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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not understand the obsession with 4x4s

449 replies

Midlandsmum42 · 26/01/2021 12:46

I really don't understand why there are so many 4x4s on the road in cities and the country, half of the parents have them on the school run (when there was a school run). They are so bad for the environment and too big and unnecessary. They weren't needed in the past and aren't needed now. Completely understand why a farmer needs one or someone on construction sites but driving kids to school!!!

OP posts:
Swiftjogger · 27/01/2021 10:59

@anicecupoftea19

Status in most cases. Keeping up with the Jones. I've got more money than you ... or more finance? 🤔😂
Bingo! Well done, they are all on finance and the husband’s are having affairs. Never change mumsnet.
lljkk · 27/01/2021 10:59

My dad (in USA, where it never snows) only has SUVs. I borrow his car(s) when I visit. The SUVs have cameras to see out the back -- my dad thinks this is marvelous.

I hate them. I hate being high up. so I can't see the actual places around the car. The actual visibility out windows is poor. The inside is acres of wasted space (would be ok if I was 20 stone, I suppose). Doesn't really have a lot of luggage space when you consider the exterior dimensions; my Fiat 500 holds more stuff inside with backseat down, and is more suitable for transporting bicycles inside. The SUV drives like a bus. It parks like a tank. The camera (dad loves) distorts the view. It drinks fuel like a camel guzzles water.

Dad lives in city and never drives anywhere unpaved or even muddy. His actual parking spot (expensive condos) is tiny. He says the SUV is a rare car that 'fits him'; but he fits inside my Fiat . He does want a luxury status car for 2-4 hour drives tbf.

I am not quibbling with anyone who finds SUV suits their country lifestyle. Fiat500s are very common in the little country villages near where I live in east Anglia, they fit on the roads!!

Swiftjogger · 27/01/2021 11:01

I give way to everyone, but never a 4x4

How utterly pathetic.

Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 11:02

@CounsellorTroi

I can park in the space perfectly well, it’s the lack of space to open the door that’s the issue. Sometimes the SUVs are within inches of the line.
So essentially, you need space from their bay to open your door? Yep, your parking is the problem. Shit parking isn't exclusive to SUVs.
Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 11:03

@anicecupoftea19

Status in most cases. Keeping up with the Jones. I've got more money than you ... or more finance? 🤔😂
Paid cash for mine 💅
LadyWaz · 27/01/2021 11:07

I don't have any opinion on the technical or aesthetic aspects of 4x4s, but everyone I've met who's owned one has been some combination of unpleasant (rude, selfish, etc.) and/or dull. It's an incredibly reliable indicator! Sorry.

CounsellorTroi · 27/01/2021 11:13

@Shmithecat2 most car parks are not designed for the additional length and width of SUVs/big arsed cars. These cars take up manoeuvring space. In pre-Covid times I outdone meet up with friends at at an urban pub with a small car park. It was always full of SUVs which made certain spaces impossible to get into because there was no room to manoeuvre round the SUVs.

I have to say you sound like a typically arrogant driver of one of these vehicles.

Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 11:13

@LadyWaz

I don't have any opinion on the technical or aesthetic aspects of 4x4s, but everyone I've met who's owned one has been some combination of unpleasant (rude, selfish, etc.) and/or dull. It's an incredibly reliable indicator! Sorry.
Yes of course, because your social circle and perception of others is the national standard. Hmm
NellyJames · 27/01/2021 11:21

@LadyWaz, I think you need to get out more and meet some new people. Grin It’s a bit odd that everyone you know seems to choose a car that somehow aligns perfectly with the personality you perceive in them. Rather than, you know, choosing the best car that fits their family and lifestyle. My dark grey Volvo is incredibly dull but I didn’t choose it for its looks but rather because it fits 3 big kids and a big dog.

Swiftjogger · 27/01/2021 11:24

www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars/86338/best-low-emissions-green-cars

Looks like a few 4X4 on the list if anyone has high anxiety and would like to impress their neighbours (the neighbours that hate them and won’t ever let them out Grin)

Chicchicchicchiclana · 27/01/2021 11:26

Yanbu op I hate them in towns and cities. Some on my street are so large that they don't even fit on the drives that people have put in to accommodate them, paving over the front gardens of their terraced houses to do so. They actually jut out onto the pavement that people are supposed to get wheelchairs/buggies down. Everyone who owns one is displaying an "I'm alright Jack" attitude. imo.

Elai1978 · 27/01/2021 12:14

We were given a brand new, top of the range BMW automatic estate as a courtesy car before Christmas.

