What people online think I drive when I mention owning a pickup truck versus what I actually drive

Unpopular opinion: unless you regularly haul things, you don't need a truck of any size. Unless you regularly go off-road or are transporting 5+ people and a dog or more, you don't need an SUV. You can rent one of those for the rare times you need it! And in the meantime, you'll save gas money and pedestrian deaths will go down...

I will somewhat disagree with the SUV comment, as my escape counts as an SUV, and I regularly fill it far past a sedan's capacity when I go grocery shopping (the savings from driving 3+hours each way to the nearest Costco far outstrips the cost in gas) and when I go camping.

And, as I camp in a tent, and have kayaks I can strap to the roof, I don't need a truck at all, because my car can get me to every campsite that a truck can get to, often easier than someone dragging a camper can.

Plus, since its a plug-in hybrid, and Canada doesn't burn fossil fuels for power, my fuel efficiency is significantly better than the average sedan in drives under 100km, and breaks even above that.

On a 60km drive, I average 2L/100km, a 100km drive I average 4.6L/100km, and on a 300km drive I average 6.6L/100km (100km/h), 7.5L/100km (110km/h), or 8.8L/100km (120km/h), which is well within what sedans average.
- All absolutely valid points and my only counter argument here is that is why wagon sedans exist. Growing up in Poland a wagon was the family hauler bringing all the stuff you mentioned to pretty much anywhere you need. People even haul rvs with the wagons and you’re still smaller and relatively more pedestrian friendly. Hell they even make performance cars in wagon spec like the bmw m3. Not saying that to discredit your point just that there was another option before the suv craze came about
- I wish Canada didn't burn fossil fuels for power but as an Albertan I can promise you that we do.
If you haul anything pickup trucks are laughably bad to do so.
- Modern pickups are bad. Old pickups were fantastic for "I need to pile a bunch of (insert thing here) in the back."
  
  But now every pickup is a massive motor for a tiny truckbed that my ford focus wagon has better hauling capacity.
- How so? Hauls my tools and supplies around the town just fine.
trailer for hauling and then own whatever you want for driving, a subaru impreza will handle the offroad most people think you need a truck for. If you haul often a van shits on a truck in terms of cargo space, practicality, protection of cargo, ease of loading and carry a trailer while you load or unload. Modern american trucks are just crossovers with a tiny, useless flatbed bought to appear country. Trucks are only for the edge case of construction workers and maintenance crews who have to actually go off road (as in area in the forest where there is no road, not a gravel path a ferrari can drive on without issues). And for serious offroad that requires you to actually carry more than a single chainsaw: unimog.
- I disagree. I have a modern American 3/4 ton diesel pickup. It’s not a crossover. I’m not in construction or maintenance, I work in tech.
  
  I have four horses and a gooseneck trailer for the horses that the truck hauls once or twice a week. I also have a flatbed for hauling hay or moving the tractor.
  
  For literally everything else i have a small car, because that truck is awful to drive in traffic or urban areas.
Everyone has things they want but dont need. I doubt that guy has any real need for that thing but I'm sure it's a ton of fun to own and drive around nevertheless.

Fuck people who buy those big beasts, then can’t handle them for shit, and try to park as close to the front door as possible, fucki ng up parking for every other vehicle. Never even trying to park straight…ungh.

Edit: to be fair, i used to own an oversized pick up. Similar but a much much earlier style/model. At the time i regularly traveled forestry roads like, 40 kns into the back country, so i actually needed it. Got rid of it when it was clear i was not going to be going into the field anymore. These do NOT belong in a city.

Every trip in a truck with an empty bed is a waste. Tooling around with stuff in the bed without the intent to deliver/use it at your destination is even worse.

Yet that describes 99.99999% of all pickup truck use in America. Just a huge ass waste of gas and space in parking lots.

Trucks are expensive too! If I were a scam artist I would definitely be targeting people driving shiny pickup trucks with empty beds. Because they definitely aren't practical or realistic people.

