When in a similar situation in the hunt for a car for a young family, was amazed how much more roomy/practical/easier to park/cheaper and often better to drive the equivalent estate was compared to the equivalent suv from the same manufacturer.
I think SUV VS estate could be interesting to some people. My wife went from a Mégane touring to a Renault Arkana and I must say the Mégane was more practical
i would argue that SUVs make everyone less safe, and on top of that block visibility more especially in city driving. Would like to see comparison against a wagon. Trunk space actually is not any better in an suv atleast as far as i saw in cars in my family. I think suv should only be consideration is people need 3rd row deseprately, but then something like VW Transporter/Multivan or Mercedes Vito is better.
We have a VW touran as family wagon, 2015 model and its been brilliant. Loads of space and only the same footprint as a golf. Can literally do anything, bikes in, kids in, luggage, 7 seats. More modern versions have less space
I understand it might be an issue of availability in the UK but I'd love to see Ben drive an American minivan, particularly knowing his love for the flexibility of vans. My siblings all have the big 7 passenger unibody SUVs, Highlander, Ascent, etc, and I look at them and wonder "where's the power sliding doors, the low load floor, the third row access, room for 7 passengers and a week's worth of luggage for each, the ability to haul 4x8 plywood sheets or 12ft 2x4s, the visibility, or the ease of parking my Odyssey has?" Getting kids in and out of a car 10x a day for school, activities, etc is hard enough without your vehicle fighting you every step of the way. And let's be honest, the SUV is so ubiquitous these days it's not like people think you're cool for driving one, which was supposed to be its saving grace over the minivan.
We've got two kids and my wife and I both have 'big' cars. My in-laws have a picanto and I had to borrow it for a couple of days. I was genuinely shocked at how good it was. It must be something to do with the upright nature of the seats etc but it almost made me think twice about getting another suv...... almost.
Glad to see a kindred spirit in this regard! My first child is due in the next 4 weeks, and I totally agree that an SUV is overkill for a small family. I will enjoy continuing to use my MINI Cooper S - which I have had from new 😄
It is a good point you raise, as I have just passed my test and I am driving a BMW 114i 3dr, fantastic car and quite easily can seat 2 adults in the back with a boot which is probably twice as big as the Picanto.
Also a big congratulations Ben on 10k subs. Been talking with your brother today, and we will have to sort a time to do a vid with my 40+ year old classic car as a dad car.
When my son was born I refused to give up my two door coupe Mercedes Benz CLK on the basis that a) as a child I would have absolutely loved being driven around in a Mercedes let alone a luxury sports coupe; and b) folding front seats are fun as a child. But my partner insisted on a five door car so IN ADDITION we looked at hatch vs SUV. The New Zealand 🇳🇿 car market is small and most people buy used cars so small economy cars and small to medium size SUVs command premium prices. However, European hatchbacks are quite cheap because most NZers are terrified of potential maintenance costs so as a result we found a 2014 Mercedes Benz A200 with Bluetooth, panoramic sunroof, optional white leather and 18” alloys with 80,000kms for the price of a 2018 Korean SUV or an ancient Japanese one. This purchase was made in 2020. Both the missus and child are happy. We now have the dilemma of needing to transport larger items such as bikes and I’m looking at estate options rather than SUVs. One more point on SUV safety is their propensity to roll over twice as often as sedans during a crash. Loved the video btw 👍
Amazing! We had a golf when we had only two children… plenty of practicality for us! Yes I need to get more estates on… I’d love to see more families buying estates over SUVs as they are far more practical overall
Glad you done this so many people are under the illusion that SUVs are king when they really aren't that much cop. Would be interesting to see SUV Vs estate, and estate Vs hatch
Hey Ben. Just found your channel. I have 05 fiesta zetec 3dr. 2 kids 1 baby. 1 child seat, baby seat and booster cushion. Currently does everything I need it do. Just came back from Newquay. Went packed to the brim with luggage, cooler, beach gear. It worked fine. Would more space have been nicer? Yeah sure but return journey was easier as we had consumed most of the stuff that we had packed. Worked out surprisingly well for a family car.
Awesome, we had a Golf as our family car and only got something bigger for the 3rd little one :) I hope you enjoy the content! So many cool cars we’ve made videos on 😊
Similar to the comment below in terms availability as I understand its difficult to get access to cars but I would love to see more direct comparisons. This is one of the most interesting videos I`ve seen (and Ive seen a few) the thing I really didn`t like was when it ended LOL. Keep em coming Ben!
