Diesels

Cars have got larger over time, but the space inside has not necessarily grown with the vehicle.

Cars have a lot more boxing and padding these days leaving the interiors cramped and the boot size inadequate.

I'm not saying your wrong, just saying its not the only reason. I concur that an awful lot of people like the commanding driving position of an SUV which makes them feel safe, but a lot of these although tall are still small cars.

The ford Kuga is based on a focus for example.

A lot of these "big" cars you see on the road are in fact no bigger than your average family hatchback.

They may look "big" due to their height and shape, but in fact they are not.
I agree with most of that, but I think most of the eg Range Rovers on the road (seems like about every 3rd vehicle round here) weren't bought because of need for space. Mostly as status symbols or something to blow a pension pot on. And reading too much Jeremy Clarkson!
 
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Cars have got larger over time, but the space inside has not necessarily grown with the vehicle.

Cars have a lot more boxing and padding these days leaving the interiors cramped and the boot size inadequate.

People have also become bigger and wider - anyone tried getting into an Austin 7?
 
But that's precisely the problem - large numbers of people wanting bigger vehicles to make themselves safer, though it means other drivers are less safe. So there's an arms race in vehicle sizes, which are outgrowing many roads and parking spaces, and adding to emissions. At a time when we're told natural gas heating must end due to climate change.

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Exactly. The car in the middle is my 30-odd year old Alfa 164. A BMW 5-Series sized car in its day! It looks absolutely tiny next to the Nissan Note (yes, that's a Nissan Note!) on its left!
 
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Any vehicle that has a kerb weight of greater than 500kg declared as special type, requires tachograph and limited to 40mph.

Giant SUVs will soon loose their popularity

So... pretty much anything with more than 3 wheels then?!
 
not at all, most people own cars that are unnecessarily too big and powerful for what they truly need.
That's because most people buy their cars based on the largest thing / most people they're likely to want to get in it. For several years, I had 7-seat MPVs. Why, when I only had a family of 5? Because it was nigh-impossible to get three child seats next to each other in the back! As soon as the oldest was out of her child seat, it was 2 child seats in Row 2 and a booster cushion in Row 3. However, for the vast majority of the miles that those cars covered, they were just carrying me. You can always carry small things in a big car. You can't do it the other way round.
 
People are prepared to pay for higher running costs in order to drive a car which is deliberately oversized so that it does more damage to other cars in accidents.

Might be truer to say "...so that it suffers less damage from other cars in an accident, I'd have thought?
 
I couldn’t agree more. Starting at least 5 years back the number of SUVs and other large vehicles has increased hugely. What surprises me is that nobody in government or the media appears to have noticed, let alone tried to discourage it, while banging on about emissions and net zero.
Oh they've noticed alright, but they're addicted to the tax revenue they bring.
 
I'm not sure that's everyone's prime reason for a certain size of car.

There are a multitude of reasons why one needs a large car, be it for work, a large family, medical reasons, stature in life

I think that last one's a bit suspect! Almost like someone "needs" a Rolex because of their stature in life! WTF?! Nobody needs a Rolex!
 
If she needs a big SUV because she tows horseboxes across muddy fields, for example, fair enough. It may be an uncomfortable truth, but truth it is - if you buy a big heavy car "to feel safe" what you're doing is buying a big heavy car "to come off better than the other party in an accident". Theres a given amount of energy to be dissipated in a crash, by crumpling body work and throwing vehicles and their occupants around etc. If you (a) increase that amount by having a big car, and (b) make the other vehicle, by virtue of weight disparity, undergo a disproportionate amount of crumpling and acceleration then you really are buying your safety at the expense of theirs.

As you say - sometimes our freedoms need curbed for the good of us all.

However, Mrs Avocet now drives Skoda Kodiaq. Bloody mahoosive monster which weighs 1862kg with just driver and a full tank of fuel! The reason, is because she's only just started driving again, 2-and-a-bit years after an accident that ended her career and has left her with a permanent (thought mercifully, relatively slight) mobility impairment.

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That was a Nissan X-Trail.

So who the hell am I to tell her she shouldn't be driving such a big, heavy car?

On the plus side, despite being so big, it has so far averaged about 7 MPG better than the X-Trail and produces less CO2 per mile and fewer other emissions.
 
I think that last one's a bit suspect! Almost like someone "needs" a Rolex because of their stature in life! WTF?! Nobody needs a Rolex!

No, but people want.

Which is the whole point people should have the choice of what they drive not dictated to what they are allowed to drive.
 
But wearing a Rolex has no consequences for other people. Choice of vehicle does have.

Some people are just too easily impressed. I drive a top of the range large diesel car, which have had for a decade, does 50/60 mpg. I love it on the road, but hate it for parking in tight spaces, it's over 16' long. I can easily afford to buy a new one, but why? I have just had it thoroughly inspected and it's good as new. I have an expensive gold wristwatch for a few decades, which I have rarely worn. I have a cheap Casio, which is radio controlled and solar powered - which basically means I never need to adjust, wind, or fit new batteries, but it is well battered, because I never take it off. I really ought to buy a new one, but why?
 
I too have an old diesel car. It's 13 years old and I've had it for 5 years.
My mate just paid £30,000 for a new car and was telling me how it does this, that and the other. My reply to everything he told me was "mine does that".
Already, his car is worth less than 20 grand.
I gave up wearing a watch when I got a mobile phone.
 
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