To not understand the appeal of 4x4s

[purplesquarepurple]

I live in a suburb with flat roads yet a huge percentage of cars driving about the area are 4x4s. Genuinely interested to know why people who live in areas like that drive cars like that. The negatives I can see are: more expensive, worse for the environment, much more likely to kill a pedestrian if you hit them (recent incident in Germany where a 4x4 killed 4 pedestrians), much more likely to kill driver/passengers in other cars in a collision, not actually safer for driver of 4x4 as more likely to roll in a collision, reduces visibility for other road users, takes up more space in bay parking spaces...and I'm sure there are lots more. I completely understand that they are necessary for certain people - if they live in a rural area or have lots of dogs for example - but that definitely isn't the case for most people in my areas. Just wondering, I suppose, what the positives are that outweigh all those negatives?

Not particularly 😄 - I don't think my carbon footprint is astronomical, and I'll continue to do what I can to reduce it. It's not an all or nothing thing.

Status and comfort in that order

I have one and I live in a central city suburb.

Loads of reasons - it’s a 7 seater, so it’s great being able to take extra kids. I have a giant dog. Handy for moving furniture / appliances without having to deal with a trailer.

We also have a boat on a trailer so need to tow that, so the AWD is essential.

Then in winter, we load up and drive a few hours to the mountain to ski. Nothing better than whizzing past all the 2WD cars in the chain bay as we don’t need them.

Finally, I’ll happily admit that I love the look of it and I see it as a status symbol. I had shitty tiny cars for years that I ran into the ground. I came into a bit of money, and used it to buy a car that looks great and serves our family well for our needs. I’ve had it for 3-4 years now, and expect I’ll not change it for another 5 at least. Way better things to spend my money on.

Where I live we get icy or snowy roads. At least awd is the only safe option in winter.

Always amuses me that not a single person will admit to owning one as a status symbol.

Ha! Mine is over ten years old, bought used for less than 5 grand. A status symbol it most certainly is not.

I have 3 kids and 2 dogs and need the boot space and option for 7 seats.
Not many non 4x4 cars provide this

Oh the weekly 4x4 bashing thread

So boring, dull and predictable

Your kids are worse for the environment than my lovely Land Rover

Another of these, eh.

purple, mine is about as safe as it gets in a crash for both pedestrians and those inside the car. It also looks great, is very comfortable, has plenty of room for what I need to to accommodate, has a lovely driving position and pollutant output wise, is no worse than most executive saloons and estates on the road.

Well, as I said in the other thread, the ultra low emission zone in London is extending so many people will soon be switching to electric cars. It’s a lot cheaper to lease a Range Rover Sport (hybrid car) than other electric cars such as a Tesla. There’s also a Jaguar I-Pace for a similar price to the Range Rover (DH is just telling me this now as I type ) but the space is the back is very restricted in comparison. We have a DD who is 6 ft 6 and another one who will be soon, so we need a spacious interior for their legs. Once they leave home it won’t matter.

For those that have said their 4x4 is just as safe/safer than other types of cars, you might want to have a read of this information from Brake - www.brake.org.uk/facts-resources/15-facts/475-4x4s-the-risks

I'm new to Mumsnet and didn't realise this was a regular topic so apologies to those who think it's been done to death.

I appreciate those who've taken the time to explain why they drive one. For me, as someone who lives in a suburb and does not drive off road, the advantages don't offset the disadvantages but I guess everyone weighs things up differently.

I’d rather have a new 4x4 on the road than 10-15 year old cars. They are far worse for the enviroment

purple, my crash safety info came from euroNCAP, thanks.

It has a pedestrian safety rating of 74%(adult occupant of 98%, child of 87%).

Compare that to a Golf (still a ‘5 star’ car) a lower hatchback, a car I chose at random, which has a pedestrian safety rating of 65

Latest Ford Focus. Another 5 star car. Another family hatchback. New model out very recently. Pedestrian/vulnerable road user rating of 72%. So close, but my death machine 4x4 is still safer in the event of an accident.

Want to go even smaller? How about a cute little Fiat 500? Well, I really wouldn’t. I’ve attached a screenshot of the NCAP stats for it. Pedestrians get a terrifying 53% and fgs, don’t ferry your’s or anyone else’s kids about in one.

My first bit of holding went awry. I meant that my 4x4 is one of the safest cars on the road for all road users. It has a 74% pedestrian safety rating awarded my EuroNCAP*.

Other drivers don’t pull so many aggressive and dangerous stunts around me when I drive ours (it’s not our only car so is used sparingly). When I drive a more ordinary car the instances of being cut up and bullied aside increase greatly.

I’d rather have a new 4x4 on the road than 10-15 year old cars. They are far worse for the environment
I have read some uninformed tripe on here but that takes the fucking biscuit.

I used to have a Land Rover Freelander, it was indestructible, I was in two fairly major accidents in the four years I had it, my car escaped with nothing more than a cracked headlight in one of the accidents & a scratch on the bumper in the other, the cars that hit me were both written off. At the time I had a toddler & needed room for a pram in the boot as well as the weekly shopping. We also had a caravan & my car was great at each end of the season for filling with bedding, television, clothes that we kept in the caravan, both me & my then husband were keen on fishing & with the seats folded down there was enough room to fit an air bed so we could night fish.

I’d rather have a new 4x4 on the road than 10-15 year old cars. They are far worse for the enviroment

Have you considered the overall impact on the environment every time a new car is manufactured? I'm not just referring to the assembly costs.

For most people it's a status symbol. Nobody needs a 4x4 in suburbia.

For others with dogs, who camp regularly, live rurally, do mountain biking/fell running, go out rurally regularly etc then they're really quite convenient.

I live semi rurally on a road that freezes amd iced badly and doesn't get gritted all the time. Most of my neighbours are like us - we put winter tyres on the car when it is winter. Better grips.

The farmers will clear the snow from the road with their tractors as the snow plough doesn't come down our road as they can't get back up again.

From what I've seen, it doesn't matter if you have a 4x4 if you can't drive it properly.

we put winter tyres on the car when it is winter. Better grips

Tried that, still not enough grips.

4x4 and winter rated tyres. Mucho grips.

@PhoneLock

What car did you try it on before you decided it wasn't enough "grips"?

My favourite comment from this thread was -

"My years of driving a 7 seater "mum bus" still make me shudder."

Ok....

Why does that in particular make you shudder?

I can take a simple guess at the one reason, which is image.

There are super comfortable and good driving "mum buses" (think Sharan, S Max etc) but this country obsesses about image and projected image

So depressing

Because mine is a really nice car. Nothing more and nothing less

@GinDaddy What car did you try it on before you decided it wasn't enough "grips"?

This one. It was very good, but we live in a hilly area and sometimes it struggled. That wasn't the main reason for swapping it for a 4x4 though. It really struggled towing off-road in mud and wet grass.

It's generally people who like to look down on the rest of us who just drive normal cars or pricks who like to show how much money they have.

Wow. Jealous much? Nice to know I’m branded a ‘prick’ because of the car I drive.