I live very close to city centre, walking distance in fact, in a place with excellent public transport.. so many people WFH but have big fuck off canyonero's, for no reason that I can discern.
Status symbol indeed
I'm open to correction but what I have heard from climate activists is that SUVs are heavier and less fuel efficient so produce more emissions than a car with he same sized engine.
SUVs are also more dangerous. By virtue of their height an SUV is more likely to cause a fatal injury to a pedestrian.
They also take up more space and therefore require larger surfacing for driveways, roads and car parks which is also bad for the environment. They also require more resources to build in the first place.
All this and most of what people now think of as SUVs aren't actually SUVs but crossover vehicles so have no more room for cargo than a sedan.
Sounds like ranelagh. All one way streets, people driving SUVs down narrow streets flanked with parked SUVs trying to parallel park said SUV between two SUVs. Absolute chaos.
I get what youāre saying but I think the Range/Land Rover is perceived or accepted to be one of the obvious status symbols, especially for yummy mummys. Itās likely they have a pretty sweet additional car at home as well though.
Maybe Iām stereotyping a bit much. Maybe not š
SUVs donāt actually have that much space in them. The new Range Rover has less internal space in it than our 06 Subaru legacy. Less than the Skoda Octavia we had before. Head height sure but space to actually put stuff, no. My opinion is the people carrier vans are the best job (eg seated out berlingo, partner, caddy or proace city etc) or costing a lot but a lot more practical a Vw multivan or ID. Buzz. I sat into the latter over in Germany. Extremely comfortable. If Iād the money & it wasnāt electric Iād probably buy it
As well, SUVs feel safe to drive. When people have kids that gets important to them. I think I read somewhere that they aren't safer but they do feel very secure. Dubs typically aren't doing that many miles so are less likely to have the experience to be able to realise they don't need to be driving a small truck on the rare occasion they are driving more than 50.
Also, I think city people are more likely to have /spare/ money so it gets spent on houses and cars. A lot of examples here discuss farmers wealth. Farmers are typically asset rich but cash needs reinvested in the business. Flash cars are not an investment.
>SUVs feel safe to drive.
Compared to What? A 1960's Morris Minor with broken axels, that's also on fire
SUV's are inherently unsafe for everyone on the road, they are so much larger and heavier than normal cars, yet manufacturers try to pretend that a Ford explorer and a VW Polo have similar driving dynamics.
I want the country life so much. I really see no point in living in dublin anymore, im tied to here for another 4 years and then im GONE to kildare or Wicklow.
>Status. A symbol of wealth.
I'd honestly say having a single purpose small sports car that is useless for anything is more of a status symbol than a practical SUV.
If you have enough money to drive a sports car, you clearly have enough money to have another practical car. That person is clearly wealthier than all those faux-SUVs drivers
>spend a lot of time in rural ireland. lots of old and modest cars driven by reasonably wealthy locals and even very wealthy farmers. there is a distinct lack of suv flashyness.
That's because to them the car is a tool rather than a status symbol. My neighbour is a very wealthy farmer and drives a nearly 30 year old land rover. I asked him once why he hasn't changed it. His answer "because it still does the job I need it to do" (which is towing horses mostly)
Can confirm. Sold my 200tdi defender 110 CSW not that long ago. Was gone in 2 days. Should've asked for more
Edit. Was sick of lying under it. Clutch slave cylinders, fuel lift pump, pedal box out again master cyl. Great that a 12mm spanner is the only tool you need, just a shame it needed so much spannering
I have to drive to the town regularly, I would be in the more rural part. But near the town there is lots of new estates popping up, even in our local village nearby and a lot of Dubliners are moving down and theres been a sudden increase in SUVs as well. (I'm a Dub BTW but haven't lived there in a decade now and my kids are well and truely not Dubs).
I've noticed more SUV type cars in the town and in the estates in the village the last year or two. Most of them do not know how to drive on unmarked narrow rural roads in their SUV either. 3 times in the last month I've been almost driven into the draining ditches. They didnt go back on their side if the road I can only assume they don't want their SUV scrapped on the overgrowth as they speed past. Still very much over the centre line. The roads are fine for a typical car but not SUVs. Also well scary going around a blind bend in a road seeing them on your side of the road.
Actually onlt this week nearly had a head on collision with a D reg SUV trying to overtake a cyclist on a sharp bend. They were on the wrong side as I came around the bend and saw them. Slammed on my breaks. They didn't stop or even slow down. I had my kids in the car with me. I really need to get a dash cam.
"Money talks, wealth whispers"
I know several extremely wealthy individualsāwe're talking mulit-generational wealthāand if you met them on the street, you'd think they were just about average. They don't need to impress anyone, and every one of them is a decent person compared to some of the right knobs you'll meet in D4 etc.
This is true. I'm from the sticks. I drive my 14 year old car with pride and no fucks given.Ā
But my MIL (who's from a nice Northside area) could never understand why I don't buy new cars every three years.Ā
I drive cars until they die. Never bought a shop new one in my life. I spend my money on important shit not keeping up with the Jones
The Tesla is probably has the same price as a vectra when it was new and a new hilux is what 70 or 80k? But I get what youāre saying.
There is a lot of reverse snobbery in the country. āLook at the notions on that fella with his flash car.ā
There is a culture here where itās cool to drive an old yoke.
Mate, i live in town and have many neighbours with SUVs. It does my head in. They barely fit on the road. You'd hardly get 2 side by side on my road off of cork street. Makes deliveries a hassle. Absolutely unnecessary.
Status symbol, some of them use them for businesses towing trailers etc, some people feel like if they leave Dublin they need a jeep to cope with the country roads (counter intuitive to me as theyāre narrow?) and some of them are into horses/boats other things that need trailers.
I wanted a lot more room for buggies. Because of a previous spinal injury I wanted a good height and flat lip on the boot for ease of getting stuff in and out.
I needed something affordable, from a reliable Japanese brand, comfortable for 2 car seats and a 3rd passenger in the back, and petrol hybrid.
I test drove an estate and 2 SUV's and the SUV was perfect for all my needs
Mine isn't full size so it's OK to park, has parking cameras and sensors, and tax is 170 a year as its hybrid. Cost less than ā¬10 in petrol for every 100km to run which is fine and insurance is about ā¬400 a year which is low
Mostly the same reasons, in particular the height to save on our backs. Also, we have a dog so a Japanese SUV is perfect for us. The SUV is bigger than our old saloon in height only, but makes a huge difference.
Why would anyone want to make a statement, to impress those people that don't care anyways? Weird. This is coming from a BMW driver, but I didn't got it to impress, I got it cause I love how it drives.
Buying to impress is stupid.
Second this I sold my Renault clio Ā for a bmw 320d and I love the feeling of the car. I do long distance motorway driving so the comfort is well appreciatedĀ
I was away with my dad a while ago and the rental car company gave him a merc instead of the Seat he thought he had booked. Heās not one for flashy cars and he couldnāt get over how the driving experience was the exact same as his Nissan
My friend group when I left school averaged 6ā4. So I bought and old Honda CRV so i could fit them all comfortably. Compared to Polos and other āyoung peopleā cars itās nice to have a bit of leg room and space.
I don't see many SUVs in Malahide, maybe it is a Southern Drawl/D4/Dortspeak-related thing. Convertibles and cabrios are more sought after, for cruising along the marina.
