NOW I know why 4x4s are so expensive!

J

jen1

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On the way to work earlier in the week I took a slightly different route, it takes me past a very affluent area which has a very, very good church school. Anyway the traffic along this road is always really slow due mainly to the mums taking their kids to school. So as I had time to kill sitting in the traffic I decided to count the number of 4WDs that were going in and out of the school car park.

I counted 16 in all, and they included Mercedes, a couple of big black X5s, a couple of Discoveries, several huge Volvo 4x4s, a Porsche Cayenne, a Freelander, a few Range Rovers and a huge Jeep. Most were about a year or two old and all but one did not have a tow bar fitted.

I don't live in a very rural area, just on the border of the M25 near west London there are no huge muddy hills to negotiate around here, only the steep ramps of the Waitrose carpark, BUT these people can well afford these cars and I am sure it doesn't matter to them if the tax goes up or the fuel doubles from where it is now as they must earn huge amounts of money and (if you see the size of some of the houses, in fact many you can't see as they have such long driveways) running a car of this size is probably not a luxury but just a part of every day life for them.

I would love a 4WD to tow my horse to the odd show and clinic etc but I just can't afford it. I do feel for the people out there who need these vehicles for their every day needs, farmers, people who work in the horse industry etc. I suppose this post is a little pointless but why can't the government have a points system to see if someone genuinely needs this type of vehicle for work or their livelihood? Then maybe these women will stop driving their precious little darlings to school in them, lets face it it's not just in Chelsea they are driving them around!
 
Very embarrasingly I live in Chelsea and have a 4x4
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BUT I have it because I needed something to tow my horse trailer. I think on my street it is the only 4x4 (of many) that smells (and looks like) a stable on the inside
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Well good for you! at least you use it for a purpose!! Fancy coming out here and towing me to a few shows?!!!!!!
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I agree, there should be some sort of system where you need to NEED one.
Thought that ever since coming across a dimwit yummy mummy who needed help to get her mahoosive, spotless Volvo 4by4 out of the health centre car park.
If you can't drive it, don't buy it!!! Oh and I saw a bloke abandoning a new BMW one across three parking spaces last night.
I understand people want to 'protect' their families, but what about the child or the little car that THEY hit?

ETS: Sorry, that came over a bit ranty. Let's just ban crap drivers and faddy people
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PS I need a Hilux.
 
Depends what sort of 4x4 you have! I have a 1960 Series 2 Land Rover. (cost me £800 to buy) It is a classic car, so it is tax exempt. It runs on veggie oil, so costs about 30p per l to run. Parts are as cheap as chips and it is like a giant mechano kit, me & OH mend it ourselvs. It is also one of the best towing vehicles ever built and beats modern 4x4's hands down when it comes to off roading and towing.
 
Wouldn't having a horse, and wanting to tow it round in a trailer be seen as a luxury rather than a necessity as well though?!
The bottom line is people should be able to have choice in a free world, and if they choose to drive gas guzzlers, then ultimatley they pay more in fuel and tax so I honestly don't think the nanny state can or should ban people from having 4x4s who don't 'really need them'.
The (road) tax system does allow for cheaper tax for commercial 4x4s such as land rovers and pick-ups,
By the way, shouldn't this be in Soapbox, being a bit political?!
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Thing is, the tax has only been going up on newer 4x4s, so those who are really struggling like farmers etc, would just have to buy a pre-2001 car to avoid the new taxes. I do think it is a bit ridiculous all those people driving those posh 4x4 things around if they don't need them, but I drive a doublecab pick up and strictly speaking don't NEED one - it is ultimately going to tow a traile and is bl**dy handy with a large dog and a muddy uphil track to get to my horses in the winter, but can't justify it apart from that
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Also, my husnabd drives a 2.3l Mazda 4 door saloon car, and the tax on that is now £400 a year! So it isn't just the 4x4s that tax has gone up on, its anything that is over a certain level of CO2 production or something like that.
 
Old one's aren't
have an older Disco sitting on the drive, only comes out to do towing
worth about £1500.
Day to day drive a little car, much cheaper.
Dread to think on the depricaition of those 4x4's in 10 years time they will be sooo cheap to buy.
 
In canada, you can apply for "farmers plates" which entitles you to cheaper road tax etc, if you can prove you have a genuine need for it.

A system similar to that in the UK would be nice!
 
If you are ever round the Windsor area (where my horse is) then more than happy to give you a lift
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If you really want to entertain yourself / drive yourself mental you should pop round to the schools behind either Harrods or Peter Jones at dropping off time. Hundreds of hardcore yummy mummys who just stop in the middle of the road and then have a ten minute chat with each other whilst the traffic builds up! My OH drives via the Harrods school specially sometimes if he is in a very bad mood just so he can shout at one of them
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I've got one that I don't tow with & hardly ever goes off road.
Why ??
Because I'm disabled & find it incredibly easy to get in & out of.
It does get used to transport equipment about & is a Dog taxi too.
It takes up no more room than a family saloon & is maintained well, so it doesn't pollute more than other cars with a similar engine size.
I'm more worried about cars I see with bits hanging off & smoke pouring from the tail pipe.
 
