of the hamlet my parents live in is a dinky old Fiat Panda 4x4.

Also, it has to be said that I fare a lot better in my Toyota Yaris on some rough parts of the road, because it's so much smaller that I can take entirely different courses through the maze of potholes. Not to mention squeezing in to let everyone else's monster trucks through the narrowest parts.

I love my Sportage , I think it's cool and has loads of room for the kids 🤷‍♀️... I hate normal estate cars and would never have one .. my next car will probably be a hatchback though as dd will be driving .

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Amen to every word in this!!

Boggles unless the interest you pay over the 5-6 years you have a car is going to amount to 10k, you are probably better off financing your car. The minute you drive it out of the dealer's lot you are losing that much in value if you pay cash.

@thecatsthecats

Exactly - smaller cars, narrower tyres, tend to be much better in rougher conditions.

When I was in rural Italy years ago you'd see loads of the little Panda 4x4s, fascinating things are they're like mountain goats in terms of how they traverse rough terrain.

@gubbsywubbsy

Could I ask please what you "hate" about estates?

I expect it's because they're not "cool"

I have a 4x4 pickup, I use it for carrying around stock and wares for my business...it isn't any wider than a standard car but obviously much longer, I park it sensibly in spaces that it fits into

They are just more practical.

You can fit more people in them. Older people can get in/out more easily. child seats are eadier to deal with because the car is higher. You can fit more in if you need to lug a chest of drawers around/pack your skis/go on a camping trip/ mountain biking etc..

They have a brilliant high viewing range. If youre in a normal car surrounded by SUVs you cant see a thing.

They cope with the dreadful potholled roads and snow and ice. I live rurally and travel to Scotland/the lake district etc. several times a year and its reassuring to know that i wont get stuck anywhere.

I do agree though that our car parks need to change to accommodate them. Trying to park on Waitrose’s multi-story car park in Wilmslow is a nightmare due to the tight bends and tiny spaces.

I like being high up so I can see what’s going on. The car is also a dream to drive and so comfortable for driver and passengers. (Hyundai Tucson)

I'd like to add the super wide luxury cars to the list. Actually I think they're worse. At least with 4x4s there are some drivers who actually need the features of those vehicles for practical reasons whereas the enormous very wide saloon type cars are completely unnecessary.

The parking issue is becoming a bigger problem all the time. Quite often now there will be a large vehicle parked in space 1, empty space 2, large vehicle in space 3. If you've got a small car and can fit into space 2 you're highly unlikely to be able to open the door to get out without making contact with the neighbouring car. Luckily my car is a little old scrappy thing so I don't have any misgivings about the door having to rest on the car next door but I imagine the owners of the big expensive vehicles don't like it.

At nursery there is very often a big 4x4 parked across two spaces. They could fit in one space but that particular driver must just be a selfish twat and would probably still be a selfish twat if they were driving a different car.

I hate them for the simple reason the headlights are too high up and blinding to those of us in normal cars, especially as I live in a hilly city so if they're stopped at the lights on the brow of a hill and I'm driving in the opposite direction I am completely blinded, but that goes for a lot of new cars with ridiculously bright headlights not looking forward to winter driving.

Tonnerre Come to trendy Brighton