More likely a 2 litre diesel.

jambeforeclottedcream · 27/01/2021 12:52

@cjpark

We live in rural Cornwall. There are lots of estates, old Volvo's, Audi estates etc as they hold loads, have great grip and it doesn't matter too much if they get scratches from the high hedges. You really don't see many 4x4's until the summer season. I dont see the appeal!
This with bells on
Original poster
Midlandsmum42 · 27/01/2021 13:12

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

We were given a brand new, top of the range BMW automatic estate as a courtesy car before Christmas. I absolutely hated driving that thing. Couldn't wait to get my new SUV and be up high, not struggle to see over the bonnet of the car, and actually be able to get out of it without a struggle. I was pregnant but only about 6 months or less, I'm overdue now, and now way could I still be getting in and out of that thing.
Not sure how pregnant people coped before 4x4s they must have just been stuck at home if they didn't have a 4x4/suv
OP posts:
Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 13:28

@Midlandsmum42

Not sure how pregnant people coped before 4x4s they must have just been stuck at home if they didn't have a 4x4/suv

Of course they coped, because they had to. But they don't have to just 'cope' now if they don't want to. I'm assuming you have an indoor toilet, running water and electric? People coped before they were the norm. So why bother having them now? Or is it only misguided attempts at ecological martyrdom you're aiming for? Because with two kids, that ship has already sailed.

Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 13:37

[quote CounsellorTroi]@Shmithecat2 most car parks are not designed for the additional length and width of SUVs/big arsed cars. These cars take up manoeuvring space. In pre-Covid times I outdone meet up with friends at at an urban pub with a small car park. It was always full of SUVs which made certain spaces impossible to get into because there was no room to manoeuvre round the SUVs.

I have to say you sound like a typically arrogant driver of one of these vehicles.[/quote]
Or just a decent driver that doesn't need empty parking spaces around me to park my terrible vehicle.. how can an SUV, correctly parked within the markings of it's bay take up maneuvering space of other vehicles?

CounsellorTroi · 27/01/2021 13:45

Because as I said the markings are not designed for that size of car. They are designed for normal sized cars allowing for door opening. SUVs also can also stick out a foot further over the end of the bay than a normal sized car would. In a not overly spacious underground or multi storey car park this can cause an issue.

I imagine as a driver of one of these cars you just don't notice.

Shmithecat2 · 27/01/2021 13:53

@CounsellorTroi

Because as I said the markings are not designed for that size of car. They are designed for normal sized cars allowing for door opening. SUVs also can also stick out a foot further over the end of the bay than a normal sized car would. In a not overly spacious underground or multi storey car park this can cause an issue.

I imagine as a driver of one of these cars you just don't notice.

Or you could just be a terrible dirver 🤷🏻‍♀️
Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 27/01/2021 14:20

Not sure how pregnant people coped before 4x4s they must have just been stuck at home if they didn't have a 4x4/suv

Well I certainly would be because I can hardly walk the length of myself either.

Not sure why people (like you OP) get so offended by the type of car other people house to have. The reasons are always crap about taking up spaces and pollution. Do you get this ornate about other choices people make about their own lives?

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 27/01/2021 14:22

@Elai1978

We were given a brand new, top of the range BMW automatic estate as a courtesy car before Christmas.

More likely a 2 litre diesel.

Where in my post did I say it wasn't diesel, or specify which type of fuel it ran on Confused
Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 27/01/2021 14:25

@Jetatyeovilaerodrome, not really because we need a car for work. We only have one and share it. I didn't want that courtesy car. Couldn't wait to hand it back and the SUV we got wasn't brand new, just new to us because my dp had an accident and wrote off the last car. That OK, or should we not have a car at all?

pippy1958 · 27/01/2021 14:26

Thread just about sums up mumsnet! For example, there is no topic thread for Environment and many people on this subject ie cars don't really consider the environment nor other people. At some point, we will HAVE to consider the environment and will not be able to do what we want because we "like it". Let's hope it's not too late...

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 27/01/2021 14:29

. I give way to everyone, but never a 4x4. I accept farmers and people who live very remotely need them, everyone else driving a 4x4 is a selfish wanker.

You have just stated you never give way to 4x4s (what even when they have the right of way?) Yet they are the selfish wankers 🤣

Charmatt · 27/01/2021 14:30

My husband must be the Mumsnet antichrist..... he's got a 4x4 sports car.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 27/01/2021 14:36

@LadyWaz

I don't have any opinion on the technical or aesthetic aspects of 4x4s, but everyone I've met who's owned one has been some combination of unpleasant (rude, selfish, etc.) and/or dull. It's an incredibly reliable indicator! Sorry.
Going by this thread I don't think it's the SUV drives that sound rude, selfish or dull.