“THE SUV SECTOR is just booming. There’s a huge demand. People want them for the style, for the practicality, for the desirability.”
These are just some of the reasons why buyers choose to swap their car for an SUV, says motoring expert Dave Humphreys.
Space is a big point of attraction too, he says. “Often with an SUV, you can get three adults sitting quite comfortably in the back. People really like to have that sort of space.
Considering upgrading to an SUV yourself? Dave shared five things to think about before buying, from engine type to tech offerings.
“There first thing to consider if you’re going from a car to an SUV is what you’re going to use the car for,” says Dave. “If you’re going to be doing a lot of very long distance journeys, for example if you’ll be travelling from Dublin to Cork or something like that quite frequently, then I would consider a diesel engine. Alternatively, if you’re just doing very short journeys, like the school run or maybe commuting to work, then you should absolutely consider petrol, electric or plug-in hybrid.”
If you’re going to choose a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle, Dave advises making sure that you can get a charger installed at home. “For anyone considering going electric, that’s my number one criteria,” he says.
To see how the SUV will suit your daily life and routine, Dave recommends paying attention to how you’ll be using it each day.
“If you’ve got a family or you’ve got small kids, lifting them in and out of an SUV can be easier than lifting them out of a standard car,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons why they’re so popular, because a booster seat is kind of more at your natural standing level, rather than being bent over and trying to do that.
“Usually when younger people have a growing family, they suddenly realise they’re going to have a lot more stuff to transport around. As well as having the extra child seat in the back, there’s maybe a bigger buggy and all of the other things that come with having another child.”
Dave also highlights how the height can make it easier to get in and out of the vehicle. “Again, just like getting the kids in the back, getting in and out can be a little bit easier because the seat base or the bottom of the seat is higher, so you might be slightly stepping up into an SUV rather than sitting down into a lower car.”
“Another thing to consider is that you’ll have an elevated drive driving position. A lot of people often like that because they feel that they have a better view of the road, and they feel safer in a bigger SUV because they’ve got kind of more ‘car’ around them.”
Any modern buyer is sure to want to look at what tech features a vehicle includes. With Citroën’s SUV range, all new models have touchscreen displays and easy phone connectivity.
“Bluetooth is pretty much a standard thing these days, but then you can also have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay,” says Dave. “Depending on whether your phone is Apple or Android, when you plug in the phone basically your homescreen appears on the touchscreen display. It’s like your phone becomes part of the car. You can have Whatsapp on there, Spotify, Google Maps.”
These features are designed specifically for cars, says Dave. “What that means is you can only type a text message by voice, and it will only read your messages aloud. So they’re designed not to be distracting.”
Aside from the school run or travelling to work, Dave points out that the extra interior space an SUV offers has multiple uses.
“A lot of people have preferred going to an SUV because there’s more interior space,” he says. With the Citroën C5 Aircross, there is 580 litres of standard space, increasing to 720 litres when the rear seats are pushed forward and 1,630 lites with the seats folded.
“If you’re going on a family holiday like a staycation rather than going away, there’s extra room to load up,” says Dave. “Or if you do a particular sport, like mountain biking, you might want to be able to put your bike into the SUV rather than having a roof rack. So it isn’t just purely appealing to only families. Even for grandparents, they may want to have the room so they can easily put the grandchildren in the vehicle.”
While re-selling might be the last thing you’re thinking of when you’re buying a new vehicle, used car prices are rising. In just three months since June 2021 used car prices have increased by 10.6%, according to a report by DoneDeal.
This is even better news for those selling an SUV as “the residual value of an SUV is higher,” says Dave. “That’s why a lot of people like having them.”
“If you buy an SUV and in two years time you go to sell it or trade it, because there’s a high demand for SUVs, you’ll get a higher price for it or it’ll be worth more money.”
Choose comfort and style with Citroën’s SUV range. Discover the new C3 Aircross SUV here, and the C5 Aircross SUV here.
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