What people online think I drive when I mention owning a pickup truck versus what I actually drive
What people online think I drive when I mention owning a pickup truck versus what I actually drive
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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
Fun fact: Only 1.4% of the cars sold in the US are wagons and of them 72% were Subaru Outbacks.
I've owned two of them!
That's because the Outback is pretty much the only wagon available here that isn't over $100k
...wagons nearly don't exist anymore in the US market, but i concur: hatchbacks, wagons, and minivans are purpose-designed vehicles for the way people use them in the real world, whereas modern trucks and SUVs are overwhelmingly poseur props for families in denial of their suburban utility lifestyle...
The last wagon style sedan I had had worse fuel efficiency than a modern f150 does (though it was an early 2000's model).
Brakes on that thing also scared the shit out of me, it did not like stopping.
The Subaru forester sedans were very popular in New England from the early 200s to like 2014. Idk just saying there are good option, there were even diesel wagons from WV that had solid efficiency later on .
I've been thinking about replacing my 2005 car but the only thing I want to replace it with is an electric station wagon, of which Europe has several options and America has 0. I don't want a compact SUV, I just want a wagon! I'll probably leave the country before I have any options lol
Station wagons are for mommies in the 1980s; all the cool kids want SUV and pickups.
So car manufacturers made station wagons with upright seating positions and “off road” styling and called them Crossovers.
In reality, they just couldn't reasonably add the same markup, so they shifted to other products. Also, fuel efficiency standards based on weight made it more profitable to sell larger vehicles, so they had another reason to shift. We really got fucked from every side.
Yeah, my car I always though was a hatchback, but apparently is actually classified as a crossover. The main reason I still have it (other than having been paid off) is because it still gets competitive mpg and it's so practical. I used it to take all my crap to and from college. I can carry 9ft lumber in the cabin with the passenger seat down. I've gone on a service road in a state park and I didn't get stuck.
The thought has crossed my mind to get an electric conversion for it instead of buying a new spyware riddled car 😆
Oh man, I really wanted a wagon, but being in Canada the only one available that wasn’t a $90k+ Volvo/mercedes/Audi was a Subaru Outback and I absolutely hated the infotainment system in it. I hate not having physical buttons. So we ended up getting a small suv. I really wish they’d bring over some of the wagon options Europe has.
I wish Canada didn't burn fossil fuels for power but as an Albertan I can promise you that we do.
Sorry, the parts of Canada that don't idolize Texas don't burn fossil fuels.
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.
the few local american pickups here in europe are only here because of appearances and do no off road or hauling. The pickups that do hauling are exclusively japanese and they are all beat to shit cause they get used as designed.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh if we were allowed to have the Toyota Hilux here I'd buy one immediately. Fucking closest to a truck I "like" is a Ford Maverick because it's a "smaller truck"...
But they ONLY come in crew cab. For fucks sake I want a standard cab full size small pickup truck about the size of a HIlux or a ranger from the 90s. And frankly if they made one a hybrid I'd have a dream car, but hell I'd take a 4 cylinder. But nope. Around here they're the shortest fucking bed for the biggest fucking motor that's effectively an SUV that is somehow MORE useless because the wall between the bed and the cab means I can't lay seats down. A fucking mini-van is a better truck in the US.
I apologize... this is an angry angry rant I have to do like once every other week...
You can arrange to import one. The US has a 25 year ban on cars that weren't available originally. When it gets to the US modify to your liking and cop friendly nods from car guys who'll appreciate the effort
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1999-toyota-hilux-manual-4x4-dual-cab/SSE-AD-18374144
Its okay, its better to vent on internet than in real life.
Id like a subaru brat. But it's rare and i have no practical reason to own it.
My friend has a dodge ram. When his girlfriend left him, he moved out and i helped him move. I asked if i should bring my bus that i use for work. He said nah, DODgE RAM. We drove 4 times just to move his sofa and his side table. Piece by piece. All of his stuff would've fit in my bus and maybe something on his pickup. And my bus was still a bit shorter, because he couldn't fit on his new parking spot, but i did.
Pretty much this. Like I said about my Focus, I've straight up driven with 2x4s that wouldn't fit in coworkers trucks because the 4 foot bed is useless for that and I could fold seats down.
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.