Like others have said, a height and safety thing for my wife. We have two GM economy sedans, my wife (5' 3") often is unhappy with visibility, headlights in the rearview mirror and more recently space as family grows (obviously that last one is not relevant in the OP cases). I am guessing whenever we get a new car it will be larger than a sedan.
Can you help me better understand why women want a SUV over a sedan?
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
Shel,
Freshwater is significantly better than saltwater. Two supplemental points are what was the flood? Was the car in a river, or did someone leave the sunroof open overnight and it rained into the car for an hour? Second, how long has the water been sitting in the car? Just a week/ month, maybe not a big deal. A year with water in the interior in a hot/humid region, lots of opportunity for "after the flood" damage.
My daughter is shopping for her second vehicle, the first car that she will pay for herself. Compact to Mid SUV is at the top of the list because she can buy furniture and other large things and put it in the back, but still have 4+ seats for friends for road trips. She is coming from my Corolla that she has used for daily commute, she's hauled the max stuff that will fit, and gone on 8-hour-plus driving distance vacations with 3 other friends, so she knows her needs well.
That said, right now is a horrible time to buy a used vehicle.
That said, right now is a horrible time to buy a used vehicle.
My wife is the exact opposite. She only wants a 4 door sedan. Sedans get better fuel mileage so I'm good with that. Finding a replacement for her Passat is going to be difficult since the options are dwindling every year it seems.
Ride height allows for jumping curbs or hitting other objects that went "unseen" without substantial damage or ripping off the front bumper, increased visibility through the windows of the SUV ahead of them (the one disadvantage to my Mustang is I can't really see what's going on a few vehicles ahead if I'm behind an SUV, which I am 95% of the time), more convenience loading and unloading with two rear doors and a huge rear hatch. All these things make a car desirable to most people, but the handling trade-off isn't worth it to me.
Depends on the extent of the water level. Bought a Saab convertible many years ago that supposedly rolled down a lake boat ramp and was completely under water. Never was able to get everything working right. After hurricane Sandy I got a new Chevy Cruze that was flooded to the bottom of the door sills with salt water. Replaced some connectors and modules and it was all good again.
boring ? my wife thinks its not even a car unless it has 4 doors
To haul the kids around….
We have an SUV and a mini-van. The mini-van belonged to a close friend that died last year and left it to us in his will. He was single with no kids, and he only bought it because it was $1,500 and he needed a car ASAP. He didn't care what it was. The SUV doesn't move much, only when we need to tow something or just feel like taking it somewhere for the heck of it. The vast majority of our driving is done in our Mustang. We have 2 kids and they ride comfortably in it, even on long road trips. The mini-van will likely take that over soon though.
My GF despises vehicles with Trunks.
No Sedans, no Coupes. doesn't really want an SUV..
She used to have a Sonoma, until the engine went boom 10 yrs ago, still rotting outside her dad's garage, he keeps insisting "I'll get it running again!" meanwhile the rust free JY bed they Installed not long before the engine went is now rusting out sitting there....
when the sonoma blew up, she went back to her mom's old car that she learned to drive in...an early 2000's Subie Forrester. about 3-4 yrs back it finally rusted out. (we think it has about 400k mi on it... odometer quit years ago... she drove that through several winters with no heat and a 45 min commute)
when that rusted out, she went to her mom's next old car, a base Imprezza wagon ( the gen where the wrx was a wagon), and drove that for a couple years while "shopping" for a car to buy on her own. which culminated in a 2014 Mirage HB from Carvana 1.5-2yrs ago.
now her 6 ft tall dad is driving the Imprezza. (well over 200k mi)
Short version - she hates cars with trunks, always driven either a Pickup, or a small Asian Hatchback. hasn't suggested she wants an SUV.
Her mom, who is currently driving a Pilot, tried to talk her into an element.
Her Dad has a Mini JY outside their garage her mom is trying to get him to clean out -
her brother's mid 2000's civic, the Forrester, her Sonoma, her Grandma's squarebody Ranger, and an old Rotted out boat.
No Sedans, no Coupes. doesn't really want an SUV..
She used to have a Sonoma, until the engine went boom 10 yrs ago, still rotting outside her dad's garage, he keeps insisting "I'll get it running again!" meanwhile the rust free JY bed they Installed not long before the engine went is now rusting out sitting there....
when the sonoma blew up, she went back to her mom's old car that she learned to drive in...an early 2000's Subie Forrester. about 3-4 yrs back it finally rusted out. (we think it has about 400k mi on it... odometer quit years ago... she drove that through several winters with no heat and a 45 min commute)
when that rusted out, she went to her mom's next old car, a base Imprezza wagon ( the gen where the wrx was a wagon), and drove that for a couple years while "shopping" for a car to buy on her own. which culminated in a 2014 Mirage HB from Carvana 1.5-2yrs ago.
now her 6 ft tall dad is driving the Imprezza. (well over 200k mi)
Short version - she hates cars with trunks, always driven either a Pickup, or a small Asian Hatchback. hasn't suggested she wants an SUV.
