reading the BMW/Porsche thread and others, and a few I’ve popped up in recent weeks about new car musing.

Seems like every other new car is an SUV, yet from what I have seen with limited looking, they are generally smaller inside, less economic, and often more expensive than a nice estate car. Take X5 vs. 5 Tourer, Q5 vs. A4 Avant, Tourag/Tiguan vs Passat Alltrack.

is it the higher driving position, or just fashion ?

Higher driving position is nice plus they often sit you more upright so give the feeling of more space.

Fashion. They’re the new people carrier.

My dad finally got ones as he can’t bend down any more. Perhaps we’re all getting old?

and you missed poorer handling and slower from your list too.

Nice big estate every time for me

Give a lovely smug edge to an already over inflated ego….

is it the higher driving position, or just fashion ?

Mix of both and other factors?

I drive a C-max for no particular reason other than it’s what the local dealer had and I needed a big-ish car. Everyone who drives it comments on how nice it is driving a little higher/upright than the usual hatchback/saloon/estate position.

SUV appeal is a mix of fashion, and safety (better to be in a tank than hit by one) and practicability, which can also be part of the fashion, you might live in a housing estate on the outskirts of London, but once in a blue moon you may need to drive off the polo clubs a trail centers muddy overflow car park, you could do it in an estate, but then no one would know you play polo [i]are a mountainbiker[/i].

Bit like wearing trainers, you’ve never run a marathon in your life, and probably have a lapsed gym membership, but a nice pair of hush puppies just don’t convey the same youthfull macho image.

MPV for me (Ford Galaxy currently) over an SUV any time, screw fashion, for family stuff and lugging bikes / kit around you can’t beat them.

To answer the OP I can’t see any answer other than fashion, or is there anything that an SUV does better than other types of car?

Ride height gives excellent vision. Style is certainly part of it too. I’ve had 4×4’s in estate cars and “SUV”. My 2nd wife will not have an estate car but is ok with a 4×4 / SUV , this view is based entirely on not liking the looks of estate cars.

If you look at something like the Subi Forester it’s a real mix of both

Much more pleasant putting kids in [to a child-seat in] an SUV than a normal car. Don’t quite get the fascination myself although I’m tempted by a Yeti for next car.

There does seem to an SUV version of all models now though. Pretty sure all the BMWs have an X-version, apart from the 2 and the 7 (heaven forbid…I’m sure there’ll be one next year). Audi have Q’d most of theirs. Citroen seem to be doing the same. Merc are busy doing GLs of lots of theirs. Dunno…everybody’s gone SUV crazy. Much prefer estates myself. Used to dislike softroaders quite a bit but, and maybe it’s because there are just so many out there now, there are some I quite like these days. (The Merc GLA is a fine looking compact SUV…IMO.)

Well I chose my XC60 because it was smaller than my XC90 😆 But I chose both for the reasons:
Big Car, Big Boot, 7 seats (Old Parents need room, but only 5 seats in the 60) get my bikes in the back, upright driving position, sit higher so can see over hedges, can tow trailers and image.
I didn’t want another estate (I’d had 2 x BMW 5 sport tourings)

Image, image, image.

Not really, but it played it’s part 😀

Much more pleasant putting kids in [to a child-seat in] an SUV than a normal car. Don’t quite get the fascination myself although I’m tempted by a Yeti for next car.

Absolutely.

Also, if you want seven seats, it’s SUV or a van. I know which I preferred!

DD, have you checked the spec on the Yeti. Y’know, the important stuff…..

hmmmm, well I don’t need 7 seats, and I put the bikes on the roof….

I suspect my 5 Tourer company car may end up being replaced with another estate in 6 months, though I do quite fancy 4×4 for the 2 snowy days per yr and the odd field 🙂

Thing is – a Passat Alltrack is more expensive than an X3….

Yes…
They are…

(@ O’Flashearty)

I needed access into a muddy field over a steep ramp, and my 14 year old focus kept grounding on the way in. So its all about fashion and smugness

Higher seating position.

I’d much rather have an MPV than an SUV. SUVs are just a waste of fuel for style – end of. Fashion innit. Atual 4×4 applications notwithstanding.

Although if you’re like my sister and you use the odd day of snow to justify an SUV, you’re not much better. She’d have been better off with winter tyres, but would not listen to me.

SUV appeal is a mix of fashion, and safety (better to be in a tank than hit by one)

I believe the jury is still out on this one. You’re carrying a lot more kinetic energy, so if you end up hitting something even more solid than you are (tree, lorry, wall etc) you’ll be worse off.

Got wonder if SUVs give better vision, why are most seemingly driven by people who fail to see things around them on the road?

Why are they nearly always parked badly as if the driver can’t see the kerb\lines round parking space\adjacent car?

Something doesn’t add up 🙂

Yeah it’s a real ball ache putting kids in a child seat in a car, oh wait sorry no it’s not.

Why are they popular? Well have you ever thought the world was short on knobs 🙂

It’s getting a bit ridiculous when the damn things need a staircase.

There are a few valid uses for them, but most of the time they’re just massively selfish. Taking up way too much space, making it impossible for anyone to see around or through them, they generally just scream “over-entitled a***hole” to me.

