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Please don't ignore that every other person also has moved from driving cars to crossovers that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want

Please don't ignore that every other person also has moved from driving cars to crossovers that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high, and that's what sells crossovers. The hoods are higher in them too and we can't discount this and blame it all on big trucks.

closewith 3y ago
Ease of entry alone, especially for the elderly or with young children, is an incredible advantage. What it sounds like is that crossovers don't offer advantages that appeal to you.
- olyjohn 3y ago
  My grandma has a minivan. It's way better than a crossover for ease of getting into. The floor height is nice and low so she doesn't have to step way up into it. The roof height is high so she doesn't have to scrunch in. It's easier to strap in car seats, it's easier to load your kids into. It's not a marketing joke like crossovers are. What it sounds like, is that you didn't actually shop very hard for the right vehicle that actually has those advantages.
  - closewith 3y ago
    Minivans, at least in my market, are more or less double the price of crossovers, so they're not like-for-like. You're very dismissive in your comments here. I wonder if some self reflection is in order here.
    - CRConrad 3y ago
      > I wonder if some self reflection is in order here. I guess he will. Mean while, how about the same from you?
      - closewith 3y ago
        Yikes, having read your comments, I think there's some irony here.
- CRConrad 3y ago
  > Ease of entry alone, especially for the elderly or with young children Betcha toddlers have an easier time getting into a 1990s sedan or station wagon than scrambling up into the silly-high big trucks people have been brainwashed to think of as "family vehicle" nowadays.
Johnny555 3y ago
that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high Isn't that the advantage? In a world where SUV's and trucks are more popular than sedans, sitting higher gives a sight advantage (and probably safety advantage in a side collision with one of those high cars). I drive a midsized sedan most of the time, but when I drive the RV (which has a higher seating position than many SUV's), I love the extra forward visibility, instead being at tailgate level, I can see through the back window of the truck/SUV in front of me.
- olyjohn 3y ago
  Seating height doesn't help you see over cars when everybody else is also in a crossover at the same height as you.
  - Johnny555 3y ago
    But it helps you see car brake lights ahead through the back window of the SUV in front of you
    - alan-hn 3y ago
      If there wasn't an SUV in front of you this wouldn't be an issue
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    As compared to a lower car, it absolutely helps. (I used to drive a lowered Alfa Romeo Spider. Sometimes I could see traffic better underneath the lifted trucks in front of me...) I can't control what cars other people buy and drive. I can control what I buy and drive.
    - watwut 3y ago
      Which is why suggested regulation that would control what cars other people buy and drive.
  - carlosjobim 3y ago
somerandomqaguy 3y ago
...what? If you've got back, hip, knee, or ankle problems, then trying to bend down into a low car is an undignified exercise at best, a struggle at worst. A CUV doesn't have that problem, you just sit into it like a chair. For a family with young children, securing child seats into a CUV involves a lot less bending over then in lower car. Bear in mind that many child seats are 40 lbs. If you live in a snowy area, the greater ground clearance makes it less likely to get stuck in residential roads that are lower priority for snow removal. You also have better approach angles as well, which can become a concern if you live in an area that's very hilly with steep driveways. You probably don't see advantages, and that's fine. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
  Maybe this is the way. We should run ad campaigns emphasizing that large, high vehicles are for the physically infirm. Make them as sexy as walkers with toilet seats. Show images of doddering old people getting into them.
- silisili 3y ago
  First thing I thought of. I had to move from a sedans to crossover/small SUV when my knees couldn't take getting in and out anymore. I'm sure that's not the case for everyone, or even most people, but who am I to gatekeep.
- olyjohn 3y ago
  Minivan. You can get a minivan that has more room than a crossover, lower load height so that you hurt even less getting in, and you have more headroom to get car seats in and out. They're far superior in every way. But everybody quit buying them because of some "uncool" factor. It's stupid. The ground clearance on most crossovers is a joke. I have to point out how my Lotus Elise has 6 inches of ground clearance, and most CUVs have maybe an inch more than that. They have low-hanging diffs that hang up, and no recovery points for when you do get stuck. They're still the same car, barely jacked up. They look higher, but they aren't that much higher. Your one inch of extra clearance isn't saving you. The black plastic fenders don't make it rugged or capable. Most are just FWD, and the ones that are AWD just overheat and burn out the transfer case. I live in a rural area, in the mountains, with lots of steep hills. My long ass driveway doesn't get plowed, my street is extremely low priority for plowing, never had problems getting around with 2wd cars. You sound like my neighbors who keep saying that I need a big 4wd truck to live out here. People just keep making these excuses to buy bigger cars that sit higher, without actually evaluating if these vehicles actually have the things they're marketed to be able to do.

