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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to hope that this is the start of a major backlash against SUVs?

487 replies

gingganggooleywotsit · 07/04/2021 08:44

Just seen this on the BBC news website.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56647128
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone in motoring speak out publicly against suvs. I pray this is the start of a major backlash and rightly so! Before anyone says..”you’re jealous” as I usually see on these threads, I would just like to say-I could afford one myself but I wouldn’t be seen dead in one!
Also I am only talking about city suvs. In the countryside/farming it’s of course a different matter.

OP posts:
Sstrongtn · 07/04/2021 14:48

Was about to come on and say YABU but you said it doesn’t count if I’m rural and cart kids and horses around so that’s ok!

Yes yes yes to Chelsea Tractors van.

Sstrongtn · 07/04/2021 14:48

*ban

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/04/2021 14:49

Also, granted not the massive ones, but if you look at the length of a lot of SUVs, they're barely any longer than a Golf. Effectively, it's like they've been squeezed like a concertina and thus forced to splurge upwards from the middle!

littlepattilou · 07/04/2021 14:52

I hate them, and cannot fathom why people have them when they live in the town/city/suburbs. They are not needed. They always find an excuse though 'oh I need it for the dogs/the shopping/DH's golfing gear blah blah blah........'

Most people who drive them are cocky nobheads too. (Not all, but most!)

achainisonlyasstrong · 07/04/2021 14:59

I think there are multiple reasons to have SUVs in a city. Often take parents on holiday with children or on day trips. Much more comfortable for everyone driving long distances and can fit luggage easier. Surely more environmentally friendly than driving with 2 cars. Some of the hatred for them seems a trifle overblown and irrational.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/04/2021 15:00

They always find an excuse though 'oh I need it for the dogs/the shopping/DH's golfing gear blah blah blah........'

You could say the same about somebody buying an MPV, though: 'We need it because we have five children'. You may say that nobody forced them to have five children, but different people's lives are different and one person's 'excuse' is another's 'reason'. A childfree couple could judge a family of four in a Golf for 'needing' a larger car when they can manage just fine in an Aygo.

I just don't understand why cars are singled out as an example of people's more polluting choices (whether for essential/helpful/unnecessary/non-existent reasons) but people buying a bit bigger house than they could manage with, flying to Florida when they could have flown to Malaga, flying anywhere when they could have stayed in the UK, having a massive-screen TV etc. - that's just considered free personal choice.

Graciebobcat · 07/04/2021 15:02

We have a Sharan (basically a big taxi) because my DF bought it originally, it was nice and high up which suited him with his wonky hips, we can all fit in the one car with giant dog rather than taking two cars. We couldn't all squeeze in and do long trips in a hatchback, estate car at a push but they are not seven seats and likely the same emissions anyway. We don't live in an urban or suburban place but semi-rural with shit public transport.

When electric/hybrid cars are available for a similar sort of price, are reliable, there are enough charging points and this car has reached the end of its life (will be a long time as VWs are very reliable indeed) then we'll replace it.

While yes, it's silly people buying cars bigger than they need especially in a built up area, a lot of people are buying them as they are really good cars and a practical solution for their needs.

achainisonlyasstrong · 07/04/2021 15:02

Think they are often just a practical choice for families.

Graciebobcat · 07/04/2021 15:04

And ours isn't because we have lots of children, but because we are a multi generational household with a big dog.

Something that is more environmentally friendly than all those single people living on their own and requiring new homes to be built, BTW.

Graciebobcat · 07/04/2021 15:07

Also it's not really surprising that cars have got bigger when people have. Ever tried to get into an old Mini? Cosy. And really unsafe if someone crashed into you.

jessstan2 · 07/04/2021 15:08

@achainisonlyasstrong

Think they are often just a practical choice for families.
They are indeed.
Millymomooo · 07/04/2021 15:09

God I hate these cars. There is a mum who lives behind the school and she drives her child to the front of the school every single day, then drives home. Same at home time. Sits with the engine running. She’s had quite a few locals complain to the school about her leaving her engine running. Of course it’s all for show. She doesn't work and has no disabilities. Her and her partner had the cheek to be involved in the environmental team when her children were at nursery. You really couldn’t make it up

PinkSpring · 07/04/2021 15:10

People can buy whatever car they want.....

We have an SUV - we wanted the extra space and didn't like people carriers or estates - our choice, our money.

We can park perfectly fine as well - shocker!

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 07/04/2021 15:11

@Alaimo

I will say that people seem increasingly allergic to even the smallest form of discomfort?

