God, I hate them.
Pointless, ill conceived piles of arse.
Inefficient, smug insults to the purity of honest engineering.
Uglier than hatful of monkey's arseholes.
A stream of lukewarm piss directed into the open graves of Chapman and Setright.
A triumph of ignorance over intelligence.
A turd in the pool of motoring.
Today we had to replace Mrs Spanner's Punto.
A Giugiaro masterpiece.
A car designed and built without the slightest consideration for longevity, an encapsulation of the Italian temperament and the most beautiful supermini ever made.
In it's most basic form, it stuck two fingers up to the crass desire for power and weight that has made current hatchbacks about as much fun as a prostate exam.
It danced.
It was the anti-Audi.
She's chosen a Vitara.
God help us all.
Thanks for that. Are you hoping for a divorce now?
On top of that, most manufacturers seem to have dropped their MPV/minivan to replace it with an SUV. Same outside dimensions with only a fraction on the internal load lugging capacity.
She’s chosen a Vitara.
You are HonestJohn and I claim my £5.
Er, puntos are a bit rubbish too you know?
Now if your missus had just traded in a lotus elan for the vitara I'd understand your point of view, but it's just a punto, a cheap hatch, whitegoods a bit like a cheap fridge or something.
Must admit I also hate suv's and the **** your kids so long as mine are safe drivers. Not all the drivers of course just those who don't know how big they are and managed to park half way over the dividing line in car parks.
You had a Punto then have the nerve to call SUVs ugly. 😂
Yeah you've got to hope SUVs are looked back on as an aberration in transportation design.
At least you'll have somewhere to carry all your chips now as well as your shoulder.
SUV's sell though, so as much as I dislike them in general manufacturers need to build them to fund the good stuff they build. Its the crossovers that are the worse culprits, the size of an SUV without any of the capability
Agreed, I hate it when the car manufacturers come into the house and hold a gun to my head until I buy a SUV.
I just wish we could all buy the car we want from a massive selection across lots of manufacturers.
Suzuki’s are good though surely ? My 88 yr old mother is still running around in her beat up old Jimny 😀
We have a Tiguan. It's great.
Sorry, what was the point..?
Yeah, alright. I quite like my SUV, actually, it’s an old school 4WD and I like it even more for that. It does what I want just fine. As would an estate, to be honest, but as long as we can still exercise free choice in what we buy, that’s what I’ll do and it’s what you should do if your wife lets you 😂
Be prepared to eat humble pie! My wife for an SUV last year against my protestations and better advice. And while I still think a decent hatchback or mid sized estate car would have been a more practical option for us, I have to admit it is a decent bit of kit. Returns excellent fuel economy, drives better than some normal cars, comfy and in recent crappy weather and floods was doddle to get around in the hub deep water. The main problem I have is getting bikes on the roof rack. I now have a set of step ladders in the boot.
I hate my wife's Honda CRV with a passion.
Annoyingly it's a good new baby car with space for the seat and pram, but my God it's the most mundane boring car I've ever driven. And it's brown.
AWD estate, best of both worlds...
Thread bookmarked for reference in six months time when our oxidised tool starts an “Aren’t SUV’s brilliant!” thread.
Why yes, Rusty. Yes they are.
I used to dislike suvs too, but then the mrs bought a Ford kuga, and it's actually pretty decent, I would never have one for myself, but I can see why people like them.
I say this as someone who loves all cars that are fast small and light.
I’ve liked the look of some but never appealed until we got one at work. Such a fantastic vehicle to drive but yes big buggers. Anyway the best EV for me on by price and practicality that came up was an e-tron so I’m waiting for my first suv. 😕
Anyway the best EV for me on by price and practicality that came up was an e-tron so I’m waiting for my first suv.
They were on amazing deal through NHS lease!
Just googled and apparently my wifes car (BMW X1) is an SUV. When she got it a just thought it was a practical comfy car.
What do I need to hate about it?
We had a pretty tetchy time on here a few months ago when there was a thread about the environmental impact of SUVs compared to the cars they're based on (hint - it's pretty terrible) and a lot of people who own then refusing to admit that their reasons for choosing an SUV were "because I want one and don't care about the environmental impact"not "there is absolutely no way a car with the same load capacity could do the jobs I use my SUV for".
