Large trucks are the third-largest vehicle sales segment in the U.S., after compact and midsize SUVs.
More than 1 in 4 car shoppers in Texas and Wyoming have committed to paying more than $1,000 a month, and experts say it is due to the high volume of large truck purchases in those states, according to a report by auto site Edmunds.
More than 1 in 5 shoppers in seven other states — Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Utah — are also forking over more than $1,000 for their vehicles each month.
It's SUVs in my area. There's enough actual farmers and people who legitimately need pickups to somewhat offset the limp dick compensators. SUV drivers here tend to be piss scared and incredibly timid, which is why they buy SUVs. Think being higher up is safer.
Which is true until you flip, in which case you're fucked. And that's ignoring that the rise of SUVs and pickups has seen an average of a 6% YOY increase of pedestrian deaths since 2008.
I live in a snowy area, and most of the accidents in the winter seem to involve trucks and SUVs. It's probably just because trucks and SUVs are more popular in my area, but there's something to be said for getting overconfident, after all, all cars have four wheel braking.
I have never bought snow tires in >10 years of living here, have only driven two wheel drive cars, and I've never wrecked a car. I did slide into a snowbank once with my sporty car when in college, but I was going slow enough that it wasn't hard to get out (just threw down some microfiber rags to get traction and reversed). I try to avoid unplowed roads, so it's just not needed once the roads are cleared.
I hate driving SUVs and trucks, and I only put up with my minivan because it's so practical with kids (I have three).
I rolled my 3rd gen 4 runner in a snowstorm a few years back. Had it flipped over, popped a couple dents, and still driving it today! I should probably fix the sway bar and get new tires but I like to live dangerously I guess.
You can just see it some areas, run down houses in need of renovation or at least a paint job with brand new shining pick ups in the driveways, it's fair game if you actually tow things or plough snow, but other than that just pissing away money for a fancy new car that for the most part do like 15mpg
Yup. I considered getting a Ford Lightning as a commuter to make those trips to the hardware or furniture store easier, but honestly, my minivan works fine. I've probably hauled more things in my minivan than my neighbors have hauled with their trucks. I've done dump runs, hauled furniture, hardware store runs, etc. The few times I've needed a truck I just rented one for the day for $30-40.
And my minivan gets crappy mpg, but it's still ~20, which is better than most trucks. And it hauls my three kids and their friends pretty effectively.
Dude, just yesterday I see this guy who coming out of a rundown apartment, with 4 kids running around with tattered clothing, getting into a 60k brand new 3 row SUV.....
I don't know who is worse the moron getting the loan, or the fucking bank approving it.
Before moving, I specifically chose somewhere that I could commute by bicycle most days - both for work, and to run short errands. My 10 year old vehicle sits parked most days, while I put over 3000 miles a year on my bicycle haha. I'd much rather burn the calories and save money at the same time over having some fancy new vehicle with all sorts of bells and whistles.
I did that too for several years, then I switched jobs and now I'm back in the car.
I'm looking into ebikes, but the transit sucks so bad that it would take me 4x longer by bus/train than by car (30 min by car, 2 hours by train+bus; I estimate ~1 hour by ebike).
I guess my point is, until the US gets serious about people first infrastructure (instead of car first), it's going to be an uphill battle for those of us that prefer to avoid driving.
These giant "light trucks" are so much more dangerous on the road than smaller cars. This is a good video about it, and he cites his sources
https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo
Weird headline. Isn't this basically just stating that (1) new cars are getting more expensive, and (2) trucks continue to make up a substantial share of new car purchases in the US (both of which were obvious)?
Car shoppers are paying more than ever to finance new vehicles — and pickup trucks are driving up the average cost in at least two states.
More than 1 in 4 car shoppers in Texas and Wyoming have committed to paying more than $1,000 a month, and experts say it is due to the high volume of large truck purchases in those states, according to a report by auto site Edmunds.
More than 1 in 5 shoppers in seven other states — Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Utah — are also forking over more than $1,000 for their vehicles each month, Edmunds found.
Large trucks are the third-largest vehicle sales segment in the U.S., after compact and midsize SUVs, and account for the “heaviest finger on the scale” when it comes to the average car payment, said Joseph Yoons, a consumer insight analyst for Edmunds.
Trucks have evolved from utilitarian vehicles to highly aspirational ones that consumers are willing to spend a lot of money on — and automakers are noticing, added Waatti.
“It does not seem strange to me that a quarter of the population in Texas have some serious cash, [saying] ‘I couldn’t get one of these fancy trucks before, I can get them now,’” said Tom McParland, contributing writer for automotive website Jalopnik and operator of vehicle-buying service Automatch Consulting.
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