They obviously have real tangible benefits. I regularly use my SUV to haul stuff that would not fit in a car while also maintaining the ability to fit passengers when I am not using that space. While being lighter than a van.
You can fit more in a station wagon like VW Passat than in an SUV and it will be more efficient AND safer.
There's no reason to waste fuel every trip accelerating all that useless mass other than fashion.
My wife’s car is rated to tow 1,650 lbs unbraked… in Australia.
In North America, it’s rated “No.”.
Everyone here thinks towing == big truck, and I can see why they would think that. When I moved to an acreage everyone (including my wife) told me it was time to sell the “fun” car and buy a truck.
Instead I spent $500 on a 5x10 utility trailer.
I regularly tow that 5x10 utility trailer… with a Subaru WRX sports sedan. The thing weighs 3,300 lbs, has something like 280HP and 260ftlb peak torque, massive brake rotors, etc. At a 10% tongue weight, I can hit nearly 3000lbs on the rear end.
It accelerates and brakes like there isn’t even anything there. The only time I noticed any real difference was when I had ~2500lbs on there between the trailer and some concrete patio blocks. I had to downshift from 6th to 5th going up a steep incline to maintain a bit over 60mph.
I can fit a full 4x8 sheet of plywood or a stack of 8’ lumber in there without it hanging out the back (unlike most trucks). My car gets notoriously bad mileage, yet I still get better fuel economy towing the trailer than my wife’s crossover does carrying two adults. And when I’m done I take the trailer off and get sedan fuel economy.
Oh, and it can very comfortably carry four adults while doing this (five if someone wants to cuddle up in that middle seat). Rear seat will fit three car seats at once if your life has taken that sort of turn.
In the _very_ rare situation that that’s not enough… I can go rent something.
I have way more respect for people that can at least admit “I’m going to pay a $40k premium and burn twice as much gas because I want to.” rather than try to justify it as “I need to haul something twice a year and U-Haul doesn’t exist.” or “Yeah, but I need it for the snow.”. (That’s a whole separate rant, but snow tires people. I’ve used my car to pull Jeeps out of the ditch because they thought 4wd + mudding tires was a good winter setup.)
That went a little off the rails but… yes, trailers are the answer you’re looking for.
Although I feel like there's more variety here (Europe) for electric minivans having Citroen, Nissan, Ford, Fiat, Mercedes, Opel... electric models that don't seem to arrive to (or survive in) the US market.
There is zero reason to get an SUV other than status signaling, and/or wanting to be the bigger vehicle in a collision.
My SUV has the capability of hauling all the people and their stuff I regularly have to while ALSO towing a fully loaded horse or stock trailer.
I skip the missing pickup truck bed by using a trailer (that I can tow with our old car too).
I fully recognize its size and how if I didn't have a farm it would be 100% unnecessary.
This car has 23 HP and weights 650 kg. It's a little extreme, but any modern car can haul a trailer no problem. You don't need an SUV.
(It’s a Prius towing a goose neck trailer.)
But this exact 23 HP 650 kg car can legally pull 400 kg trailer (as long as it has breaks - 300 kg without). And I've seen it done on public roads in 90s. Maybe it wasn't full capacity so let's say 200 kg but still. That's already more than you can fit in most SUVs.
A modern 100 HP 1500 kg sedan can pull more than most people will ever need. And they do - outside US. Somehow in US you need a 2500 kg truck to do the same. I just don't understand.
The term SUV has been manipulated to the point that unibody sedans on larger wheels now qualifies as an SUV at a dealer showroom.
Depends on which SUV and which car, granted, but on average SUVs don't have that much interior room. Particularly given their huge size one would expect them the have huge cargo capacity, but most of them don't hold more stuff than your average sedan.
> While being lighter than a van
Not usually. According to [1] mid-size SUV average around 5000lb and full-size SUVs are 5300-6000lb.
Vans are from ~4000lb to ~6000lb with most models around ~5000ish. So weights are pretty much the same. Unless you have a tiny SUV, but then it can hardly carry anything.
[1] https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/how-much-does-a...
My father had VW Passat and now he has Audi A6. Passat Station Wagon (what we call kombi in Europe) fits 2 big bicycles inside without disassembling them. Audi A6 and similar doesn't even fit 1 because of the angle of the rear window.
Of course SUV also wouldn't fit 2 bikes inside, but still - you buy kombi for a reason. Making them cool to the point of breaking the usability is stupid.