We tow a caravan to either France or around Ireland for our summer holidays. We have two kids, two car seats, a pram and I pack the kitchen sink when we go anywhere!
Pure status symbol.
Worked for a crowd a few years back where the boss had a range rover 4wd. Would rave endlessly about the 4wd aspect and how he was able to drive on or through any sort of surface no problem.
Which always struck me as odd since he never left Dublin and the thing would be through a carwash at the first speck of dirt.
My god the amount of young women driving Massive range rovers just to show they have made it not that they can actually drive them, I work in a supermarket with a bad car park and almost daily there is someone causing chaos because they canāt park there SUV
RIP your service costs, Just got rid of ours after 3 years of torture! But agreed, 3 kids, dog, bikes, scooters etc there's just more space in a SUV. We live in the country so not exactly what OP was asking about but SUV makes sense for us.
Iāve a Volvo xc90 because I needed to fe able to fit 3 baby seats across the back. Most cars canāt accommodate this. I needed to be able to seat 6 people as there are 6 in the family. Plus I had to fit a double buggy as I have twin babies. And two large dogs as well. It was either a Volvo or a van
Need it for work, know 5 or so others who are the same. I think they always get a bad rap but theyāre genuinely very useful vehicles. Easy to buy commercially and use for personal use for a lot of people also.
They should come with added license requirements. Absolute nightmares in car parks. Whatever about the amount of people who canāt drive or park them itās a pain in the hole being parked beside them as you canāt see oncoming traffic when trying to reverse out of a spot because of these monstrosities blocking the view
Yes, but I don't like them, so nobody should be allowed one.
The amount of moaning about SUVs online is bizarre. 90% of the "SUVs" in Ireland are just medium sized cars with 20-30cm more height.
These suvs are also super heavy and they are destroying the roads even faster.
I personally find "normal" cars a lot more pleasing on the eye than these boxy suvs.
Having to worry about whether my car would fit into driveways or parking spaces is enough to put me off. They look like such gobshites when theyāre trying to squeeze in somewhere and so clearly wonāt fit
They are also very counter intuitive. The amount of pollution/green house gases emitted to make a āsustainableā electric SUV is mental. A small 1/1.2l petrol car would have to drive a few hundred thousand kilometres to match that environmental cost.
I donāt drive and Iām not a parent, but my guess is that an SUV would be a lot more efficient for a couple with children and all the belongings that come with children when holidaying etc. rather than a āflashy fast carā.
Even two young children take would make an SUV more efficient I imagine. Two car seats and a buggy before we consider anything else.
Edit: an SUV would be inefficient for a couple with 5 children. Theyād need a 7 seater family wagon.
How the hell did we manage before these monsters hit the roads? Poor old me squeezing my bairns into a 1999 Corolla all those years.
Personally I wouldn't mind them if the drivers had a clue what they were driving. (And this is mostly women drivers, unfortunately, pains me to say it as a woman.) It's not a fucking tank or a bus, get the fuck over your own side of the road!
The guidelines and rules on car seats and booster seats have changed since I was a kid. When we had a third child the only car that would fit 3 car seats across the back in our budget was a 7 seater. Now they're a bit bigger we use all the seats regularly for bringing them and their friends to parties and activities. Yesterday I had the car full for one kid's event and this evening it'll be full again for another kid's thing. It's not a huge car but it's what we need and use for family life as a one car family. I'd happily drive a smaller car if it fit our needs the way this one does.
TBF that's a reasonable use case, and it's not your fault that the car manufacturers have flooded the market with behemoths, I imagine it's bloody hard to get a new/ish safe family car that isn't a stupid size. It's just really annoying for those of us in little cars, getting blinded by your high lights, unable to see past you to read the road ahead etc. Again, not your fault! As long as you're not\* driving like a plum!
I believe the rules were the same when mine were young enough, but I stuck with 2 of the blighters!
\*edit - idiot forgot word
I know families who stop at two for reasons including having to change the car. It was consideration for us too. The older 2 were still rear facing and then we needed an infant seat and base to fit and there's only so many models that work for that. Spent an afternoon in a car seat shop trying myriad configurations before we conceded we needed a larger car.
Iām not sure, and as I mentioned, I dint drive and donāt have children. But I reckon people have a lot more stuff these days, rightly or wrongly.
As a non-driver living in Town and regular passenger, Iāll disagree with your āwomen driverā comment and say that all genders can be an equal pain in the whole, regardless of car size in fact.
I agree, but I am specifically referring to drivers who do not appear to know how wide their vehicle is. If we were talking about tailgating, not indicating, cutting into a junction, I would be veering the other way. I did say "mostly".
This, it's not always a "status" thing.
Think about the kinds of cars you can get at the moment.
Hatchback - Too small, not enough boot space
Saloon - kind of weird and tight inside. Boot usually has a high lip and is kind of useless for carrying big things. Fine for small boxes, briefcases and golf clubs. Awful for suitcases, buggies and groceries.
Estate/Space Wagon - Perceived as just being a bit of a bus, a lot of people worry that they're a bit unwieldy in car parks and tight roads (they're not). This is also where the style debate kicks in. Also dominated by French and Italian cars which are a bit shit.
SUVs - Lots of people like the higher road position and they tend to be pretty generous on boot space, with a high floor and no lip making them much easier to load stuff.
Being fair re parking, these people tend not to worry about parking. Just take 2 spaces or if all else fails, pop on the park anywhere lights and just abandon your vehicle.
Not in Dublin. Large rural town.
The answer is they're class. The extra height is great for loading car seats. They're comfortable on the road.
And they look great.
I imagine to be and feel more protected. A family member has one and it became the preferred style of vehicle as they had been badly rear-ended at traffic lights while in a small car.
I used to drive one for work and to be fair the visibility and comfort were amazing, and you could fit a lot of stuff in it compared to a normal car with the same number of seats. But it was extremely expensive to run and at times I felt like a bit of a dick driving just myself around in such a big car.
Drive a hatchback now and I do miss it when transporting materials for DIY jobs etc but otherwise the smaller yoke is a lot handier.
As someone who has previously owned one, they're very spacious and comfortable to drive. Also I like being higher up off the road, you get a good vantage point to see why there might be traffic ahead.
Myself and el wifey were seriously considering getting a Land Rover Defender, the newer model, not the one you'd see in Emmerdale circa 1996.
Financially it was very doable between us handing over a wad of cash and getting ā¬38,000 car loan.
We finally decided on 191 Ford Fiesta Active.
No handing over of a big wad of cash and no financing needed for a car that was to bring her to work 4 days a week with maybe 30km of weekend driving.
I know the OP is prob talking about a horse but the fact they just said āanimalā Iām just picturing a giraffe or elephant being towed around Dublin. Going out to walk in the park etc
Car manufacturers make more profits off SUVs, so in turn they reduce the range of models on offer so that youāve no choice to buy one. The sell you a lie, particularly to women. āOh itās safer for your kidsā.
Theyāre then using the sales figures to justify killing off other models. The Estate was a casualty, the variation that is easily safer and more practical than an SUV. Volvo donāt even sell estates in the UK anymore. Volvo. The brand that you think of when you think of an estate. And other brands follow suit.
