To irrationally resent SUVs ?

[SavoirFlair]

For those who have impossibly avoided the term, I’m talking about “fake 4x4s.”

A car that would have been a hatchback a dozen years ago, but is now wider, higher up, with fake 4x4 styling (flared wheel arches, roof rails, big plastic moulding).

I can’t stand them.

As someone who has owned two generations of Range Rovers when we lived off a track a mile or so from the main road, I realise people are free to lob back at me. but those cars had a purpose. We wanted to be comfortable; but we absolutely needed the traction and clearance that vehicle gave us.

Does anyone need what a Grandland X offers? A Mokka? (Jesus save me from that awful car. Worst on sale today - just buy a Corsa and stop being previous). Who needs a Sportage or a Qashqai? (the hallmarks of the aspiring, when years ago a Focus or a Golf would have done just fine).

The worst offenders for me are actually the so called luxury ones. BMW X5 is an abomination - can’t do anything off road, is massively wide on road, and two mums at our school park terribly with them and block the road for the other direction.

And that’s the thing - a large segment of folk who own them, can’t drive them properly. I go to the hospital car park twice weekly with my DD. If someone is careless (often are) and parks close to or on the white line… renders the next space completely useless. Which when hunting for the one or two spaces available for my vulnerable DD, can be infuriating.

We don’t need these things, but I get people love them for

• being “high up” (still doesn’t make the drivers any better at driving)

• Being “high up” to load DCs and allow elderly parents to get in and out without bending back

• some of them have a big boot

Ok, but my answer to all these three is..

an MPV. Cars like the Ford Galaxy, S Max, Touran, Alhambra - all high up seating, easy to get in and out of, massive boots.

But no.. the truth is fashion. Why buy a Corsa when you have a jacked up version. Why buy a 5 series when you can have an X5 and dominate the school run.

Meanwhile the greater fuel consumption, the materials cost to make the thing …

AIBU to irrationally hate these stupid wide massive things?

We had a Kuga and it was my favourite car we've had by far. I did struggle with it in multistories but tbf, the car was way more DHs than mine as I didn't need to drive very much.

We do a lot of camping so was good to have a car big enough to carry all our stuff, plus the pushchair & travel cot for DS etc.

We downsized when he was old enough to not need all that stuff.

Haha at least you’re honest about your insecurities @bluesky45 . Enjoy being one of the cool gang!

Nothing irrational about it. And these cars-on-steroids are so ugly with bits sticking out all over them. Give me the clean lines of a classic car any day.

I have an X7 - Yes, the one slightly bigger than X5

We are a family of 5 with parents and siblings always visiting.

It was a nightmare squeezing my kids into Grand C Max (Car seat and all)

X7 drives smoothly, its lovely, its simply amazing. Life is too short for the crap we dealt with before it

They are fine cars - I read the review where they compared the X7’s ride as similar to that of a Rolls Royce for lack of noise, vibration and harshness.

However is it a car that can “fit” the UK? I look sometimes at our side roads in this country and I think, how can two cars of similar width (X7 and new Range Rover for example) ever conceivably pass each other? Ever?

how do you find it to drive in that aspect?

I'm not insecure, I just don't want to drive an ugly car. It costs an absolute fortune to buy a car, why would I spend thousands on something I don't like?
I can park it, I can drive it. It's parked on the drive and we live in a village on a wide street. I don't drive for the school run either. I drive it the same as I did my fiat 500 or ford fiesta. DH can drive it very well as he drives an even bigger vehicle for work (long wheel base van) which he gets down narrow streets and in awkward parking spaces. So your moans don't actually apply to us. If you can drive it, why not? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I've got a crossover. It's more practical for my needs than a hatchback or a shitty estate or MPV, and it's as economical as the Astra it replaced - and barely takes up any more space on the road either.

I've also been driving for more than 20 years, and we didn't have all those parking sensors and cameras back then did we! I picked up on your point about not being able to park a Clio because I though that that was quite concerning yes, also your excuse of being short is silly.

I see people every day in my village who can't park sensibly and it is a real pet hate of mine, trying to walk my children 3 minutes down the road to school is like running the gauntlet every day with cars parked sideways across the pavements so we can't use them and have to walk in the road with all the idiots in their massive cars and no spatial awareness tearing past us. On 2 occasions my partner and I have actually been hit by their wing mirrors. I have to wonder just how useful the sensors really are in these big flash cars if the drivers are still hitting people and struggling to park.

Hating anything takes a massive amount of mental energy, if you have that to spare then it’s up to you what you choose to hate I guess.

Well, I park perfectly well. And great now with the sensors. I dont' tear past anyone, and am a careful and good driver, and haven't clipped any mirrors or similar. Plus, as I already said, my car (although an SUV/ crossover) is no bigger than the equivalent estate version, just higher. I also walk my kids to school, so my car is not on the school run.

And no, we didn't have them then. So clearly I can park without them (and my heigh isn't "silly2, of course it impacts visibility! increased visibility though being up higher and the cameras is a great thing for me), and do (if eg in a hire car).

agree OP. We live in a small country with small roads, not the USA. And the pollution is terrible.

