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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:
IamtheDevilsAvocado · 26/01/2021 13:33

Yes "they're so safe" for YOU...

If you hit my small car... You'll probably kill/seriously injure me and mine.

I have no issue with folk who need them in farms... Loathe idiots who drive them badly in towns...

DynamoKev · 26/01/2021 13:33

They are so bad for the environment
How?

PaperMonster · 26/01/2021 13:33

I used to have a little one. Loved it. In the winter, where I live often gets cut off if it snows and I could always get through. Also used to go to off-roading events which were fun!

DynamoKev · 26/01/2021 13:35

@Hobbesmanc

Lots of SUVs aren't 4x4. They are bigger and feel safer
True - I bet 90% of posters don't know what 4x4 actually means
Glittertwins · 26/01/2021 13:36

How do you know they are 4x4 though? Many of the crossover types are 2 wheel drive and no bigger than a standard estate car

PattyPan · 26/01/2021 13:36

DP has a small normal car (Peugeot) and it manages to cope with driving to and from his parents’ village, on holiday, and off road and on mud. People have evidently been taken in by the marketing that you need a huge car for this - you don’t.

PattyPan · 26/01/2021 13:38

@DynamoKev

They are so bad for the environment How?
The bigger the car, the more petrol it needs to drag its own weight around.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/01/suv-conquered-america-climate-change-emissions

Wtfdidwedo · 26/01/2021 13:39

Yes they're so high up that they're safe for the passengers but not the other people on the road. Someone was idling for at least 20 minutes near my house in one the other day, and when my 4 year old walked past it with me I was very aware of how invisible she would be to those inside it from quite a distance.

We have estate cars for boot space, never felt the need for a 4x4. We live fairly rurally and there a few older pre 2000 type Land Rovers used by farmers. It seens more common to have a truck around here if you're transporting stuff and driving between rural properties though. Honestly the people driving more top of the range ones in my area are involved in dodgy stuff! But that says more about my area I expect.

Shetoshe · 26/01/2021 13:40

I do the school run in mine but we do live on a farm. We had one when we lived in the city too though. The boot space is incredible if you have young DC. They feel safer, I like the height. My husband is also massively into cars so no doubt it was also bought as some sort of shallow "status symbol". I'm okay with that though, as for us it's a practical status symbol!

You're right on the environmental impact though - I have no comeback on that point. I shall hang my guilty head in shame there.

DingDongDenny · 26/01/2021 13:41

I agree with you for citys - no need at all. But we live rurally and need it for snow, towing a trailer, single track roads where you have to drive into the ditch sometimes and we also use it for bikes and canoes etc

In other words we use it for its actual purpose - and don't mind if it gets covered in mud!

Aprilx · 26/01/2021 13:41

I have a 4x4 because I live in the countryside and need it for the roads. I also often go into town and city centres, I don’t have any means of swapping cars once I get to a more urbanised area.

GreenlandTheMovie · 26/01/2021 13:42

I have one for towing, I used it as a camper car last summer when it was almost impossible to book anywhere affordable on holiday (removed all but the front seats and put a mattress for sleeping on in the back, very comfortable), taking rubbish to the municipal dump, buying and moving furniture and driving off road when required - enough reasons?

Why would you assume that someone using it "for the school run" didn't need it for any of those other purposes as well, just because you see it being used as a "normal" car?

LAgeDeRaisin · 26/01/2021 13:42

We have a discovery because we live in the country, have horses and a couple of cows and a flight pond that needs a 4x4 to get to with duck feed. We also have a drive that can be icy and snowy in Winter, and at 300m it's too long to grit or shovel. We couldn't do without one as we live now.

Sometimes I look at the gleaming white rangerovers in cities and think 'knob', but then I check myself because really who's to say they don't have a similar situation to us, maybe it's just that they can be arsed to wash theirs more than I can (which is never).

Original poster
Midlandsmum42 · 26/01/2021 13:43

I'm sure as many others have said it is a status thing. We are in the country and don't have one and have no need but in a town a few miles away you do see loads of them parked in driveways of housing estates.

OP posts:
ReggieKrait · 26/01/2021 13:44

I don’t really get it either. Expensive to buy, expensive to run, can be unreliable, too big to manoeuvre in tight spots. I just assumed it was purely a status symbol, but having spoken to OH about it I concur that they are nice and spacious for families with kids.