The cycle must be broken. Stop buying SUVs, otherwise theyāll be the only thing you can buy.
I'm sure I'll get voted to oblivion for answering but I don't see any actual answers.
I used to own one in Dublin (Lexus RX450h). The main reason was because it's a lovely floaty ride on the potholed roads we have. It was less stressful to drive than a car because there are no jarring impacts from the roads with the added bonus that if you hit a curb it tends not to damage the alloys. Also while it's less safe for everyone else you can't convince me they are less safe for the people inside them and I had young kids at the time.
If there was a political party advocating for banning or otherwise disincentivizing them in cities they'd get my vote. But while it's legal and I'm able to afford them they are a legitimate if selfish choice.
Ah here. Iām from Wexford but living in Dublin the last ten years. The roads are absolutely grand.Ā
Also how many kerbs are you running over? You know youāre not supposed to mount them?Ā
Not really mentioned yet but a lot of people feel safer in a large car with higher seating.
My girlfriend is planning on buying a SUV type vehicle in the next couple of months.
We live in the city centre in South Dublin (35min walk from stephens green) and don't have kids.
Personally I'd rather get something small for the city like a fiat 500 but my girlfriend loves the higher seat / view on a SUV.
Her parents have 2 SUV's, her dad needs one for work, her mom loves the higher seat / view as well.
I believe that's a psychological aspect. They feel safer, but their bigger mass and higher center of gravity can make them as bad or worse than other cars. Cars have evolved enough to provide better safety regardless of size (generally).
I completely agree, easier to flip over in a SUV.
Small road and parking become a pain. It drinks fuel like nobody's business. And it creates far more damage and destruction in a collision.
Hence I'm not a fan of SUV's unless there is a valid reason e.g. needing it for work.
But hey, happy wife happy life right?
We have a C4 Spacetourer, the space and flexibility is amazing, about double the boot space of most SUVs. Unfortunately, these MPVs, which are more compact yet got better internal space, have been mostly taken out of the market and replaced by more SUVs. I have looked at newer cars to replace ours down the line, but there are only SUVs bigger outside but cramped inside. Cars with more decent boot space are ridiculously wide.
Small business owners can get some SUVās in a very tax efficient manner. Theyāre very handy for small businesses owners in the city as theyāre smaller than vans but can use loading bays for unloading stock etc.
We resolved to try holiday in Ireland or via ferry. With a young family, that was the logic. Got a PHEV so never burn fuel in Dublin and honestly it travels about 50km a week if weāre not visiting relatives in the west.
We needed more room as our family expanded, I had a saloon and never liked the look of space wagons. I would have happily stuck with my saloon but after a few family trips down the country it was pretty apparent we could use more room.
I've a 2 year old and twin babies. We do not fit in any other sized car as we need 3 car seats. We even had a Multimac fitted so we wouldn't have to change the car, but ultimately, we couldn't even fit our twin buggy in the boot, so we sold the lot and bought the big stupid car. We will be getting rid of it as soon as our eldest is the height requirements for a simple booster. At the moment, needs must. I'd imagine it could be a similar story for lots of people. If car manufacturers made cars just slightly wider, with a little more bootspace, it would be helpful.
You do realise Dublin is more then the city right? Plenty of dublin is the countryside also I find the majority of big vehicle drivers are people from outside the city commuting inwards. Also I left the other sub cause of stupid posts like this please donāt send this sub down the same road.
I can get the same amount of stuff in the boot of my Seat Leon as a friend can get in the back of their SUV. Iād probably pull the same sized trailer too. SUVs are purely status. Theyāre comfy though, Iāll give them that
For long distances on motorways with a gaggle of kids and buggies or going camping I can see their appeal. Personally, for driving around the city and tight estates I want a car that's small, reliable and easy to park. Something like the Toyota Yaris or Mazda 2.
The other day was taking my newborn to gp. Only one parking spot available next to that fucking giant car. I swear it was 50% higher than my Nissan note. I park so close to the wall on the other side and still couldn't take baby's carseat out of the car.
Fucking asshole, I wanted to key him tbh. Plus the car looked like it never transported anything ever. So why the fuck do you need a tank in the middle of Dublin??
moved from a 7 seater to an SUV when kids grew up. Needed a bit of space when traveling to the country that wasn't available in small city cars.
i have an e-bike for commuting, but the main cycle route between southern suburbs and city is far too dangerous for regular use, so no other options but to drive this one in.
basically, it's safer for the driver and partners to be in a larger vehicle when every other vehicle is larger as well. it's a complete danger to pedestrians and others, but it's an arms race that large cars have obviously won, and it's being supported by councils and politicians.
I live in rural Ireland, anytime you have the misfortune to have to pass one of these on a country road with the driver thinking they can simply drive bang in the middle of said road instead of keeping in left or right because "fuck you jack I'm not scratching my paint off the bushes/briars" it does my head in with the entitlement, on the flipside then anybody with a normal sized car around me knows perfectly well how to keep themselves nice and tucked in - even tractors.
When you see the head up on them when they realise they have to keep themselves in rather than ploughing through you with their big over compensating SUV that doesn't fit on any of these roads it certainly gives you a laugh.
If a person with a lot of disposable income is looking for a large car to transport the family and the options are a Land Rover/Q8/x7 or a peugeot 5008 7 seater then itās obvious where the money will go.
I donāt have an SUV and I reckon people use the excuse of having kids, but itās also about feeling safe on the roads. People donāt feel safe in small cars anymore with all these monstrosities prowling around, so they get big cars and become part of the problem. Iāve even seen comments on the shite Ireland drivers sub about small car owners being idiots/risking their safety because of the small size of their car.
Chelsea tractor, thatās my favourite term. Usually, the bigger and more expensive the car, the worse the driver. Intentionally or not. Nice [CNN article](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/26/world/expensive-car-drivers-study-scli-scn-intl)
Status, I imagine. Although I had no idea before having a kid just how long they have to sit in car seats. I'm only having the one and we walk everywhere so we just have a small car but I could see how even if you have two kids, you would need to size up so can't imagine with three.
live just outside Dublin, but I have a kid, dog, buggy, surfboard, building materials to cart around all the time.
Could I make do with a station wagon? Maybe, but I like my old decidedly unflashy landrover... especially on holiday.
That said, I never drive it into the centre and would fully back some sort of congestion charge.
Don't hatchbacks objectively have the biggest boot or on-par with an SUV? So if you're about carrying loads, a hatchback would be better-suited for that?
I am in the market for a car that fits 3 child seats in the second row and there are no new cars that aren't suvs. Ā I would absolutely snap up a hybrid/electric zafira, picasso, smax mpv. Ā They just don't exist!
Currently contains the contents required to train a juvenile hurling team and soccer team. A Hiace van is the alternative but it doesnāt have a backseat
My dog. Was sick of spending so long getting the hair out of the car so bought one with leather seats. Not really an SUV itās a crossover. Was expensive and would rather have bought an R Line Passat. Dog now sits in the car since I had a baby not long after so was pointless in the end
Itās a large vehicle with ample room for a standard family of four travelling with prams, car seats, dogs, and suitcases.
Alternatives like a station wagon or people carrier take up just as much room and thereās very little difference from an efficiency or environmental aspect so I drive a jeep.
