Just stop buying new SUVs...

[Fridakahlofan]

Unless you REALLY need one. I live 1/4 mile down a muddy track and I do not have one.

In the Times today:
SUVs 'were responsible for all of the growth in oil demand, of 3.3 million barrels a day, from passenger cars between 2010 and 2018, with total fuel consumption from other types of car falling slightly'

Surely soon it will be shameful to own one!

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/soaring-demand-for-suvs-exacerbates-climate-crisis-kbpj5mpzg

It's already shameful to own one. Always has been. Owning/driving SUVs is antisocial. They use excessive amounts of fuel, don't fit in standard car-park spaces and block other drivers' view at junctions. A tiny proportion of the population have any need for the features of an SUV: they're generally just a display of aggression and sense of superiority.

It just screams of wannabee show-offs. Some people like the look, they don't care much about anything else. When even someone like Pippa Middleton (who couldn't be closer to the royal family without actually being part of it) loves to be in magazines and on tv, I doubt all these people will change anytime soon.

As least people who go on holiday often do it to enjoy themselves, the SUV is purely a status thing.

Totally agree. They are undoi g any good redpinsible electruc car owners are doing. I hope it does become shameful before its too late. Though I fear the climate change ship has sailed 😭😭😭

I have one and I can assure you it's not a status thing. It is 15 years old. It's a towing firewood and driving on forest roads and dirt tracks thing. And a driving through flooded roads and land slips thing.

Mine is 15 years old too, she's not pretty but she gets the job done! I have to have a 4 wheeler as I live up a steep hill that simply becomes completely impassable without one every winter (thanks Norway!). As soon as someone makes a 4x4 Electric with a battery that can go a decent distance at a decent cost I am going to be ALL OVER that!

In my case it’s not a status thing but a practical one, I have a large family - my own children and my Dad who is regularly with us and need a big car to transport everyone (or have to take two!). There are a limited number of seven seater cars on the market, the electric or hybrid ones are eye wateringly expensive.

My vehicle is ULEZ compliant, it does 50-60 mpg which isn’t awful and I use it as little as possible.

Most people are just trying to do their best when it comes to environmental impact, aren’t they?

I’m vegan and so are most of my immediate family, always buy second hand where possible, only fly once per year/every other, grow a big chunk of our own food.

It’s not as black and white or as easy to judge as your OP implies.

@Didntwanttochangemyname

It sounds as though your ownership of an SUV is justified. That isn’t true for the majority of people who have one.

I have one, its 2nd hand and 4 years old and our only car, we bought it because I have arthritis and found it difficult to get in and out of a regular car when I'm having a flare up.
The next car we buy will be electric or hybrid - depending on what's available (we're not buying a new one for a few years yet)

No I love our 4x4! We have a run around I occasionally drive and I hate it.

make you look a total prat on the school run or in a town. And don't tell me you've come from a muddy lane when the thing is so clean.

I buy older cars and am now in the car age bracket when it is becoming tricky to avoid these things. Not only are they ugly, they have poor visibility, guzzle fuel and are a bastard to maintain. Bring back normal cars - that's all most of us need.

Fuel efficiency and emission levels on a brand new SUV is better than the majority of existing vehicles on the road. In the next few years I would hope for more hybrid/electrical options too.

Government subsidising the cost of electric vehicles would be a much better use of energy than barracking SUV drivers. Lots of people want them but cost of entry is a barrier and the lack of infrastructure. Blaming consumers for climate change isn’t entirely unfair but it’s a massive distraction from what really needs to happen - mass policy change and government investment.

I use my SUV on the school run. It looks clean most of the time- because we wash it after its weekends in the mud.
Or should we have two cars, one for weekends one for during the week?

It’s not as black and white or as easy to judge as your OP implies.

it is actually. I guarantee you that most of the Range Rovers and Land Rovers in my neighbourhood are purely a status thing!

No one is denying that some people NEED them - but it would be like me driving a lorry. I don't have any need for it, other people obviously do!

I love how the thread is going to attract the people who think driving through a puddle in their drive justify an SUV

of course they have some utility, and many people need a 4x4. But pretending SUV are not mainly a status symbol for a lot of owner is not realistic, is it.

make you look a total prat on the school run

Even in a rural area? I don’t think any of my fellow parents who resorted to their 4x4 and trucks to get through the floods today looked like prats.

Nor will they look like prats for the next four months until the water recedes either.

Mind your own business. There’s nothing show off about a Nissan Qashqai or a Kia Sportage. They are practical vehicles and good for families.

I will definitely buy another one. You don’t like them, you don’t buy them, but stop telling other people what to do.

I have a range rover cuz I worked bloody hard and this was my dream car. We also live in the country side in Ireland and need a 4 wheel drive or else I would be stuck home during winter months.
My husband has a suv which is needed for his type of work.
Stop being so judgmental!

Just stop buying cars in general. If you live in a city you don't REALLY need a car. If you live in the countryside you can grow your own food so you don't really need one either.

You don’t like them, you don’t buy them, but stop telling other people what to do.

You like them, you stop taking up two spaces in car parks.

Only cunts have range rovers. I’m a cunt. Though I agree, they’re not the best at all, but some people NEED a SUV. I do!

There are several down my road (live in London nowhere near rural roads). Rarely have I seen more than 1/2 people in them at a time.

They struggle to manoeuvre them in our typically small London street. I do laugh. None of these people tow anything/drive anywhere that needs the extra power and lift. They just buy them to have one.

I don't begrudge anyone one who really needs one, but if you have no need and choose a car which damages the environment to greater extent than a normal size car (assuming you actually need a car at all, but that's another thread altogether), and is blooming anti-social, you are a dick.

Oh not this boring ass thread again

OP and the others on here bleating nonsense about 'status symbols' and 'showing off', tell me that you don't have any kids (the environmental toll of having even one child is enormous), never fly anywhere, never shop online (TERRIBLE for the environment), never use cosmetics, never drink coffee (TERRIBLE for the environment), eat meat, buy new jeans, etc etc etc and then judge.

I have a 4x4 because I live rurally, on narrow muddy lanes that are often impassable to other cards (my DH drives a sporty BMW and often gets stuck in the winter), in the recent storms I have sailed through deep water other cars could not cope with. I have two dogs, a horse and associated paraphernalia, I also tow a horsebox. I often off-road because I have to. I have a 7 seater which often means taking everyone in my car instead of taking 2 cars.

My car is pretty new and the emission levels are superior to most older cars on the road. I feel absolutely no shame in driving it and never will, I love my 4x4 and will always have one unless I move to a town and give up horses (unlikely).

Dh wants me to update to one. Due to disability I need height and a good bit of space. My dream car would be the bright blue V8 Range Rover. But it’s not happening. Far too gas guzzling.

I’m a bit on the fence about hybrids / battery operated cars due to increased production pollution, zero car battery recycling ie they’re just stockpiled right now and potential that the energy pollution to make the electricity may be as damaging as fuel.

These threads are always kind of weird because OP says "don't buy one unless you really need one" and then tons of people reply with length justifications of why they need one. Err.. if that's all true, then the OP isn't aimed at you, is it?? It's aimed at people who don't actually need one, and you just told us in great detail why you DO need one.