Why do Americans like Pickup trucks?

[djplong]

My experiences may or may not be typical.

Years ago, when I was married to my ex and we had 2 small children, we looked at new vehicles. We ended up with a minivan - Dodge Grand Caravan.

Why? You could store more - more room - than an SUV. It was a HUGE surprise to find out how LITTLE actually fit in an SUV. We had room for our kids - half the pickups on the road couldn't even enter the discussion. The pickup bed? Great if we didn't mind having to tie everything down every time we went food shopping. Fuel economy? Minivans won in a landslide.

It was actually puzzling to us as to why anyone with a family would go another route. Then my (now ex) brother in law (single and in his 20s at the time) bought a big Dodge Ram pickup truck after saying he was looking at a Mazda 6.

It was *all* emotional.

I remarried some years ago and my wife is a painter. She has an old Plymouth Voyager that hauls all her equipment with a roof rack for the ladders. Challenge solved.

 

[thx1139]

So many people purchase for worst case scenario. Maybe worst case is wrong term, but I will use it. What I mean by it is that they purchase something large because they may need to pick up furniture, they may need to pick up some lumber. They may take a long family road trip. They may need to tow a boat. I think it is nuts. We purchase for the everyday case and rent when we need something larger. We need to move some furniture or pickup some lumber. Well Home Depot has trucks for rent for $20. I know a family that tows a boat to the lake in the spring and home in the fall. Twice a year they use a huge SUV for why they bought it. Rent a truck that can pull the boat. Going on a road trip where u need a great deal of space. Rent a minivan.

 

[bhzmark]

+1 for most people a bev works for 99% of their car transport needs and they can rent or find a friend for the remaining 1% outlier needs.

 

[Johan]

So many people purchase for worst case scenario. Maybe worst case is wrong term, but I will use it. What I mean by it is that they purchase something large because they may need to pick up furniture, they may need to pick up some lumber. They may take a long family road trip. They may need to tow a boat. I think it is nuts. We purchase for the everyday case and rent when we need something larger. We need to move some furniture or pickup some lumber. Well Home Depot has trucks for rent for $20. I know a family that tows a boat to the lake in the spring and home in the fall. Twice a year they use a huge SUV for why they bought it. Rent a truck that can pull the boat. Going on a road trip where u need a great deal of space. Rent a minivan.

And we don't settle for the S85 or 85D but get the P85 or P85D 'cause that extra second from 0-60 really is not acceptable, right? It's all psychology and we're all human.

 

[mknox]

+1 for most people a bev works for 99% of their car transport needs and they can rent or find a friend for the remaining 1% outlier needs.

While I think that's true and agree completely, one thing this thread has caused me to do is realize just how many pickups are on our roads. Quite a number in our employee parking lot and tons on the road (not even counting the "commercial" pickups with company names on the side).

 

[beeeerock]

While I think that's true and agree completely, one thing this thread has caused me to do is realize just how many pickups are on our roads. Quite a number in our employee parking lot and tons on the road (not even counting the "commercial" pickups with company names on the side).

And you're in Ontario... apply the Factor of Redneck for BC and Alberta and that's... umm, carry the two.... a whole bunch! When I was out your way last year I was surprised by how *few* pickups were on the roads!!! It's all relative!

 

[Beckler]

When did I ever call for SACRIFICES? I do believe some will be required to but that can be greatly mitigated if we're not wasteful. Wanna go boating? Go.. use your truck. Wanna build a shed? Go... use your truck. But I'm not going to pretend it's ok to commute in a vehicle that gets closer to 10mpg than 60... that's wasteful and idiotic. Use LEDs. Use Solar. Use EVs. Use a truck for truck stuff and a car for car stuff. Every act a malicious waste today increases that chances that we will have to make REAL sacrifices tomorrow.

^ +1. The problem is you're trying to use reason on dumb rednecks that can barely tie their own shoes. Good luck with that. By the way, how come nearly every pickup driver I encounter drives like a total irresponsible fool? Which is to say aggressively, dangerously, tailgating, speeding, etc.? As though the height of their suspension were proportional to their importance in the world? (When in fact it's inversely so, and to their IQ ). Anyway I'll answer the first question in my list: because they are. :-O (Before any of you sensitive ones with authoritarian bents complain about the above, it's said in jest, really, though roughly 98% true).

 

[bestellen]

Buy a house and then you'll understand. I did a few years ago and have been kicking around the idea of picking up a Ranger or Tacoma. My Civic hatch is surprisingly practical and can hold things up to the size of, say, a dishwasher, but paying the $75+ delivery charge for anything bigger gets kind of old after the fifth or sixth time. Plus I could put a topper on it and go camping in the back of it.
Fort Worth offers free, unlimited u-haul-it mulch/compost which would be nice to have for plants/garden.
Little Tacomas are pretty reasonable. The Ranger gets better mileage but this looks like a much nicer place to spend your time rather than the Ranger's '95 Explorer interior.

 

[tomas]

Buy a house and then you'll understand. I did a few years ago and have been kicking around the idea of picking up a Ranger or Tacoma. My Civic hatch is surprisingly practical and can hold things up to the size of, say, a dishwasher, but paying the $75+ delivery charge for anything bigger gets kind of old after the fifth or sixth time. Plus I could put a topper on it and go camping in the back of it.
Fort Worth offers free, unlimited u-haul-it mulch/compost which would be nice to have for plants/garden.
Little Tacomas are pretty reasonable. The Ranger gets better mileage but this looks like a much nicer place to spend your time rather than the Ranger's '95 Explorer interior.

Wow, there's a Fort Worth in Poland too?

 

[renim]

Wow, there's a Fort Worth in Poland too?

Can't buy these in America

Ford Ranger - komfortowy pick-up Forda obfitujcy w technologie

 

[nwdiver]

Can't buy these in America

Ford Ranger - komfortowy pick-up Forda obfitujcy w technologie

Even when you could they still weren't much more efficient than their big brothers...

 

[rolosrevenge]

I got 30 mpg on my old little 1990 Ranger, much better than I get in my current Audi.

 

[nwdiver]

I got 30 mpg on my old little 1990 Ranger, much better than I get in my current Audi.

.... downhill or was it an electric Ranger :wink:

 

[rolosrevenge]

Flat highway. I always kept records of gallons put in and the odometer reading.