Americans and the love of big cars

[Dannar26]

Whenever I go car shopping, small cars are never in the limelight. Now, I suspect this is because salesfolk make better commission off the larger models. But when I take to the road, I still see very few smaller vehicles.

I'm married with a kid and another on the way. We fit fine in a Nissan Sentra. With the added cost of more expensive insurance and a lower MPG rating, I've never understood why cheaper smaller vehicles were never more popular.

Guess I'm just too cheap?

Duely blundered from my thunderdolt

 

[JulesMaximus]

Small cars become more popular when gas prices increase. I see quite a few of the Nissan Leaf cars around here and quite a few hybrids.

As for Americans loving big cars I would simply say that advertising works.

I'm with you personally, a mid-size sedan is all I really need. I'm going to be looking at the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid after it comes out and I'm able to work a reasonable deal on one. If not I'll probably look at one of the Prius models.

 

[Drako]

Profit margin.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The US has a big, wide open highway system. If you drive a lot of highway miles, you want at least a midsize car. Small cars suck on the highway. They get buffeted more by the wind, they don't have enough power to pass other cars easily, and they have less sound deadening. If you're doing mostly city driving then small cars are fine.

Another consideration is rear seat room. Small cars like the Civic and Sentra are fine with children in the back seat, but they're not that comfortable for adults. Most people just commute in their cars so rear seat room isn't that big of a priority though (or at least it shouldn't be).

Lastly, small, cheap cars are often lighter on the features that people like. Obviously this is constantly improving, but popular new features are more likely to be standard equipment on larger, more expensive cars. If they're available at all on small cars, they are likely part of an expensive options package, and by the time you price everything out you realize that your tiny car costs almost as much as a midsize, so why not move up?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

In my opinion very very few small cars are built well and feel solid to drive.


They aren't just small, but cheap/economy. Even the supposedly well built ones (fiat, mini) aren't that great.

 

[exar333]

In my opinion very very few small cars are built well and feel solid to drive.


They aren't just small, but cheap/economy. Even the supposedly well built ones (fiat, mini) aren't that great.

This.

You could count on one hand the really good small cars available just 3-4 years ago. I hate big cars. The new fusion/camry/accords are too big for me, I prefer the size of cars 15-20 years ago. I am not fat, so I don't need seat bolsters built for a 300lb person. Also, 'lots of legroom' now means that a 7ft man can sit comfortably in the car. It's a complete joke IMHO. This is especially true when couples each have their own car and gripe about back-seat room when they have passengers in their car 1-2x a month. It is just silly.

The amount of people who commute to work everyday in a huge Suburban always baffles me. I don't begrudge anyone the choice of their car (thats our freedom) but folks' expectations for 'enough' room is beyond silly these days.

I loved the size of my 2003 Mazda6. That was a perfectly-sized sedan in my eyes. The new 6 is just huge! I went with the WRX for exactly that reason. I fit 3 6ft+ guys plus my fiance in my car this past weekend and it was fine. Would I want to do that for 400mi? No, but I would just rent a car if I really needed a car to hold 4-5 people for a long trip (the whole once every 2-3 years I even drive that far anyways).

 

[satyajitmenon]

Weiner size?

 

[nerp]

Big cars are nice and some people just want a bigger car. I wanted luxury, performance, comfort and quiet. Larger sedans put you in a totally different class of car.

 

[Pulsar]

Many people require a larger vehicle. Not all of us live in the city, and many of us require something that can tow, haul things around, drag stumps out of the ground, etc.

If you've ever been in rural America then you've seen 4-5 foot snow drifts that you need a 4 wheel drive to get through, areas so muddy only a 4 wheel drive will get you access to them, or trucks pulling around equipment like tractors, trailers, and the like.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

from my brothers mouth to your ears
"I want to buy my wife a big truck because shes a bad driver. That way if she hits something, that thing will be wrecked instead of her"

my reply "what if that thing is a tiny car and people die? and they would have been safe if she was driving a smaller car?"

his reply "well at least she'll be safe, why should I care about other people?"

me "rolleyes"

 

[MovingTarget]

Big cars are more comfortable than smaller cars, especially if you drive a lot of miles. We have a lot of wide open highways in the states...

Think of it this way...you have an 89 Civic and an 89 Caprice. Which one would your rear end choose to drive the entire length of I-65? It most certainly would not be the Honda.

