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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that if you have 4x4...

153 replies

SoupDragon · 06/02/2009 08:22

... you should move across to drive in the snowy bit of road and leave the clear part to the ordinary car coming towards you?

It is, after all, the one time per year that your 4x4 is actually necessary in town.

OP posts:
Original poster
SoupDragon · 06/02/2009 13:18

I live in the middle of suburbia. Trust me, there are no "working" 4x4s here!

OP posts:
Original poster
SoupDragon · 06/02/2009 13:19

And even if there were, they should still blimmin well move over onto the snowy bit of road

OP posts:
PrimulaVeris · 06/02/2009 13:25

But Maple, you can spot a working one by the amount of caked-on mud and general state. Dahn in da sarf-east they're all polished to match the owner's bling - if you can see da bling through the smoke-glass windows, that is.

And to (finally) answer the OP yes they damned well need to move over ... after all if they can cope with a whole 1cm of snow

kettlechip · 06/02/2009 13:30

Totally agree with maplepecanplait (yum..)

kettlechip · 06/02/2009 13:32

but also with the OP, YANBU to expect them to go through 1cm of snow. Think there is a big regional divide on this one, you don't see many Cayennes down in the West Country..

MsSparkle · 06/02/2009 13:34

"but each time one of these threads appears we all have to justify our existence."

I couldn't agree more. When people with regular cars say they won't give way to 4x4 drivers in town, well how do you know the 4x4 driver doesn't live in the sticks and is in town to do some shopping or simply just driving through it?

In no way am i trying to deny there are 4x4 drivers who drive status symbol cars that have never seen abit of mud but i am just curious that as everyone is so keen to tar all 4x4 drivers that they see in town with the same brush, how could you possibly know where they live or where they have come from?

PrimulaVeris · 06/02/2009 13:40

Well I'm basing my comments on:

  • 4 neighbours within 50 yards, who use theirs to drive to school, supermarket, gym and railway station (all within 1 mile radius)
  • those parked outside my dc's school, all of whom live well within 1 mile radius

"The sticks" doesn't really exist much round here

violethill · 06/02/2009 13:42

Of course you can't know where they all come from, but you have a pretty good idea when they are doing the school run every day and you know they live in the same town/city as you.

Most 4x4 drivers I know aren't farmers, or living out in the sticks. They are city dwellers.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 06/02/2009 13:42

Oh, ours wasn't 1cm, it was about 15 inches.

OP posts:
sarah293 · 06/02/2009 13:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MsSparkle · 06/02/2009 13:46

Well find the people i know with 4x4s are more likely to walk or cycle short distances because their car costs more to run. Imo, if you have a car that is fairly cheep to run, you will more likely drive less than a mile to go to the shop.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree

PrimulaVeris · 06/02/2009 13:52

Good lord MsSparkle the 4x4 drivers round here would NEVER dream of walking a short distance. They drive to the gym ffs!

I guess there is indeed a cultural or geographical divide

MaplePecanPlait · 06/02/2009 13:54

If it makes the small car people feel any better there are lots of 4x4 owners who can't sell their vehicles ATM and have lost lots of capital value in them.

So, there is a bit of retribution for those that need it.

Just for the record our Toyota 4x4 has privacy glass and can look totally 'wrong' in town if it has just had a wash. Admittedly only gets a wash once a year so feel I am safe with my 4 inches of muck to protect me......

MsSparkle · 06/02/2009 13:57

Well that seems abit silly, driving to the gym What idiots!

Original poster
SoupDragon · 06/02/2009 13:59
Hmm
OP posts:
sandy4 · 06/02/2009 14:41

How else does one transport the 3 DCs to school??

It also comes in handy driving through the french alps. OK, so we don't need the tinted windows but the sound system is really cool!

sandy4 · 06/02/2009 14:42

sorry, I am in the west country & drive a cayenne...

sandy4 · 06/02/2009 14:42

sorry, I am in the west country & drive a cayenne...

violethill · 06/02/2009 15:04

You got Noddy out of that ditch yet sandy?

sandy4 · 06/02/2009 15:33

Twas a struggle, but he has emerged from the ditch, unscathed, a true believer in the power of the 4x4.

Oh,forgot - YANBU

sarah293 · 06/02/2009 15:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Heated · 06/02/2009 16:03

Have just pushed a faux 4x4 out of the snow drift next to the house as I got tired of the sound of spinning wheels. Didn't even say thank you! Pah!

Dh says I am a nice person and to feel sorry for the man in his slip-on-shoes.

Highlander · 06/02/2009 16:09

we have a honda crv, which I think counts as a Chelsea Tractor.

fark Orf, we love it. Pile a ton of shit in it when we go away for the w/e.

DH trains it to wrk, I walk every where so it's only hauled out of the drive at the w/e.

Have a friend with 2 cars; they bitch constantly at our 4x4

tiredsville · 06/02/2009 16:27

I too have a 4x4, and must say it was since having my DC that I felt compelled to get a vehicle that I felt safe in.
I have on many occasions driven to France and Spain. I also feel safer on the motorways and am no longer terrified that the burger eating lorry driver is going to kill me and my family by falling asleep at the wheel.
Why do you not get your knickers in a twist about the White Man driver or the juicy BMW'S, Jaguars, Mercedez drivers?

MitchyInge · 06/02/2009 16:38

I struggle to break the speed limit in mine even in 30mph zones, but I felt bad all day about calling him a 'wanked out pile of crap' and suggesting he was not stylish - I don't agree with people saying 4x4s are safer though, they are certainly not very safe for pedestrians and I wouldn't fancy manouevring (manouevering?) mine around a very urban sort of environment