Rise in ‘bigger’ cars

[Hannahblueberry]

Driven by women specifically. Prompted by a conversation between my friend and I today after witnessing a woman trying (and failing) to park a ridiculously large car in a shopping centre car park.

What do you think the rise is driven by? Cars being made bigger in general?

My friends theory was that due to Covid and hybrid/WFH policies, couples sold one of their cars and in the main, the man kept their car which tended to be the bigger one.

Safety has made cars bigger. See old Fiestas or Minis compared to new ones. They are tiny! All those side impact bars take up space.

Kids: you can't get more than two car seats/boosters in the back of a normal car so as soon as #3 is on the way you need a tank.

People like driving the bigger, higher cars.

Disability: higher cars are easier to get in and out of and the population is aging.

But it is odd, just how big they've got for people who don't need the space etc. Is it that a hatchback feels old fashioned? I like driving a little hatchback, personally, but I am not into cars.

Ah that MN staple - the weekly SUV bashing thread.
It’s great that a site that is supposed to represent women is increasingly ever at odds with the reality that women are buying SUVs in ever increasing quantities. Why? Because they want to.
i love my Range Rover. Did I think about the environment when I bought it? Or pedestrian safety? NOPE. I thought about how good it looks and how good I look in it and
how good it makes me feel as I fly past tiny people in tiny cars who could never hope to afford the same as me.

Mobility issues for older people often make big expensive cars easier.

My mum has one - she finds it much better for someone older and with mobility problems to get in and out of and drive overall. She can see the road better from higher up and as it’s automatic she finds it less tiring to drive. She can’t easily open car boots, so the big one has an automatic boot. It’s easier to load when she needs to carry shopping. It has lots of camera assisted parking features so she finds it easier to park overall, even though it’s bigger. She also feels safer in it because it’s bigger.

I drive a little no-frills pretty ancient manual supermini, which I’m very fond of; but my mum really struggles to get in and out of it and to drive it now.

Boomers often have more disposable income to buy bigger cars, so I bet there’s been lots of growth in that market for the SUV-type cars.

I love my big SUV. Because we have five children I always drove an enormous vehicle as they were3 growing up, for them and all of their sporting equip. Now I just like driving big cars.

Got a source for that? A modern, hybrid small car will be more efficient and have lower emissions than a hybrid SUV, because it weighs less. There’s no way around that.

Lorries are essential. EVs will supersede the ICE because they’re wildly more efficient. SUVs are a luxury item for most.

Blah blah blah

Traditionally in more urban settings, shit drivers buy them to feel safer.. sadly that means the rest of us are in more danger so then more people switch over in self defense!

Oh come on. Much easier to park next to a small car in a bay - you can open your door for one. Much easier to drive around when they are parked in the road. Less likely to be blinded by high bright headlights. Much easier to see round or over them when you are pulling out together at junctions.

Well, aren’t you a charmer!

I don’t drive an SUV because cars aren’t very important to me, and I mostly do city driving in an area where parking is scarce so my tiny economical car is very useful and I don’t need a bigger one. I also think Range Rovers are ridiculous cars which break down a lot and are uneconomical and very ugly 😆

Yet your opinion is clearly in the minority.

Jeez @MemorableTrenchcoat

Google/AI is your friend.

This took all of 2 seconds to find.

https://www.parkers.co.uk/best-cars/low-emission-cars/

Theres at least 2 SUVs on here that are more efficient/less polluting than the small cars you claim are so good.

So yeh, there IS a way around that. SMH.

I wouldn’t pick one if I could afford one, and I get a hefty discount
my VW is more reliable

More often than not, I see plenty of small cars badly parked and straddling more than one bay...

As for the headlights - any car can blind any one - t'is subjective.

I think if you live on a modern new build housing estate with a small drive and you’re mainly just going to the supermarket and school runs, you're a bit of a pillock for having one. If you have a big house with a large drive in the country, then fill your boots.
Car parking spaces do need to be bigger though to accommodate the increased size in cars.

A small car parked badly is probably causing a lot less bother than an SUV parked badly

What bollocks.

A badly parked car is a badly parked car.

Ergo, space is reduced for others.

Size is not the issue. Its the occupation of more than one space that is the issue.

But dont let facts spoil your pseudo argument.

We have a Landrover Discovery because my daughter is horsey, my husband and son ride mountain bikes and I sell crafts at fairs so need to carry crates and a table setup. Pair that with living rurally in an area that frequently floods/gets snowbound and throw in a dash of multiple camping holidays a year and we need a big car that’s high off the ground, can cope with rural potholes and mud/water/ice, can tow and has a huge boot space. We also like to visit the beach in the winter, pop all the seats down flat and have a brew/eat fish and chips in the back with a few blankets.

I did try doing all that in my little Nissan Pixo, but it didn’t really work.

Which opinion? That I don’t personally need a big car, or that Range Rovers break down a lot and are ugly? 😆

I had to call the AA out recently (DP left lights on by mistake and drained my battery — my car never normally needs any repairs!), and even the AA bloke who turned up saw my neighbour’s Range Rover and was joking that he’s called out to Range Rovers more often then any other car and they’re unbelievably easy to steal 🤣

Grow up.

It’s just a pity that’s it’s not a better chance of survival for pedestrians if they get hit.

That is going to depend on the speed too.
That would be like saying lorries should be banned because there is no coming back if one runs over you.

Oh and my brother in law actually works for Jaguar Land Rover and won’t even buy one of their own cars! He has a VW golf which he says is better! 😂

Wow, that’s some source. A quick look at the Volkswagen website shows the a plug-in hybrid Golf (not an SUV) has emissions of 5.911 g/km, about 75% lower than the vehicle at the top of your list.

Most people round here just tootle about in them.i don't see the point.

My little vw manages motorways, lanes and busy high streets every day, no issues.

Big cars down the lane piss me off. 2 old size cars can pass, but a massive one means we're stuck. Unless I go in the ditch. But actually, your car can probably get out of the ditch again and mine can't.

And car spaces used to give you enough space to get out of your car, but if you've got a really wide one next to you, it naturally reduces the space. Which is unfair, because my car fits.

And why do so many drivers of big cars struggle to see over the steering wheel?

And?

You asked for a source and I gave you one which shows some SUVs have lower emissions than non-SUVs.

I'm not about to do a deep dive and compare every vehicle on sale. You're welcome to do so if you feel so strongly about it.