If you found this page, it’s likely that you are a bigger person, or love someone that is a bigger person. You probably know the struggles (and sometimes, oftentimes, humiliation) of finding a car that fits a bigger body.
Last year, I decided to create a resource to help make exactly this problem, a little easier. As an automotive educator, journalist, and plus-size influencer, I’m uniquely qualified to create this resource, that I am calling, for lack of a better word, a database. I know the pain, joy, and struggles of a fat person and a proven record of showing up for my community.
When I started doing research last year, I created a survey asking actually fat people over the size of 24 “women” (or 46 “men”) what their favorite car is, how they carry their weight, pant size, etc. While this information was incredibly helpful in understanding the scope of the problem, it asked open-ended questions that couldn’t be turned into the useable data I needed for the actual resource. It did, however, allow me the framework needed to build this survey. I believe in this too much have not given up.
With guidance from an expert in building surveys, and many many many hours dedicated to this project, I’ve created a new, data-driven survey to study this. This will be used to create a resource for larger bodied people, and provide data for media organizations looking to create such resource, and use data from actual larger-bodied people when discussing our needs.
If you are a larger bodied person, over the size of 24 “women” or 46 “men” please take the time to fill out the survey below. Please share this widely with your network, the more people who fill this out, the more comprehensive the data will be.
If the below-embedded survey doesn’t work, you can access it directly using this link.
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I tried to fill out the survey but couldn’t because Pontiac isn’t on the list of available vehicles to select. So bummed. I love that you are doing this though!
Hi! To collect the most long-term valuable data, I am only studying cars folks love that were made in the last ten years. Pontiac has been discontinued since 2009. I really appreciate you taking the time, and I hope you still share the survey with others.
I am “only” a size 20 (giggling because I’ve never said that phrase before) so I will respectfully not take your survey, but I will say I did a ton of research on this before buying my last car and I could not be happier with my Volvo S60.
Thanks for sharing! By focusing the study on people over the size of 24, I’ll be creating a resource for all larger folks without diluting the data to make it less useful to folks larger than “average.” Please do share!
I tried to fill out your survey on cars but my car was not an option. I see from a previous comment that it’s probably because the Scion xB was discontinued (in 2016), but I thought I’d leave a comment so others who might be shopping for something used would have a recommendation.
I’m a size 28, carry most of my weight from my belly down. I’m 5’3″, my spouse is 6′ and we both fit comfortably…there’s even plenty of leg room in the back seat.
Thanks for this survey, though. I look forward to the resulting info when I have to shop for a car again!
Hi! I just checked, and the XB is listed. Would you try one more time?
I love my Scion xD as well! I’m a size 32 in women’s pants and carry most of my weight in my belly/butt/thighs. Due to recent weight gain, it’s starting to get a bit tight but I can still comfortably reach basically everything and it’s compact enough that at 5’1 I can reach the glove box. My passengers over 6’2 tend to be a bit close to the roof though.
Side note: I totally took the survey and realized once I got to the year selection option that my car wasn’t within the last 10 years. Whoops! Sorry about that.
Oh, what is it listed under? I didn’t see Scion as an option in the brand list, so I tried Toyota (since Scion was under the Toyota umbrella) and didn’t see xB there.
Ah! Scion was hidden by mistake. It’s fixed now! Thank you.
Thank you for doing this. Finding a safe vehicle for my daughter was a job.She wanted a cute little car, but found out real quick that that wasn’t a option. There was no info like this available back then!
My 600lb boy friend loves his ford explorer and was the only thing besides a soccer mom van that he fit in
My daughter and I are looking to buy a car and were just talking about this. Thank you for doing this. We’ll be interested to see the results.
This is so interesting as my sister and I were just discussing seatbelt length. I have never had an issue in my Audi Q5 even with bulky winter coats in Chicago. She was struggling in her Honda Pilot having to take her coat off in Northern California to buckle her seatbelt. We are both size 18-20. Pretty terrible thing for car companies to skimp on and something I never even considered.
While I was able to fill out the survey for our Honda Crosstour, I was not for my Audi A5 (as it’s a 2009) which is SUCH a comfortable car with a TON of legroom and headroom if you are taller! I haven’t tried the newer models but I’d imagine there haven’t been a ton of changes.
It’s a badass car with loads of get up & go and will make you and your curves feel sexy as all get out. The only downside is that it does ride low to the ground so scraping on speed bumps etc. is a real concern and it can be hard to get into/out of if you have bad knees or a bad back.
My 2013 Toyota Sienna L is a great car for bigger bodies I’m 490lb and it has so much legroom in all 3 rows, it’s a minivan so people don’t think it’s appealing but it’s so spacious!
Just filled out. Thank you for this!
Manufacturers quit making cars with bench seats along about 2005. That made all the difference for me, and so I have been driving my 2003 Toyota Avalon with a bench seat for many years. I hope to drive it many more. Never had another car as comfortable. So much that when the first one was totaled in a wreck about 7 years ago, I searched and found another of the same model. I’m very interested to see the results of this survey.
I love what you are doing! This will help make car shopping so much easier!
I have a 2015 Chevy Tahoe and it is horribly uncomfortable for larger size people. I am a female 5’6”, plus size. I drive with the seat as far back as possible. My legs are forced to still be bent and I must actually pick my foot up to go from the gas pedal to the brake and back again. Would not buy this model ever again!