😅 thanks man, if ever I get another interesting comparison with two cars I’ll try to film it… imagine MPV be large SUV 😅… maybe check out the M3 Competition video I did as that was sort of a comparison to my DB9
I went from a diesel SUV to a Skoda Octavia VRS 245 estate and I’m not looking back. The estate is relatively nimble and light, pretty quick being the VRS, has a very large boot and lots of space for passengers. MPG is also impressive if you drive accordingly, and surprisingly the ride is more comfortable (SUVs benefit from air suspension for a reason, mine didn’t have it). I didn't really need the offroading ability, and being honest, most of us don’t either.
I actually love this comparison. I've got an older q7 and want rid of it for something smaller but wasn't sure where or what to look for for my other half to drive with like you a rear facing and front facing seat.
There is one area of practicality that I think a compact beats an SUV and that’s as kids get past toddler years and start to want independence; my two nieces (6 and 4) can be quite insistent on getting in and out of a car themselves, and a massively tall suv is just going to be more difficult for them to do. Being able to tell my eldest niece to hop in and knowing she can do so safely is helpful. It’s a soft factor and not everyone will agree but I do believe it’s important for kids to be able to develop a sense of self-dependency.
Sadly it is not very easy to say which car is "safer". NCAP and laws are changing all the time, but what I definitely can say is that better passive safety systems, which are for the prevention of an accident, make a car way more safer. Therefore I would have given the Kia the point. Also because of the weight of the Kia it is possible that it bounces in a crash and the body takes quite a lot of load. There were quite a few studies made with the Smart which showed that behaviour in a crash against a G-class if I remember my class in passive safety correctly.
Wouldn't call myself an expert, because it is such a huge field and I'm only taking care of the crash safety of the HV-Battery in BEVs, but I do have a general understanding and can answer maybe some questions :)
We are currently having a Ford focus 2016 model. You are right, easy to park and cheap to maintain. But having our daughter car seat behind the passenger seat, my wife(which is 5ft4) fits just about on the front. Me on the driving seat ,6ft5 and 250lbs, which means no actual adult can fit behind me. Not mentioning the boot if you are having the buggy and trying to go to do your weekly shopping... i dont know if i would go to the SUV road or the estate but one is for sure. I wouldn't have a hatch for a family car.
Hi Ben & little one. Hope your all doing good. I liked the video. I didn't know that X5 was diesel. I've always loved diesels. My 2 Citroen XMs are diesels. Take care and stay safe.
Once someone told me "But it's only 10$ more", speaking of the monthly payment. How does an intelligent person don't understand that bigger = everything is more expensive is beyond me. No, at the end of the year, it's not 120$ more... As for safety, drivers quality of driiving is average, but they use safety as an excuse to buy big cars. Yeah, right... That is not when they do videos while driving (sorry). For the trunk size, except when it's small, just buy a rooftop box. If you don't want to, just get the roof bars and borrow or rent the box when needed. Roof bars is practical. Finally, your kid at 13:41 = ❤❤
Unrelated to the main point of the video, but Monty is so cute! My family has a border terrier called Monty too - he's an old man now, but looked just like yours when he was younger! 🐾🐶❤
Hi Mate, been watching/looking/commenting on your channel for a while and love it. Want to know your thoughts on the death of the mid-size hatch segment on the back off this video (Mondeo, Insignia etc.). We have a 2018 Mondeo hatch and quite honestly it is all the car I could ever really need. We just did a family holiday to Wales (2 adults, 1 toddler and a baby) for a week and fitted everything we needed in there without even a roof box, the thing is huge!
@@dadcars More than happy for you to show off the virtues of the Mondeo! Can't praise the car enough! Can also have a play in my e46 Compact (my 'proper' Dad car!)
YES!!! I've long believed SUVs aren't any more practical than a smaller car, and in some cases more dangerous esp. the vulnerable road user. Our 19 year old 3 door Nissan Micra has a *sliding rear seat* you can actually move it forwards and backwards to create/reduce extra rear leg room and with just 2 front doors it means you can step right in to the back of the car and face the rear seats head on. So much easier than having to twist round from outside to put a car seat in. It takes our MultiMac too and, don't forget, it's a 19 year old petrol car and *is* London ULEZ complaint. It's easy to park. Our Audi A3 works equally well esp. if we out the roof box on and again the MultiMac does it's job. A friend has 2 children and has just bought a brand new (hideous) Audi Q5 4.0 diesel Quattro thing which must have cost at least £45,000 and doesn't actually do anything better than our older cars.I don't know why SUVs are so popular. It's utter madness!