If she managed OK with a Punto can you not, for the sake of the planet and future generations, convince her to get a similar sized car? Could even be electric - Peugeot do a fully electric 208 now that's supposed to be excellent and is in roughly the same ballpark price wise if you're buying new.
I feel your pain OP. Sadly the car industry has realised that they can make SUV's at only small percentage more cost but sell them to the muddleheaded public at a much higher premium, so generating the most 'profit'. In our prevalent toxic capitalist dystopia which may be only amplified by the current economic situation, the need for 'profit' overrides any concerns for driving pleasure, elegant design or environmental impact. SUV's will soon become just the default normalised non-thinking choice of car.
If she managed OK with a Punto can you not, for the sake of the planet and future generations, convince her to get a similar sized car?
You're not married, are you?
At least she's gone for a petrol 2wd version.
2 knee replacements so easier to get in and out of, that's what sold it to her tbh.
It's her money so she can buy what she wants.I'm just a grumpy old Hector. 🙂
I think it looks like a melted Metrocab, but she's delighted.
Got to confess our new (to us) car is a 4wd deisel Yeti which fails the enviro test good and proper. But then again our new Highlands life living in a house a mile from the snow gates over the moors and 25miles each way to work either a) just plain fails the environmental lifestyle massively or b) justifies car choice. Or both.
If I lived an urban lifestyle I'd hate the thing though - small is beautiful when it comes to parking and general gadding about in town and cities. And using the holiday suitcase principle that you fill available space but generally get by regardless you'd always want for more by get by with less when it comes to cars. Our old Fiat Seicento 'Sporting' was perfect in many way and lots of fun to drive though reputedly not a lot of fun to be in in a crash. I'd choose similar in a heartbeat (hopefully a leccy version) when I live in the right place. I guess an everyday titchy leccy thing with a rarely used snow/ big load beast could be the way ahead even living in the back of beyond- or in the post covid world when it is socially acceptable to work from home when the weather is duff the 'need' to be able to get to work reduces significatly.
They were on amazing deal through NHS lease!
It’s what won it over that and the ID3 being delayed.
refusing to admit that their reasons for choosing an SUV were “because I want one and don’t care about the environmental impact”n
That was a terrible thread. Big shock horror....people choose things because they want one. Wow, who’d have thunk it?!. My problem with that thread was the environmental impact claim. Ok an suv might not be quite as efficient as the car on which the platform is based but the fact is they are very efficient (depending on the model of course). The wife’s x3 returns well into the 40mpg’s for normal day to day driving and will breach 50 mpg on a long uninterrupted motorway journey. Maybe not quite as good as the equivalent car but only a few percent less efficient and certainly the most fuel efficient cars either my missus or I have ever had and this is our first SUV.
Most of it is just people hating the choices others have or make - big shock horror:people are different and make different choices! Good old fashioned prejudices and i’ll-informed opinions.
Make your own decisions in life that suit your own life without reference it others’ circumstances. Just don’t come on here looking for those decisions to be endorsed. If people don’t like it they can shove shove it where the sun don’t shine.
2 knee replacements so easier to get in and out of, that’s what sold it to her tbh
She'll find electrics easier to get in and out of, the battery under the floor makes the Zoé easier to get into than the Clio.
What do I need to hate about it?
Like any other BMW, it's not the car people hate. 😉
After years of the average car getting more economical the popularity of the SUV has reversed that trend. Just when the climatic deniers have lost their grip on the media so even Kevin and Tracy are aware that burning fossil fuels is not good, the SUV takes off. Powered by all those stupid family adventure ads filmed in wildernesses from Scotland to Spain, and hipsters driving their urban 4X4s in deserted urban landscapes where all the traffic lights are green.
If you can see through the advertising bollocks and buy your car on objective criteria you probably won't buy one but you might, they're your criteria.
Like many I thought SUV's were a bit pointless particularly 4wd that are mostly never used on any surface that requires it but....
I ended up getting my first SUV thingy 4 years ago XC60 2wd as it had just got too hard lifting my wife in and out of my Mazda6 estate also needed enough space to throw a wheelchair in without stripping it down. This was on the Motability scheme so after 3 years got another SUV Peugeot 3008 2wd the car was only 9 months old when Carolyn died and Motability did me a superb deal on the car when I asked about buying it so I'm afraid I stuck with it.
