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If we only had a choice of owning one car it would be a pickup, because of the times we really need one.
Since we have options in our home, we keep our trucks parked until we need them and drive our little German passenger vehicles for fuel efficiency and comfort.
I would guess that when we do take the truck out on the road some other driver may assume that because the bed was empty that we are not using it as intended. I suppose it's kind of the same for a baby who plays peek-a-boo and believes they disappear and reappear every time their hands move, but the baby learns over time that perception is not reality and is open to learning and exploring.
We lose that curiosity and some adults forget that when they narrow their scientific litmus test to perceive anything THEY see as different as something that must be justified, or else rejected. Silly things, those delusions be.
I think most of you are missing the OP's point. I think he was referring to those who really don't have a use for a truck. I get that you all have justified reasons, but this is a forum where people are free to ask questions even if you think they're useless.
Any & every person is more than welcome to drive whatever they want to drive.
But people should also stop being so pissy and judgmental about what everybody else drives. If the OP were ever to see me driving my 4x4 truck, it'd most likely be as I was driving down the street with no load in the box. He'd get all snotty about "these stupid people who drive around with these huge empty trucks." What he WOULDN'T see is, half hour later, me going back home with 3,500 lbs of retaining wall block in the box.
Drive what you like, like what you drive, and just shut up about what everyone else drives.
Good luck with that. It is very clear that many people aren't happy if they aren't judging someone else.
I have never yet had anybody actually say anything to me in person. Ever. Regardless of whether I'm driving my wife's Saturn, a vintage car I've restored, or a truck. I suppose my physical size has something to do with that.
But the keyboard warriors are certainly of strong opinions!
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.
Believe it or not, Safety. If in a wreck, you are safer in a truck than a stupid small car. Also the rwd is a safer vehicle in most conditions than fwd cars and minivans. rwd is easier to drive, and since cars are all compacts today, if you do need to haul something larger than a grocery bag, find a truck. I like dually's, not for ride or looks, but because when I hook onto a trailer, it is far safer. And the diesel gets 20+mpg too. Many 3/4 ton diesel powered trucks get mid to high 20's mpg, especially a Dodge with the Cummins or a Duramax Chevy/GMC. And hopped up correctly, they are reliable and quick, and still retain that mid 20's mpg. Oh, I've had people think the bed was empty because I didn't have stuff above the bed rail too when I've had 2000+ pounds of engine blocks in it or nearly 2 tons of retaining wall material, all lower than the bed rail.
Believe it or not, Safety. If in a wreck, you are safer in a truck than a stupid small car. Also the rwd is a safer vehicle in most conditions than fwd cars and minivans. rwd is easier to drive, and since cars are all compacts today, if you do need to haul something larger than a grocery bag, find a truck. I like dually's, not for ride or looks, but because when I hook onto a trailer, it is far safer. And the diesel gets 20+mpg too. Many 3/4 ton diesel powered trucks get mid to high 20's mpg, especially a Dodge with the Cummins or a Duramax Chevy/GMC. And hopped up correctly, they are reliable and quick, and still retain that mid 20's mpg. Oh, I've had people think the bed was empty because I didn't have stuff above the bed rail too when I've had 2000+ pounds in it.
Here's a "well that was bizarre!" scenario to throw at you...
Several years ago, a lady I knew lost control of her PT Cruiser on a slush-covered Interstate near me. Through the median she goes, and "head ons" a couple in a mid-90s Suburban.
She walked away, and the collision killed the driver of the Suburban. Go figure!
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.
Insurance rates. A young male gets screwed if they have a sports car.
Everybody's your friend when you own a pickup We own a sedan, SUV, Pick-Up, Muscle Car, Motorcycle. Excluding the Muscle Car, if push came to shove and we could only have 1 vehicle, it would be the Pick-Up.
Pure mojo things. Makes you feel harder between your legs. Bluntly put. That's the bottom line. You can top it with feeling safer, bigger, higher than anyone next to you, and so on. It all goes down to what I said. Mojo.
Since you probably don't own a pick-up the only thing you can probably compare the feeling to is the feeling that you get when you give your B.S. automotive advice.
What's wrong with having a truck without having a use for it? Actually just wanting one because you like the looks of it is good enough of a reason for having one to me. Basically a truck is just like most other vehicles with 4 wheels, it can get somebody from point A to point B. The rest comes secondary.
It truly would be a boring world if we all drove the exact same vehicles. Might as well live in the exact same type of housing cubes, wear the same clothes and eat the same slop at the same times everyday because in reality that is all we need for subsistence. Right? No thanks!
How much will you like that truck that's your only vehicle, if your daily commute is 60 miles each way, gas is +$4 a gallon and you otherwise don't have any practical use for one? And you don't exactly have money to "throw away?"
Not saying people all have to drive the same vehicles, but while people do pick what they like, they also factor in some practicality depending on what their needs are, especially if their means only limit them to one vehicle. More often than not, a vehicle suits a person's lifestyle, unless they have the luxury of also owning additional cars just for the sake of having them.
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We own a sedan, SUV, Pick-Up, Muscle Car, Motorcycle. Excluding the Muscle Car, if push came to shove and we could only have 1 vehicle, it would be the Pick-Up.
