Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 08:27:48 +0000 From: Martin Rich <M.G.Richnopsam.ac.uk> Subject: Re: SAAB SUV
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 09:21:32 -0600, "Walt Kienzle" <wkienzlenopsam.net> wrote: >One of the typical answers from SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) owners is that >they can't get the car seats (required by law) for their 3 (or more) >children into anything smaller. This factor - not the rest of your account, which makes interesting reading - also applies here in the UK, but there are plenty of other ways of buying a car with room for 3 or more children. For instance small-ish people carriers (minivans to Americans), with three rows of seats, such as the Renault Scenic and the Vauxhall Zafira are popular where I live in London. A criticism of these is that they don't have much boot space when you use all the seats, but I doubt if a big ostentatious 4-wheel drive would be much better. Nevertheless you do see plenty of monster 4-wheel drives, including some American ones, in London. You even see some American-style pickups, which strike me as about the least suitable vehicle imaginable for our conditions. My suspicion is that a lot of the 4-wheel drives are only used for short school and shopping runs, so don't cover that many miles in a year, which may be why their owners aren't troubled by their heavy fuel consumption Martin