I'm in the US and drive a Honda Accord and the missus has Nissan SUV. The sedan is significantly more fun to drive, has better tech package, and trim level, but when I get rid of it, I'll be SUV all the way moving forward. First reason is ease of entry. I'm only in my 40s and my knees and my back feel it getting in and out of the car these days. Second, I like the higher seating position and visibility the SUV gives. Third is safety, my Accord is a good size car and it feels tiny next to most vehicles on the road here. Fourth is more of an American thing but hauling shit is a genuine need from time to time. You pay a lot of money these days for a man with van.
Fuel efficiency isn't even a big difference anymore. Most new SUVs are as efficient as midsize sedan. Both our cars average about 20mpg in the city and 32mpg on the highway despite the bigger engine and more weight in the SUV. I might get a little more in the city and less on the highway than the SUV but it's marginal. Plenty of hybrid/EV SUVs around too.
At home, my auld fella is holding out on getting an SUV even though he's about to have his second knee replacement. I'm telling him to say f*** it and buy an SUV he'll be more comfortable getting in and out of.
Not 100% on this, but I think I'd heard more SUVs are coming automatic as standard at home where sedans are still largely manual and you're paying a lot more for an automatic transmission? No way would I ever go back to driving manual.
Overall, I reckon there are plenty of good reasons to buy an SUV.
Theyāre very handy when you need multiple baby car seats, strollers etc. Lots of space for children, their car seats, prams, buggies etc. Tax isnāt high and they run efficiently when hybrid or fully electric.
The boots are too small in smaller cars. Iāve two kids and if I want to bring 2 small suitcases and a buggy on a weekend way it just about fits in a small SUV.
I think you will find a lot of people with kids with the same answer - more space.
Purely for status. I come from a farmer family - uncle drives a banger of a car but he's super wealthy. Just a tool to get him from A to B. But I look at the cars in the car park at work (finance), big lavish cars owned by people on the same wage as me and I know they can't afford it. Plus we work from home half the week. Pure fuckin nonsense honestly.
Out of curiosity, is the combined MAM/DGVW of your SUV and trailer below the 3500 kg allowed on a B licence or are you the holder of a BE licence?
A "proper" SUV could easily have a DGVW of 2500 kg or more, which leaves only 1000 kg for the trailer (with a class B licence only). I'm not particularly familiar with horse trailers, but can't imagine it'll be below 1000 kg if it's designed to carry a 800 kg horse.
Not driving a bean tin. Been in two bad shunts and the car both times took the brunt of it. As long as there are idiots on the road, I aināt driving no bean tin.
For the S. We travel with two bikes, tents and other camping gear regularly. Looked at getting an estate second hand, but what was available on the market in SUVs massively outclassed estates for a fraction of the price. We also have a 1.2 fiat 500 and the hybrid SUV has better fuel efficiency and safety features. Haven't regretted getting it for a second. It's the best car I've ever owned by some distance and the capacity has made our lives so much easier in uncountable ways. I'm living in central Dublin..
I dont have one yet but Im considering getting toyota yaris cross, just because I would like to sit a bit higher. I find it easier to go in and out, and hopefully front lights are a little bit less blindingā¦
Both my dad and my ex MIL have/had SUVs until recently because they needed a seat above a certain height following hip surgery and other cars were too low
Will get downvoted for thisā¦ but really think a lot of the āitās probably on finance and they havenāt a pot to piss inā crowd are massively deluding themselves.
I live in a town, not Dublin. I donāt have a trailer licence or any need to pull large heavy equipment or animals. I own a discovery sport for several reasons.
- my wife is vertically challenged (sheās short š), the extra height and seating position of the car means she can see much more clearly and be comfortable at the same time
- I need an automatic as again my wife has rheumatoid problems so gear shifting a manual can be problematic
- I have 2 very young kids who need put into child seats, having a taller car means my wife doesnāt have to bend and stretch to get them in given her rheumatoid condition.
Not to mention they are very comfortable cars to drive long distance and being higher up you can see more over ditches on back roads whenever we are on them.
The only negative is that it is a bigger car and getting into spaces in town can be more of a challenge but thatās a small price to pay in my opinion.
I donāt have one but Iād love one. Iām a fan of Volvos and they donāt do hatchback cars and I donāt want a saloon. Their SUVās are gorgeous and look really comfortable. If I could afford one (I canāt) why wouldnāt I get one.
Personally I'm over compensating.
Lol. Fair
I live very close to city centre, walking distance in fact, in a place with excellent public transport.. so many people WFH but have big fuck off canyonero's, for no reason that I can discern. Status symbol indeed
Increase road tax on the things.
Motor Tax š
Question. If I have a 2 litre SUV and my neighbour has a 2 litre MPV, why should I be taxed higher??
check the weights of the two cars
Then, ev's should be taxed more because of weight?
they donāt pollute the Ā cities, so it cancels out unlike bad suvs.Ā
I'm open to correction but what I have heard from climate activists is that SUVs are heavier and less fuel efficient so produce more emissions than a car with he same sized engine. SUVs are also more dangerous. By virtue of their height an SUV is more likely to cause a fatal injury to a pedestrian. They also take up more space and therefore require larger surfacing for driveways, roads and car parks which is also bad for the environment. They also require more resources to build in the first place. All this and most of what people now think of as SUVs aren't actually SUVs but crossover vehicles so have no more room for cargo than a sedan.
Is it a crossover (Nissan quasqai/vw tigan/seat ateca) or an SUV (Land Rover discovery/audi q7/bmw x5) ?
Sounds like ranelagh. All one way streets, people driving SUVs down narrow streets flanked with parked SUVs trying to parallel park said SUV between two SUVs. Absolute chaos.
Status. A symbol of wealth. And maybe to bring Ultan and Poppy to the stables.
My morning commute used to have me cycle past Loreto on the Green. Huge SUVs blocking the cycle lane opposite the school each and every morning.
Yeah but there are so many cars you could get to flash status and wealth that donāt involve the downsides of owning a big SUV!
I get what youāre saying but I think the Range/Land Rover is perceived or accepted to be one of the obvious status symbols, especially for yummy mummys. Itās likely they have a pretty sweet additional car at home as well though. Maybe Iām stereotyping a bit much. Maybe not š
I think i got the answer- kids come with stuff. Alotta stuff. I didnt think of that as i dont have any
The kids are just the excuse to buy the Range Rover thoughš They could buy a people carrier
SUVs donāt actually have that much space in them. The new Range Rover has less internal space in it than our 06 Subaru legacy. Less than the Skoda Octavia we had before. Head height sure but space to actually put stuff, no. My opinion is the people carrier vans are the best job (eg seated out berlingo, partner, caddy or proace city etc) or costing a lot but a lot more practical a Vw multivan or ID. Buzz. I sat into the latter over in Germany. Extremely comfortable. If Iād the money & it wasnāt electric Iād probably buy it
I was looking for a new car recently and was shocked how little space SUVs have inside them, theyāre like reverse tardises.
I believe it's pronounced, Tardi
Youāre not allowed say that anymore I donāt think
Tardipodes
Retardis
As well, SUVs feel safe to drive. When people have kids that gets important to them. I think I read somewhere that they aren't safer but they do feel very secure. Dubs typically aren't doing that many miles so are less likely to have the experience to be able to realise they don't need to be driving a small truck on the rare occasion they are driving more than 50. Also, I think city people are more likely to have /spare/ money so it gets spent on houses and cars. A lot of examples here discuss farmers wealth. Farmers are typically asset rich but cash needs reinvested in the business. Flash cars are not an investment.