My 6ft3 tall dad used to drive a small Hyundai, now a Fiat Panda. PiLs used to drive some kind of Toyota hatchback despite having two very tall teenagers. My 6ft4 husband's first car was a Yaris. He then had a Fiesta, and now a Skoda Fabia and he manages fine. We've regularly fitted 4 adults, and occasionally 5 adults (3 of them over 6ft tall), + outdoor kit in the Yaris for 2-5hr drives. Yet we somehow managed.

Why would you want to do any of that? I'm not "allergic" to discomfort, but why would I want to be? Also, if I didn't have a 7 seater, I couldn't earn as much as I do, so should I just get another job?, earn less than half of what I can earn doing the job I do?
DaisyDreaming · 07/04/2021 15:12

I know most people who own them don’t due to disability but they can be a great option for those who struggle to get in and out of low down cars and who have to Chuck things like wheelchairs or equipment in the back

littlepattilou · 07/04/2021 15:13

@Millymomooo

God I hate these cars. There is a mum who lives behind the school and she drives her child to the front of the school every single day, then drives home. Same at home time. Sits with the engine running. She’s had quite a few locals complain to the school about her leaving her engine running. Of course it’s all for show. She doesn't work and has no disabilities. Her and her partner had the cheek to be involved in the environmental team when her children were at nursery. You really couldn’t make it up
Sounds like a few entitled nobby SUV drivers I know.

Yeah people are entitled to buy whatever car they want. People are also entitled to have the opinion that many SUV drivers are cocky, arrogant oiks, and are bullies on the road.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 07/04/2021 15:15

Even if I didn't do the job I do, I would still have an suv. I've had hatchbacks, I've had estate cars, we had people carriers for most of my childhood, none of them compare to the car I have now. It has so much room, even in the seats in the boot. 6ft 3 dp can fit in the pull up seats quite comfortably. I will have similar cars for as long as u can afford them or as long as they are on the market.

achainisonlyasstrong · 07/04/2021 15:16

Also people thinking those who drive them are "cocky nobheads" /"yummy mummies". I think lots of people just choose them because it's just a larger, higher car with a bigger boot which can fit more people and more children's paraphernalia. Can just sling a double pushchair in as opposed to spending ages squeezing one in. It's a practical choice. OK it may not be environmentally friendly (so possibly selfish consumer choice) but so is eating meat/flying etc.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 07/04/2021 15:18

Also, I usually find it's people in little cars who are the most dangerous drivers on the road.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 07/04/2021 15:22

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

Also, I usually find it's people in little cars who are the most dangerous drivers on the road.
Kind of like people with tiny dogs being the most reckless in general😱 That's actually interesting
Graciebobcat · 07/04/2021 15:23

Also there is nothing magic about them which makes the SUV shape less environmentally friendly. Any big car you need a reasonably big engine, so more fuel, unless you can afford a hybrid. There are loads of saloons and sports cars which are more gas guzzling. Thousands of lorries and commercial vehicles. Though these are mainly driven by men. I think sometimes people just like to have a go at SUV drivers as they are more often driven by women. Some of it is just sheer sexism, internalised or otherwise. "Yummy mummies, can't drive husband's car," etc.

achainisonlyasstrong · 07/04/2021 15:43

Just thinking maybe hatred of SUVs linked to a bit of internalised misogyny, which we may all be guilty of at some stage? There's intense dislike for those selfish, polluting "yummy mummies" driving SUVs at school pickup - but haven't seen any for men driving sports cars,. A man picking up their kids in a porsche, taking up room would most likely just get admiring glances and that's a far more impractical choice for a family. But of course, have to agree people are absolutely free to intensely dislike and hate all drivers of SUVs and think they are selfish nobheads. But strange hatred of what is these days quite a practical, family choice of car which surely a lot of people just buy simply because it has a bigger boot and can fit more people comfortably than a smaller car...

Graciebobcat · 07/04/2021 15:47

Exactly that.

jessstan2 · 07/04/2021 15:49

@achainisonlyasstrong

Also people thinking those who drive them are "cocky nobheads" /"yummy mummies". I think lots of people just choose them because it's just a larger, higher car with a bigger boot which can fit more people and more children's paraphernalia. Can just sling a double pushchair in as opposed to spending ages squeezing one in. It's a practical choice. OK it may not be environmentally friendly (so possibly selfish consumer choice) but so is eating meat/flying etc.
Exactly.

My husband was far from cocky and drove one for years. Nobody thought anything of it!

RickiTarr · 07/04/2021 16:04

Just thinking maybe hatred of SUVs linked to a bit of internalised misogyny, which we may all be guilty of at some stage? There's intense dislike for those selfish, polluting "yummy mummies" driving SUVs at school pickup - but haven't seen any for men driving sports cars,. A man picking up their kids in a porsche, taking up room would most likely just get admiring glances

You’re joking? Not the case in my circles. Not by a long chalk.