Cars are getting far too big.

.

Another reason that I love shopping at Costco. All the parking spaces are really wide to allow for Small Business Owners in their vans to be able to park easily.

Even if my slim Estate Car is sandwiched between two humongous beasts there's plenty of room to get in and out of my vehicle.
.

Looking at us you would think a small car would suffice but we often have to move furniture, find room for extra people and large dogs. I need room for a wheelchair and/or a walker. We use a hybrid to try to reduce our carbon footprint. Once upon a time we used to use an estate car which was perfect but I find the driving position of an SUV far more comfortable to get our of and it also gives me a better driving view. I don't judge people for what they drive, please don't judge me.

When my children were young we could get all three in the back - youngest in the car seat and only needed a big car when our fourth was born. My daughter had to buy a seven seater for number three as car seats are bigger and they should/have to have car seats for much longer.
There are more wheelchair users who want better lives and normal cars rather than the little blue "handicapped cars".
Plus we are getting fatter.
I loved my original mini probably not the safest car - but even minis are huge now.

Ar parks near me ( not the UK) have larger spaces in some parts of the car park but they are more expensive and the larger vehicles are not allowed in the area for smaller cars. There is also a section reserved for women after 6pm with more security features alarm buttons.

Cars have also got bigger due to modern safety standards.

Horses for courses! An individual's decision to drive whatever they want, doesn't bother me one way or another. As others have said parking spaces are way too small but that's unlikely to change because of the revenue.
I have to say that at the wknd a huge car reversed into a really awkward spot next to me superbly. When the woman got out I actually said to her that I wished I could reverse into a spot as well as she had done!

Cars larger than a mini have been around for decades.. I have had long wheel basesl vehicles, 4 x 4s usually due to needing the power to tow trailers and caravans. Car park spaces have not changed for even longer. When my DH was using a wheelchair, I found it difficult to find a small/standard car that didn't have a "lip" on the boot making it difficult to lift the wheelchair up and over so had to go for a SUV. A lot of people feel safer in a larger car in case of crashes. Horses for courses probably.
.

Unfortunately not all strokes are the same, my husband is very disabled after having one then a brain tumour following, at the stroke rehabilitation class there was a lady who drove herself there it also could be because the stroke was right side bleed unlike the majority
But who knows after 3 years after tumour he's still here time to improve and e will have our micra or maybe try a Jazz

As the driver of a Mini I am tired of being hemmed in by big cars! Plus, here in my little town we have people driving “Chelsea tractors” who have no idea what they are doing. One reversed into me and had no idea she had hit me or was even aware I was behind her! Rant over !

There have always been bad drivers no matter what size or make of car they drive.

I am more than happy that modern vehicles have far more safety features than previous models, and therefore bigger.

Things evolve and cars are just part of that.

Cossy

I don’t think “status” has anything to do with size of cars.

Many people drive large cars for many different reasons.

I agree.

We both drive larger SUV to haul grandchildren safely.

Cars are definitely bigger. My Toyota Auris 2013 looks small compared to more modern cars. Yet it is only 2 inches less wide than a Ford Granada I drove back in the day.

We have a mini and a large 4WD, the large car can park itself and also much to my relief dips the lights automatically when it’s triggered by oncoming traffic.

We use the mini for local stuff and the other car for longer/motorway journeys.

We have worked hard and like to have nice cars, I will not apologise for them.

yes and they probably put extra weight onto the roads ( pothole makers ?!!!!)

.... also why so many cars park on roads.
Homes may have garages, but very few cars fit in them.

Northerntownlass

yes and they probably put extra weight onto the roads ( pothole makers ?!!!!)

It is the so called eco friendly electric cars that are putting extra weight on the roads. They are considerably heavier than petrol or diesel cars, even the big ones.

We have an older Fiesta and all these huge cars with blinding headlights really irritate me. They take up all the parking space and more, hanging over the lines thus denying access to spaces left between for smaller vehicles. I sometimes have to climb into my car from on the passenger side which is awkward given my age, because of the inconsiderate parking of these monsters. I am far too old for this indignity.
For all the extra safety it may give the owners of these huge cars it makes for more danger for those of us in small vehicles.

Yes cars really are getting very big. A couple of days ago I saw an original sized old mini outside a garage, obviously awaiting restoration, and was reminded that as a young adult I went on holiday in one with 3 other full size young adults. How we all fitted in along with our luggage I can't imagine.

I think the obesity epidemic is partly fuelling the demand for over-large cars.

Logic dictates that the bigger the driver the bigger the transport. If someone has gorged themself to Michelin Man proportions then, say, a Fiat Uno is certainly out of the question. Hence the popularity of SUV's.

Look around a supermarket car park on any Saturday and observe the evidence.

I was late arriving at a meeting last week and the car park was full. However there was one tiny space up against the fence that my little Fiat Panda slid into with no trouble. And in spite of fitting into small spaces it is big enough for my very tall male relatives.

Some years ago there was a TV programme about the safety of the large FWDs. People were saying they were choosing them because they were safer. Some of them were shocked when they were shown how easy it was to miss small children who were walking behind these big vehicles. One man was very insistant that he had to have a Chelsea Tractor because it said something about the sort of man he was. One could only say "Exactly"

I was was shocked when a friend gave me a lift in her "Mini". It was like a tank compared with my real Mini in the 60s.

Catalytic converters are often cited as a good reason to drive a giant car.

Catalytic converters of all kinds (twin or otherwise) only convert the particulates produced by the engine into water and carbon dioxide. They do not reduce carbon dioxide (and definitely not lower than the air taken into the engine). The only way to reduce this toxic air pollutant is to decrease fuel consumption. This can be compared between vehicles by looking at each vehicles average miles per gallon (or km per litre)

I remember when Volvo Estates and Saab's were considered to be large tank like like machines.

And the introduction of the first Range Rover caused a huge hue and cry.

A lot of the new Chelsea type tractors and flashy big cars are not owned by. large families with pets.
Or well off country people who own horses

But are just status symbols for the snotty, class conscious and got a few bob to show off in.

Many of them live in the suburbs of large towns and cities.

Also ,so.l have been told that Electric Cars need to be larger because of their batteries.

Pavement parking is a real problem in my area. Surely the size and weight of these cars must be damaging the pavements even more so

As for car parks..Maybe bigger parking spaces at a higher charge for larger cars. And an increase in MOT and car tax for cars over a certain weight and length.

Big are are subject to higher emission taxes and also the luxury car tax on new cars costing over £40k. (£50k electric), electric cars are pretty much the same size although are usually heavier, the real pavement damage is by delivery trucks and vans unloading in narrow streets.

Sago we used to have an 8 seater Peugeot. It could "turn on a sixpence". If I had to go into town when I knew parking would be an issue (say, Saturday mid morning) I would always take this car rather than the little car as it would go into tiny kerbside spaces and awkward corners of car parks so much easier!

Some cars are just really fantastic to drive.

There are also concerns, expressed by the Institute of Structural Engineers in a report in 2023, about the effect these ever larger, heavier vehicles is having on ageing multi-storey car parks.

For the last twelve years of his life, DH bought ever bigger cars, much to my dismay. The last one was a top of the range hybrid Honda CRV - not a year old when he died, but I sold it and bought a Mini Cooper, which I love, but the Honda practically drove itself and had every base covered, so it felt like a much safer car.

We started our married life with a basic Mini two door saloon - and they were very basic back then - and now I have come full circle. Still a joy to drive.