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

But those saying city dwellers don't need cars should venture outside of London, despite being a city of 200k people the last bus to my house goes at 7pm!

despite being a city of 200k people the last bus to my house goes at 7pm!

Surely a city of 200k is quite small in area?

I have a really boring 10yo XC90. It's big and high and I live in the City. It's defo not a status symbol (it's scratched to shit these days after too many run ins with teeny Devon roads). I love it. It fits 3 proper Stage 1/2/3 Britax car seats. I can park it in tiny London car parks and terraced streets without being a dick. I will have to get rid of it when they extend the ULEZ which is annoying as otherwise I wold literally run it into the ground (I don't disagree with the principle behind the ULEX, just sad it affects my vehicle). We don't use it much but use it heavily when we do; take 5 bikes to NT places or eg Richmond Park, drive to Dorset/Devon/Cornwall with 3 kids for a week.

I really need two cars! One tiny Polo for day to day stuff and then a huge car for the big trips. Which would be way worse for the environment. Roll on Driverless Cars and then I can hire the one I need when I need it.

I have a cousin, she has always been the snobbery queen. Thinks she is better than everyone and obviously has more money than all the family who she sees as shit on her shoe.
Tells my grandma (86 and blind) to take her shoes off outside her door as does she know how much carpets cost etc.

I made the mistake of pulling up outside of granny house recently having forgotten she was visiting that day.

Obviously I remembered when I saw her brand spanker range rover parked outside complete with personalised reg plate. Also known as a twat tag.
Honestly I laughed out loud at how I'd never given any thought to what she drives but instantly knew that would be her.

Not nearly as much as I laughed when it wouldn't start and she had to stay at grannys overnight, with the car parked outside on the roadside on a council estate that she appears to think is akin to living in some kind of slum.

@stucknoue nonsense. I had a ford galaxy from new and kept it for 3 years but it used much more petrol the two large Mercedes 4 x 4 's I've had since.
Plus it didn't meet the needs of my disabled son or myself at all.
I have a brain stem injury amongst other little things.
That galaxy was an Absolute horror to park too , shitty visibility and constantly had faults.
Even the tiny Kia Picanto we had for my husband was a gas guzzler.
I chose my car for the needs of my family, reliability and the wonderful and safe adaptions / additions Mercedes could provide for me.
Couldn't find another dealer that could provide the same help.
You shouldn't be so judgmental.
Also no finance or lease / mobility.
Not a status symbol I've got myself into debt for but my lifeline.

Is this SUV thing new MN chicken?
"You don't need to buy 2. I can feed 36 people and 2 cats from 1 chicken! You need to learn to make the most🙄"

"You don't NEED SUV. I have my old Fiat 127 and managed to drive up white cliffs of Dover with no problem! You need to learn to drive properly🙄"

😂 Sorry.

Also. Can I have an SUV if i have no kids? Like an emission credit thing. Still would make less😁

Apologies if I’ve missed this already but which SUVs are you talking about? I get really confused on these threads as the term SUV covers such a wide range of vehicles. There’s a huge difference between a big Range Rover and, for example, a Nissan Qashqai. Lots of qashqais, Kia Sportages etc have small engines and are only a couple of centimetres wider than a standard car.

Yes my Skoda Karoq has a 1.0l engine in 😁

I do dislike how they block the view from my little car when I’m at intersections and how they take up a lot of space in parking lots. What I really don’t understand is why people buy new cars ever few years. My car is 17 years old and the previous one was 30. It’s not necessary to buy a new car every few years.

We just bought a new one, mind your own business.

For all of those narrow-minded haters....

Some of us physically cannot get into or out of a lower vehicle.

Hope this helps!!!

Abso-bloody-lutely op!! I live in a narrow street in an "affluent" part of South West London. Our street is literally littered with SUVs. The people driving them have terrible trouble getting out of our road and parking them. I feel sure that they are responsible for various scratches and scrapes I have found on my parked car. They are just ridiculous in our area, and there is definitely no other reason for having them other than the fact they are bigger than everyone else's cars and make the driver feel superior.

