UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Apart from when a poster got jumped on because she liked having a small car with a bit more height, because it was easier for her to get in and out off.
SUVs make up more than 40% of new cars sold in the UK – while fully electric vehicles account for less than 2%
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Apart from when a poster got jumped on because she liked having a small car with a bit more height, because it was easier for her to get in and out off.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Not when posters have specifically railed against a Yaris Cross, one of the smallest "SUV"s on the market and well under the size and weight of your average saloon car. The Juke comes up a lot too, despite not actually being any larger or heavier than the Clio it's based on. That small crossover market, by volume, is the largest set of SUVs on the road.
editor
hiraethified
But that wasn't the question being asked. Of course if the electric car is smaller than the current trend for oversized chunks of metal it wouldn't have to be heavier.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I can't remember if it's already been discussed on here (and I can't be assed to check!) but apparently you've had to pay a surcharge when you first register a 'heavy' car in France since 1st January 2022. You pay €10 for every kilo over 1,800kg. (Taxe sur la masse en ordre de marche or malus de poids, for short) There are a few exemptions for things like EVs.
French car and vehicle carte grise registration taxes
About the fees payable when registering the carte grise for a new or second-hand car in Francewww.french-property.com
ETA: Oh, I've just noticed Ed. posted something about the French rules while I was writing this.
This makes sense. The french are great and at doing practical vehicles that maximize space and utility for their size. My partners ancient kangoo is fantastic for this.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Ah, typo on my part. Yes I am for it.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Even the original Twingo was an absolute marvel of usable space vs. the size of the car. It's a pity the new ones are pretty much just a standard hatchback now.
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
I've not noticed a shortage of people highlighting when someone gets their brands mixed up though (which mostly seems to happen because people who own smaller "SUVs" think they're being personally targeted when every picture posted makes what's actually being targeted pretty obvious), and then the actual intent of the conversation continues to be about the larger end of the market, so it's not exactly a major problem, is it.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
I suspect that's because most posters would agree that things like the new LR Defender are gross. But then there'd be nothing to argue over and the thread would die.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
It's not really a thing though, is it? The super-large SUVs are still a tiny proportion of the overall market. Sales say that most normal people aren't interested in anything larger than a Qashqai, and I think it's worth pointing out that when Nissan replaced the Almera with that they weren't actually expecting to sell that many of them. Yet in Europe it's pretty much the car that started the trend - we didn't really import the American trend for giant land-battleships, and that sort aren't much of the market. The public spotted a taller, less ugly estate car and decided they liked it - it's a consumer trend, not something the car companies rammed down our throats from across the Atlantic. (Nissan moved the Qashqai to the States and called it a Rogue and it sells well as a "small" car there) The posh sort who like this sort of thing were buying Land Rovers and Merc G-classes over a decade before the trend really kicked off, and they're still the only ones buying cars like that. High end, expensive cars are absurd, whether they're 3 feet high or 6 feet high.
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
You say that but I've been shocked by the number of giant motors chugging round Suffolk since I started spending less time in London. They're a noticeable presence and the real point is it's a growing one. Saying blithely that "it's not really a thing" is like looking at the US culture wars a few years back and thinking "oh that's alright, it's only in the US." Now is the exact time to worry about it, because they're in the process of being foisted on us at this very moment. Waiting until ten years down the line when they're already everywhere and have a major commercial and public lobby backing their continued existence would be entirely the wrong way round.
I’ve noticed in my smug cunt area of Surrey that the wankermobiles have definitely got a good 20% wider and longer than they were 10 years ago. It’s quite entertaining in its own way, because they can’t actually pass each other in the narrow country lanes any more. More like non-utility vehicles, amirite.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I mean that bit is funny, but what annoys me is when they don't know how wide their dam car is and find it hard to pass you.
Luckily I suspect we have far fewer up here then in Surrey.
That’s when it’s funny to see their faces as I accelerate my 15 year old Panda straight towards them
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
They're awesome. If I didn't need to carry more stuff from time to time I'd have bought one in a shot.
I used to work at a kids home that was above the highest village in England. We had a few 4x4s, but when the really bad weather hit, I'd much rather have been in the Panda then anything else.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
The problem with the largest vehicles all being firmly into the "higher earner" category is what do you do about it? These things are Status Symbols for the well-off. You can quadruple the taxes on them, and it won't get any less of them on the road. Fuel tax is already as high as it can go for the firmly average people, so you can't take advantage of their poor mileage to tax them more there. Even then, they're going electric at a much faster rate than smaller, cheaper vehicles are. I mean, by all means they should get a massive tax increase just for providing a bit more funding for other things, but it's not going to cut the trend.
The only thing that will have a big impact has already happened - interest rates have gone up. For a good decade, it was cheaper to finance a more expensive car on a lease than it was to buy something more reasonable. That's gone now.
The only thing that will have a big impact has already happened - interest rates have gone up. For a good decade, it was cheaper to finance a more expensive car on a lease than it was to buy something more reasonable. That's gone now.
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
The obvious thing (short of a direct ban) is a multi-pronged attack - make it expensive, inconvenient and socially unacceptable. Yes they can pay extra tax, but are they willing to when it's also an invitation for constant dirty looks, never being let out on a turn, having your car called out for being a prick's palace every time it's mentioned, keyings, rising petrol prices etc? The trick is to make having one less appealing, any step towards that is weight on the No Sale side of the scale.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
And yet BMW sales go up every year. (I kid, I kid...)
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
Tbf it's hard to tell if it is or isn't atm - there's every chance they would have gained commercial ground faster otherwise. We've no statistics for the cars that don't get bought.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Tax them very hard for coming into cities. Some will still do it, but many people will choose to leave them in Surrey (or on a welsh hillside where they belong)
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
Maybe because, as noted multiple times already, Urban isn't running a vehicle purchase advice column and that's not the point of the thread at all? Try AutoExpress or something.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
They can't be allowed near a hedge or a ditch either, so they just come straight at you down the middle of the road.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Being considered in Edinburgh
Edinburgh City Council consider ban on 'gas-guzzling' SUVs
Under the proposal they would be banned from parts of Edinburgh amid environmental and safety concerns.
www.bbc.co.uk
Please appreciate the amazing cunty Tory councillor quote, which came shortly after a discussion of how research has shown that pedestrian deaths caused by SUVs are increasing at a faster rate than those caused by other cars.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Enough people seem to have plenty to say on the matter, always a bit shy when asked for details rather than sounds bites though.
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
I hope his neighbours take the opportunity to spend their money on large, incredibly loud speaker systems mounted directly facing his living room window playing Baby Brother's "You Asked For It" on loop. It is after all their money to spend and that is the one and only factor.
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