Wait: Maybe that's how MAGA started? 🤔
- That's how you know it's all for show. People casually forget you can rent trucks for 20 dollars a day too. "Oh well I'm glad I have it for towing and moving". Bull. How often do you tow really? And even then I'd expect it to sit at home most of the time. Moving? Once a year. Rent a truck. I go to home Depot and rent theirs when I need it.
  
  Buying a truck like that shows you are way too worried about what people think of you, you have to feel "big", which usually means you're a small man, and probably bad with money.
- I just looked up the dimensions of that thing and it has 10cm (3inch) shorter bed than mine. How you even manage to pull that off with a truck that big is beyond me.
Emotional Support Vehicle

I remember a time when that Frontier was considered a big truck, especially compared to Rangers and Tacomas.

Now the Rangers and Tacomas are almost as big as the Dodge in this...

ETA: Just noticed you're in Europe. Sorry that 'murican fattism has reached you, I didn't know these compensators existed across the pond.

Sorry that 'murican fattism has reached you

I don't mind. I'm a car guy myself, and I like them in all shapes and sizes. I'd probably drive one too if I lived in the US, but over here they're just way too big and impractical not to mention they stick out in traffic like a sore thumb and, quite frankly, make you look kind of a douche.
- They're way too big here too we're just replacing infrastructure to satisfy thousands of people's penis envy instead of telling people no.
- It does make you a cunt by definition, since your modern stupid bright LED headlights shine STRAIGHT into the eyes and/or rear view mirror of everyone else.
My dad has a '93 ranger, the modern rangers are almost the size of the f150s of that era, and you can't even get them like a 7ft bed like he has.

The 4 cylinder manages almost 20mpg which isn't too shabby even by modern truck standards. If I could get pretty much the exact same truck with a modern engine, maybe a hybrid, it would be a no-brainer.

4wd would be nice too, his is RWD, and that thing doesn't like rain, snow, loose gravel, pretty much anything but dry asphalt when you don't have any weight in the bed.

We've gotten plenty of use out of that truck, we're not towing or hauling anything heavy, but we've moved a lot of furniture with it, picked up some small loads of bulky lumber and such from the hardware store, hauled camping gear for a bunch of kids back when I was in scouts, etc. I don't need anything bigger.

I'm kind of crossing my fingers that the maverick adds a mid gate to extend that tiny bed a bit. That would basically check all of the boxes I'm looking for. Ideally that would still be my 2nd vehicle in addition to a small EV for most of my daily commuting but I'd get enough use out of a truck like that to be worth it if I could afford and had parking space for a second car.

Nice. I'm planning to get a compact pickup soon. The prices are starting to get really steep where I live. It's like $4000+ for a 25 year old truck with 180,000 miles on it.

we have reached a time when the normal size vehicle is called a compact
- Everything has gone the way of the fast-food soft drink size.
- There's a reason there are "full-size" pickups. The box is 49" wide at the narrowest point across the wheelwells so you can fit full sheets in it. There have been compact pickups for a long, long time (Toyota), but they're narrower than fullsize and you have to build a deck in them above the wheels to get full sheets in. Sometimes even then you have troubles.
It's like $4000+ for a 25 year old truck with 180,000 miles on it.

And even worse if you're picky about features, like a manual transmission or four wheel drive.
- Those were the requirements I had on top of a black color.

Put a Ford Focus behind it to show what people actually need.

Shouldn't generalize like that. People with a legitimate need to space for hauling cargo exists.
- Agreed but considering how bed sizes haven't changed but the rest of the trucks tripled in size his point isn't too far off the mark
So that people refocus their goals? fingerguns

Sorry about your massive penis.

Nothing to apologize for

Frontiers are awesome little (relatively) work trucks. I don't ever need to haul people so I ripped out the rear seats and installed shelving for anything I need to keep secure and dry. Big enough bed to throw nasty/oily parts. And a good enough towing capacity for most rental equipment like bobcats and lifts. Basically a half van.

