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> Cars are getting too big; why are manufacturers pushing “crossovers” and SUVs on consumers and why are consumers buying them? I could write pages on this poin
by didgeoridoo 3y ago
> Cars are getting too big; why are manufacturers pushing “crossovers” and SUVs on consumers and why are consumers buying them? I could write pages on this point alone.
I’ve got 3 kids under 5. Car seats are absolutely enormous these days — it’s impossible to fit 3 across in even the largest “crossovers” (VW Atlas / KIA Telluride). I don’t want a big car (my dream car is something along the lines of the Audi A4 Allroad Saloon) but I also sometimes need to bring all my kids to the same place.
Figure out a way to safely downsize car seats and I bet SUV purchases would drop 10% or more.
- jhbadger 3y agoBack in the day, there were station wagons for this exact use case, Larger than a sedan, but not the ridiculous tank-like SUVs of today.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y agoYou can still buy a Subaru Outback. The infotainment is horrendous (just give me knobs!), but otherwise it's supposed to be a dependable station wagon, at a reasonable price, without too many frills. The AWD does hurt gas mileage, but has advantages in snow and dirt, and basically means that it's as capable as an SUV in all but ground clearance.
- kj4211cash 3y agoI bought a V60, one of the few remaining station wagons for sale in the US. And it is great for those with 1 or 2 kids, but, like the author implies, doesn't really work for those with 3 car seats. The only thing that has grown faster than the size of our cars is the size of our car seats.
- buro9 3y ago> Figure out a way to safely downsize car seats and I bet SUV purchases would drop 10% or more. Like an Estate / Station Wagon, a category of very capable cars that is being extinguished by the rise of SUV.
- didgeoridoo 3y agoYeah that’s my Allroad. Almost impossible to find in the states, and priced bizarrely — base price exceeds the Q5 SUV. It honestly seems like they’re TRYING to not sell any.
- hackernoteng 3y agoI had an A6 all road from 2005 until 2020. Great car. Great engine. Maintenance costs eventually got too crazy.
- Turing_Machine 3y agoAs I understand it, classic station wagons are classified as "cars", while SUVs are classified as "light trucks". [edit: in the US] Different regulations apply to the two categories, in particular fuel economy. From what I'm seeing, a manufacturer's current line of "cars" has to average over 40 mpg, while their line of "light trucks" only has to average around 30 mpg. This has probably changed a bit... the most current numbers I see are for the 2020 model year.
- jwells89 3y agoThe family vehicle for much of my childhood was a late 80s model Aries K station wagon. Always managed to fit everybody and all our stuff, and always got us there (albeit not always with speed, particularly on mountain roads… that little 4-cylinder wasn’t exactly a powerhouse). Really a very practical vehicle. Just needed a little more oomph.
- Abekkus 3y agoDiono car seats fit three across in a CRV for us. They’re built like little airplane seats.
- Cacti 3y ago3rd kid is much more expensive than the 2nd
- mleo 3y agoThis is true. It required us to buy a new house with another room; versus more nice to have. Lots of public accommodations are maximized for four people such as restaurant seating or hotel rooms. Parents can no longer just split up with one kid.
- eitally 3y agoThere are lower cost options. We did have to buy a new car (replaced a Toyota 4Runner with a Ford F150 Crew Cab) - our other car was already a Honda Odyssey - but all three of our kids share a bedroom and I bought a lightweight Helinox cot that we use in hotel rooms when we can't find a place with 2x queen/king + sofa bed.
- mysterydip 3y agoHave you looked at minivans? When my 3 were under 5 a couple years ago they all fit, with room for all the stuff. No, it's not sexy, but it's incredibly practical.
- liotier 3y agoMy 2014 Renault Traffic long box on wheels gets nine people and their luggage over 1100 kilometers on a single fuel tank... I don't understand SUV that weight double, cost double and only seat five people at half the range. I'll hopefully keep it for at least a decade or two - it is designed for much more demanding tasks than the about monthly family outings, the holidays and standing idle the rest of the time while I commute with my bicycle and shop with my cargo bicycle. I fail to see anything electric currently available that could replace that incredible efficiency. I hope that, by the time I'm ripe for replacing it, the technology and the market will have matured.
- thsksbd 3y ago"SUV that weight double, cost double and only seat five people at half the range." That's just not right. Minivans are typically as big, if not longer, and weigh more or less the same. As to cost, unless you're comparing the suburban, (relatively rare vehicle even in my corner of rich, suburbanite, 6 kids midwest) their cost is comparable. Ive been looking to buy a Sienna for over a year and I cant find one without dropping almost $70 k out the door. For that money I can get an expedition and have more space.
- liotier 3y agoRenault Trafic in 9 seat configuration weights 1.8 tons - so yes, it is only one ton less than the average fuel-powered SUV... But the electric ones are much heavier. It costs 25k€ which gets a modest subcompact SUV or about half of a popular large one.
- thsksbd 3y agoWhat do you mean by "ton" in either Kg or on lb (or stone for all I care). Like calories, ppl mess that unit up all the time (tonne, ton, short ton, long ton, etc). If you mean 1800 kg, my full size 3.3 L V6 Sorrento weighs less at 1724 Kg. So unless you're comparing a Renault to a GMC Suburban, which I must insist are rare, you're just nowhere near the right mass.