You'd have to use passing places I guess. I go to a lot of rural building sites in a concrete mixer truck and rarely have too much difficulty. Often someone has to reverse but not far in most cases.

Sometimes I see the look of sheer terror in Mrs Range Rover's eyes when she meets me head on and reverse out of sympathy, although really anybody on the road should be competent enough to reverse their vehicle for 20 seconds in a straight line.

Perhaps in London, but plenty of us live rurally, somewhere it floods and snow is to be expected. I do the school run in my 4x4, but it is not for show. Looks it too sadly, as it is often filthy, despite a weekly wash 😔

Can I ask why you feel so superior to all these silly drivers driving around in their silly 'pretend' 4x4's? It's none of your business what anyone chooses to drive or why!! Get a fucking life! And I love how you are trying to drill home that you are such a good driver, and know soooo much about cars.... congratulations, do an awful lot of other people, and they don't feel the need to start pointless threads about it🙄🤔

I didn't mean your height is silly!! Being short is awesome, I meant using your height as an excuse for your nervousness around parking is silly! People saying that they NEED a tall car because of their height is silly and its not true. I've driven higher up cars too, I honestly can't say that being higher up made any real difference to anything except I could see over the hedges and look at some sheep in the field!

One of the genius bits of design on the original Range Rover is the 'crenellations' on the ends of the bonnet. (On the outer edges.) These are terrific in helping the driver see the edges of the car. It gives it a very defined endpoint, and makes it very easy to place on the road (or in a parking space).

There have always been bigger cars and smaller cars. And the knack to driving anything, of any size, is understanding where the edges are. People have accidents and make misjudgements in Clios and Corsas as well as Kodiaqs and Q7s, so bad driving isn't necessarily a car size issue.

YANBU, and they are also the ones that one go "off road" down a narrow lane and expect me to go in the ditch in my hatchback. Usually driven by mums dropping their kids off at school at 100 mph.

Our family car is a Ford Galaxy and I love it. Its huge inside and perfect for our family. We recently were involved in a crash and have a courtesy car, a Citroen aircross. Same length same width but so small inside, it's awful trying to fit us all in. Big small cars I call them.... Horrific!

Resenting SUVs is not irrational.

They are oversized and take up too much space on the roads and in car parks.

Because of their size, they are more difficult to drive, so people make a hash of it. And they don't care, because they feel safe because of the size.

They are polluting - even the electric ones because they take up too much room on the roads, and therefore slow down other traffic and create more emissions.

And most of all, they are far more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists if there is a collision, which is more likely to happen due to point 2.

YANBU, they are a scourge on narrow streets in most British towns. Sure they're fine on the purpose built drives of their horrible new build though. 😆

I cant believe a multiple Range Rover owner has the nerve to castigate other for wanting to drive larger cars - the only cars that bully people round here and take up ALL the space on teh school run are those massive Range Rovers. There is a woman at one of my kids schools who has one that is so large it wont actually fit in a space and it takes her about 20 mins too park it. Everyone runs when they see her comng.

Also my X5 is way easier to park them my Clio ....

I have an SUV, a pretty old one.

It’s high enough to get in and out of easily for me and relatives who also have long term conditions. The boot size is OK most of the time (although for camping it could be bigger). It’s a decent compromise for the activities we use it for for leisure and driving about day to day.

It’s easy to park and doesn’t take up extra room because as others have said footprint wise it’s probably no bigger than an estate. Having lived very rurally - there’s no link between SUVs and people who can’t / won’t reverse in my experience. It’s far more likely to be executive type cars who won’t / can’t drive properly.

My main disappointment with it is that it’s not hybrid but there is no way we could afford one.

It’s easy to make sweeping statements about owners of a type of car but the reality is that they tick lots of boxes, otherwise no one would buy one.

As an 'old person' I had to swap my beloved fiesta for one so I can get in and out. It has a TINY boot but apart from that I love it, it's a hybrid not a diesel and I could afford it. And I am perfectly capable of driving it thank you very much. Find something really important to stress over apart from why I chose my car?

Have a big problem with SUVs - they should be taxed off the road.

Fake SUV's ? Less so. The big issue with real SUVs is that you are lugging round a huge amount of extra metalwork (4WD, beefed up suspension) that you don't actually need for UK driving, making them extremely environmentally unfriendly.

Fake SUVs don't have any of that extra metalwork. Sure they are a bit more chunky than normal cars (probably not much more so than an audi or BMW), but the lack of beefed up suspension and 4WD drivetrain means they are not hauling around loads of extra capability that is never used.

So to me, tax SUVs off the road. Fake SUVs can stay.

Thanks for telling me how I need to feel 🙄You may think it silly, however I know - factually - that I cannot see as well out the car as I could if I was a ft taller. I don't NEED a higher vehicle for that reason, I could manage it without it. I can also manage without the cameras. But given I have a choice to purchase a car that can increase my visbility (making my maneouvering easier and safer) why wouldn't I?

And re the height of the car, yes and no. Obviously a higher view point makes it easier to see better. But it also depends on seat position, some cars have low set more sporty seats which makes it really impossible if you are short.