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I beleive the auto market is going to be in for a rude wake up call. 1 the market is so saturated and 2 the price.... tgere is no reason a damn f350 needs to cost 85k.
They build them that way on purpose now. They figured out the profit margins were higher on high end pickups. Trucks tend to have a more solid resale value than luxury sedans it seems like, probably owing to the dual nature of a "luxury truck". In many ways they can be considered the ultimate do-everything vehicle now that they have added so much luxury stuff and refined the driving and handling so much over the past decade or so.
In our part of the country, I go to any parking lot and see that 3/4ths to sometimes all vehicles are 4 door Pickups, SUVs, and Crossovers. All 4 wheel drive or AWD. Sedans have been dying here for years. That is a fact, when you get away from the coasts and out into the real America.
My wife and I have driven SUVs and Pickups since the 70s. Currently we have a Ford F-150 and a Ford Explorer Limited.
The sedans have been getting smaller for years, and the roofs have lowered. Today I can't even sit up in or drive the typical sedan today, they are so low roofed, and small. Long live the Pickups and SUVs as they now rule the auto world in the USA.
Same thing was said when the mini van came out it's a fad they really NEED a SUV nor do the same people NEED 2,500 Sf house. People feel the need to drive/live in what others do.
They build them that way on purpose now. They figured out the profit margins were higher on high end pickups. Trucks tend to have a more solid resale value than luxury sedans it seems like, probably owing to the dual nature of a "luxury truck". In many ways they can be considered the ultimate do-everything vehicle now that they have added so much luxury stuff and refined the driving and handling so much over the past decade or so.
I recently purchased a new full-size pickup and several things became glaringly obvious after test driving many different models/configurations.
1) Handling isn't in the same league as even an entry level econobox.
2) There's no such thing as a "luxury truck". Luxury features do not a luxury vehicle make. Body-on-frame pickups simply don't have the structural rigidity which is the hallmark of a true luxury vehicle. The feeling of bank vault solidness and low NVH defines luxury - not leather seats and electronic doodads. This is especially true now that tons of luxury features are available on very low-end cars.
3) An $85K truck drives exactly like a $30K truck. This not true of cars. A Toyota Camry drives nothing like a Lexus LS. The sweet spot for trucks is around $49K (MSRP - around $38K real world price). Above that point the prices rise steeply for little useful extra content - especially if you get suckered into buying the King Chicken Farm Billy-Bob edition with the Deliverance package, complete with fender badges the size of a WWF championship belt.
4) I would go crazy if I had to use a pickup as a daily driver. Pickups aren't the "ultimate do-everything" vehicle. In fact, they're the opposite - they do almost everything incredibly poorly. Anyone looking for the "ultimate do-everything" vehicle needs to look no further than a minivan.
In our part of the country, I go to any parking lot and see that 3/4ths to sometimes all vehicles are 4 door Pickups, SUVs, and Crossovers. All 4 wheel drive or AWD. Sedans have been dying here for years. That is a fact, when you get away from the coasts and out into the real America.
And article after article tell us that the Wealthy are moving to pickup trucks.
My wife and I have driven SUVs and Pickups since the 70s. Currently we have a Ford F-150 and a Ford Explorer Limited.
The sedans have been getting smaller for years, and the roofs have lowered. Today I can't even sit up in or drive the typical sedan today, they are so low roofed, and small. Long live the Pickups and SUVs as they now rule the auto world in the USA.
Sure - the old family sedan is waaaaay to small for modern families even though at least 75% of the time there's only one person in them!
However, they aren't too small for a couple who has no kids. My Mazda6 is my "big car" that I can fold down the back seat and get tons of stuff in. It's also my winter car with winter tires (Blizzaks) meant for temps below 50 degrees.
My fun summer car is my Mazda RX8 that I drive when it is warm and when I have no need to haul stuff around.
So Cal is already in the 3-4 buck range. Cheaper unleaded I’m finding n my home area is 3:19 a gallon unleaded 3:45 diesel. In LA Santa Monica area 3:75 unleaded 3:95 Diesel
People are still buying V8 trucks and SUVs.
That’s normal for SoCal though. Gas probably has to get over $5 a gallon for it to be considered expensive there.
In non-coast regions of the country, 3-4 is when it starts to get expensive.
Regardless, I heard in 2015 that gas prices will remain low for the rest of the decade (now less than two years). I’ve also heard more recently that gas prices will remain at a stable, low price indefinitely barring any temporary disruptions such as natural disaster.
I recently purchased a new full-size pickup and several things became glaringly obvious after test driving many different models/configurations.
1) Handling isn't in the same league as even an entry level econobox.
2) There's no such thing as a "luxury truck". Luxury features do not a luxury vehicle make. Body-on-frame pickups simply don't have the structural rigidity which is the hallmark of a true luxury vehicle. The feeling of bank vault solidness and low NVH defines luxury - not leather seats and electronic doodads. This is especially true now that tons of luxury features are available on very low-end cars.
3) An $85K truck drives exactly like a $30K truck. This not true of cars. A Toyota Camry drives nothing like a Lexus LS. The sweet spot for trucks is around $49K (MSRP - around $38K real world price). Above that point the prices rise steeply for little useful extra content - especially if you get suckered into buying the King Chicken Farm Billy-Bob edition with the Deliverance package, complete with fender badges the size of a WWF championship belt.
4) I would go crazy if I had to use a pickup as a daily driver. Pickups aren't the "ultimate do-everything" vehicle. In fact, they're the opposite - they do almost everything incredibly poorly. Anyone looking for the "ultimate do-everything" vehicle needs to look no further than a minivan.
That’s what makes America great we have the choice of what we want to drive, many love driving a F350 as a daily driver. That’s why pickup trucks out sell every vehicle on the road because that’s what most of the American vehicle buying public want. There’s a reason that the F150 has been the best selling vehicle in America.
And for a prior poster - around here the wealthy do drive trucks. They are status symbols, not work vehicles as they should be. Tiny beds, super sized luxurious cabs. Yech.
Down in the South, pickup trucks used to be jokingly called Georgia Cadillacs. But nowadays, with the prices of light trucks and SUVs these days (ever price a Tahoe or Suburban recently) it's probably more of a reality.
I hadn’t thought of it till reading this thread but the last sedan we owned was a MB 420 SEL way back in the early 90’s back in Phoenix.
After that we went to pickups and SUV’s (especially after moving to big time snow country) till just this past year when I got tired of my beloved Wrangler and went with a Lexus crossover. Getting older and wanted something comfier. It really is.
Though nothing will ever compare with that 420 SEL. So beautiful. So roomy and luxurious. Grown men could stretch their legs out in the back seat. Great car.
If you think a 420 SEL has a roomy and luxurious back seat, you should check out the rear compartment of the Cadilllac Fleetwood Brougham.
If you think a 420 SEL has a roomy and luxurious back seat, you should check out the rear compartment of the Cadilllac Fleetwood Brougham.
And the Fleetwood Seventy-Five.
Well, it’s been a while since then (early 90’s) but we were seriously looking st the Cadillac but then we looked at the MB.
No contest.
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