VIDEO: Top Gear's Chris Harris Declares That Compact SUVs Are "Sh!tboxes" — Does He Have A Point?

Yes. They really do not serve much purpose. No cargo room. Can barely fit a suitcase behind the rear seats. Mind as well buy a hatchback or a sedan in the next size category up.

Chris Harris is usually spot on and so it is here.

Agreed. My neighbour has an Q5 and a Q3. I am amazed people pay large dollars for any CUV when you look at the space you get. Buy a wagon or a Minivan if you need space and spend less money overall.

The problem with minivans is that they are so dreary. You have the quality crap storm of the Pacifica, or the hideous Odyssey, or the sheer boredom of the Sienna to choose from.

@MD- My dealer has a Sienna XLE as the courtesy shuttle. It is pretty fancy ride when compared to my econo-car interior 4Runner. :)

It's as ugly as sin.

No one gives a crap what Chris Harris has to say. Auto manufacturers are selling what the consumer wants and it’s sh!tboxes. Regardless of how useless they might be people cannot have enough of them.

Actually, a LOT of people care what Chris Harris has to say, but it's you that no one gives a crap about listening to.

@MD- There is the ultimate truth the automakers hope nobody ever figures out. You can put 4 suitcases in a Corolla's truck. Not so much in a crossover with 4 people in it.

@MDarringer as we can see from all the posts, NO one gives a crap about him or your useless input. That is why you have so many negative votes,lol! Both of you just like to listen to yourselves.

And the fact that you take the time to vote me down using your multiple accounts and to respond makes me laugh. If you want to annoy me, thumb me up. Reality: you ARE listening to me so as to vote down and respond. You aren't bright enough to do exactly the opposite.

clearly either overall factual comment based on the fact that few people know who chris harris is or obvious sarcasm that douches below don't get

The CUV is a fundamentally flawed packaging concept.

But the older I get the more I learn how the crowd will double down on stupid things.

Indeed they are flawed. The irony is that a 5 passenger sedan has more carrying space than a 5 passenger crossover when people are inside.

SUV/CUV’s are just this generations of our parents station wagons. And generally because the weight and design of these vehicles mean faster wear and tear on the tires and brakes. I sure hope its a fad. Hoping that 2 door sporty cars make a comeback.

Except that station wagons had an appropriate amount of carrying room with the front and rear seats filled.

Anyone with a brain.

Outside of the base versions like the BMW X1, X2 and their similar competitors the X3, GLC, Escape, etc all ride higher. People like the fact that they are easier to see out of and they are easier to get in and out of. Those are key issues for aging boomers. They are easier to put car seats in for young families. Practical reasons for why they are so popular.

Yes!!

It's like I've said before. If you need cargo room, get a hatchback. If you need more, get a station wagon. If you need even more, get a real-size SUV.

If you want to go off-road, get a Jeep, Land Rover, Land Cruiser, etc.

If you're driving by yourself back and forth to work and to Target, maybe with one kid some of the time, you don't need an SUV. You don't have use for the cargo room, nor even for the pretend off-road capabilities.

You think you need one, but in reality you just want to ride up high and feel like a big boy.

From the standpoint of someone who wants a vehicle with optimal handling he is right. However, most consumers don't care about that instead they care about comfort, reliability, fuel economy and safety instead. Crossovers have the practicality of an open cargo bay and folding seats, the seating position is easier to get into and out of, the higher seating position makes people feel safer and the MPG penalty is pretty small for a crossover vs sedan. For the vast majority of customers a compact crossover SUV checks all the boxes and that is the reason they are rapidly replacing the family sedan.

While I agree with many of your points - I do not see small CUVs replacing the Family sedan - Maybe the next size up is - but the small Cuvs simply are not big enough to replace a Camry/Accord whose interiors approach full size today.

Frankly - I was surprised not to see someone mention that getting in and out of the higher riding small CUVs is much easier - especially for us older folks - and the upright seating actually allows for more room for the legs even if the figure does not imply that.

As one of the older folks, I agree that ease of entry/exit is a plus for the CUV. Here's another one - getting my 16 month old grandson in-and-out of the rear facing car seat in a our Mazda CX-5 is far easier than in our sedan.

sedans are dying. so is the love of driving.

What else would you expect Harris to say? The guy likes GT3-RS and Aventadors for a daily driver. The rest of America has different priorities.

Problem was the choices he didn't have to choose from, should have had Honda, Mazda or Toyota in the lineup.

As far as semi-affordable sedans the Japanese and the Koreans will end up being the last hold puts. Seriously though do you really think that Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia are going to replace their current sedans within the next 5 years with new ones. I highly doubt it. Frankly I think this is really "Custers last Stand" when it comes to affordable sedans. SUV's/CUV's are really cutting into sedan sales and will probably outsell the sedans soon if not before.Harris was reveiewing the compactSUV's or CUVs. Frankly the one he was looking probably due fall under the category of shit boxes. But the US CRV, the Us Rav 4, CX5 might not fall under the shit box category. Further you now have the strong sub-compact SUV category that is starting to come on strong. Wagons in general don't sell here. In 5 years from now you will probably still see your Volvo wagon, Subaru Outback, and Subaru Cross-treck but that's it. And there will be a whole lot more electric vehicle choices 350 plus range and 80% re-charging down to 5 minutes through much better fast DC chargers.