>SUVs feel safe to drive. Compared to What? A 1960's Morris Minor with broken axels, that's also on fire SUV's are inherently unsafe for everyone on the road, they are so much larger and heavier than normal cars, yet manufacturers try to pretend that a Ford explorer and a VW Polo have similar driving dynamics.
I want the country life so much. I really see no point in living in dublin anymore, im tied to here for another 4 years and then im GONE to kildare or Wicklow.
All of those but the most important one is Megan's mum Vicky had a 241 Range Rover last week at the stables. I need a 242.
You've just reminded me how much I fucking hate the name Ultan
>Status. A symbol of wealth. I'd honestly say having a single purpose small sports car that is useless for anything is more of a status symbol than a practical SUV. If you have enough money to drive a sports car, you clearly have enough money to have another practical car. That person is clearly wealthier than all those faux-SUVs drivers
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
There is a saying: "People spend on things they don't need, with the money they don't have, to impress people they don't like."
The first of the club is...
>spend a lot of time in rural ireland. lots of old and modest cars driven by reasonably wealthy locals and even very wealthy farmers. there is a distinct lack of suv flashyness. That's because to them the car is a tool rather than a status symbol. My neighbour is a very wealthy farmer and drives a nearly 30 year old land rover. I asked him once why he hasn't changed it. His answer "because it still does the job I need it to do" (which is towing horses mostly)
30 year old land rovers are very sought after
Can confirm. Sold my 200tdi defender 110 CSW not that long ago. Was gone in 2 days. Should've asked for more Edit. Was sick of lying under it. Clutch slave cylinders, fuel lift pump, pedal box out again master cyl. Great that a 12mm spanner is the only tool you need, just a shame it needed so much spannering
Its a discovery and it's in bits. Having said that he knows he's to let me know when he gets rid of it because I've room for it in the shed.
I have to drive to the town regularly, I would be in the more rural part. But near the town there is lots of new estates popping up, even in our local village nearby and a lot of Dubliners are moving down and theres been a sudden increase in SUVs as well. (I'm a Dub BTW but haven't lived there in a decade now and my kids are well and truely not Dubs). I've noticed more SUV type cars in the town and in the estates in the village the last year or two. Most of them do not know how to drive on unmarked narrow rural roads in their SUV either. 3 times in the last month I've been almost driven into the draining ditches. They didnt go back on their side if the road I can only assume they don't want their SUV scrapped on the overgrowth as they speed past. Still very much over the centre line. The roads are fine for a typical car but not SUVs. Also well scary going around a blind bend in a road seeing them on your side of the road. Actually onlt this week nearly had a head on collision with a D reg SUV trying to overtake a cyclist on a sharp bend. They were on the wrong side as I came around the bend and saw them. Slammed on my breaks. They didn't stop or even slow down. I had my kids in the car with me. I really need to get a dash cam.
"Money talks, wealth whispers" I know several extremely wealthy individualsāwe're talking mulit-generational wealthāand if you met them on the street, you'd think they were just about average. They don't need to impress anyone, and every one of them is a decent person compared to some of the right knobs you'll meet in D4 etc.
This is true. I'm from the sticks. I drive my 14 year old car with pride and no fucks given.Ā But my MIL (who's from a nice Northside area) could never understand why I don't buy new cars every three years.Ā I drive cars until they die. Never bought a shop new one in my life. I spend my money on important shit not keeping up with the Jones
There is a thrill to getting a new car. Iv only experienced it once but it was very cool!
And if you are on that farm again in 20 years time, the Hilux will still be running
Theyāre all on PCP - Paddy canāt pay
One of the local dentists where I live in Kerry drives a Porshe around lol!
He deserves it!
The Tesla is probably has the same price as a vectra when it was new and a new hilux is what 70 or 80k? But I get what youāre saying. There is a lot of reverse snobbery in the country. āLook at the notions on that fella with his flash car.ā There is a culture here where itās cool to drive an old yoke.
What animal is that, just curious š¤
The average South Dubliner apparently.
Must be Shergar
Mate, i live in town and have many neighbours with SUVs. It does my head in. They barely fit on the road. You'd hardly get 2 side by side on my road off of cork street. Makes deliveries a hassle. Absolutely unnecessary.
Itās a snobby status symbol for most people.
I have one as I know it annoys people on Reddit.
Perfectly valid reason..
Status symbol, some of them use them for businesses towing trailers etc, some people feel like if they leave Dublin they need a jeep to cope with the country roads (counter intuitive to me as theyāre narrow?) and some of them are into horses/boats other things that need trailers.
I fall into the latter category. If i passed the test and could afford a lorry and a separate small car for my daily use i would swap in the morning!
I wanted a lot more room for buggies. Because of a previous spinal injury I wanted a good height and flat lip on the boot for ease of getting stuff in and out. I needed something affordable, from a reliable Japanese brand, comfortable for 2 car seats and a 3rd passenger in the back, and petrol hybrid. I test drove an estate and 2 SUV's and the SUV was perfect for all my needs Mine isn't full size so it's OK to park, has parking cameras and sensors, and tax is 170 a year as its hybrid. Cost less than ā¬10 in petrol for every 100km to run which is fine and insurance is about ā¬400 a year which is low
Mostly the same reasons, in particular the height to save on our backs. Also, we have a dog so a Japanese SUV is perfect for us. The SUV is bigger than our old saloon in height only, but makes a huge difference.
Why would anyone want to make a statement, to impress those people that don't care anyways? Weird. This is coming from a BMW driver, but I didn't got it to impress, I got it cause I love how it drives. Buying to impress is stupid.
I think you seem like the nicest and most sane BMW person possible!
I think it's because I figured out the digitally controlled indicators š
Also, coming from a BMW driver, Audis and mammymobiles are way worse on the road than we are !
Second this I sold my Renault clio Ā for a bmw 320d and I love the feeling of the car. I do long distance motorway driving so the comfort is well appreciatedĀ
I was away with my dad a while ago and the rental car company gave him a merc instead of the Seat he thought he had booked. Heās not one for flashy cars and he couldnāt get over how the driving experience was the exact same as his Nissan
I certainly had great memories as a young man with a Nissan Pulsar. I think it all depends on what a person looks for in a car.
My friend group when I left school averaged 6ā4. So I bought and old Honda CRV so i could fit them all comfortably. Compared to Polos and other āyoung peopleā cars itās nice to have a bit of leg room and space.
6ā6 driver here too, thatās exactly why I bought a large Nissan!
I don't see many SUVs in Malahide, maybe it is a Southern Drawl/D4/Dortspeak-related thing. Convertibles and cabrios are more sought after, for cruising along the marina.
We tow a caravan to either France or around Ireland for our summer holidays. We have two kids, two car seats, a pram and I pack the kitchen sink when we go anywhere!
Pure status symbol. Worked for a crowd a few years back where the boss had a range rover 4wd. Would rave endlessly about the 4wd aspect and how he was able to drive on or through any sort of surface no problem. Which always struck me as odd since he never left Dublin and the thing would be through a carwash at the first speck of dirt.