Bore off!! I’ll drive what the hell I want.

Apologies if I’ve missed this already but which SUVs are you talking about? I get really confused on these threads as the term SUV covers such a wide range of vehicles.

I had a Sportage and it was classed as an "Estate car" on the V5 registration document.

I have bought a new car every three years since I learnt to drive a long time ago.
Issues such as warranty etc partly and just because I want too.
If people didn't buy new then no older second hand cars would be available for people to buy.

A 7 seater people carrier is fine for families who need the space and uses less petrol than a 4x4

Still bigger the most 4x4’s and hard to see round at junctions. As are tractors, ambulances, fire engines, lorries delivering our food, school buses, regular buses, more lorries. I’m surprised people get so frothed at 4x4’s when there are so many bigger vehicles on the road. Oh wait....

In the big scheme of it surely 4x4's aren't the worst thing in the world.

I drive one. It pulls the horse box, it gets me in and out of the farm when the snow/ice/mud is heavy and it's never let me down. DH's executive saloon nonsense is a load of old shite in the snow. I'll give it up when the DC stop chucking bags filled with rugby boots/balls/cricket bats/nonsense into the giant boot. Anyone with sporty teen boys who drives a teeny weeny matchbox car deserves a medal; it must be like playing tetris with humans.

it's all gone a bit vegans vs raw steak lovers now!

I’m surprised people get so frothed at 4x4’s when there are so many bigger vehicles on the road. Oh wait....

Well 4x4s are driven by women. So their journeys couldn't be as important as all the fucking awful male van drivers around, the worst drivers in the world.

YANBU. So many people clamouring to justify themselves. Hilarious.

Obviously reducing emissions is something "other people" should do. Maybe the poor people or those on benefits.

Shearwater - the vans journeys are generally business related

Stuknoue - if you live in such a small city perhaps you could cycle

@shearwater

This is such a "whatabout" argument...

Would you like your food delivered to the supermarket, your parcels to the door etc? Of course - so we need those larger vehicles on the road - as far as I'm concerned those are journeys that are hard to factor out.

Can those vehicles be greener? Indeed, and I'm curious and hopeful to see more petrol, hybrid and electric vans in towns and cities.

However to say "why are we female SUV drivers getting picked on when there's loads of vans and lorries driven by males on the road"... I just can't get with this argument because no one is picking on women here. It's about whether it's sensible for our environment to have everyone who drives privately and has choice, then choose a massive vehicle that emits particulates and noxious gases.

We have a choice, the van drivers often don't have a choice and it's their job.

@MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig

Your argument would be fine if the only complaint against SUVs was size.

It isn't, however.

The complaint against SUVs in the OP's original link and post, was about the fact that they use more fuel, emit more noxious gases, and because more of them are diesel than any other segment of car, then they emit a lot of nasty particulates that fill kid's lungs outside schools etc.

These are just facts. They're not disputable, its the simple truth about the vehicle class.

Now yes, we need our lorries and vans to be better also. Those however are making often essential journeys to deliver foodstuffs, medical supplies, plumbing, electrical etc. The Government and councils can tighten up emissions regs and force them into better vans, and I'm sure they will do that.

However when it comes to private vehicles, a person can order a new 3 litre diesel SUV, emitting tons of particulates and noxious gas, and drive that around as they please - when a 1.5 litre petrol estate or hybrid SUV could easily do the same job (unless you are towing in which case fair enough).

It's a matter of choice, and some of the SUV crowd on here seem to be pointing over to size or commercial vehicles as a "we're not the problem" argument.

No this is about emissions. I live in a town and I would never, ever choose a diesel SUV - the particulates harming my lungs, my children, other kids... it beggars belief. There's just no need for one.

The cost of producing SUVs is also far more impactful on the environment. The manufacture of a Ford Mondeo produces 17 tonnes of CO2e whereas a Land Rover Discovery is 35 tonnes, equivalent to 6 years of household gas and electricity consumption.