SUV in Scotland?

The roads are perfectly fine for an European SUV. The interstate -- multi-lanes -- and main roads are more than adequate. Can find one lane back country roads but you are not traveling at high speed either. If they rent it, you will be fine.

Six adults are very difficult to travel with, as European SUV's are not as large as U.S. full size SUV's.

You'd do better to go the van route with 6 folks. But I warn you that many travelers' luggage may not fit in the rear of a van. Everyone would need to limit themselves to 22" carry on bags.

I've not driven in Scotland, but Ireland was pretty tough to drive in. I would think driving in Scotland is okay. The biggest problem traveling Scotland is choosing the best weeks/months as weather that far north can make for a short Summer. And it's an extremely busy place to visit June to September.

I was slow planning a trip to Scotland Summer, 2023 and ended up taking a cruise out of Greece and the Adriatic. We just couldn't find accommodations that were in our price range in Scotland.

We’ve driven in Scotland, but not in an SUV. We did once have an SUV in France, and space for parking was more of a challenge than was space on the main roads. If you’re on a two-lane highway, obviously you don’t want to drift too far to the right, into oncoming traffic. But you also don’t want to drift too far to the left, where you could potentially go off the paved road, onto a soft shoulder or ditch, or encounter other hazards. Having the front-seat passenger (who’s probably also serving as Navigator) remind the driver every so often to “keep right” helps immeasurably.

We did get rain on several days, which added some additional challenges. Driving from Inverness to the Isle of Skye on a busy highway with lots of trucks was the first “trial by water,” and I reminded my husband to stay right a lot. He did, admirably. Another time, the wipers could barely keep up with the rain, going from Glencoe to Stirling. Up in Shetland, the roads were narrower, but there was also much less traffic.

On Skye, many of the roads are super-narrow, but they have Passing Places, where one driver pulls over, letting the other vehicle by. Drivers cooperate there, and it works well. One other particularly Scottish experience was in the summer, where surprisingly many foreigners had driven their own campers and motorhomes to Scotland. Coming from continental Europe, they were noticeably smaller than what you’d see in the U.S.A., but were still big, by Scottish standards. And the driver was on the left side of the camper, trying to drive on the left side of the road. Those with Belgian or Italian plates, in particular, weren’t staying completely in their lane, or their side of the road. If your rental has the steering wheel on the right side, at least you’ll have an advantage over them.

You will not fit 6 adults plus luggage in an SUV. Cars in Europe are smaller than the US, especially cargo space. We drive a Toyota Sienna minivan, which can easily fit 6 adults plus luggage (we tested it). So we rented a minivan for our 3 week road trip in Germany. When we arrived, the rental car agent took one look at our group and said “You’ll never fit. The back seats are made for kids”. We were 5 adults and one very skinny teen. We got a full size van, 8 seater Ford Tourneo/Transit, and it was a beast to drive. Thankfully my brother drives one every day at work, so he was very comfortable driving it.

I would not wish it on anyone, and certainly not in Scotland. I highly recommend two vehicles, and get the zero deductible insurance coverage. We’ve rented a car in Ireland, and it was a harrowing experience of pulling in side mirrors to barely squeeze by on very narrow roads, or roads with stone walls where road shoulders should be. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

It is tight driving Scotland. Plus wrong side of the road. Many times if you go off the road, no shoulder and often a drop of 4-8” into wheel ruts, so there is no easy veering back onto the pavement. Narrow, but OK until you meet a bus or truck coming the other way. On secondary roads meeting another vehicle is fine, but on main roads those busses are moving pretty fast.
Who do you trust doing the driving? A lot of concentration. That will be a thing to decide. 6 adults is 5 people talking, 5 distractions. If I were not driving I would be watching all the time. All the time. And not without anxiety.
That’s from me, not driving an SUV, just a small car.

It’s been years, but on our first trip to Scotland we were given a full-sized mini van because that’s what the rental company had in an automatic. We had no problems even on the one track roads on Skye. A vehicle that size wouldn’t be my choice.