But then I have a crappy fiesta, I know nothing. 😂

Updatemate · 26/01/2021 13:46

@Backtoschool101

I think kids car seats fit in them better? Kids car seats are huge now and when you have more than two kids you need a bigger car
That's not true of lots of SUVs and 4x4s actually. And certain range rovers have smaller rear seat space than a honda jazz! And the sloping seats of lots of make certain carseat impossible to fit in them.
MargosKaftan · 26/01/2021 13:47

But op - if you dont mind estate cars - which are often as long and wide as 4x4s with similar fuel requirements- whats wrong with 4x4s?

Plus many estate cars dont have as many seats. You lose seats for boot space. We could only get 3 across the back in our Mercedes estate if none are in car seats. If you had 2 in car seats, you'd still struggle to get a 3rd person inbetween. Most 4x4s are 7 seater, so even if the middle seat isn't comfy once you've lost space to side impact stuff, then you have additional seating in the back.

And remember people buy a car for all their needs, even if 2 dcs get themselves to secondary school so it looks like they only have 1 dc on the primary run, they still need a car everyone can fit in on the weekend.

Laiste · 26/01/2021 13:47
  • Higher up.
We live in the countryside and it's great being able to see over hedges on windey lanes when cars are flying along towards you. You get an advance warning. Higher up means big wheels. We have MASSIVE pot holes and very bad road errosion round here so half the time to pass another car you are basically off-roading.

4x4 is better in snow. None of the roads in our village get gritted. My 15 year old BMW used to slew around so badly it couldn't be taken out. FIne if all you need are 'provisions' not so good if you, y'know, have to go somewhere.

Definitely doesn't use more fuel than my old car. In fact it's much more economical.

Laiste · 26/01/2021 13:49

But your mind is made made obvs. You don't need one so no one else should does.

shitinmyhandsandclap · 26/01/2021 13:49

Status symbol my arse, mine is a Nissan - hardly flash.

I like it because of various health conditions I can access it without bending too much, it's got lots of room for dogs/shopping, is very economical, free tax, and is low on insurance - so a number of reasons.

And I don't drive like a dick either, keep within the speed limit, never had a bump, park considerably blah blah. Don't tar us all with the same brush

YouokHun · 26/01/2021 13:49

@Shmithecat2

I do agree though about the attitude of SOME 4x4 drivers and snow etc. Yes, the 4x4 function is helpful to plough through it (and the snow function on the FL3 and D3 can control acceleration and gear change etc), but it's just a 2 tonne sleigh if it hits ice.
And in this country we don't change tyres as a rule for winter, which has as much to do with whether a car slides as whether it's 4x4 or not. Drivers bearing down on others simply because they're in, for example, a Range Rover (with unsuitable tyres) and feeling secure because it's 4x4 should realise your point about weight and it being a sleigh which will slide about far more than a mini with winter tyres.

The mechanic who deals with my very old Land Rover says that when he was working at a Land Rover dealership he was surprised how many owners of Freelanders, Discoverys and RR had never used the 4x4 functions and he concluded they were indeed very expensive status symbols. Where I live is pretty rural and we tend not to see many pristine 4x4s around. Most farmers etc drive vehicles like mine or Japanese pick up truck style 4x4s. I do think they are unnecessary and they must be a pain to drive and park in town, but I do understand why people see them as safe and why families buy them.

Springersrock · 26/01/2021 13:49

Why would you assume that someone using it "for the school run" didn't need it for any of those other purposes as well, just because you see it being used as a "normal" car?

Yes. This.

I don’t do the school run anymore, but I drive it in town, to the supermarket, etc.

Still need it for deliveries for DH’s business, still need to cart around heavy, 6ft bales of hay and straw, still need it to tow a caravan and horse box. When the lane to our livery yard was flooded last week who do you think drove all the big, heavy stuff down for people who couldn’t get their little cars down it?

Unless it’s supposed to somehow transform itself into a completely different car when it’s not being used for 4x4 worthy purposes.

Rightleftupdown · 26/01/2021 13:50

Dot get stuck in snow hth

Shetoshe · 26/01/2021 13:52

What's wrong with that though? Lots of things are status symbols. Such is the capitalist society we live in! I don't understand why you'd sneer at someone's car choice yet presumably you wouldn't do the same if someone bought a huge house when they didn't "need" the space.

NettleTea · 26/01/2021 13:53

because although I used to have to do the school run, the majority of my work involves me being off road