As a dad of 3 I can appreciate the comparison but it is awfully bias to compare a hot hatch to a large sport SUV amd say it can do the same thing :P .. Two different customers gas may not matter to someone who wants a sport SUV so the hot hatch being for efficient may not mean anything if someone wanted a fair comparison it may be better to do the Kia Picanto and the Hyundai i10 or VW Up (or high Up) but I get the point something that may "feel" sporty opposed to something that actually is. Love the video! Can't wait to see more!
I own the X5 not the picanto… I thought this would be a fun comparison and wasn’t expecting the outcome. But it does make me realise that SUVs aren’t actually the most practical things for families here in the UK
@@dadcars 100% UK would have unique challenges. I live in Canada we don't have any narrow roads or tight hills for the most part. But we absolutely need a strong AWD or at least front wheel drive car for winters. Your videos definitely have a very Jayemm feel. I really love it plus I'm a dad of three kids so right there you earned my sub lol
In my case as a dad like you in your video. We managed with a 2011 Honda jazz ex for 6 years using baby seats etc. Really cheap running costs, packed with luxury... We finally bought a 2017 mazda cx5 sport. Why? Mpg is 42, has a great big boot suitable for suitcases and a dog. You can put a roof box and bike carrier on an suv and you will hardly notice them. The jazz used to get overloaded with stuff on longer trips and needed more power. My insurance is marginally more but it's all worth it for a better ride quality and a lot more space.
@@lankyboy90 hiya I considered an a4 estate and passat. I found them to have higher miles, generally all tdi's and I wanted a petrol similar to the jazz. I found the visibility better in a cross over/suv too. Bigger front windscreen but not as big as the Honda jazz!
@@aaronharris5275 Interesting, the A4 and Passat I would definitely think would have a price premium but the 6 is a great car and could probably have been had cheaper than the CX-5. Not sure if they do the 6 in a petrol anymore....I think they do, the same motor as is in the CX-5 from what I remember.
Hiya, yes sorry missed the 6 part there! I did look that them and they are a lovely well made car with amazingly beautiful interiors, one had brown leather which was unusual. Yes same engine as the CX5. It probably would have been cheaper, my 2017 mk1 CX5 is the sport version only had 30k miles and bought it from a dealer for £15k and it was immaculate so went for this one in the end. The 19 inch wheels really ride lovely over the pots holes compared with a smaller hatch back car which used to bounce around more.
I think one of the reasons people gravitate more towards SUVs is they might need more space in the future or the possibility for them needing to go off road once a year. The idea of a go everywhere do anything vehicle is attractive
Id like to see an x5 vs a 5 series touring. I think it will instantly point out everything I have always said. SUVs are a complete waste of resources and inpracticle
Excellent. We have a 16 X5 and using that for the school run seems stupid so we got a 22 Hyundai i20N. In general that cars is gonna be in a 30 mph zone 90% of the time. And the new heavy EV have better detection systems anyway so does it matter?
Check out my video on the 760i… there is an all in one 3 or 4 across childseat meaning you could have 3 across in almost any car you like. Link to the website is in the description of the BMW 760i video.
Yes i do need to buy an SUV 😂 It is a V8 Range Rover vogue supercharged. It has netflix, youtube etc for the kids rear screens on long journeys & is amazing. This puny little car cannot compare 😂
once everyone gets SUV's the safety point becomes cancelled out. Then, everyone has cars that are more prone to rollover and less visibility for small children. For most people SUV's are good only a couple days of the year during extreme weather or off-roading.
I don't even hate on SUV's or people that own them. Its not my business, I just know for me if I need a SUV i'll rent one. You can't deny that some places require 4wd/high ground clearance or other circumstances which necessitates its use. Loved the video and glad you got both regardless if you need it or not. @@dadcars
Those people that buy "compacy SUV's" like the Puma.... Seriously, wtf is wrong with these people? Its just a raised Fiesta in Maternity wear, and raising it only made it worse!
I wouldnt be comfortable putting my child in the back of a small car with such little space in the rear of the car. In the case of being rear ended i feel having an amount of metal and "crumplage" space would protect them to an extent. This might be a completely crazy and irattional thought process, but heavly influenced my decision to invest in a new"ish" (19 plate) Volvo estate
This Kia is such bad value. The Dacia Sandero is bigger and actually more comfortable all while still being fun to toss around, 200 kg heavier and 10 hp less but still lightweight.
