4 x 4 - raison d'etre?

andydiysaver

Just my 2 pence worth


This is generally correct for most people - when you get older you get more money you get more successful, you become more balanced as a person....... so why then would anyone over 20 choose to invest their hard earned success in a vehicle that needs filling up every two seconds, is exclusively driven in urban environment and in terms of bang for buck, the average ford fiesta can outpace this slow to shift tonne behemoth. I'm trying to see the positives and the only postiives I see is 4x4 owners trying to justify why its ok to waste hundreds at the pumps each year and drive a vehicle built to be anti social - I'm trusting that here on moneysavings expert forum, there will be no such wasters of money?


yes yes I know it's controversial and plenty of people love them: but that's not what I'm trying to get at. I'm trying to get at why?


- if you want status get a sports car- then at least your outlay on petrol gets you a bit of performance


- if you've got loads of kids get a people carrier


- if you have a caravan most modern vehicles will do it and you know this.


- if you drive on a road, not the wild swamps of the Scottish highlands, why drive in these things?


- ok four wheels are better than two in winter snow. that's perhaps 2 weeks or less every year. What about the other 50 weeks at the petrol station?


- and then there's the added consideration that these ugly, showy things are just downright rude dangerous and irresponsible


rude because many intercity streets can take a flow of two cars but only one of these ridiculously oversized tractors


dangerous and irresponsible because as heavier vehicles they are likely to come off much better in a crash and added to it they often have high grade metal bars on to ensure the result is all you and none of them. This kind of "enhancement also ensures the guaranteed destruction of smaller vehicles, road user, and the likely death of the pedestrian, cyclist, child)


And there was me thinking that getting older is meant to be like a fine wine, we're no longer insecure, unsure of ourselves, we don't require an obnoxious 10 foot tractor outside our house to confirm to ourselves who we are and what we have achieved?


views please, I fully accept farmers and off roaders have every right to want and need to own these vehicles...but does anyone else have half an argument?


I think Jordan said it best, when she said it was her favourite car, she couldn't justify why, and that's where I think a lot of people are at with their urban 4x4's.

Gloomendoom

Perhaps they just want one.

andydiysaver

don't know about you but every purchase I've made, I've had a reason to do it, that's what I'm trying to get at here, reasons an urban driver would want a bulky farm vehicle?

Gloomendoom

andydiysaver wrote: »

don't know about you but every purchase I've made, I've had a reason to do it, that's what I'm trying to get at here, reasons an urban driver would want a bulky farm vehicle?

I haven't. I bought my car because I wanted it, no other reason.

It's not a 4x4 BTW

nickcc

Higher off the ground and easier to get into, many modern 4x4's have fuel consumption figures that match modern cars especially as the drivers usually drive slower than the boy racers in their hot hatches, BMW's etc.

epninety

Maybe because they have an occasional but regular need to tow something which weighs more than a crisp packet? If you have a trailer plated for 3.5T capacity, you can't legally tow it even when empty with a vehicle not also capable of towing 3.5T.

Of course, SORN, continuous road tax and continuous insurance requirements combines to make it expensive and awkward to keep such a vehicle to use only a few months each year.

I don't have to justify it, it's my money and there's bu66er all point in saving it if not to spend it one something you want :T

Ultrasonic

nickcc wrote: »

Higher off the ground and easier to get into, many modern 4x4's have fuel consumption figures that match modern cars especially as the drivers usually drive slower than the boy racers in their hot hatches, BMW's etc.

4x4 fuel economy may be improving but it will always be worse than an otherwise comparable 'normal' car because the 4x4 has a larger cross sectional area meaning more aerodynamic drag, and will be heavier further reducing mpg. Bigger tyres also increase rolling resistance and again reduce mpg. Handling will also be worse due to the higher centre of gravity.

Nobody wanting to design a car for fuel economy or handling would choose to use the typical 4x4 body shape.

In answer to the original question, I believe the sales of 4x4s come down to three many factors:

1) Many people like the high driving position.
2) They are perceived as safer.
3) They are fashionable.

Personally I hate the things and wish there far fewer on UK roads.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Do you,

Drive a car when a bicycle, or the bus, could get you to work just as well.

Waste money on fine wine when a cup of tea would quench your thirst just as well.

Take a holiday in foreign climes, think of the environment and cycle to your nearest beach instead.

Live in a house larger or have a garden larger than everyone else, you could manage perfectly well in a two up two down.

One could go on citing examples of more frugal or more environmetally friendly ways of living, but fortunately so long as people are prepared to pay for their excesses the apparatchiks haven't made the alternatives illegal, yet comrade yet.


If i own a Landcruiser and some idiot overtaking on a blind bend smashes into me, killing himself in the process but leaving me and my family shaken but otherwise unhurt am i going to feel guilty about it, not on your nelly, if we'd been in a shoe box we would probably be killed too.
Most 4x4's take up no more roadspace than an oversized bloated car such as Mondeo or Insignia....incidentally these cars have no more room inside than the models about 4 back that they replaced despite being some 30% larger.

I don't get the status/badge thing, apart from celebrities and their wannabe weird disciples, does anyone normal care a jot what anyone else thinks of their car/house/job title/lifestyle.

epninety

andydiysaver wrote: »

don't know about you but every purchase I've made, I've had a reason to do it, that's what I'm trying to get at here, reasons an urban driver would want a bulky farm vehicle?

When I'm driving my Defender, which I suspect you would classify as an example of your "bulky farm vehicle" I'm always astounded how many people drive around in ludicrously oversized things like the 'new' Mini - both longer and wider than my Defender according to the manufacturers website.

Can you justify why anyone would drive one of those instead of a more practical and sensible vehicle?

jase1

It always amuses me when I see the 4+ litre V8 4x4s being driven at 30mph on A-roads. What was the point in all that power again?

Still, that's fine, you do what you want -- but don't get annoyed with me when I blast past you at the earliest opportunity.

lovesgshp

I must admit, that I own a 4x4 Lwb Mits Pajero, the second one we have had, but also a old Citroen Xsara. The Pajero 3.2 ltr is not as economical, but then we live in a area close to the mountains, that is subject to heavy snow, up to 1 mtr deep and it copes with it well.
It is not a town car, as the citroen is, but it is used for all types of journeys, so we have the option. Would I buy one for the cities in the UK ...... no, or for faster driving, we had a Supra for that originaly. The Pajero is no slouch on the open road, but must say the fuel tank did no go down as much as the supra turbo did as you watched it!!!
Must agree epninety, that the new "mini" looks a heap of junk, but it is now German engineering!!!