Has anyone got a 4x4?

[momof2]

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

My backside is about 4x4 now.....>sigh

lol merryberry - but of course you don't mean 'wide' as in a 4x4, you mean 'attractive' as in a 4x4

dh's normal-car sized Audi A4 quattro 4 x 4 was MUCH better in snow than a 2 WD car.

4 x 4 in itself is a GOOD thing.

However, large chelsea tractors with poor MPG are so unnecessary in so many cases

good on you, hmc.

I really don't understand why it is ok to victimise 4x4 drivers. I live in a town full of mercs and bmws, most expensive enoough that they do less mpg than my 4x4. Why not victimise them? I need a large car and I want my children to be safe - what possible justification does anyone have for supercars in a country where it is illegal to go over 70mph?

Disco's do have a tendency to roll over especially when driven by painted ladies on country lanes

Kelly, I too want my children to be safe, which is why I am sick of 4x4's being driven so badly...they are so much bigger and cumbersome than ordinary cars and unfortunately some people seem unable to manouevre them effectively. The sight of someone driving one these vehices straight at your child is enough to make your blood run cold....
I don't want to victimise 4x4 drivers and a lot of people obviously have a need for them and prob drive them very well, but they are lethal in the wrong hands and our roads are too small for the enormous number of them around at present.

Kelly1978 - But is your car the safest car for your family? Did you see the stats about how they are more likely to roll over?

My car doesn't feature that highly on passenger safety and when we get a new car I will look up the passenger and pedestrian safety ratings before choosing.... that still won't lead me to buy an over-wide, over-high, unnecessary 4X4.

And I feel the same about people speeding or white van men cutting us up etc...our roads are so bloody dangerous anyway...
Am definitely off now as starting to sound like my Mother!

any car is lethal in the wrong hands. Personally I would be more worried my boy racers and grumpy bmw drivers who seem to think they own the roads. I am careful drivign my 4x4, especially where there are kids around. Our school is down a dead end which turns to a dirt track. I get to the school fifteen minutes early, turn round, park safely and legally, then drive out at 5-10 miles ph so that I can be sure that I'm not going to hit any child that might run out in front of me.

I see people turning up as the doors open, parking on the zig zag lines, trying to maneuvere and turn round in a tiny offroad track where dozens of kids are swarming into school, half on the path, or right on top of the mini roundabout where kids are trying to cross to get to school.

Who is more dangerous?? It is not fair to make assumptions just because it is a 4x4.

Well DH's car got a 5 for passenger safety, 2 for pedestrian safety and a 4 for child protection rating. Its the same manufacturer as HMC's car to be and they are well known for their safety record. Mine got 4 and 2 so thats average.

a ford fiesta gets 4 for occupancy and 2 for pedestrian - what does that mean? is high bad?

no it means you're safe but pedestrians are not so safe but as you're not planning to mow any of them down I wouldn't worry

Kelly
I agree any car is lethal but 4x4's are so darn huge that they are particularly so and they seem to be very difficult to drive/park (at least judging by how people manage round here)particularly when in reverse, we've had a few near misses as drivers and pedestrians with imbeciles here trying to reverse out of their drive and not looking at all .
Good on you if you do park/drive responsibly.

large off-roaders safety ratings

Nothing better than 1 star for pedestrian safety, but mostly 4 or 5 stars for the privileged occupants, so that's all right then.

er

sorry if a durr question

but surely any car is dangerous to pedestrians?

and someof the 4 x 4s are as safe if not safer than my ford?

i'd be a shocking driver if I got a 4x4

Kelly - aren't those parents the worst? They do that at DH's school. They kinf of force more parents to drive their children in because the roads around the school are so unsafe for children walking. What makes them think they have the right to park on zigzags and double yellow lines. Some of them park across the carpark exit and block the teachers from leaving

DD1 used to go to a nursery attached to an Independent school. I'm afraid to say there were a lot of 4X4 and MPV drivers there. When I dropped DD off, I used to park a one minute walk away, probably 50 metres from the nursery entrance, in a space on a residential road. We'd frequently have problems crossing the road to the nursery because there'd be a massive vehicle parked on the corner of the road.

I never worked out whether they were lazy or unable to parrallell park their large vehicles.

At DH's school, however, it is all types of cars causing the danger.

obviously i have 2 kids and I have never felt any more intimidated by a 4x4/MPV driver than any other car whilst we are being pedestrians. Obviously I make sure my children dont wander all over the road and stay on the pavements. I think the likelihood of any vehicle deciding to mount the pavement to drive on it is pretty remote and its more likely to be a regular car than a MPV/4x4 based on the fact that there are more of them around

The best class for pedestrian safety are recent small MPVs, Japanese and German.

Enid, if you are hit by any vehicle you are going to be hurt, obv, but survival rates are much higher with some designs than with others. Older cars are v unfriendly to pedestrians because they have lots of square corners and pointy bits but most modern cars are more sloping and rounded. Even the huge 4x4s have nice rounded corners but their basic front end shape is brick wall.

skinnycow - that's quite a flippant comment to make about making sure your children stay on the pavement. We all do that. But, toddlers and pre-schoolers can run off or fall over (mine hops, skips and jumps everwhere) And older children are unable to judge the speed of traffic until around age 11. A report cam eout recently saying children between the age of 10 and 12 were most likely to die in a road accident.

the Honda CRV seems to be a bit better than others

its not a flippant comment Beatie - its a fact. I dont believe Ive ever seen a car driving along the pavement. And why are you still grouping 4x4 drivers with illegal parking manaeouvres?

I wonder what type of car causes most accidents though

I bet its not 4 x 4s

more likely golfs or fiestas with rear spoilers and huge bass bins

In America, approximately one parent a week backs over and kills one of their own children in their 4x4.[8.9]

sorry but lol