City Life

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What's going to happen to all of these SUVs? (self.citylife)

submitted 1 year ago by Kwikxilver to c/citylife

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I live in the UK and I drive an Astra. It's a four door hatchback style car from the late 00s, I bought it used and still runs fine even if it's getting on a bit. I know it won't last forever, so I'll probably buy another used car.

Right now, it seems like every new car for sale is a SUV - maybe a crossover which is more moderately sized, but basically an SUV. Buying a new car like my Astra feels niche, I don't think I have ever seen one at a dealership in the last 5 years.

What's going to happen to all of these SUVs in 5-10 years? The used market is going to be filthy with them and people are going to buy and drive them because they'll be cheap - regardless of the fact they are unsafe, costly to run and damaging to road infrastructure. I don't think we will see any car other than a SUV style car, or a van, on the roads in 5 years.

Does this not terrify anybody else? Something has to change here - either a shift to micro mobility scooters and e bikes or a massive increase in transit investment - or we are headed towards an even bigger disaster. Anybody else feel this way?

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[–] ffmike 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Here in the middle of America, it's not SUVs - it's full-size pickup trucks. Just as much of an ecological and safety disaster though.

[–] alwaysconfused@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

In southern Ontario it's both full-size pickups and SUVs. I live in a rural area so many pickups are lifted or have tires that extend outside the fender. Vehicles so big they can't even stay in thier lane. Constantly drift into the empty bike lane even on the straightest part of the road. Can't even control these monstrosities on a good day.

[–] greenteadrinker@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ah, the pickup truck, the SUV for insecure dads. Or for office workers LARPing as construction workers.

I think the Ford CEO even said they build trucks for the working man, but I don’t think a tradesman has an unlined bed, a super lifted truck, or a short bed that can’t fit a full sheet of plywood or drywall

[–] sanzky 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That idea of pickup trucks being for required 'working people' is totally made up. Construction workers all over the world do fine with simple white vans.

[–] greenteadrinker@midwest.social 1 points 1 year ago

Agreed. Like I can understand when you need a truck, you need a truck. But most of the time, those guys seem to need storage space that’s covered more than they need towing/hauling capabilities with a short bed that’s

[–] suddenlythequietrose 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well you would be wrong on the last part, tradesmen are very often just as (in my experience sometimes more) superficial and short-sighted regarding their choice of vehicle. 90% of jobs people think they should buy a truck for would be far better suited with a van.

[–] greenteadrinker@midwest.social 2 points 1 year ago

There’s new construction near my house and I much prefer the guys in shit box cars, minivans, and actual work vans. The trucks seem to belong to the LARPers on-site and always have the cover on their bed, because almost all the materials hauled in are on flatbed trucks

I like seeing when tradesmen pull up in their beat up 600k mile Scion xB or a white van. It makes me think that there was more thought put into the purchasing of their tools than looking at ads/marketing. They were also chill people to work with too

[–] Kwikxilver 1 points 1 year ago

It's a status symbol. I used to live next to tradies who would laugh about a guy turning up on the worksite with a cheap Ute or an automatic transmission. Having a big, powerful muscle car is - as Nick Offerman describes it - like having a carapace for these men to hide in and feel protected.

[–] TheElectroness 1 points 1 year ago

It's starting to be pickup trucks here in the UK too. It's fairly common to see F150s and L200s on the roads, often taking up more than half the road on the smaller lanes.

No F350s yet that I've seen though, but they are available here so it's mostly a matter of time :(