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People who drive pickups and live in the burbs use their pickups for lots of things picking up a new gas grill, landscaping materials, a new 65 in flat screen tv. Not everyone has the money to pay for delivery or pay a landscaper...
This is the third or fourth justification in this thread alone to use this logic - "It's expensive to have things delivered or rent a truck to move them, so I have a $45k pickup that costs $400 a month in fuel to move my new grill, landscaping materials, giant flatscreen, off-road toys, tow my boat..."
This is the third or fourth justification in this thread alone to use this logic - "It's expensive to have things delivered or rent a truck to move them, so I have a $45k pickup that costs $400 a month in fuel to move my new grill, landscaping materials, giant flatscreen, off-road toys, tow my boat..."
Absurdist humor at its best, is all I can say.
Exactly.
They will cry about a $40-$50 delivery charge from Home Depot but have no problem paying $100+ to fill the tank each time or paying $1,000 for a set of tires or writing the monthly payment check or the monthly insurance check or the.....well, you get the picture.
just like buying 4x4s for the possibility of going off road one day, buying a pick up is also for the possibility of hauling bulky items one day.
of course most people really have the need for its utility but for most city slickers, the only bulky items they would haul are the weekly items they buy from costco
I bought a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab V6 in 2016. I'll tell you why:
1. Can tow 6300 lbs (I occasionally tow cars on a trailer or dolly) but still maneuverable enough in urban parking lots.
2. Manual transmission.
3. Occasional seating for two the back, otherwise used for locked trunk space.
4. Simple to maintain.
5. Cheap (I paid $23k out the door).
6. Few electronic accessories. Manual AC. Manual door locks and windows. No driving nannies (well, the traction control can be turned off).
7. Higher seating position, big windows, easy to get in (I just slide in).
8. Strong V6 engine.
9. I expect it to last over 200k miles.
I considered an F150 but it was just too big. I liked the previous generation with the 3.7 V6, I wished they had aluminized that version but kept everything else the same. The Frontier works for me.
Last edited by Vic Romano; 06-26-2018 at 02:05 PM..
True, but there are rules against parking in Whole Foods with a pickup.
No Whole Foods where I live. Not that I would shop there. I did park my truck at Trader Joe's and Sprouts when I was in Arizona. Maybe they gave me pass because I had Alaska license plates.
just like buying 4x4s for the possibility of going off road one day, buying a pick up is also for the possibility of hauling bulky items one day.
of course most people really have the need for its utility but for most city slickers, the only bulky items they would haul are the weekly items they buy from costco
I have a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon for going off road. My truck is for hauling my travel trailer and doing all those trucks things one does with a truck.
I bought a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab V6 in 2016. I'll tell you why:
1. Can tow 6300 lbs (I occasionally tow cars on a trailer or dolly) but still maneuverable enough in urban parking lots.
2. Manual transmission.
3. Occasional seating for two the back, otherwise used for locked trunk space.
4. Simple to maintain.
5. Cheap (I paid $23k out the door).
6. Few electronic accessories. Manual AC. Manual door locks and windows. No driving nannies (well, the traction control can be turned off).
7. Higher seating position, big windows, easy to get in (I just slide in).
8. Strong V6 engine.
9. I expect it to last over 200k miles.
I considered an F150 but it was just too big. I liked the previous generation with the 3.7 V6, I wished they had aluminized that version but kept everything else the same. The Frontier works for me.
I looked at a Taco TuRD, but it was way too small. Hard to get in and out of (and I'm only 6' 2") and no power seat option. I got a Silverado LTZ out the door for less than that Taco would have cost. And I have plenty of room and way more tow capacity.
This is the third or fourth justification in this thread alone to use this logic - "It's expensive to have things delivered or rent a truck to move them, so I have a $45k pickup that costs $400 a month in fuel to move my new grill, landscaping materials, giant flatscreen, off-road toys, tow my boat..."
Absurdist humor at its best, is all I can say.
More of an inconvenience. To have stuff delivered, someone has to be home to sign for it. Constantly renting a truck would be annoying too.
They will cry about a $40-$50 delivery charge from Home Depot but have no problem paying $100+ to fill the tank each time or paying $1,000 for a set of tires or writing the monthly payment check or the monthly insurance check or the.....well, you get the picture.
I ask myself that often. I don't know what it is with people who live around me driving so many trucks. It's interesting when I leave the city where I see mostly cars & CUVs & then exit off the interstate to the small town I live. The % of trucks is enormous. This isn't a wealthy area either where people should be driving trucks. I note on my runs the typical home around here consists of a husband with a blue collar low paying job who owns a newer full size truck, & wife (with likely a $14 an hour job) who has an SUV or family sedan. Then they have a house that's worth about $130k, so their cars make up more than a 1/3 of what their house is worth. You know they're financing the vehicles too. It's just the thing to do around here.
I know some people do actually need a truck, especially farmers, but a good percentage of folks don't need a truck. I'm pretty sure it's more of a keeping up with the Joneses or a status symbol so they fit in with their friends. Or poor awareness & reflection of their needs.
Other folks who live in other towns or cities or other countries live without a truck. But poor rural folks make it seem like it's a necessity. Again, I think it's an American culture thing. We have a friend who visits from Germany ever few years. Her first comment every time she walks out of the airport is "My goodness, the vehicles here are all on steroids. Why are they so big?" All I can do is shrug & say, "Welcome back to America where we think bigger is always better." She also likes to point out that most of these large vehicles have 1 person in it or an empty truck bed. It baffles her.
Also, I don't think truck owners are aware how much you can fit in cars these days. You can fit two 6'2 men inside a Camry trunk. That's a lot of mulch bags. Family sedan trunks are HUGE. Also many cars now allow you to fold seats down so you can carry garden tools/hoes or whatever. My brother called to ask me to help him carry a gun cabinet into the home. When I pulled up I didn't see the cabinet in his truck & then he told me it's in the Vibe because it has a ton of cargo room & he prefers to haul things in that over his truck because it's lower to the ground and right at waist height which is an ideal height biomechanically. I recently bought a 56 inch TV from walmart & loaded it in my compact Honda Insight. My dad offered his truck & I said "no need."
Also, you can order most anything online & have it delivered. Amazon prime is the price of a tank of gas in a truck. I bought my ladder through amazon. Cheaper than the ones at Menards/Farm & Fleet. Additionally, many stores are finally following the Ikea way of packaging large items better & using multiple smaller boxes so it's getting easier for us compact car owners for the rare times we do actually need to go to a store.
I'm currently researching to buy a 2nd car. We're a family of 4. Home owners. I'm having a tough time justifying anything bigger than a Camry. So these posts are interesting to see how people justify buying something so large & expensive.
A dead deer in a trunk? Those ticks will love you
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