Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Has anyone got a 4x4?

673 replies

momof2 · 04/03/2004 13:36

We have just decided to get rid of our faithful Hippo (Nissan Micra) and branch out into the uncertain world of much larger family cars.
I have been looking at a discovery or freelander - please note all old ones not new.
Has anyone any experience of how good/bad they are please? Or any 4x4's they would recommend or MPV's
Many thanks

OP posts:
Blu · 08/11/2005 16:41

OK, any opinions aside, I am genuinely baffled as to how so many people on Mn can afford £30k for a vehicle. Do you save up, or get a finance deal, or what?

DP and I earn above the stated average salary in London, and with mortgae (not outstandingly huge), I can just about afford to run a punto. Which I bought 2nd hand specifically because it was in the low road tax bracket, cheap to run, and v cheap insurance.

Do you make sacrifices on other things to run the car, or are people richer than I thought? (in which case, I'm envious, of course, but not in a bitter way, and if I was rich, a car wouldn't be top of my shopping list, anyway. Am just not interested in them enough to be envious, iyswim)

Bozza · 08/11/2005 16:44

blu not all 4x4 cost that much - especially if bought 2nd hand. We would struggle to run one though I think. DH has company Volvo and I have a bought from new Fiesta. We reckon if we put £100 a month into an ISA we should be able to afford to replace it like for like when it is 5 years old.

Anteater · 08/11/2005 16:50

Well my 4x4 is in fact a 5 yo Hilux pickup, value around £2000 on a good day. I consider often trading it but I really love this one! Its my third. I use our old Volvo for the school run etc.

JoolsToo · 08/11/2005 16:52

all our kids have left home!

Kelly1978 · 08/11/2005 17:12

my 4x4 cost far less than £30k. it was bought second hand and we got a far newer car/lower milage than what we would have got if we had bough a people carrier so it was the cheap option really. It does cost a lot to run, but I see that as the price we pay for having a 4x4.

fimac1 · 08/11/2005 17:13

The motto for 4x4 drivers should be 'Its all about me, deal with it', like the slogan on my 11 year olds teeshirt the comments

We have cars, people unfortunatly will always been involved in accidents unless we all decide to cycle everywhere (yes but you will more likely kill if you drive a 4x4)

and

In a 4x4 I feel my kids are safe, and I'm sorry but I care more about my kids than strangers in the road (ditto - everyone else isn't though!)

and
I don't like the enviromental effects, but there is nothign I can do about that (no comment as I am speechless)

I rest my case that they are f**k you cars

skinnycow · 08/11/2005 17:35

gosh - dont you just hate slogan tshirts!

Kelly1978 · 08/11/2005 18:13

pmsl

fimac1 · 08/11/2005 19:19

No - hate 4x4 and their drivers

JoolsToo · 08/11/2005 19:21

all you 4x4 haters and environmentalists should put your money where your mouth is - sell your car and use public transport there are far too many cars on the road polluting the atmosphere and knocking people over full stop. If you're so keen about protecting the ozone layer and pedestrians well being, get walking like I did with 3 kids in the 70's - no excuses! (and hope white van man doesn't get you instead!)

Btw how many of you chuck stinky disposal nappies in the bin? Like I said - let he who is without sin ....

MrsDoolittle · 08/11/2005 19:28

For what it's worth Jools and I couldn't resist!! Dh and I are going down to one car as of December because we really have thought about changing our lifestyle, or atleast adapting it as much as we can. However, this will be gradual and because we live out in the sticks where public transport is poor it is impossible for us to give up our cars completely.
I also use cloth nappies and will do so again for number 2!!

The truth is we have been living incredibly hectically, both of us on good, above average salaries, two cars and both of us doing 70 mile round trips to work. Neither of us have been happy with this and we really needed to change.

weesaidie · 08/11/2005 19:28

Ha ha! If that is your motto then no one should care about safety and the environment... any argument should be 'well I do this wrong but I do this right so there!

I don't have a car. But if I did I wouldn't have a 4x4. As has been mentioned many times this not just about the environment (as lots of others have admitted to owning cars) but also about safety. That of others and not just of 4x4 drivers.

Stilltrue · 08/11/2005 19:28

"hate 4x4 and their drivers" ??
I'm surprised none of you are up in arms about, for example:

  • boy racers who speed everywhere in all sorts of vehicles
  • uninsured drivers (who in truth are behind the vast majority of all car accidents, and cost the rest of us a fortune in hiked up insurance premiums
  • drunk drivers There are worse people to vilify, surely.
weesaidie · 08/11/2005 19:30

That may be but you cannot tell people what to argue about.

However I am sure if you start a thread on it people will start villifying away. Still as most people will probably agree there then it probably won't be as interesting.

Heathcliffscathy · 08/11/2005 19:32

i think the point is surely that 4x4 drivers should know better and have plenty of opportunity to flash their cash and keep their babies safe in cars that are more fuel efficient, and less dangerous and don't make them look like such utter t*ssers.

weesaidie · 08/11/2005 19:38

lol

fimac1 · 08/11/2005 19:41

I do walk to school with the kids (as I did in the 1970's also) and we have one Ford Focus between us (Dh cycles - taking his life in his hands everyday with the traffic on the roads)

I wonder if Kelly1978 id refers to her age? - if so, she is a product of Maggie 'No such thing as society' Thatcher, a sobering and depressing thought.....

NotQuiteCockney · 08/11/2005 20:02

I really don't get the "you who are without sin" thing. Does that mean that I can't complain about murderers unless I have never broken any law?

I know, I know, it's a Biblical thing. But as none of us are actually planning to stone 4x4 drivers to death, does it apply?

skinnycow · 08/11/2005 20:13

but owning and driving isnt a sin unlike murder

NotQuiteCockney · 08/11/2005 20:18

It isn't really in line with the whole "do unto others" thing. Unless you don't believe in global warming + fuel shortages, I guess. Oh, you'd have to not believe in traffic jams, too ... if everyone had a 4x4 (including pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users), all these would be worse.

skinnycow · 08/11/2005 20:19

Im not hte one who drives 70 miles to work and back

Skribble · 08/11/2005 20:43

If only we all lived in London and only had the school run and weekly visits to Tesco's to worry about. Truth be I pass more sheep than people on the way to work.

I agree that some 4x4 drivers fit your stereotypes but not all, its a bit like Volvo estate and Subaru Impreza drivers, plenty of w*nkers driving them.

Maybe the attitude is different up here but I don't get abuse, I'm sure taxis and white vans cause just as much pollution and bodily harm as any 4x4. Over 30mph the shape of the car is less relevant anyway as car V pedestrian collisons are likely to be fatal anyway.

JoolsToo · 08/11/2005 20:48

up their own arses
keeping up with the Joneses
flashing their cash
tossers
4x4 drivers think 'f*ck you'

Nice!

all this is based solely on the car you drive?

Never let it be said that mumsnetters are judgmental

and with that I bow out gracefully and I hope with my integrity in tact!

Skribble · 08/11/2005 21:04

BTW mine cost less than a new Ford fiesta.

skinnycow · 08/11/2005 21:04

worse than racism imo!

Swipe left for the next trending thread