To ask how drivers of massive SUVs square it with themselves in terms of climate change?

[Bleepingtons]

Same goes for those who go long haul on the regular? Buy loads of cheap, disposable fashion? Etc etc? Do you just not worry about climate change?

I know I sound sanctimonious but I am genuinely baffled by people driving massive diesel SUVs like there isn't a major issue.

only buy secondhand

this i always find funny.
Second hand market only exists because there is a steady supply and demand of brand new.

Towing our caravan with a Jazz or hybrid Corolla would be interesting (unsafe and illegal). Do we have to scrap the caravan and the SUV?

My choice of car was based on what I could afford and which fit my 3 young children in car seats across the back. That’s all there is to it.
I’ll buy an electric car when they’re more affordable and there are more charging points available. I live in the sticks and our nearest public charging point is about 8 miles away.

Focus your energy on governments and corporations rather than judging individuals for purchasing items that you personally have decided are evil. You're not the judge and jury - if items are for sale then we can buy them, based on our own needs and priorities.

Many of us driving older diesel SUVs will be doing so because we were told diesel was BETTER for the environment. Too late now if that's not right, we've got cars worth less than £5k so not able to replace with a new eco friendly model, and since they're still running so why would we replace?

@Bleepingtons
You haven’t answered how you define a massive SUV. I have an SUV, Vauxhall, and it’s a 1.0 litre engine. My best mate has a 2.0 litre Golf - how much small car but with a bigger engine. The size of the car can be misleading.

Oh yeah and we bought ours when we were told Diesel was better for the environment. We will run it to the ground, which I’m sure is better than buying a new one when it’s not needed.

Most SUV’s are or were built on shared platforms. So the under pinnings, size, engine etc are the same as a normal hatchback or estate. E.g x5 was a 5 series with nicked Land Rover technology for the 4wd, the q3 an A3 (which you could get as 4wd). Very few were proper designed from the ground up SUVs. Even the earlier evoques were 2wd transit engined cars.

The newer ones are ground up designed as our preference for them has changed and they don’t bother with the hatch or estate version. But the likes of a juke, t-cross are essentially the hatchback or estate of the past.

I do draw the line at the Q8, that’s so fucking wide and pointless for our roads.

which fit my 3 young children in car seats

This and the better driver visibility is the reason they’ve become so popular.

I wish you needed an additional license to drive an SUV. So many people wouldn’t bother because it’s an extra step but those who needed it would. I wouldn’t want them gone entirely because obviously there are cases where they are needed. But our roads are just not built for them.

I drive a bit rurally. I have a small 1.2l car, it wouldn’t be safe to drive in deep snow or really bad ice or be suitable for people who tow things but day to day rural driving it’s absolutely fine. I once got caught out and drove through fast falling bad snow and seen two suvs in a ditch on my way , over confidence I assume. It’s so much better when a small car is behind me at night because their headlights aren’t directly beaming into my car. And on single tracks when you have an suv coming the other way they NEVER reverse , if they had a normal car there is so much more space to pass as well. Similar situation for cars parked on roads. The highest percentage of ownership of SUVs isn’t rural locations it’s wealthy urban areas.

@Seasonschange

I wish you needed an additional license to drive an SUV. So many people wouldn’t bother because it’s an extra step but those who needed it would. I wouldn’t want them gone entirely because obviously there are cases where they are needed. But our roads are just not built for them.

I drive a bit rurally. I have a small 1.2l car, it wouldn’t be safe to drive in deep snow or really bad ice or be suitable for people who tow things but day to day rural driving it’s absolutely fine. I once got caught out and drove through fast falling bad snow and seen two suvs in a ditch on my way , over confidence I assume. It’s so much better when a small car is behind me at night because their headlights aren’t directly beaming into my car. And on single tracks when you have an suv coming the other way they NEVER reverse , if they had a normal car there is so much more space to pass as well. Similar situation for cars parked on roads. The highest percentage of ownership of SUVs isn’t rural locations it’s wealthy urban areas.

Would your small car safely fit 3 children in car seats across the back? Thats why a drive a large SUV.

I’d happily take an additional driving test to drive one if it means that I can then transport my children safely.

@EvilPea yes. We looked, hopefully, for cars with the same platform but smaller/lower. We wanted a manual as the mpg was better but the roughly equivalent estate wasn't actually that much more efficient for the reasons you've stated.

I drive a hybrid SUV in central London where we share with DH and no I don't feel bad especially when there are hundreds of buses more than half empty going about, helicopters constantly going, half empty planes, private jets, space exploration tourism rockets been rocketed out, bombs being blown up somewhere around the world, empty work buildings with lights on throughout the pandemic and many other things that I don't contribute to and I also live in a well insulated home. Don't target SUV drivers, save your energy to target the billionaires, the celebrities and royals.

[quote PoppityPop]@Bleepingtons
You haven’t answered how you define a massive SUV. I have an SUV, Vauxhall, and it’s a 1.0 litre engine. My best mate has a 2.0 litre Golf - how much small car but with a bigger engine. The size of the car can be misleading.[/quote]
Oh Lord I don't know. It was an illustrative point to suggest a range of environmentally poor consumer decisions and wondering why people made them.

Road tax, BIK for company cars, ULEV etc are all set at relative amounts to encourage a shift in behaviour by the masses, and it's working. Maybe it needs to be more aggressive.

Singling out individuals is not cool.

On parking: a bad parker is a bad parker. It's a skill issue, not a car problem. You see as many Fiat 500s parked skew-whiff in supermarket car parks as you do Range Rovers.

My mother, for example, is terrible at parking. She deliberately takes two spaces in supermarket car parks and multi-storeys because she's obsessed with worrying about hitting someone else's car when she opens the door, or someone else's door hitting her car. And she drives a Renault Twingo.

@PlausibleSuit and imagine how much more of liability she'd be in an SUV! They make bad parkers worse.

My SUV has so many bloody sensors and cameras it’s impossible to park badly!

@Bleepingtons don't bloody preach to me about climate change when you have 2 children. The most selfish thing you can do for the planet as well you know.

But like a lot of other people you have chosen to do what makes you happy. Literally find sanctimonious dickheads like you so annoying.

FYI I have ONE kid, do not drive a car for environmental reasons, but would NEVER come and start a thread to judge others on an Internet forum about their carbon footprint.

Seriously you shouldn't have had kids at all if you feel this way. Admit you're selfish.

@ThePoisonousMushroom did you miss the part of my post where I said I wouldn’t want them gone because some people need them or did you just feel like arguing?

[quote Seasonschange]@ThePoisonousMushroom did you miss the part of my post where I said I wouldn’t want them gone because some people need them or did you just feel like arguing?[/quote]
No I didn’t feel like arguing, I was just asking a question.
People don’t only ‘need’ them because they live rurally.

@Bleepingtons still waiting for you to clarify you don’t make any ‘environmentally poor’ decision as per my previous post you conveniently ignored

• do your children eat meat and dairy
• where specifically do you buy their toys and clothes? Do they own any plastic toys?

@LakieLady

SIL has a Wrangler and her DH drives a huge pick-up. Both are diesel.

They reckon they really need them for doing the school run in commuter belt Surrey.

It's the done thing in some circles.

You're all as bad as each other, and as much as you try to justify it, your existence on the planet alone is helping to kill it.

You all happy now? The only true way of dealing with the problem is a mass cull. Who's going to volunteer?

@Bleepingtons another question - did you ever use plastic nappies with your children or wipes with micro particles of plastic in them?