 

[thomsbrain]

Big cars are more comfortable than smaller cars, especially if you drive a lot of miles. We have a lot of wide open highways in the states...

Yup. We always take the "big" car (the Accord V6) for road trips instead of the Sentra or S2000. The Sentra is buzzy and cramped when you have Slurpees and pillows and blankets and gadgets all over the place. The S2000 is 10x worse. The Accord just soaks up those open miles in comparison.

 

[Doppel]

..

 

[CurseTheSky]

Price was the biggest driving factor when I bought my Fusion.

I could either grab a mid-sized (big) Fusion for one price, or a smaller Focus or comparable model from another manufacturer for only slightly less. Most of them weren't equipped as nicely, and didn't feel as nice on the road. On the other hand, I could have grabbed a Mazda3 for about a grand more.

Most of the mid-sized cars were the sweet spot in terms of bang-for-buck. They tend to come with better standard equipment (or, I should say, less economy-oriented lower-end trims), seem to be built a bit better, and you're physically getting more car for the money.

 

[JulesMaximus]

We like to supersize everything from MacDonalds to toilet paper. Bigger is always better. Bigger house, bigger car, bigger back yard, more toilets to crap in. Waste waste waste! Consume consume consume! It's the 'Merican way.

 

[LTC8K6]

The 2012 Impala with the DI 3.6L and 6A is EPA rated at 30mpg highway.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

The 2012 Impala with the DI 3.6L and 6A is EPA rated at 30mpg highway.

A car that has less room than cheaper, smaller Malibu. Fail GM.

 

[WackyDan]

Define big? We bought a Chevy Malibu new in 2005. Other than it being a piece of shit car with poor design, it is considered either a mid-size sedan or full size depending on who you ask.

I bought it with the 3.5 v6. it has lots of power and still gets 35 MPG which at the time was pretty freaking fantastic for a V6 and even a four cylinder. Still gets great MPG though.

So... I could maybe... maybe get 38 or 40MPG with a smaller car, but that would be a compromise... not a big compromise, but we love the size of the Malibu for trips back home to New York... bigger interior and trunk than a compact makes a big difference.

If we didn't have the kid, we'd have something smaller perhaps.

 

[Jadow]

from my brothers mouth to your ears
"I want to buy my wife a big truck because shes a bad driver. That way if she hits something, that thing will be wrecked instead of her"

my reply "what if that thing is a tiny car and people die? and they would have been safe if she was driving a smaller car?"

his reply "well at least she'll be safe, why should I care about other people?"

me "rolleyes"

i feel the same way as your brother

 

[Jadow]

We like to supersize everything from MacDonalds to toilet paper. Bigger is always better. Bigger house, bigger car, bigger back yard, more toilets to crap in. Waste waste waste! Consume consume consume! It's the 'Merican way.

i think it's the human way.

 

[LTC8K6]

A car that has less room than cheaper, smaller Malibu. Fail GM.

The 2012 Impala is bigger, has more passenger and luggage space, and gets better fuel economy than the 2012 Malibu with the same 3.6L engine.

 

[foghorn67]

A car that has less room than cheaper, smaller Malibu. Fail GM.

The only way to get a V6 on a Malibu is with a LTZ option package. So I'd imagine it's about the same if you compare comparable options and powertrains.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Also, 'lots of legroom' now means that a 7ft man can sit comfortably in the car.

They've eluded me for the most part then, and I'm a half foot under. There's still plenty of vehicles for me that are uncomfortable as hell in the passenger seat even with my knees in the glove box. Oddly, SUV's tend to be the worst in that regard.

 

[NAC]

I think there are lots of reasons, most of which have been stated:
In general….

Bigger cars are typically only a bit more expensive than smaller cars.
People don’t care about gas prices, or at least didn’t.
Bigger cars are more convenient and functional.
Bigger cars are more comfortable.
Bigger cars give the perception of being safer.

Myself, I prefer smaller cars because they are nicer to drive.

 

[Dman8777]

There are things you can do with a larger vehicle that you can't with a small car. In the US where the roads are twice as wide as they need to be and the parking spots all fit a full size 4x4, there's nothing you can't do in a big vehicle that you can in a small one.

Visit Europe and drive around their cities and you'll understand why small cars are so popular. Big vehicles simply don't fit everywhere and gas costs twice what it does in the states. If these realities were reversed, Europeans would be driving big cars too, it's just human nature.