Its not just people getting obese

Let us say that 10% of large car users have a proven need. What about the 90% who don't?

meh! what about SMALL car owners who live in towns.... they dont all NEED to be driving....

If you go down that tack you need to be confident that you yourself NEVER drive unless there are absolutely no public transport, car share or foot alternatives.... you coulda gotten on that ferry on a coach or as a foot passenger!

People are commuting futher to link work opportunites with affordablw housing than they did even 15 years ago! So what if they wanna make sitting on the motorway a bit more comfortable?

Part of the reason for bigger cars is the requirement for child safety seats.
In the olden days we were able to restrain our 3 D.C. in the back of our Vauxhall Astra with two booster seats and an ordinary lap belt.
Nowadays we would need an SUV at least.
I feel very smug when I go shopping and have no problem easing our Fiat Panda into the car park spaces which are not really big enough for fat cars.

But when you are squeezed between two Chelsea Tractors.....??

Since coming back to UK I've noticed it too. I thought it was probably a fashion thing. And car manufacturers promoting them because they cost more, more profit for them.
They take up so much room in car parks, where the spaces were painted years ago, I'm sometimes afraid to open our car door.

I don’t see why you need a bigger car for the sake of child safety seats. Over the years we transported our GS in a series of small cars - micra, Clio, and jazz - using seats with isofix mountings. The problem we had was not with the seat but with the size of his buggies!

Some of us have seven seaters because we have to transport family around and have had to transport furniture to another country. In the winter we have been able to reach family and take groceries when they were unable to get off their drive and Mr Tesco couldn't get within a mile.
Luggage space is roomy when you put the seats down, in one trip we carried a console table, an electric piano and sundry boxes full of household goods as well as luggage for a two week holiday.
I am not going to mention the make of car but suffice to say it is comfortable and I feel very safe in it.

Greyduster yes of course you were able to transport your GS in a small car. One child. But what if you'd had 3 GC that you wanted to take out together? Would you have been able to fit 3 isofix car seats into the back of a Nissan Micra? Of course, as grandparents it wouldn't have necessarily been a major issue if you were unable to take all three out at the same time. But if you're the parents of 3 children, you clearly could not manage with a tiny car.

What did people do before people carriers? Multiple donkeys I suppose.

Coincidentally we were looking at a newish mini the other day. We both said how far removed it was from the original mini in size particularly.

I don’t see why you need a bigger car for the sake of child safety seats

"buckle-crunch" and extended rear facing.

We had 3 children in a Mitzubishi space wagon and a seat to spare as well. When they grew up and left home we changed to a smaller car.
I know another family of 5 (3 chikdren) who have a vw touran. I cant see the need for a 4x4 unless you are a farmer. They can be a menace at the school gates,blocking vision for other cars and children crossing over. . (Our children walked to school and so do GC. )

Ooops, my younger daughter has a 4 x 4. She lives on the fens in Lincolnshire and her drive leads to a track to reach the road, difficult when snow comes, and she takes her four dogs in it.

Erwin Wurm is a fantastic artist. He has made a series of fat sculptures of cars!

Google him!

Here is one of the cars!

....and he is quite a good size himself.

I am not sure about your point re the Touran pollyperkins? It actually has I believe the same floorpan (is that the right word? but I mean chassis area) as the VW Golf which nobody would describe as a “fat car”.
One reason cars have got “bigger” is not just vanity, but they are required to provide much better protection against impact from every side.
Do you remember how thin the doors of an old style mini used to be? They were little tin boxes and I can remember an oo-er feeling as I looked out from mine and realised I was eye to eye with the wheels of the lorry beside me.
And as for the boot! I could not get a week’s shopping in it nowadays!
Personally I would hate to try to drive and/or park one of these bigger cars but when DD and SIL are driving three children plus all the attendant paraphernalia down to Somerset, or to visit us here, I am apply to know that their Discovery would afford excellent protection in the event of a shunt.
Horses for courses!

I love my 2004 old Astra estate which is quite slim compared to newer cars. Waitrose in Twickenham has a terrible carpark with narrow spaces and I don't know how people manage to get out of the wider cars. My car also is good at getting chairs in to taje to my upholstery class. However a friends DS had to change his car in order to get three baby seats across the back as the legislation has changed and baby seats are now much wider

“Happy to know” not “apply”
What is my iPad on?

Wow, MOnica, you were brave to bring up the fat word on GN?
I thought this thread was going to be about fat pets not vehicles.
I don’t have a problem with the bigger cars, many people round here need them. I do have a problem with the lack of driving ability that SOME of the drivers of these huge things display.
My sister had one- her husbands company car. Nice to be up high but a long way to walk to the supermarket or service station because she had to park in the least popular spots -she was scared of bumping into other vehicles!
She has a smaller one now, but still much higher than my (small) mini so is much more confident when parking.
I love my small car, I don’t get fazed by larger cars or lorries and , if you have a huge car, I can park and turn round much more easily than you.
I’m also quite slim!

I drive a 4x4. I love my 4x4 and when it needs replacing I'll get another 4x4.

I don't care what other people think or drive. It's their choice so I don't question it.

Well oldmeg , if you’re ok with making fun of people because of how they look that says a lot more about you than me!

Obesity is self inflicted in some but not all and just like not every disability is visible neither is the reason for being overweight.

All I’m saying is being respectful to all, black, white, disabled and shock horror...the obese!

Has anyone mentioned status symbols?

Cars have always been that to some extent and now that nearly everyone has a car perhaps those who care about their image and their status in that respect feel they need a big car to keep up appearances and to get the message out loud and clear about their success in the world.

Just a thought.

Have a 4X4, (Q7) love it. I am short and feel very safe whilst driving it with exceptional visibility. Can park it in any car park, including Waitrose which has small bays. It is not a "status symbol".

It means that I can go out with 3 Grandchildren in their seats, along with DD and husband.

The boot is enormous, ideal for buggies etc. Ideal for bad weather (we have a set of winter tyres).

Looking at new cars at the moment, will definitely be another 4X4. Second car will either be electric or a hybrid, for short journeys etc.

OldMeg "How can you equate fat people with black people and the disabled? That is so rude to those who cannot help their colour or disability" Seriously - did you actually say this! "People who cannot help their colour"!!

I'm fat. I love being fat. My Husband loves me being fat. My family and friends love me being fat. I am lovely. I can do everything everyone else does but I also eat what I like and don't give a shite what anyone else thinks. I've never denied myself anything I fancy nor have I ever said "just one" or "I shouldn't" or counted a calorie. And what?

I DO have arthritis but in my neck, sternum, hands, elbows, shoulders , big toe (!) and wrists, NOT any place to do with being the fatty that I am.

I drive a big car, a Hyundai ix35 which although looks like one isn't actually a 4x4. It has lots of gadgets to help me carry on driving and without it I'd be stuck. I love a big car. They are comfortable and mine has a ton of boot space, should I need to transport huge amounts of stuff, which I don't apart from a double buggy. Its not because I'm fat. Its not a status symbol. Its a car.

Sorry all you skinny minnies who are so jealous of us fatties who enjoy our grub that you feel you have to be rude about us and pick on our lovely big cars

I've been told that the size of a man's car, or the power of its engine or it's price tag tend to be in inverse proportion to the size of his penis.

I can quash that rumour*varian*. The size and price tag are in direct relation to his bank balance, a man has a big powerful car and wad ... Nothing else matters