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.

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

Oh the irony of using this as an argument in favour of SUVs

Boggles I had a Ford Ka, 1.2l for 16 years, with a child (we could fit a buggy (not an umbrella one), a travel cot, an Ikea highchair, baggage and food into it for a holiday) which has been up and down the country, motorways it has been known to get over 90 on the motorway and country lanes - even off road on occasion.

You are talking utter rubbish.

@GinDaddy they just look so dated .. granted some of the bmw 's are ok but I like my ride to be higher .. just personal taste because basically the Sportage is a high estate but I still much prefer it ..
🤷‍♀️

@INeedNewShoes

I agree re super wide luxury cars, but I can guarantee you they comprise of less than 5% of the total cars on the road here, whereas a recent report said SUVs now number over a third of cars in the UK and growing - it's the fastest rising car segment.

So the wide car next to you? More likely to be a SUV. It's the default family car of choice.

@Unburnished

"If youre in a normal car surrounded by SUVs you cant see a thing."

No irony here then...

I sometimes drive my parents 4x4 and when I’m out on the main roads it seems like the best place to be. I love the visibility.

However, English car parking spaces are not made for massive cars and I hated parking it.
There’s something about them that shouts anti social

I have a 4x4, live in the country, often take the dog to places with unmade roads and mud/lakes etc.
I also have cameras on every side of the car to help me park it and it's got a self parking option. It just ticks every box for me. My last car was a mini though

Everyone who has one has a reason or an excuse but based on nothing here is what I think.

2% of owners have one because they need it due to where they live. Back roads that might get muddy or high up so more snow etc in winter or they tow a lot etc.
13% of owners have one because they need the extra seats for taking their kids places.
15% of owners like the convenient high seated position giving them a better view of what's going on, it is safer and feels safer.
15% of owners like that it is easier to get children out of the back seats without bending down.
50% have them because they look flash and they want all the other Mums and Dads to think that they are doing awfully well for themselves. Image is everything don't ya know.
And the other 5%, well they don't know why they have it. They went in to buy a Nissan Micra but got upsold to a Nissan X-Trail. Never take the Credit Card car shopping!

We have a huge 4 x 4 truck. Rural, horses etc etc. I absolutely hate driving it and parking is a nightmare, so i cant understand why anyone would want a proper 4x4 in the town. Those silly Nissan quasqui things don't count, if you can't tow two big horses with it then its a fashion thing only.

Love my tiny citroen!

@gubbsywubbsy

That's a fair opinion, but proves my point that this is indeed a fashion thing.

LR Discovery Sport driver.. or the baby Land rover. I do feel slightly ridiculous popping to the supermarket or taking the kids to school in it

Less ridiculous while camping, skiing, Scout activities etc.

Or other vehicle is a motorbike... Which is a lot more unsuitable for the school run.

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

Jersey is the same. The most practical car for the Jersey roads is a Smart car (maybe a Honda Jazz). But nothing larger yet so many people have massive ones. And the roads are pretty decent, not potholed like they are in certain parts of the UK.

Oh yeah .. I'm happy to admit it's a fashion thing... still love it though 😍😍

We are having to replace a car: a 4x4, only car we've ever owned which has been driven into so thoroughly it'll probably be written off. We'd be perfectly happy with a middling-sized estate with a large boot, but so many are so streamlined that the boot space is no longer big enough for the bloody dogs, never mind the trips to the tip, camping, DC to uni. So it'll probably be another SUV and since I do sometimes go off road and regularly drive on unsurfaced tracks in all weathers (that's country life for you), a 4x4 makes sense.

But like many PP I don't get the SUV mania in urban areas. Or, in fact, in rural areas because our DC have learned to drive in a small knackered hatchback and have coped with potholes and whatever else (and the hatchback has also survived motorways...). Even though we have had massive cars, I'd be all in favour of larger and pricier parking spaces in car parks for the monsters.

And the other 5%, well they don't know why they have it. They went in to buy a Nissan Micra but got upsold to a Nissan X-Trail. Never take the Credit Card car shopping

That made me laugh. Like the time I went to the bike shop to buy ds a new cycle helmet because he'd lost his (don't ask me how, it never turned up), and came out with a new bike!

I will also add my son has special needs and sometimes needs a wheelchair and boot is massive but of course so is an estate .. still don't want one 🤔

Be fair, watching city folk drive try to drive their Chelsea tractors through the narrow lanes of North Norfolk in Summer is one of life's great pleasures! Generally they're not parked they're abandoned in car-parks

Also, we just went on holiday to Cornwall where it was absolutely heaving with giant cars which were completely impractical for the narrow roads

To be fair, if you live anywhere with tiny rural roads then a 4 x 4 is probably useful due to flooding and snow etc. Its the amount of tourists that never learnt to reverse thats the problem!

I now live in a semi rural area outside of London but with a Land Rover dealer in the village. Everyone seems to have one.

I love my sporty golf hatchback but I do every so often feel a tad envious of these big luxury cars.

There’s another part of me that doesn’t understand why everyone loves hem so much when they are so much worse for the environment.

Even the manufacturing emissions alone before someone has even driven it is way higher than any standard hatch back type car.

The weight of these big SUV’s mean they require far more power to move them and keep them moving and none are designed with aerodynamics being the number 1 priority either.

People seem to think that if their suv is a hybrid it makes them eco friendly.

It does not

I used to be very snotty about 4x4s (and still am a bit) but I guess some get them now as you can presumably get 3 car seats in the back of them, or 2 car seats and a third person, whereas carseats seem to render most standard 5-seater cars 4-seaters.

I'm still not a fan of them as there are many roads around here where their width creates problems.

For me a car is something you use to get from A to B and as long as it goes and looks reasonably OK I'm not bothered what it is, but I go get some people find their car is part of their identity like their job or home, so maybe image and having something like what everyone else has is more significant to them.

@gubbsywubbsy

Fair enough, it's a handsome looking car and at the end of the day, we work hard for our stuff etc and it might as well be something we enjoy!

I agree about the emissions. If i didn't have to have one to tow a horse trailer I wouldn't bother. I very much doubt a hybrid would be able to tow 3.5 tonnes.

@Trewser no hybrid currently can tow over 1500kgs.... one day 🤞

Live in Scotland, in the country at the top of a hill, on a road the council rarely snow plough never mind grit in the winter. We run a 4x4 for that reason, never mind having dogs, children and previously horses.

All the neighbours have similar cars. It's about where we live not style choice.

I'm perfectly capable of parking my car front end or rear first or parallel without inconveniencing anyone else. Can even park with a horse trailer attached.

Many people have good reasons for running this sort of a car and most can drive and park them just fine.

The width thing in general does start to grate on me when we're out driving in villages near

Our car is relatively narrow in this new order of things, and I don't mind it getting a bit scratched by hedges when we're out.

Yet clearly we must be telepathically communicating this, because so few people in these behemoths ever deigns to reverse even when we have the right of way!

It's become a bit of a silly game with DW and I to notice it as well. You'll encounter a situation where there's one of these large vehicles on a bridge, or a lane. The logical thing, considering we're half way down and they've just come on, is for them to reverse.

Are you kidding me? Of course not.

The gesticulating and huffing, it just saddens me because we're now in a "might means right" kind of situation. Or maybe the person is genuinely afraid of reversing such a large vehicle, which is more probably the case.

In any case, Britain's roads just aren't geared up for these vehicles - motorways perhaps, but not the B roads where I live, not the lanes where my parents live.

3 kids,we camp, it's safe, 2 spare seats in back for grand parents, can go visit family where they live in the sticks and not get stuck on icy unsalted roads like before. It's great.