Afraid, Hesitant and cautious, the result of 4x4's in the current economy?

This might sound odd, and maybe a younger persons view, but My friends and even myself have certainly become more hesitant and cautious when driving 4x4's out and about, mainly when off road or on tracks.

The Main reason is because we do not want to damage our vehicles, as its all that we own.

With the way the UK is at the moment, insurance prices high, fuel cost high, road tax high, non-secure jobs, Myself and my buddy's are alot more reluctant and cautious to take action that could use more fuel, cause stress on the vehicle that could lead to repairs, damages or future problems.

Yesterday while out and about we found challenging lanes. There was The Terracan, WJ Cherokee 2.7 and a Ford Explorer 4.0. Before, 5 years ago with lower cost of fuel, parts and even labour for the mechanics fitting the items we would have just drove on up regardless of the consequence. But I pulled over, got out and walked quite a distance, examined the terrain.
It was a very muddy, rutty track that had several hill climbs and descents, for us in LWB more road biased designed 4x4's it would be quite challenging. We have done similar tracks in the past, with little drama, but we all looked at the track in front and decided its not worth chancing it.

At the Pub it got us thinking, how the recent turn in economic turmoil, the possibility of job redundancy, the cost of living had effected and lessened out adventures.
Its a shame really, because like 99% of people on here, its kick ass to drive through a bog, or water hole. But Myself and my buddies just can not afford the repercussions if something goes wrong.

Which is why over the last few years I've stopped taking my Vehicle to pay and play sites, actively seeking out a Bog to get stuck in and instead turned to touring the UK, camping and fishing. "Safe bets", non hazardous tracks and greenlanes.
I used to buy the biggest, baddest set of Super Swamping tyres that I could find, but now I want a tyre that offers least amount of rolling resistance and the high fuel efficiency while still allowing me to get out of a snowy drive.

Im not saying that I dont enjoy the touring, camping and fishing, I love it. Its just that because of the way things are now, the cost of living, It seems that modern 4x4's and their owners are alot less Adventurous and alot more cautious.

Which is a shame because for me, owning a 4x4, is getting to places that not many have gone before....

And this is the youngsters who have disposable income. lol

With age you evolve, you have such things as families and mortgages, and you learn to manage money more effectively in the main, this often means most people struggle to pay these, and many other bills, and have to learn the importance of money, and many have to work as much overtime as possible to survive, and plan purchases months ahead. Age also gives other things, the chance to develop such things as driving records, if someone has one accident in 10 years of driving they have a good record, so become a known entity, much the same applies to someone who has two accidents in 30 years of driving, something youngsters cannot do. Many youngsters follow the crowd, they buy an old banger and pimp it up, often a number of the modifications are illegal, but fashionable at that time, so now we have two risks, little driving record and a higher risk of illegal actions concerning their vehicles; both combine to make youngsters susceptible to higher premiums. If we factor in inexperience and much higher accidents the risks increase dramatically, particularly the boy racers who career around at breakneck speeds around estates or other inaproppriate areas, and the fact they may not bother with insurance as they would sooner add something else to their car then te risk increases more, now do what insurers do and analyse this statistically and its pretty damning.

Heres the rub, a youngster with a good record, totally legal vehicle, and uses their car correctly, suddenly gets caught up in these statistics; age is one statistic, illegal modifications is another, failure to declare modifications is another, higher risks of accidents due to driving experience or lack of is another, and you clearly see you are condemned because of the other drivers of your age.

Yeah it is a right downer.

& The income is not that disposable, rent among other things makes owning a 4x4 a very expensive hobby. Good job its a good one.