But I may be slightly biased 😀

Been nursing a herniated disc in my back for the last month or so, caused by getting into a stupid low BMW estate of some sort, and aggravated by constantly getting in and out of my colleague’s stupid low BMW estate of some sort.

SUV for me if and when I eventually buy a car! If I can’t get into a low car without hurting my back I dread to think what bending over and manhandling an infant into a child seat would be like…

Don’t quite get the fascination myself although I’m tempted by a Yeti for next car.

I parked next to a Yeti in Peaslake on my last ride with Maj, I didn’t realise the rear seats came out 🙂 Also spoke to the owner it was a Monte Carlo (?) model, apparently they go like stink. The latest ones look good too.

@Drac it’s much easier putting kids into a higher vehicle be that for example a RAv4 or a Merc A class. Much less bending of the back. Kids also appreciate higher seating and the view.

@ianc Audi quattro estates are fabulous in the snow, you don’t need the ride height of an Alltrack or Q3/5/7 if you don’t want it.

Big dogs x2 – 4×4 estate every time. Avoids back trouble. Several of my wife’s friends curse their 4×4 for that reason. Plus cope in most weathers and terrain.

(Plus Mrs THM has a negative disposition to 4×4 SUV drivers expecially “fat, arrogance men in RRs” – shame really as the ride position is nice :wink:)

What better way of saying “**** you”, “**** the environment”, “**** off”?

Yeah it’s a real ball ache putting kids in a child seat in a car, oh wait sorry no it’s not.

I remember looking after a mate’s toddler for a weekend with a 3-door Mini (yeah, we were young…). I can confirm putting a child in and out of[the back seat of] that was a ballache. It’s not like it’s end-of-the-world difficult, but it’s easier in an SUV. That matters to some people when they’re choosing their car…maybe they’re spending too much time carting their kids around in cars or maybe they don’t have much other choice other than to do it. I mean yeah, go figure.

Drac it’s much easier putting kids into a higher vehicle be that for example a RAv4 or a Merc A class. Much less bending of the back. Kids also appreciate higher seating and the view.

I’m not sure how I ever managed.

Once they get around 2 they climb in themselves.

Blame women as (1) better for getting kids out, (2) they think they are safer (3) easier to see out of, not when you are 5’1″ love and can’t see over the dash.

Manufacturers love them because they have better profit margins.

It’s so they can mount the kerb and plough up grass verges when doing the school run, innit?

Spend half my life in the Esher area these days.

It appears you absolutely need an SUV – in Black with tinted rear windows if you are a Blonde dropping your kids at prep school and cannot park or let go of your phone.

4×4 estate for me.

Manufacturers love them because they have better profit margins.

I thought that was only in the States, where they’re classed differently so don’t have to pass the same safety and emissions tests?

I genuinely don’t understand this SUV is easier for kids. Why don’t SUV owners drive people carrirers or vans with windows?

A Berlingo is easy for kids and has the high seating but I’d guess many SUV owners would sneer at that.

Is it really prestige and the kids are just an excuse?

I drive a small French hatchback so I don’t understand desirable cars. I go for cheap and economical.

Image, image, image.

I just don’t get it. Why do so many want to project and image that says “I’m an idiot”? 😉

Also, perhaps more seriously, why do people want to sit up higher? Do they want to feel like a bus driver? I always set my seat as low as it will go.

OP. just to point out in BMWs case, the X series cars are bigger than the non X

Eg 320 tourer boot 495 v x3 550

Dragon- don’t blame women! There’s a dad who does the school run near us, who (despite plenty of places to park all the way along the street) likes to park his huge SUV half on the pavement and right across a T-junction every day. He’s only dropping one tiny primary school kid off.

I don’t get the kids thing either – when our kid was able to walk, she could just about climb in and out of the car by herself. She’d have found it impossible if the car was a couple of feet higher.

Having young kids is a daft excuse for having an SUV. Kids are only in those portable baby seats for 12 months max. I managed perfectly well with a 2-door car. I’d rather people admit that it’s an image thing than make up silly excuses.

CaptainSlow – Member
OP. just to point out in BMWs case, the X series cars are bigger than the non X

Eg 320 tourer boot 495 v x3 550

yes, but an X3 costs the same as a 5 Tourer, which has loads more space. The 3 Tourer is similar price to an X1.

The X models are generally a chunk more money than the same sized estates.

I’ve got a hulking great 4×4 and a normal car. It’s not really any more practical than an estate for putting stuff in. No more or less easy for the kids. It’s nice to sit up high for driving compared to my bog standard motor, not as nice a proper low position for ‘making progress’

So, I’m going with, fashion and we eventually follow everything the North Americans do.

The marketing does project an image of safety and security and as we know ‘lifestyle’ is king. My watch can dive to 300m, I need the car to match my self image.

Arne’t SUVs just types of estates?

More upright – I.e less sat on the floor. Better for entry and seat position than sat lower (I always find seat to floor is usually better for legs and knees.)

I like both types of car. I’ve owned both. I think it comes down to the particular make model rather than the category.

My Yeti is great, handles pretty well for a shoe-box given I’m not on a race track. I also think bigger, chunkier tyres feel more sure-footage than the average estate.

Don’t think fashion comes into it the mass produced market? Daft criticism. You can have a plenty swanky estate can’t you.

Americans tend to drive pick-ups.