To think that the majority of cars on the road are now SUVs?

[Forwardthinkinglobster]

I have a Honda Jazz which I suppose would be categorised as an Old person’s small car, although it has plenty enough space for me!

I was driving long distance today and it really struck me how small my car looked compared to other “family sized” vehicles either side of me on the motorway. The UK has not adapted to the width of such vehicles, and it’s sometimes really hard to get into a space with them parked either side. The fuel and maintenance cost must be a lot more too, so I wonder how many people can afford to own them!

AIBU to think that sales of SUVs have now overtaken smaller vehicles?

My husband and I live semi-rurally, and we both have 4x4s. We’re not unusual in that, and I would say the majority of cars I see locally are 4x4s.

Currently have a fiesta but finding it too small with two young children. Extended rear facing child seats were not the norm previously, but now anyone who's had to fit one will tell you they are generally huge. In the fiesta the front passenger seat cannot be used by adults with the rear facing childseat in place. With forward facing seats, there is very little room to get in to the seatbelts and securely do these up. It's incredibly awkward (even for small people like myself) in a low car and again the front seats need to be pushed forward for any real space. Finally the boot is tiny, just about fits a stroller but a pram and kids bike is out the question.

It's a great car and I love it but it's not practical, I'll be looking at a crossover SUV as it fits my needs without buying something unnecessarily large. The petrol engines in these are generally 1.0 turbos - the same as my fiesta. Slightly less fuel efficient due to weight, but certainly not gas guzzlers. I think it's unfair to suggest people buy such cars purely for status, for us - and most families with kids under 10/11, small SUVs offer the practicality needed. I've owned many cars, Larger saloons are far less fuel efficient due to them generally aimed at performance, larger engines etc. and are still impractically low. Obviously avoiding mention of electric cars here as I can't afford one along with most of the population.

We're about to change cars and will probably end up with a SUV, but not through choice.
Having spent hours on auto trader I can say with confidence that 'old fashioned' estate cars are very few and far between, and the ones that are there are well outside our price range.
I need a huge boot for dogs, camping kit and sports kit. Can't seem to find any cars that fit that criteria with low milage, low years, and a low price.

My main grievance with SUV popularity is that it means manufacturers only focus on making them to meet demand.

I love our estate and would like an electric one, but they pretty much don’t exist. Mainly because people need the ‘space’ of a big car but don’t realise that the boot space is a joke compared to a decent estate.

If SUVs were so great for boot space like people claim to buy them for, why do so many have roof boxes.

We use our estate to transport big canvas tents etc and having looked at SUVs they would seriously struggle to fit everything in.

Just wish people would stop claiming they need an SUV for the room, if they needed boot space they’d get an estate.

Well exactly, at least they’re trying. It’s not like you’re only allowed to care if you have already chosen to live a vegan, child-free, zero plastic, zero waste, zero carbon emissions life. We have 7 people in our household (3 kids + 2 grandparents), so whatever we drive will be large. Environmentally speaking, better to have one car than 2 and use public transport where possible. Might as well be less of a pollutant. Supply chain footprint aside, at least electric cars cut down on noise and air pollution, which makes life objectively better for city dwellers. People pick and choose what they feel they can do to help combat the climate change issue, and I dare say even eco warriors do/use some things that aren’t great for the environment.

So as not to drip feed, we have an electric SUV on order as our ancient people carrier is about to die, but we would have chosen a people carrier if that were an option. We don’t particularly like SUVs as I find the visibility isn’t as good as our S-Max and the space inside is less practical. Unfortunately, they have pretty much stopped making people carriers, and there are no electric ones that I know of. Size-wise, the electric SUV is smaller than our people carrier.

Round here everyone seems to have Tesla's and Mini's. So many Mini's, and lots of Fiat 500's too.

Guess what, we have a Fiat 500, a Mini, and...... A very large, fast, but low profile BMW Coupe. On the upside it replaced a Jaguar XFR, so in comparison it's very fuel efficient!

Never had anything classed as people carrier, SUV, child friendly anything. Don't get it really.