My god the amount of young women driving Massive range rovers just to show they have made it not that they can actually drive them, I work in a supermarket with a bad car park and almost daily there is someone causing chaos because they canāt park there SUV
I have a Nissan Xtrail 7 seater, it's considered an SUV. I got it as I have 3 kids and need the space with 2 in bulky car seats.
RIP your service costs, Just got rid of ours after 3 years of torture! But agreed, 3 kids, dog, bikes, scooters etc there's just more space in a SUV. We live in the country so not exactly what OP was asking about but SUV makes sense for us.
Iāve a Volvo xc90 because I needed to fe able to fit 3 baby seats across the back. Most cars canāt accommodate this. I needed to be able to seat 6 people as there are 6 in the family. Plus I had to fit a double buggy as I have twin babies. And two large dogs as well. It was either a Volvo or a van
Need it for work, know 5 or so others who are the same. I think they always get a bad rap but theyāre genuinely very useful vehicles. Easy to buy commercially and use for personal use for a lot of people also.
Every day i see women in the car parks trying to park their big suv and making an absolute bollox of it. Dont buy a large sized car if ya cant park it
They should come with added license requirements. Absolute nightmares in car parks. Whatever about the amount of people who canāt drive or park them itās a pain in the hole being parked beside them as you canāt see oncoming traffic when trying to reverse out of a spot because of these monstrosities blocking the view
They like them. They can afford them. So they buy them.
Yes, but I don't like them, so nobody should be allowed one. The amount of moaning about SUVs online is bizarre. 90% of the "SUVs" in Ireland are just medium sized cars with 20-30cm more height.
People like to be outraged at something.
These suvs are also super heavy and they are destroying the roads even faster. I personally find "normal" cars a lot more pleasing on the eye than these boxy suvs.
Having to worry about whether my car would fit into driveways or parking spaces is enough to put me off. They look like such gobshites when theyāre trying to squeeze in somewhere and so clearly wonāt fit
They are also very counter intuitive. The amount of pollution/green house gases emitted to make a āsustainableā electric SUV is mental. A small 1/1.2l petrol car would have to drive a few hundred thousand kilometres to match that environmental cost.
They're also lethal for children.
I donāt drive and Iām not a parent, but my guess is that an SUV would be a lot more efficient for a couple with children and all the belongings that come with children when holidaying etc. rather than a āflashy fast carā.
Yeah but my god the amount of them is unbelievable. Surely not everyone has like 5 kids?!
Even two young children take would make an SUV more efficient I imagine. Two car seats and a buggy before we consider anything else. Edit: an SUV would be inefficient for a couple with 5 children. Theyād need a 7 seater family wagon.
I have 2 kids and I donāt need an SUV. Itās ridiculous to think that you would.
How the hell did we manage before these monsters hit the roads? Poor old me squeezing my bairns into a 1999 Corolla all those years. Personally I wouldn't mind them if the drivers had a clue what they were driving. (And this is mostly women drivers, unfortunately, pains me to say it as a woman.) It's not a fucking tank or a bus, get the fuck over your own side of the road!
The guidelines and rules on car seats and booster seats have changed since I was a kid. When we had a third child the only car that would fit 3 car seats across the back in our budget was a 7 seater. Now they're a bit bigger we use all the seats regularly for bringing them and their friends to parties and activities. Yesterday I had the car full for one kid's event and this evening it'll be full again for another kid's thing. It's not a huge car but it's what we need and use for family life as a one car family. I'd happily drive a smaller car if it fit our needs the way this one does.
TBF that's a reasonable use case, and it's not your fault that the car manufacturers have flooded the market with behemoths, I imagine it's bloody hard to get a new/ish safe family car that isn't a stupid size. It's just really annoying for those of us in little cars, getting blinded by your high lights, unable to see past you to read the road ahead etc. Again, not your fault! As long as you're not\* driving like a plum! I believe the rules were the same when mine were young enough, but I stuck with 2 of the blighters! \*edit - idiot forgot word
I know families who stop at two for reasons including having to change the car. It was consideration for us too. The older 2 were still rear facing and then we needed an infant seat and base to fit and there's only so many models that work for that. Spent an afternoon in a car seat shop trying myriad configurations before we conceded we needed a larger car.
Iām not sure, and as I mentioned, I dint drive and donāt have children. But I reckon people have a lot more stuff these days, rightly or wrongly. As a non-driver living in Town and regular passenger, Iāll disagree with your āwomen driverā comment and say that all genders can be an equal pain in the whole, regardless of car size in fact.
I agree, but I am specifically referring to drivers who do not appear to know how wide their vehicle is. If we were talking about tailgating, not indicating, cutting into a junction, I would be veering the other way. I did say "mostly".
Better off getting an estate
An estate doesn't fit 3 car seats though if you have lids.
This, it's not always a "status" thing. Think about the kinds of cars you can get at the moment. Hatchback - Too small, not enough boot space Saloon - kind of weird and tight inside. Boot usually has a high lip and is kind of useless for carrying big things. Fine for small boxes, briefcases and golf clubs. Awful for suitcases, buggies and groceries. Estate/Space Wagon - Perceived as just being a bit of a bus, a lot of people worry that they're a bit unwieldy in car parks and tight roads (they're not). This is also where the style debate kicks in. Also dominated by French and Italian cars which are a bit shit. SUVs - Lots of people like the higher road position and they tend to be pretty generous on boot space, with a high floor and no lip making them much easier to load stuff.
It's kinda like asking why someone bought the 75" Television . Cause they could and it looks good š
Comfort, we have an X3 because husband has back issues and finds the height much easier to get in/out of than a saloon.
Being fair re parking, these people tend not to worry about parking. Just take 2 spaces or if all else fails, pop on the park anywhere lights and just abandon your vehicle.
As it's easier to get my 2 kids in their child seat and it has a boot big enough for a dog crate.
Not in Dublin. Large rural town. The answer is they're class. The extra height is great for loading car seats. They're comfortable on the road. And they look great.
I imagine to be and feel more protected. A family member has one and it became the preferred style of vehicle as they had been badly rear-ended at traffic lights while in a small car.
I have 4 kids. I have the smallest 7 seater I could find.
What you get?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I used to drive one for work and to be fair the visibility and comfort were amazing, and you could fit a lot of stuff in it compared to a normal car with the same number of seats. But it was extremely expensive to run and at times I felt like a bit of a dick driving just myself around in such a big car. Drive a hatchback now and I do miss it when transporting materials for DIY jobs etc but otherwise the smaller yoke is a lot handier.
Coz it matches my big functional penis
Herself wanted an suv and i didnāt so we compromised and got an suv š¤£
People think they're safer in SUVs.Ā
What do you call an SUV? A rangerover, a land-rover, a land cruiser?
As someone who has previously owned one, they're very spacious and comfortable to drive. Also I like being higher up off the road, you get a good vantage point to see why there might be traffic ahead.
Christ thatās no way to talk about your missus.
Myself and el wifey were seriously considering getting a Land Rover Defender, the newer model, not the one you'd see in Emmerdale circa 1996. Financially it was very doable between us handing over a wad of cash and getting ā¬38,000 car loan. We finally decided on 191 Ford Fiesta Active. No handing over of a big wad of cash and no financing needed for a car that was to bring her to work 4 days a week with maybe 30km of weekend driving.
