Car regret - AIBU

[misskellyb]

I am aware that right now I'll probably get bashed for seeming like a spoilt brat. But I've got bloody car regret.

I just sold my Range Rover Evoque. I'd had it 5 years. I absolutely loved the car for its height and size and all the standard features that came with the car. However, my insurance had gone up drastically at the time of renewal due to the increase in thefts of range rovers and it felt unjustifiable to pay it. It had also been having some problems recently too. And I also no longer needed a diesel. It wasn't doing the car any good with mainly city driving and I was sick of the dpf warning light coming on every month and having to pointlessly drive for miles to clear it!

Whilst the evoque was in a garage having a repair - not dpf related this time - and I was without a car, on a whim I decided to car shop and out of desperation I purchased a new car so I could be back on the road asap.

I've gone for a used ŠKODA Karoq. It is absolutely lovely. So much car for the money. And is a like for like on specification of previous cars I’ve owned. And is a petrol which is absolutely better suited for the minimal miles I cover these days. I checked the ncap score before I purchased which is 5 stars. However, in the time I've been driving around in it I feel so low on the road compared to my evoque and other suvs I have owned, and feel I just made a quick decision without thinking it through. Whenever I park up next to other suvs I panic at the thought of ever having an accident in the ŠKODA and start imagining one of those bigger cars doing some damage. I'm aware how ridiculous I sound but I do suffer with anxiety and ended up down a rabbit hole when I checked the ncap score in more detail and even though it scores 5 stars, the child protection on a Karoq is slightly lower than other suvs and even smaller hatchbacks I’ve owned in my younger years. The Karoq is roughly 79% while others are at 85% and above. I typically in recent years have gone for suv style cars for their size, height and feeling more protected and I’ve come to love crossover and suv vehicles on the whole.

I've had a Nissan qashqui before and a rav4 and I parked up next to a qashqui today and it looked huge and higher in comparison and just instantly regretted not getting another quashqui as I equally loved my qashqui - it was just a tad small in the boot.

I am aware I sound absolutely ridiculous and spoilt. I am extremely grateful to be in a position to be able to drive and have a car - one that I love too (Karoq) - but I can’t shake off the feeling of worry that my children are less protected in this car than other cars I’ve owned in the past, which is stealing the enjoyment from the car.

The kids love the car and were so excited to pick it up. But every time I put them in it I just feel guilty thinking what if something bad happened? I’d blame myself for being so quick to jump without searching for the safest car possible for our family.

Please talk me down from my stupidity. Surely I am being unreasonable here? Any ŠKODA Karoq owners here who can share some positive stories so that I can start enjoying our new car and not feeling anxious and regretful every time I drive us somewhere in it.

TIA

SUVs are more likely to roll and the perceived safety has more to do with marketing than reality, even the safety tests are open to interpretation. Even with automatic braking, if the person near you is too close for the braking speed you will hit them and SUVs are more likely to do damage. This race to the biggest gets a bit silly, I could afford a massive car but I like my small one and I don't worry about an SUV ploughing into me. I do however despair at people trying to get them up double parked streets. I'd look out some therapy because size of car and safety is not helpful. People are terrible at assessing risk and deciding what is safe. All modern cars are safer than they've ever been regardless of size and 5* and safety features can give a false sense of security with risky situations. Sadly I think how blasé you are about your cars ability to cause a serious accident demonstrates that, every car owner should have at the back of their mind and care about that as much as their family. If not for having empathy but the legal/financial/criminal implications.

I have a Karoq, and feel it’s a good, safe car, and higher than anything else I’ve had.

So everybody just gets bigger and bigger cars so that they feel safer? You're being ridiculous. Car accidents are relatively unlikely, so just drive your car and get on with your life.

The skoda karoq is the same length, width and weight as a ford focus, and only taller by 20cm

I drive a 2021 Karoq; it's only 4cm wider than the 2012 Zafira which it replaced (I bought the Zafira for its boot space for camping holidays in France). Have you compared current "small" cars with their predecessors? The current VW Polo is bigger than the original VW Golf; my SIL drives a Yaris Hybrid which is massively bigger than its predessesor. I bought the Karoq because I have a 40 mile round trip to work, almost entirely on motorway, and I have got used to the seat height of the Zafira (I have back problems). I go into the office a maximum of 2 days a week (unless DH and DD2 can deal with the heating engineers one day next week I will need to swap to WFH) and my car regularly sits in the driveway for several days between commutes - I have shops within walking distance and walk when I can.

That means electric cars would very taxed way more as they inherently weigh a lot more that the diesel/petrol equivalent. Maybe they should be taxed more if they are wearing the road out more quickly. Anyway that's a question for another thread.

Just cheer yourself up thinking about how much money you now WON'T be spending on repairs now you've got rid of the RR.

I work at a small independent car sales company. Evoques are the absolute worst for reliability. A Qashqai is probably more reliable than an Evoque and that's saying something!

The Skoda is an absolutely fab car.

Darling, this is all so ridiculous.

Please go and see your GP and get him to prescribe you some stronger anti-anxiety medication.

What you are taking now just isn't working.

You sound very mentally unwell.