Landrover Discoverys are big, probably bigger than an estate, a lot of estate cars are not that big, VW Passats are the one of the few that are sizeable, years ago we had a Volvo 240, they were quite big, there aren't many estate cars nowadays. We are looking for a replacement for our Nissan Xtrail but not many are bigger, Skoda Kodiaq is very slightly bigger and not a Landrover

It’s an American trend that has come here. Hilarious that so many in this space who can be snooty about Americans and their brash ways are defending it.

It’s worse here because we have narrower lanes and smaller parking spaces.

I understand wanting to fit all members of the household into one car. However a family of 5 fit very comfortably in DH’s electric sedan. I don’t get the need to be up high, except that it isn’t great to have your long range visibility impaired when you are surrounded by others who are. This becomes a vicious circle. A lower centre of gravity is safer in the event of a collision.

The third dc is way worse for environmental impact, statistically speaking, than the SUV.

Estates are.still made and have more room inside than a lot of SUVs do, and bigger boots.

SUVs are a problem for several reasons that are nothing to do with being "gas guzzling".

Their bonnet height and shape makes them much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists. If you get hit by a saloon or hatchback you get knocked up onto the bonnet. A higher SUV will impact higher up on the body, often head height for shorter pedestrians or children, and pull them under the car and riding over them.

They use more materials to manufacture so their environmental footprint is bigger.

Their height obscures vision in other cars, making it difficult to see past them e.g at roundabouts or in car parks.

They are heavier than smaller cars, especially electric SUVs. This damages our road infrastructure more.

Their raised height means their lights at night are at the wrong height and blind cars in front, made far worse by most cars today having LED lights. Even adjusting the light angle isn't enough.

They are also more prone to rolling in accidents which is very dangerous for those inside the SUV.

They’ve certainly very common now but wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re the majority of cars we see, although if you went to my ds primary school at pick up time you might think otherwise. Id say around 1/4 to 1/3 of cars are now suvs at a guess.

More than the majority, the overwhelming majority of car models offered for sale are SUV style now.

Unless you are specifically looking for a little city car, you have to try really really hard to get a non SUV style. Most people don't know or care that much about what style their car is, they just want something that is comfortable and drives safely.

Modern cars are more fuel efficient so doesn't cost that much. We don't pay maintenance costs as we lease.

Sorry my first sentence was a bit unclear.

I mean, it is not surprising that we're seeing more and more on the roads, as it's basically all which is offered for sale.

I do agree about the bonnets, weight etc but I didn't know about these things until after we bought one, and I think most people wouldn't think about that when buying a car.

The third dc is way worse for environmental impact, statistically speaking, than the SUV.

But family size has fallen dramatically hence why I asked the question as plenty of older people will have SUVs but had children. Birth rate is 1.8...

Yes it's tricky now. Advertising pushing nothing but SUVs doesn't help. We need to change the narrative so we move away from SUVs being the easiest choice, but it's going to take time.

I always thought a Honda jazz was a small suv.

I have an electric suv. A lot of the small electric cars have such a low range that it is not just doesn’t work if you have a long commute/ need to do long journeys.

things like car seats have got bigger so you need bigger cars to accommodate them.

Totally agree. Honda Jazzes are actually great cars (and good if you have mobility issues - my mum has one as it has very comfortable seats for her and she can get in and out easily). They have good vision too. No need for a SUV because of a disability in the vast majority of cases.

It's a hatchback back but can also be described as a mini MPV. It's a shame MPVs are stopping being made, they much more practical cars than SUVs in a lot of ways.

Ah ok. It does seem like a lot of the larger non suv cars are disappearing. I like the look of a Volvo v40 but they have been discontinued and you need to get their suv for equivalent size now. I had a mini before but it’s not practical with young kids.

Good boot space but often more shallow. So if you need it for carrying taller things or big dogs then it doesn't work.

Also, we looked at estates and they were too long for our small parking space but the crossovers fitted.

I still can't get over Ford discontinuing the Fiesta! I have driven both the Puma and fiesta not too long ago. The Puma is literally just a lifted fiesta, and doesn't drive as nicely as it has some roll in corners.

One problem with smaller cars is you get blinded by the headlights of the cars coming the other way if they’re higher up. At one point I tried to avoid driving at night because of this, I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. Then I switched to a Fiat 500 X (not for that reason, at that point I didn’t even think about the link between height/headlights) and no longer have a problem, although I might be adding to the problem for other people :(