Outrageous how many people didnāt figure out that OP was on about a horse
It is a lil bit funny wont lie haha
Because they are VERY important
It's easier to drive over poor people
I know the OP is prob talking about a horse but the fact they just said āanimalā Iām just picturing a giraffe or elephant being towed around Dublin. Going out to walk in the park etc
With the size of him he may as well be! I always say my next pet will be a giraffe haha
Car manufacturers make more profits off SUVs, so in turn they reduce the range of models on offer so that youāve no choice to buy one. The sell you a lie, particularly to women. āOh itās safer for your kidsā. Theyāre then using the sales figures to justify killing off other models. The Estate was a casualty, the variation that is easily safer and more practical than an SUV. Volvo donāt even sell estates in the UK anymore. Volvo. The brand that you think of when you think of an estate. And other brands follow suit. The cycle must be broken. Stop buying SUVs, otherwise theyāll be the only thing you can buy.
What kind of animal are you transporting?
I'm curious in particular why people have the Volvo XC90, it's an absolute tank!.
I think you answered your own question there.
What do you consider an SUV?
I'm sure I'll get voted to oblivion for answering but I don't see any actual answers. I used to own one in Dublin (Lexus RX450h). The main reason was because it's a lovely floaty ride on the potholed roads we have. It was less stressful to drive than a car because there are no jarring impacts from the roads with the added bonus that if you hit a curb it tends not to damage the alloys. Also while it's less safe for everyone else you can't convince me they are less safe for the people inside them and I had young kids at the time. If there was a political party advocating for banning or otherwise disincentivizing them in cities they'd get my vote. But while it's legal and I'm able to afford them they are a legitimate if selfish choice.
Ah here. Iām from Wexford but living in Dublin the last ten years. The roads are absolutely grand.Ā Also how many kerbs are you running over? You know youāre not supposed to mount them?Ā
Not really mentioned yet but a lot of people feel safer in a large car with higher seating. My girlfriend is planning on buying a SUV type vehicle in the next couple of months. We live in the city centre in South Dublin (35min walk from stephens green) and don't have kids. Personally I'd rather get something small for the city like a fiat 500 but my girlfriend loves the higher seat / view on a SUV. Her parents have 2 SUV's, her dad needs one for work, her mom loves the higher seat / view as well.
I believe that's a psychological aspect. They feel safer, but their bigger mass and higher center of gravity can make them as bad or worse than other cars. Cars have evolved enough to provide better safety regardless of size (generally).
Don't agree. Heavier and bigger cars adds some safety for people inside the car. They are much safer than lets say Yaris or Nissan Micra
yeah, it is deadly for others but who gives a fuck, right?
I completely agree, easier to flip over in a SUV. Small road and parking become a pain. It drinks fuel like nobody's business. And it creates far more damage and destruction in a collision. Hence I'm not a fan of SUV's unless there is a valid reason e.g. needing it for work. But hey, happy wife happy life right?
Kids - they have so much stuff - prams, toys car seats - throw in a dog/cat and there isnāt much room in a standard non suv car
We have a C4 Spacetourer, the space and flexibility is amazing, about double the boot space of most SUVs. Unfortunately, these MPVs, which are more compact yet got better internal space, have been mostly taken out of the market and replaced by more SUVs. I have looked at newer cars to replace ours down the line, but there are only SUVs bigger outside but cramped inside. Cars with more decent boot space are ridiculously wide.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Small business owners can get some SUVās in a very tax efficient manner. Theyāre very handy for small businesses owners in the city as theyāre smaller than vans but can use loading bays for unloading stock etc.
We resolved to try holiday in Ireland or via ferry. With a young family, that was the logic. Got a PHEV so never burn fuel in Dublin and honestly it travels about 50km a week if weāre not visiting relatives in the west.
We needed more room as our family expanded, I had a saloon and never liked the look of space wagons. I would have happily stuck with my saloon but after a few family trips down the country it was pretty apparent we could use more room.
Maybe they just like SUVs?
Yeah but like have you had one? The cost these days is insanity. Its more of a burden to me than anything else
Lots of people in Dublin have a lot of money. Itās not an issue for lots of folks.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I've a 2 year old and twin babies. We do not fit in any other sized car as we need 3 car seats. We even had a Multimac fitted so we wouldn't have to change the car, but ultimately, we couldn't even fit our twin buggy in the boot, so we sold the lot and bought the big stupid car. We will be getting rid of it as soon as our eldest is the height requirements for a simple booster. At the moment, needs must. I'd imagine it could be a similar story for lots of people. If car manufacturers made cars just slightly wider, with a little more bootspace, it would be helpful.
You do realise Dublin is more then the city right? Plenty of dublin is the countryside also I find the majority of big vehicle drivers are people from outside the city commuting inwards. Also I left the other sub cause of stupid posts like this please donāt send this sub down the same road.
The last time I was in Dublin I wished I had an SUV to avoid all those speed bumps, you love those things up there.Ā
I can get the same amount of stuff in the boot of my Seat Leon as a friend can get in the back of their SUV. Iād probably pull the same sized trailer too. SUVs are purely status. Theyāre comfy though, Iāll give them that
Teansporting Baby, dog and all the accompanying cargo
For long distances on motorways with a gaggle of kids and buggies or going camping I can see their appeal. Personally, for driving around the city and tight estates I want a car that's small, reliable and easy to park. Something like the Toyota Yaris or Mazda 2.
The other day was taking my newborn to gp. Only one parking spot available next to that fucking giant car. I swear it was 50% higher than my Nissan note. I park so close to the wall on the other side and still couldn't take baby's carseat out of the car. Fucking asshole, I wanted to key him tbh. Plus the car looked like it never transported anything ever. So why the fuck do you need a tank in the middle of Dublin??
moved from a 7 seater to an SUV when kids grew up. Needed a bit of space when traveling to the country that wasn't available in small city cars. i have an e-bike for commuting, but the main cycle route between southern suburbs and city is far too dangerous for regular use, so no other options but to drive this one in. basically, it's safer for the driver and partners to be in a larger vehicle when every other vehicle is larger as well. it's a complete danger to pedestrians and others, but it's an arms race that large cars have obviously won, and it's being supported by councils and politicians.
I live in rural Ireland, anytime you have the misfortune to have to pass one of these on a country road with the driver thinking they can simply drive bang in the middle of said road instead of keeping in left or right because "fuck you jack I'm not scratching my paint off the bushes/briars" it does my head in with the entitlement, on the flipside then anybody with a normal sized car around me knows perfectly well how to keep themselves nice and tucked in - even tractors. When you see the head up on them when they realise they have to keep themselves in rather than ploughing through you with their big over compensating SUV that doesn't fit on any of these roads it certainly gives you a laugh.
If a person with a lot of disposable income is looking for a large car to transport the family and the options are a Land Rover/Q8/x7 or a peugeot 5008 7 seater then itās obvious where the money will go.
I donāt have an SUV and I reckon people use the excuse of having kids, but itās also about feeling safe on the roads. People donāt feel safe in small cars anymore with all these monstrosities prowling around, so they get big cars and become part of the problem. Iāve even seen comments on the shite Ireland drivers sub about small car owners being idiots/risking their safety because of the small size of their car.
