Currently reading: Buyers cash out of 4x4s
Consumers offloading thirsty 4x4s in favour of smaller, economical vehicles

Auto Trader has revealed that adverts for private cars have increased by 6 per cent in the year to September, with the rising demand attributed to sellers wanting to sell old cars to trade into cleaner and more economical models.

September and October have both seen swelling demand for private adverts, especially for the least efficient cars. Trader Media says that it is currently listing nearly 11,000 Land Rover models for sale.

A recent survey carried out by Glass’s Guide said that 38 per cent of car buyers are looking to move into a smaller and more efficient car the next time they change vehicles.

Anecdotal evidence from inside the motor trade suggests that the spiralling values of larger cars is having the effect of persuading owners of similar vehicles to try and realise the value of their vehicles before prices fall further, bringing more unpopular models to market.

The used market is also being further depressed by families selling second cars in the face of rising motoring costs.

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Bruce Wayne 22 October 2008

Re: Buyers cash out of 4x4s

W124 wrote:

The harm principle again. Big SUV's are bloody dangerous. Hit a kid in one and chances are you'll kill it.

You have no more chance of killing a child in an SUV than in any other car in general terms. I shall just adjust my earlier example....a Nova driving yobbo travelling at 100mph round a blind bend has a much greater chance of hitting and killing a child than an SUV being driven by a careful mother at 30mph. No two accidents are the same therefore it is spurious to suggest that in reality an SUV is much different to any other kind of cars (I won't mention trucks, lorries etc. again)

W124 wrote:

The point is that the right to own and drive a SUV does infringe on the rights of other people as they go about their business in far smaller vehicles or on foot as THEY have a right not to suffer increased risk as a consequence of somebody else's choice of car.

This is rubbish. There is no infringement of anyone's rights unless the SUV driver is at fault. You can't assume that he / she is at fault unless he / she is !! If it is the fault of the driver of a smaller vehicle or pedestrian then the SUV driver has the right not to suffer too. The choice of car is really nothing to do with it if you look at it this way.

kerrecoe 22 October 2008

Re: Buyers cash out of 4x4s

RobotBoogie wrote:
4. I can't see the point of getting into the whole CO2 debate in general but fact remains that a big 4x4 like an RR Sport produces 2-3 times as much carbon as a saloon car or MPV with comparible interior space and accommodation. That's a big multiplier.

Ooh you're a bad robot Mr Boogie! That is such an assumption to make. I drive a seven seater 4x4 SUV (Crossover?) with a small-ish diesel engine, I use up less space on the road than my previous full-sized MPV & I use a similar amount of diesel and emit a very similar CO2 as I did in my previous MPV. What's more, there is absolutely no prestige attached to the (budget brand) car I drive- I am not overcompensating for any inadequacies! I simply need to be able to get to and from the main road when things get rough. BTW, we had some pretty rough snow earlier this year in April which drifted quite badly but I suppose that doesn't count.

I live in a rural area and most of my 'neighbours' (across fields!) have one 4x4, rarely a Range Rover or a Cayenne, and another ordinary car. This is not unusual and it is dismissive and presumptive to suggest that 'real' country folk are capable of traversing fords in an Austin Metro. You are wrong- and a little too judgemental :-) If I lived in an urban area I would feel like an idiot driving an SUV to the supermarket. I would. NO one disputes the inappropriate use of these cars.

The way things are going we will just ban anything with a CO2 emission over 130 or that weighs more than a bowl of weetabix. The monster SUV's are absolutely gratuitous and need to be relegated to history, I'll grant you, but the SUV as a class, is not irrelevant- please try and remember that when you start ranting.

iamchris 22 October 2008

Re: Buyers cash out of 4x4s

meh, more monotonous generic repetitive anti SUV bashing ... yawn.

i'm neither desperately pro nor anti SUV, but i do find these same arguments a little tiresome (from both sides).

if someone releases a new SUV it might be nice to just discuss that specific model without it degenerating into another anti-SUV debate, it's just boring. if you don't like SUVs then take it as read that everyone knows your opinion, but we're not interested in hearing EVERY time. yawn. get over it.

for my own part i quite like SUVs, both style wise and practicality wise - i think the X5 is a great looking car, and the CR-V is fantastic value, and if people want an SUV for more space or greater ground clearance that's fine. personally though, i would probably still buy a 4WD estate rather than an SUV, as I'd argue that it'd fit the bill most of the time for most people - how often do you really need 7 seats, how often do you really need that ground clearance? but, fair enough, some do. so that's fine.

on to the matter at hand, however. it's not just SUVs people are chopping out of, it's big engined cars of all sorts ... including the large turbo-diesels, and sports cars ... environmental concerns, tax matters, and the current economic climate have all caused something of a wobble in the car markets at present ... thus you're going to lose your shirt at present if you're looking to sell/change, but if you're buying without a trade-in to shift then you can pick up some serious bargains.

with thoughts of starting a family soon i recently looked into chopping out of my 3.2ltr V6 mk2 Audi TT Quattro for something more practical, and the depreciation was eye watering - where previously new TT residuals were rock solid - the market's just becomind saturated with 2nd hand big engined cars, no one wants them, so selling and trading in isn't seeing much return right now on anything. i'm not losing any sleep over it as i don't need/want to change right now, but it does show that people are chopping out of less economical cars across the board, not just SUVs.