Yes, Why Are SUV's Getting Even Bigger?

Am not sure why people need such massive vehicles, though perhaps some will come on here to explain. I suppose if car manufacturers create a trend people will follow it. Years ago people coped with smaller cars with even estate and saloon cars being a fraction of the size of today’s vehicles, and I never remember anyone complaining that their car was far too small or that they wished they could drive a tractor sized vehicle to do the school run.
Is weird really.

What vehicles are they putting in the Chelsea Tractor category please?

We have a friend who is working for a Chinese car manufacturer newish to this country, the cars are huge but function just like any other car carrying the same number of passengers.
I do not understand.

People have an erroneous idea that they are safer than smaller cars. They are not, they are less stable and are more likely to kill any person they hit, than smaller cars.

There are few situations, if any in this country were other than those professional involved with land management need to drive off road - and they drive good old fashioned land rovers or their modern equivalent. DS is an archaeologist and some sites he has worked on have been pretty remote and he has always managed with just a family saloon car.

These Chelsea tractors also have minimal luggage space, we have always run estate cars of various makes because we do need carrying space.

I suspect, except for a few who have a specialised need for such vehicles, it is entirely a question of machismo, or as we say in this household, short willy syndrome.

Well, if you're a family with two or more children, then you may well struggle to fit their car seats into a small car - that's one possible reason why people may want them.

I think cars in general are becoming bigger and this could be partly due to law changes whereby children under certain heights have to be in booster/child seats……if someone has three children all under a certain height it wouldn’t be easy getting three booster/child seats side by side on the back seat of a small saloon, in fact I’d say that would be impossible. Just because a back seat has three seat belts doesn’t mean it is possible to add safety seating for three children - possibly why vehicles are becoming bigger….and they aren’t all Chelsea tractors!
Also, what about driver and/or passenger mobility? both myself and MrA struggle physically to get into a regular saloon, the lower profile of such vehicles makes it impossible for us to get in and out of the cars. Are we expected to struggle just because people object to SUV’s?
Technically, our own car is classed as a saloon but it is higher, very slightly wider and there’s lots of similar vehicles on the roads…….does’nt make it a large SUV or a Chelsea tractor.

Astitchintime yes, that is why I asked for more details of which vehicles are being classed as Chelsea Tractors

Child/Baby seats are much bigger nowadays and are legally required for longer.

A lot of these bigger cars are electric or hybrid, especially the new ones coming out of China, so technically they are better for the environment and we are being encouraged to buy them.

I always thought the people carriers were suitable for larger families and could accommodate the necessary car seats etc.
I realise people may prefer SUVs which is fine but I don’t think the trend to keep enlarging them is strictly necessary and more a status thing.

We recently had a real struggle to get into a parking space in a hospital car park. Either side of the space were two huge vehicles, one of which was well over the line so the space was even smaller!

As we were very close to appointment time for son’s chemo and there were no other spaces we had no choice. Son parked it and said I should nip out once he was hooked up and see if I could find a better space. I did so and the badly parked huge car had gone and had left the word “twa*” on my car! Considering he was the one who didn’t park within the lines I thought that was a bit rich!

GrannyGravy13

What vehicles are they putting in the Chelsea Tractor category please?

Anything 4x4, those huge Range Rovers, Land Rovers and any SUV that falls into the Showing-Off category.

Primrose53

We recently had a real struggle to get into a parking space in a hospital car park. Either side of the space were two huge vehicles, one of which was well over the line so the space was even smaller!

As we were very close to appointment time for son’s chemo and there were no other spaces we had no choice. Son parked it and said I should nip out once he was hooked up and see if I could find a better space. I did so and the badly parked huge car had gone and had left the word “twa*” on my car! Considering he was the one who didn’t park within the lines I thought that was a bit rich!

Not nice.
Tbh car parks could make bigger spaces but charge drivers more for parking there. I believe in Norway some car parks are making spaces smaller to discourage bigger vehicles.

And it's perpetually claimed by Chelsea Tractor mummies that they "just have to have" such vulgar monsters to protect their kiddies in the event of a crash.

But what about any pedestrians involved? How do they protect themselves from these vehicles - they don't!

Status. My dd had to buy a 7 seater after the 3rd baby, in order to fit 3 child seats in, but it’s a VW just a bit longer than usual, not built like a bloody great tank, and still has masses of boot space for when they go camping, like at this weekend just gone.

While I agree that it can well be about status for many, that's not always the case. If you have a large dog - or dogs, for instance - you may need that extra space to fit in a dog crate. And, as I said above, sometimes it's a question of fitting in child car seats, which can also be quite large these days.

Primrose53

We recently had a real struggle to get into a parking space in a hospital car park. Either side of the space were two huge vehicles, one of which was well over the line so the space was even smaller!

As we were very close to appointment time for son’s chemo and there were no other spaces we had no choice. Son parked it and said I should nip out once he was hooked up and see if I could find a better space. I did so and the badly parked huge car had gone and had left the word “twa*” on my car! Considering he was the one who didn’t park within the lines I thought that was a bit rich!

That’s such a great point. I think it’s totally unnecessary to have HUGE cars.

We had a large family so always had 6 seater cars, they were nowhere near as big as our daughter’s current 5 seater car.

I must say on our trips to the US and Canada I loved the large airy hire cars I drove, but, they have much wider roads and big spaces in their car parks.

A thought on space for child seats-
When I had my last grandchild (over 20yrs ago) I drove a Peugeot Partner, as it was like a small van with sliding side doors. Ideal for dealing with baby seat struggles in tight parking spots and such a big boot that I didn't need to fold down the pram.
I think I may need to get someting similar again for my expected grandbaby as I'm sure all the seats, prams ect will have become even more faffy
A really good consideration for anyone with regular childcare or passengers.

DH has a Lexus 4 X 4 (plug in hybrid) I have a little 2 X 2 soft top.

I need more space to open my doors as it is a two door car than DH needs with his bigger car.

I try not to judge people on the cars they drive. I do not know their circumstances.