- tadzikpk 3y agoThere’s whole sites dedicated to this problem, example https://thecarseatlady.com/narrowest-car-seats/ https://thecarseatlady.com/narrowest-car-seats/ But if you pick narrow seats you can make it work. I have 3 car seats in the back of a 2016 Subaru Legacy, which also generally a bloatfree car
- at0mic22 3y agoIn the US you have an option to turn front passenger airbags off and place a baby seat there. In Europe there's no such option. I hope those enormous modern seats are made that way for the sake of protection. Cause even with a bigger car, like Audi A6, two such seats consume all the space on the back bench
- okanat 3y ago> In the US you have an option to turn front passenger airbags off and place a baby seat there. In Europe there's no such option. What? This is totally false. Even friggin cheapo Dacias have that feature.
- at0mic22 3y agoMeh, probably I was thinking unlucky with my garage then
- dsego 3y ago> In Europe there's no such option. Yes, there is.
- at0mic22 3y agoOn the models designed for the US market - maybe. I have checked with 3 cars being produced specifically for Europe: Volvo, Audi and Toyota. While on the majority of videos and instructions there's a special off switch, on those cars it does not exist.
- p_l 3y agoPretty sure it's mandatory - I seem to recall a considerable educational campaign when they first arrived in Poland regarding passenger front side airbag and child car seats.
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- petre 3y agoWhat you need is a minivan. Toyota Proace City Verso for instance. SUVs are big but the usable space inside is quite small. It'a not a sports car or a status symbol, but it handles the 3 kids part quite fine.
- rco8786 3y agoTime to join the minivan gang
- syntaxing 3y agoI drive a Ford Escape and I fit 3 car seats. You just need to strategically choose them, particularly using a slim size in the center.
- rightbyte 3y agoYou put the passenger adult in the middle in the back.
- alexpotato 3y agoI've never actually seen one but a while back on HN there was a claim that in Europe they sell a "4 across" car seat. It's apparently just one BIG seat but b/c it's a, pardon the pun, a "monolith" seat then it will fit into the back of a regular European SUV.
- kj4211cash 3y agoIt's called multimac and I wish they sold it in the US: https://www.multimac.com/home https://www.multimac.com/home
- socksy 3y agoSUVs are pushed by manufacturers due to their relative lack of regulation in the US, and so the more money they can make from them. Safety and car seat sizes have nothing to do with it. https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo
- thsksbd 3y agoYou didn't read the OP's comment. He wants an A4 He has a much bugger car because he needs fo fit three car seats. That the market has cars bug enough for him, and the reasons for providing it, are not germane to his comment.
- socksy 3y agoWhy do you feel the need to tell me I didn't read the comment? I did, and my comment was my response. > That the market has cars bug enough for him, and the reasons for providing it, are not germane to his comment. Did you watch the video? If the response to "why are cars so big now" is "because kids" then I think it's relevant to point out that that's not why they're big, and that we somehow manage to have 3 backseats and non-tank sized SUVs in Europe just fine.
- jodoherty 3y agoWe had 3 under 3. When our son was 5 and the twins were 3, we were able to switch to forward facing car seats in the back of my Dodge Challenger, which is technically just a coupe. They're all Diono Radian car seats, and the kids fit comfortably 3 across. Just thought I'd share in case you ever want to reconsider the dream car thing. You never know until you try and you can always bring car seats and test fit. To your original point though, most of the time we use my wife's Honda Pilot because of the extra space for errands, sports gear, and luggage (and also because my wife doesn't want to drive stick in Northern Virginia traffic).
- goalieca 3y agoI don't think 10% would even come close. People are barely having kids yet alone 3 kids. Most of the land tanks i see at daycare / school are for 1 kid and sometimes two. Granted, they have as much luxury as an international flight with TVs, charger ports, personal air, snacks and all the rest.
- D13Fd 3y ago> it’s impossible to fit 3 across in even the largest “crossovers” (VW Atlas / KIA Telluride) Just buy narrow car seats designed for 3 across. I've done it recently in a Subaru Outback with zero issues. It can be tough in the third row of cars with a third row because of the wheel wells, but it seems to work fine in a regular car.
- ryanisnan 3y agoNot directly my issue, but kids are my primary reason for needing a larger vehicle. We live in an area too remote for regular public transit, and are not ready to sacrifice the convenience of having our own vehicle. Because we own one vehicle, it must transport 2 kids (in carseats), 2 adults regularly, a third adult occasionally, and a dog regularly. Plus it needs a smidge of storage room. In short, our environment and family makes an SUV a good option. Everything else is really difficult to live with.
- stemlord 3y agoYeah crossovers are pointless. I had to sit in the back row of a crossover where every seat was full and ended up having the driver pull over due to claustrophobia. My head was against the ceiling and I could barely move. I'm 6' tall, not small but not a basketball player.
- ijhuygft776 3y agobuying 3 car seats that fit in your car needs a bit of research, but I've done it in a Honda CRV
- seoulmetro 3y agoLarge/Medium Sedans are larger than most SUVs, they are several sizes larger than all crossovers. I like sedans because they have the most space of all cars except maybe top of the range SUVs.