TBH I love small cars for day to day stuff but in terms of economy the 3008 has been the most fuel efficient car I've owned so far in its 15000 miles its averaged 45.7mpg and that's not from the cars app but from mileage and fuel notes. most of my driving is urban as well.
So Pete don't post me some rotten kippers 😉
I'd agree for most people that a SUV is pointless. But then anything above a 1l ecoboost fiesta is also what most people would ever need. It depends where you draw the line.
However, I have one.
- 4WD and clearance for off road use (desert or beach mainly).
- Sometimes need 7 seats but mostly use 2 adults + 2 rear facing car seats + big boot.
- Living in the land of the Land Cruiser so it stops one being, literally, driven over.
Nothing else would do it all effectively so I have one of these beauties.
3.8l V6 so would never get one in the UK.
My point is, don't judge everyone who has one, they might be a legit choice for them. We also only run one car as a household and use Uber (or equivalent) as the second option. Surely far more efficient than two cars for two jobs.
just for laughs, here's something else with a 3.5l V6.
Now which would one would you rather have a go in?
567Bhp/ton by the way...
Hmm funny timing but I’ve been looking at various means to get myself to Spain and am sorta thinking along the lines of a Discovery3 as comfortable bang per buck solution , this is a vehicle that in normal times I’d run away from, but in strange times you get strange bedfellows 🙂
Got to confess our new (to us) car is a 4wd deisel Yeti which fails the enviro test good and proper. But then again our new Highlands life
Welcome to Highlands life and Yeti ownership.
We bought one recently too. Great choice. It's not hard to see why they are so popular in the area.
I don't like them either; no matter how you dress it up making a bigger hole in the air with a heavier object is going to use more fuel, and they're worse for anything they hit.
For various reasons we looked a chopping the big car for a 7 seater. Hardly anyone makes one that isn't an SUV :-/
You say this
the fact is they are very efficient (depending on the model of course).
Then you say this
The wife’s x3 returns well into the 40mpg’s for normal day to day driving and will breach 50 mpg on a long uninterrupted motorway journey
40mpg in daily driving is not good these days, nor is 50mpg on a long trip. In fact it's pretty poor.
I'd ban the stupid things. Available under license only to people with knee problems or require actual off-road capability for their job. Free driveway surfacing to people who play at being country folk though. Anyone with babies and prams can buy a smaller pram and/or an estate.
Actually the pram argument is an example of what's ****ed up about society. Oh look at these lovely chunky prams, let's buy one. But wait, it won't go in the car, let's buy a new bigger car! What? Surely a smaller frigging pram would be a lot more sensible in terms of consumption and environmental impact? I think people just want an excuse, so they can let their conscience off the hook.
Anyone with babies and prams can buy a smaller pram and/or an estate.
From experience, you can fit a pram and assorted baby clobber in a Golf/Astra fine, and I dare say it'll all go in a smaller car.
The currently family wagon is a Passat estate. It swallows a huge amount of stuff, and does it while using less fuel than an SUV.
They make a lot at sense compared to those stupid cars with only two seats, then again what about those ****s in single seaters going ****ing nowhere.
From experience, you can fit a pram and assorted baby clobber in a Golf/Astra fine, and I dare say it’ll all go in a smaller car.
Yup managed with 307 and Golfs very easily. God knows how our parents managed with smaller cars.
Yup managed with 307 and Golfs very easily. God knows how our parents managed with smaller cars.
My father always made it perfectly clearly that having to sell his Austin Healey 3000....
...to get a nice practical MGB GT....
....when I was born so they could do trips down from Elgin to relatives in Liverpool and Manchester in a bit of comfort with all the faff I came with was one of life's disappointments.
That Healey still looks so good one last me the other week it sounded amazing too.
From experience, you can fit a pram and assorted baby clobber in a Golf/Astra fine, and I dare say it’ll all go in a smaller car.
We brought up two kids whilst owning a MkII Prius. How ever was this possible?
It’s just not feasible you need at least an Octavia.
First mrsmac and i managed just fine with one kid in a citroen ax.
900cc petrol, top speed was about 75/80, no matter what you did with it it always managed 60mpg.
The back seat beside the bairn was always packed right up though, i dread to think what it would have been like in even a relatively minor accident.