This is actually a Navara, which is the European equivalent of the Frontier. As far as I know, it's otherwise the same vehicle, but Frontiers usually come with a 6-cylinder petrol engine, whereas this one has a 4-cylinder turbo diesel. Mine originally only had two seats to begin with, since I preferred the longer bed instead. Ironically, the bed on this monstrosity didn’t seem any bigger than the one on mine.
- Yeah, they're pretty close to the same truck. I would have loved the diesel option, but we're deathly afraid of small displacement diesels in the US.
Frontier is exactly as much truck as most truck owners actually need. I love it. I wish it was more fuel efficient but it's a mild, modest, effective vehicle and i have not yet run into a situation it couldn't deal with. Wonderful purchase. It turns like a boat but that's a decent trade off to avoid the Toyota Tax on the Tacoma.

I did the same when a coworker showed up with an F350 crew cab 6.5ft bed. Lifted, offroad lights, cb antenna, diesel (which is the HD option in the US). He lives in the suburbs and pays laborers for everything. So I plopped my dutiful little Mazda B2300 next to it (Ranger) that regularly hauls a little bit of wood.

So I plopped my dutiful little Mazda B2300 next to it (Ranger) that regularly hauls a little bit of wood.

'96 Ranger 2.3L here. My truck has the same engine as the Ford Pinto and that's the way I likes it!
- iTs A liMa blah blah blah pinto, lima, it's beans inside, this is beans
Guaranteed he bitches about gas/diesel prices too.
- He didn't buy it for MPGs, he bought it to complain about $/gals

In the future, cars will be so big that we will need a second, smaller car to drive us to the driver's seat.

Ford Ranger 2004 vs 2024 is like Mario before and after mushroom.

I miss the little Ranger. That thing was the perfect pickup truck (if your market didn't get the actual perfect pickup truck, the Toyota Hilux)

For anyone interested: there's a new community for small trucks !keitrucks@lemm.ee

Well lookit that, I am interested! Thanks.
If only we could import the modern ones to the US!
- The TELO Truck looks promising, I just wish any of the people showcasing it asked the CEO about the data it collects and their privacy policy.

One for hauling, towing, driving around offroad and onroad and basically doing everything in and the other for taking it to american car meets.

Best parking I've ever seen on a truck that big, and it's still crooked.

I will never understand why truck owners love backing into stalls.
- Easier to fit into tighter spots
  
  Easier to get the vehicle straight and on the middle of the slot
  
  Safer as you're far more likely to hit a person/car when backing out onto the street rather than backing into a parking slot that you can see in the mirrors in it's entirety
  
  Faster to leave if you're in a hurry (probably why it's called assault parking)
  
  This is my first truck but I've always parked my vehicles this way.
- Regardless of the vehicle, It's overall safer.
- Ass end can hang over the grass behind the curb so you aren't sticking into the parking lane any further than you need to, and you can see when you pull out so you don't run over anyone's kid.
  
  Pretty obviously.

Plot twist: they're both OP's

Mammoth tank vs medium tank

I’ve never seen something as big as the one on the left, in my entire life. Probably because I haven’t been to the US in a long ass time?

This isn't from the US either

Everyone should get a Honda Element.

Thanks for blinding everyone on the road with your Dodge.

I have a 2011 Nissan titan that is completely stocked no big stupid lift just some different rims and that’s it. It has done great work for me and my family I’ve never had any issues with it I regularly keep it serviced and it will do 20mpg. The amount of people I know who have big giant bro diesel trucks with 2 story high lifts and political stickers on them that never see a speck of dirt and just go to the McDonald’s is stupid. And they all complain about gas prices yet at the same time brag about how there trucks do 8mpg to own the libs…

20! Wow... I get from close to 40 on my Toyota auris most weeks. And that's mostly urban driving