closewith 3y ago

Ease of entry alone, especially for the elderly or with young children, is an incredible advantage. What it sounds like is that crossovers don't offer advantages that appeal to you.

olyjohn 3y ago
My grandma has a minivan. It's way better than a crossover for ease of getting into. The floor height is nice and low so she doesn't have to step way up into it. The roof height is high so she doesn't have to scrunch in. It's easier to strap in car seats, it's easier to load your kids into. It's not a marketing joke like crossovers are. What it sounds like, is that you didn't actually shop very hard for the right vehicle that actually has those advantages.
- closewith 3y ago
  Minivans, at least in my market, are more or less double the price of crossovers, so they're not like-for-like. You're very dismissive in your comments here. I wonder if some self reflection is in order here.
  - CRConrad 3y ago
    > I wonder if some self reflection is in order here. I guess he will. Mean while, how about the same from you?
    - closewith 3y ago
      Yikes, having read your comments, I think there's some irony here.
CRConrad 3y ago
> Ease of entry alone, especially for the elderly or with young children Betcha toddlers have an easier time getting into a 1990s sedan or station wagon than scrambling up into the silly-high big trucks people have been brainwashed to think of as "family vehicle" nowadays.

Johnny555 3y ago

that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high Isn't that the advantage? In a world where SUV's and trucks are more popular than sedans, sitting higher gives a sight advantage (and probably safety advantage in a side collision with one of those high cars). I drive a midsized sedan most of the time, but when I drive the RV (which has a higher seating position than many SUV's), I love the extra forward visibility, instead being at tailgate level, I can see through the back window of the truck/SUV in front of me.

olyjohn 3y ago
Seating height doesn't help you see over cars when everybody else is also in a crossover at the same height as you.
- Johnny555 3y ago
  But it helps you see car brake lights ahead through the back window of the SUV in front of you
  - alan-hn 3y ago
    If there wasn't an SUV in front of you this wouldn't be an issue
- sokoloff 3y ago
  As compared to a lower car, it absolutely helps. (I used to drive a lowered Alfa Romeo Spider. Sometimes I could see traffic better underneath the lifted trucks in front of me...) I can't control what cars other people buy and drive. I can control what I buy and drive.
  - watwut 3y ago
    Which is why suggested regulation that would control what cars other people buy and drive.
- carlosjobim 3y ago

somerandomqaguy 3y ago

...what? If you've got back, hip, knee, or ankle problems, then trying to bend down into a low car is an undignified exercise at best, a struggle at worst. A CUV doesn't have that problem, you just sit into it like a chair. For a family with young children, securing child seats into a CUV involves a lot less bending over then in lower car. Bear in mind that many child seats are 40 lbs. If you live in a snowy area, the greater ground clearance makes it less likely to get stuck in residential roads that are lower priority for snow removal. You also have better approach angles as well, which can become a concern if you live in an area that's very hilly with steep driveways. You probably don't see advantages, and that's fine. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
Maybe this is the way. We should run ad campaigns emphasizing that large, high vehicles are for the physically infirm. Make them as sexy as walkers with toilet seats. Show images of doddering old people getting into them.
silisili 3y ago
First thing I thought of. I had to move from a sedans to crossover/small SUV when my knees couldn't take getting in and out anymore. I'm sure that's not the case for everyone, or even most people, but who am I to gatekeep.
olyjohn 3y ago
Minivan. You can get a minivan that has more room than a crossover, lower load height so that you hurt even less getting in, and you have more headroom to get car seats in and out. They're far superior in every way. But everybody quit buying them because of some "uncool" factor. It's stupid. The ground clearance on most crossovers is a joke. I have to point out how my Lotus Elise has 6 inches of ground clearance, and most CUVs have maybe an inch more than that. They have low-hanging diffs that hang up, and no recovery points for when you do get stuck. They're still the same car, barely jacked up. They look higher, but they aren't that much higher. Your one inch of extra clearance isn't saving you. The black plastic fenders don't make it rugged or capable. Most are just FWD, and the ones that are AWD just overheat and burn out the transfer case. I live in a rural area, in the mountains, with lots of steep hills. My long ass driveway doesn't get plowed, my street is extremely low priority for plowing, never had problems getting around with 2wd cars. You sound like my neighbors who keep saying that I need a big 4wd truck to live out here. People just keep making these excuses to buy bigger cars that sit higher, without actually evaluating if these vehicles actually have the things they're marketed to be able to do.