I now have a diesel suv, I can’t get into my wife’s clio easily due to a forked leg, and living in Scotland we need 4wd most winters. Literally nothing can get out of our street when it snows without 4wd.
If I didn’t need it I wouldn’t have it, I’d rather drive a 600kg hatch with an 80bhp 1.4 engine, but nobody makes anything like that nowadays.
After years of the average car getting more economical the popularity of the SUV has reversed that trend. Just when the climatic deniers have lost their grip on the media so even Kevin and Tracy are aware that burning fossil fuels is not good, the SUV takes off. Powered by all those stupid family adventure ads filmed in wildernesses from Scotland to Spain, and hipsters driving their urban 4X4s in deserted urban landscapes where all the traffic lights are green.
If you can see through the advertising bollocks and buy your car on objective criteria you probably won’t buy one but you might, they’re your criteria.
Funny that the rise in CO2 levels also coincided with the whole VW diesel farago and sales of diesel cars dropping like a stone in favour of petrol cars, which as everyone knows, are both less fuel-efficient and have higher CO2 emissions...
The currently family wagon is a Passat estate. It swallows a huge amount of stuff,
+1 Try getting a cello in a hard case in the boot of an SUV with the back seats up.
On a local level you have a point Countzero but when you look at the world market for petrol and diesel the argument doesn't hold up. You can change the proportions slightly in cracking but in the end a large part of refined oil ends up as fuel and is ultimately burned so the amount of CO2 remains about the same. What changes is what is burned where and how much more fuel is burned moving it around.
In Europe we were stupid favouring diesels with our tax regimes because they have been far worse for for our health when if we'd burnt more petrol here we'd have reduced the world level of heavy fuel oil being burned and done nothing to increase the world levels of CO2. European refineries have been producing an excess of petrol which has been exported in tankers using heavy fuel oil to places with less tax on petrol.
It's crazy but we've been exporting petrol to the US for years so they can run their V8s that conform to Californian NOX regs and poison each other less than we do. If we hadn't their petrol wouldn't have been so cheap and they'd have used less of it and perhaps more diesel.
Wait til you lot hear about the eco friendly bicycles that we've improved by putting a motor on them....
Does an AMG G63 count?
It's modern car seats, not the prams, that drive some parents too suv to fit 3 kids in. I'm still stunned I can't fit 3 in my Octavia.
Shoulda got a Jimny 🤡
Some women like big things,nothing you can do about it.
We had a Kuga and it was decent enough in a white goods kind of way. Preferred the Focus it replaced though and if it was my choice I’d have bought an estate. My wife now has a Discovery Sport which is a lovely thing and very practical. No desire to swap it for an estate.
Punto? Meh.
Wait til you lot hear about the eco friendly bicycles that we’ve improved by putting a motor on them….
Improved as in... Increased the emissions?
Awesumz
Today we had to replace Mrs Spanner’s Punto.
I dislike this sentence
My current car is an Alfa Stelvio SUV, they don't make a Gulia estate and I wanted something more practical than a saloon for bikes and stuff. It's a great car but I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me I'm killing the planet.
Well, it's not as bad as I expected.
In fact, apart from actually being an SUV, It's ace.
I swore very loudly when pricing up tyres, but apart from that it's a nice car.
Very comfy and unlike the Juke, Sportage, Kona, Tucson etc has decent rear visibility and lots of very usable space.
To drive, reminds me of the old Doblo - nice seating position, easy access, no obvious flaws. Miss all the clever storage though.
Shame about the stupidly large wheels.
Alloys and low profile tyres on a car like this are about as much use as a small plasticene rhinoceros in a shipwreck.
The ground clearance will come in very useful in Aldi car park and it looks like a Range Rover designed by a blind Australian.
She likes it though. 🙂
Motorpoint as painless to deal with as usual and cheaper than anywhere else - 8 grand off list for a 15 month old car with slightly higher than average milage.
Can't fault them.
plasticene rhinoceros
I think they all died out during the last ice age.
😃
Ill swap my Yeti for your Vitara if you don't want it?
God knows how our parents managed with smaller cars.
three of us climbing round in the back without car seats or seat belts from what I remember.
now my fairly large SUV/estate (Subaru outback) can’t fit three child seats across the back.
I know which I’d rather have though.