I have a LWB 3.5LTR Shogun...

it has a towbar but i don't tow with it because i have a 7.5T MAN Lorry.

i have a 4 x 4 because i CHOOSE to....and TBH it doesnt make a jot of difference what other people think either...
 
OOps sorry should have been in soapbox I suppose! Anyway yes I suppose a horse is a luxury but I am a mum of 2 (drive a mini!) and my horse is my one luxury in life I don't smoke, hardly ever go out, rarely drink don't buy myself clothes very often as I spend all my 'luxury' money on having a horse. He is on DIY and I have to be very careful on how I spend on him getting stuff from ebay etc.

OK maybe I am jealous of these rich women that are driving around in a car that I think I could get better use out of, but what I mean is why should everyone be tarred with the same brush? I don't NEED a 4x4 it would be nice to have one though and be able to go to more shows and clinics etc than the 2 local shows a year that I can hack to! and as for bearhuggz that is a legitimate need. I think the idea that Jo from Canada put is excellent! I am not a farmer so wouldn't apply to me but what a great idea! If I knew a friendly mechanic I would go for the old Landy and chip fat! Then again I would have to eat a lot of chips to fill it up then I wouldn't fit in it and then........ Oh that's a whole other story!
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This is an interesting post, half of me thinks that all those posh mums carting their kids round in cayennes and BMW X5's or whatever they are don't need them etc, but also they do indeed have the choice to drive them, however stupid they look and pointless it is to have them. Because lets face it...if they wanted to be able to get round very muddy fields, drive on 'proper' country lanes, tow alot of weight etc then they'd have something more like a landrover, 90/110....? because they'd do a much better job than any of their chelsea tractors....

I have a 90 and I absolutely love it, had it since I was 17 and im 19 now, it is used for its purpose...i tow with it, I go round very muddy fields in it (lamping/crop checks), and I take it off roading at a quarry every month or so just because it is fun. And it didn't cost more than £2000, unlike some of those £30/40,000 vehicles if not more. I'd doubt if some of those mothers knew where low range was. I just find it very funny watching them.
 
i have a range rover sport hse 06 modal and i got to say they are quite expenive to run it takes £100 worth of diesal every week or two depending on how i use it and roughly £200 tax and people that can afford these cars still strugle to pay for theses 4x4 but i need it for the purposes that i use it for etc pulling horse trailer and speedboat
 
i have to agree nissan are classifieds as light vehilicle
as i had the new nissan navara adventure
 
[ QUOTE ]
ischa- Pulling a horsebox? Do you mean trailer?

[/ QUOTE ]

i dont know how old ischa is...but its what trailers were called back in the day.....

most people i know...over 40, still call trailers "boxes"

i do!!
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It angers me regarding people who are very narrow minded about the 4x4 debate, it does not simply go on the "height" of car, as that is what a 4x4 essentially is, you get volvo estates that are 4x4 or a cavalier turbo is a 4x4 - i hear no one mentioning them!


What about older cars that chuck out alot more cr*p than newer cars/4x4s? It is HOW cars are driven, or how OFTEN they are driven. Say I do 20 miles a week in brand new 4x4 or 500 miles a week in my other car, which one is more polluting????

There are TOO MANY VARIABLES to target purely 4x4's in this, it is ridiculous. Also, so what if there is ONE person in the car at the time you saw them, no car will be filled with 5 people every journey.

I think it is rather narrow minded remark about having to "need" one, what a load of twoddle, I drive a 5 seater car, maybe I should buy a bike? No thankyou, Freedom of choice!

PS I am not having a go at YOU or any of YOU but it winds me up something proper when people are blindfolded to blatantly blaming 4x4's for all this nonsense.
 
i totally agree

although we have a mercedes, it does have a detachable tow bar so on the VERY rare occasion when we go out in it without the tow bar it does look like we dont have a trailer. The thing about it is that it has an efficient engine so hopefully it uses less fuel in the long run.

i know its sounds snobby having a mercedes, but we tow to polo once or twice a week so its best to have something that can handle the distance!

but all week we use teeny suzuki swift for all four of us!
 
agree with gina, my oh has a 4x4 car but nothing is ever mentioned, i have a 4x4, but only a small one. my road tax is cheaper than oh, and is more economical than oh. freedom of choice, i choose to drive a 4x4, i wont be getting stuck in muddy fields, or the snow and ice in winter.
 
Shogun? Ooo nice. If it hadn't been for Red Ken and his threat to chuck up the congestion charge to £20 for larger vehicles I would have gone for one of them
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Speaking as a chelsea tractor driver though who lives in Chelsea I still think most of the women that drive them deserve everything they get. Have you ever seen how they park / drive them??
 
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