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Old 01-12-2014, 06:50 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,799 posts, read 21,401,039 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Novadhd5150 View Post
I was just wondering why big pick-ups are so popular paricularly in the South.
Most of these people tend to be dudes driving them mostly younger. I can understand if you needed to use them for utiliity often but majority of times I see the bed is empty.
From what I understand the MPG is horrible on those things.
They look cool
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Old 01-12-2014, 07:02 PM
MJ7
 
6,221 posts, read 10,688,889 times
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It's definitely a cultural thing, most country people love trucks because they are practical for them, but then you have the people that just love trucks in general. There really doesn't have to be a reason to why they like them, they just do, and that is why there is a huge market for them. I do not own a truck I probably never will, however, I do not hate them.
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Old 01-12-2014, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,267,390 times
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The truck buyer crowd is split
Some buy a truck for the actual utility because they haul cargo, tow or use the truck for work.
Some buy because its big enough for a family and a minivan is out.
Sine simply buy for the tough image.

How many jeeps and trucks have you seen decked out with mud tires brush guards winch bumpers huge tires lifts and off road recovery equipment bolted all over the roof rack. Huge tow of off road lights but you can flip it I paver and eat off the undercarriage because it's spotlessly clean ? Those are your image buyers. I have a tough truck to get to and from work and I may need my winch to ford that overflowing gutter at the mall entrance.

Then you have the guts who have ladder racks, work shell or a utility body on a truck with lumber steel tools etc. Those are the working guys

Then you have the guys who need a tow vehicle to get that 5th wheel or boat and a minivan just isn't gonna cut it. These guys can be either the image buyers or need to tow my pleasure whatever buyers.

Then you have the guy who hitches the max his truck will tow and run it up and down the highway clocking in 500k and say Hell it's just broken in.

I looked at buying a new truck. But the 60k price tags made me keep my old truck.
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Old 01-12-2014, 07:50 PM
 
Location: sumter
12,945 posts, read 9,563,753 times
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for me , I remember playing with Tonka trucks as a kid. they were tough and you couldn't tear them up no matter what. I also remember the hess trucks I use to get for Christmas . Also my dad had an old pickup back then and I learn how to drive in it. so trucks represented a special time in your life and it just seem like one of those guy things to own. I had four full size trucks and loved them all.
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Old 01-12-2014, 07:52 PM
 
Location: Here
2,754 posts, read 7,387,926 times
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I bought my truck to bug out
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:05 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,610 posts, read 57,588,206 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Electrician4you View Post
The truck buyer crowd is split
Some buy a truck for the actual utility because they haul cargo, tow or use the truck for work.
...
Then you have the guy who hitches the max his truck will tow and run it up and down the highway clocking in 500k and say Hell it's just broken in.

I looked at buying a new truck. But the 60k price tags made me keep my old truck.
I cross the scales at 28,800# towing my small dozer or excavator. I will keep my $2500 'Big Pickup' that gets 20 mpg (4x4 CTD dually flatbed).

I have a 'little pickup' too... $400. VW Diesel 50 mpg since 1980, I tow a Snowbear trailer (2,000 GVW) and can still get 42mpg +. It does a lot of work.

They each have over 300k and will easily last me the rest of my life.
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:39 PM
 
180 posts, read 375,718 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
Not coincidently, this thread resembles a recent thread on “what’s the point of 400-500hp cars”. Aficionados of the powerful cars will immediately exclaim that detractors simply don’t “get it”; and the same is said by aficionados of big trucks. So the core constituency reacts similarly. Fine. My point, however, is that 500hp cars are comparatively rare, perhaps enjoying a fanatical following, but not a broad one. Persons willing to deal with the poor gas mileage, high insurance rates and so forth, aren’t all that common. Big trucks, however, are ubiquitous. I find it odd that the desire to mash the gas pedal to accelerate 0-60 in 5 seconds is comparatively rare, but the desire to haul a 6000 lb trailer is so common. My conclusion is that the wanton excess, if we wish to term it as such, of driving a super-powerful sporty car is viewed dimly by society, but comparable excess of driving a large and heavy vehicle is accepted with seriousness and acclaim.

Whether the cause is tax-structure, CAFE standards, manufacturers’ profit margins, or something else, the large passenger car (sedan, wagon or coupe) has mostly disappeared, and has been supplanted by truck-based vehicles; so I agree with rbohm and hoffdano.

I live in the countryside, in the snowbelt, but prefer to drive small sports cars (not muscle cars, but light-weight 2-seaters). Why? Because they’re limber and responsive, and enjoyable to drive. Their low ride-height gives them a roadholding stability not possible in a truck. I don’t worry about surviving in a collision because I rely on the higher odds of evading the collision in the first place. And if the unthinkable does happen, my little “roller skate” will be a quick execution, with no worry of spending the next 30 years in a wheelchair. In the winter I switch to dedicated snow tires, which are fine on my 2100-lb RWD sports car.

What completely baffles me is why young men have largely abandoned sports cars in favor of trucks. Most of the reasons justifying trucks as fashionable for young men, apply even more acutely for sports cars. Yet the light-weight RWD 2-seater is almost extinct.

My thoughts in a nutshell.

I'm not sure if the tax loop closed yet where if you owned a business you could write off an SUV/truck completely. That could lower your tax bracket alone!

The Crossover SUV is hugely popular since it takes the styling cues of the SUV in a smaller size. Station wagons evoke boring even more than mini vans....which begs the question; why do americans need such big cars to haul a family? Other societies don't but damn near everyone with 1-2 kids think you need a big car.
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:46 PM
 
29 posts, read 55,849 times
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SUVs are cool, but trucks are where it's at!
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:54 PM
EA
 
Location: Las Vegas
6,791 posts, read 7,082,004 times
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:59 PM
 
Location: southern california
61,289 posts, read 87,139,375 times
Reputation: 55550
you dont have to be in the south to see white boys driving big trucks.
here what you see alot is little angry white men driving great big trucks too fast and very poorly . . car people offset their sense of less than with vehicles.
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