Her mom, who is currently driving a Pilot, tried to talk her into an element.
Her Dad has a Mini JY outside their garage her mom is trying to get him to clean out -
her brother's mid 2000's civic, the Forrester, her Sonoma, her Grandma's squarebody Ranger, and an old Rotted out boat.
Last edited:
Everyone likes those SUVs, I guess. Ford and GM quit making cars. Well except the Mustang and Camaro.
What cars does Chrysler still make ?
My last car was a Crown Victoria. The second deer strike took it out at 274,xxx miles. Dang tank, it was.
We both retired, and now run a half-ton pickup to pull the toy hauler.
What cars does Chrysler still make ?
My last car was a Crown Victoria. The second deer strike took it out at 274,xxx miles. Dang tank, it was.
We both retired, and now run a half-ton pickup to pull the toy hauler.
Heaven forbid a kid has to get into the back seat of a 2 door. My parents only had 2 door cars when I was a kid. Also safer with no chance of them opening a door and falling out on the road.
Quite a few midsize and small cars have lower death rates than many small and midsize SUV's. The iihs.org site has these ratings per million registered vehicles. Especially the really little SUV's like a Trax, HR-V, etc, which offer nothing useful but a raised seat height, they seem to be quite deadly as I guess all the electronic nanny's can't beat the inherently more unstable design.
Even some 1 ton pickups has double the death rate of the average vehicle? Why? More miles than average maybe? More rural drivers who tend to have big accidents?
I didn't look at these ratings when we bought the Outback, but I probably will in future car purchases. Right now I drive my Focus carefully when in traffic as its not the greatest car for safety it seems!
Last edited:
I don't know if those reports take into account year of manufacture? I mean, if someone today crashes their 1995 1T, does it count as part of the stats, even though it's lack of VSC has long been addressed?
In the end, we drive fast, take chances, and physics will not be overruled by the electronic wizards: it's still pretty easy to get in over your head and past the point of no return.
Tin foil hat on: easier than ever to finance your way into something big and expensive--and heavy. Then have no money to keep it in good shape (tires and brakes). Now people have resorted to lousy tires and brakes in the past, but I have to wonder, if they weren't to some degree limited into smaller vehicles that maybe they were more able to walk away from in the past when they got into an accident? That's pure speculation, probably fueled by parallel threads here griping about too-long auto loans clouding my mind.
I'm hoping to get my daughter into something with curtain airbags (that should automatically come with ABS), but she's been getting the most seat time in my car, which lacks 'em. Some days I wonder if I should spend the coin on my own safety (25k/year driver) or if I feel lucky. Probably wouldn't matter, I've watched my driving, and I can hang with a good chunk of the MA drivers who I learned my habits from.
They are grouped by 3 or 4 years of the model. https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-death-rates-by-make-and-model
Seems to go back to 2002, but that Camry is pretty good for the time with 55 deaths per year per million cars. That's much better than a 2017 Trax 2wd with all the electronics and safety stuff at 73.
Still I think the stats are definitely effected by whose driving each type of vehicle, where and when they are driving them, as I'm sure 11pm to 5 am is much more dangerous.
My wife does not like cars. She is a truck,SUV,jeep girl... She is also 6-5
dnewton3
Staff member
Honestly, it's not just "women" who want SUVs, at least in the States.
SUVs are the rage. Sedans are passe (mostly).
Guys, gals, old, young, etc ... most all want SUVs.
I do prefer a sedan, and lament the dying breed of a good, powerful, reasonably large car.
SUVs are the rage. Sedans are passe (mostly).
Guys, gals, old, young, etc ... most all want SUVs.
I do prefer a sedan, and lament the dying breed of a good, powerful, reasonably large car.
My wife really liked our Volvo sedan. You sit up nice and high and the car has presence on the road.
We're an all sedan family. I've driven a few SUVs and I prefer the handling of a sedan. And I like the fuel economy too.
A female friend bought a 2022 Toyota RAV4 and has trouble reaching the roof to clear snow off.
My daughter now mostly drives their Leaf. She likes its "fuel" economy. In fact she gets a bit put out when she has to drive their "other car", a Mazda5.
We're an all sedan family. I've driven a few SUVs and I prefer the handling of a sedan. And I like the fuel economy too.
A female friend bought a 2022 Toyota RAV4 and has trouble reaching the roof to clear snow off.
My daughter now mostly drives their Leaf. She likes its "fuel" economy. In fact she gets a bit put out when she has to drive their "other car", a Mazda5.