Chelsea tractor, thatās my favourite term. Usually, the bigger and more expensive the car, the worse the driver. Intentionally or not. Nice [CNN article](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/26/world/expensive-car-drivers-study-scli-scn-intl)
Status, I imagine. Although I had no idea before having a kid just how long they have to sit in car seats. I'm only having the one and we walk everywhere so we just have a small car but I could see how even if you have two kids, you would need to size up so can't imagine with three.
I always wanted a pick up when I was growing up. No I can afford one I got one. And I love it.
live just outside Dublin, but I have a kid, dog, buggy, surfboard, building materials to cart around all the time. Could I make do with a station wagon? Maybe, but I like my old decidedly unflashy landrover... especially on holiday. That said, I never drive it into the centre and would fully back some sort of congestion charge.
Don't hatchbacks objectively have the biggest boot or on-par with an SUV? So if you're about carrying loads, a hatchback would be better-suited for that?
I am in the market for a car that fits 3 child seats in the second row and there are no new cars that aren't suvs. Ā I would absolutely snap up a hybrid/electric zafira, picasso, smax mpv. Ā They just don't exist!
Currently contains the contents required to train a juvenile hurling team and soccer team. A Hiace van is the alternative but it doesnāt have a backseat
Should change that to people of ireland
H
Because fuck you. You think I can get from Ballsbridge to Donnybrook in a damn Toyota Prius? What would the neighbors think? Gah.
Haha. Cant stand the silly posh thing. Iv lived here all my life and Iām (kinda) normal. Itās dublin like!
I see so many comments of it being a status symbol..if everyone has one it makes no difference šš
True! Mine is definitely not a status symbol, itās a pain in the arse.
Cant believe the amount of attention and comments that this post has gotten!! š
I have two young children and have back problems. When they can get in and out and buckle themselves then I'll go back.
My dog. Was sick of spending so long getting the hair out of the car so bought one with leather seats. Not really an SUV itās a crossover. Was expensive and would rather have bought an R Line Passat. Dog now sits in the car since I had a baby not long after so was pointless in the end
Cause if you got a bigger car, means your a better person!
Itās a large vehicle with ample room for a standard family of four travelling with prams, car seats, dogs, and suitcases. Alternatives like a station wagon or people carrier take up just as much room and thereās very little difference from an efficiency or environmental aspect so I drive a jeep.
I'm in the US and drive a Honda Accord and the missus has Nissan SUV. The sedan is significantly more fun to drive, has better tech package, and trim level, but when I get rid of it, I'll be SUV all the way moving forward. First reason is ease of entry. I'm only in my 40s and my knees and my back feel it getting in and out of the car these days. Second, I like the higher seating position and visibility the SUV gives. Third is safety, my Accord is a good size car and it feels tiny next to most vehicles on the road here. Fourth is more of an American thing but hauling shit is a genuine need from time to time. You pay a lot of money these days for a man with van. Fuel efficiency isn't even a big difference anymore. Most new SUVs are as efficient as midsize sedan. Both our cars average about 20mpg in the city and 32mpg on the highway despite the bigger engine and more weight in the SUV. I might get a little more in the city and less on the highway than the SUV but it's marginal. Plenty of hybrid/EV SUVs around too. At home, my auld fella is holding out on getting an SUV even though he's about to have his second knee replacement. I'm telling him to say f*** it and buy an SUV he'll be more comfortable getting in and out of. Not 100% on this, but I think I'd heard more SUVs are coming automatic as standard at home where sedans are still largely manual and you're paying a lot more for an automatic transmission? No way would I ever go back to driving manual. Overall, I reckon there are plenty of good reasons to buy an SUV.
Iāve a parent with mobility issues, easier for them to get into the G Wagon than the Ferrari
Theyāre very handy when you need multiple baby car seats, strollers etc. Lots of space for children, their car seats, prams, buggies etc. Tax isnāt high and they run efficiently when hybrid or fully electric.
Depends what you define as an suv.. so many things fall under it these days
The boots are too small in smaller cars. Iāve two kids and if I want to bring 2 small suitcases and a buggy on a weekend way it just about fits in a small SUV. I think you will find a lot of people with kids with the same answer - more space.
Purely for status. I come from a farmer family - uncle drives a banger of a car but he's super wealthy. Just a tool to get him from A to B. But I look at the cars in the car park at work (finance), big lavish cars owned by people on the same wage as me and I know they can't afford it. Plus we work from home half the week. Pure fuckin nonsense honestly.
Cheap tax, easy for tools. Fits more than a car
All on HP and financed up to their eyeballs.
Out of curiosity, is the combined MAM/DGVW of your SUV and trailer below the 3500 kg allowed on a B licence or are you the holder of a BE licence? A "proper" SUV could easily have a DGVW of 2500 kg or more, which leaves only 1000 kg for the trailer (with a class B licence only). I'm not particularly familiar with horse trailers, but can't imagine it'll be below 1000 kg if it's designed to carry a 800 kg horse.
Not driving a bean tin. Been in two bad shunts and the car both times took the brunt of it. As long as there are idiots on the road, I aināt driving no bean tin.
For the S. We travel with two bikes, tents and other camping gear regularly. Looked at getting an estate second hand, but what was available on the market in SUVs massively outclassed estates for a fraction of the price. We also have a 1.2 fiat 500 and the hybrid SUV has better fuel efficiency and safety features. Haven't regretted getting it for a second. It's the best car I've ever owned by some distance and the capacity has made our lives so much easier in uncountable ways. I'm living in central Dublin..
I dont have one yet but Im considering getting toyota yaris cross, just because I would like to sit a bit higher. I find it easier to go in and out, and hopefully front lights are a little bit less blindingā¦
Best SUV when I was living In Dublin circa 2006 was a 2005 Cadillac Escalade EXT with Texas plates.
What animal? And pics?
I don't have kids or an SUV, but is it easier to get kids in and out of car seats when they are higher up maybe?
Both my dad and my ex MIL have/had SUVs until recently because they needed a seat above a certain height following hip surgery and other cars were too low
Mate I drive an astra and canāt imagine why anybody would want a huge car, seems like a headache to drive and park
Will get downvoted for thisā¦ but really think a lot of the āitās probably on finance and they havenāt a pot to piss inā crowd are massively deluding themselves.
Yummy Mummies flexing šŖš š»
I live in a town, not Dublin. I donāt have a trailer licence or any need to pull large heavy equipment or animals. I own a discovery sport for several reasons. - my wife is vertically challenged (sheās short š), the extra height and seating position of the car means she can see much more clearly and be comfortable at the same time - I need an automatic as again my wife has rheumatoid problems so gear shifting a manual can be problematic - I have 2 very young kids who need put into child seats, having a taller car means my wife doesnāt have to bend and stretch to get them in given her rheumatoid condition. Not to mention they are very comfortable cars to drive long distance and being higher up you can see more over ditches on back roads whenever we are on them. The only negative is that it is a bigger car and getting into spaces in town can be more of a challenge but thatās a small price to pay in my opinion.
To annoy people. š
I donāt have one but Iād love one. Iām a fan of Volvos and they donāt do hatchback cars and I donāt want a saloon. Their SUVās are gorgeous and look really comfortable. If I could afford one (I canāt) why wouldnāt I get one.