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Old 04-11-2018, 09:25 AM
 
24,334 posts, read 22,881,617 times
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It was only ten years ago that people were saying the hatchback was never coming back because people didn't like them and that coupes would always be the rage. Now coupes are scarce and hatchbacks are everywhere. What has hurt sedans is that they've tried to make them sporty and that's like trying to make a minivan sporty. Sedans need BENCH SEATS front and back to give them versatility. Six passenger seating in a no frills ride along with a spacious trunk for cargo. If the price is a few thousand less than a minivan, people will buy it.
They said the huge trucks and SUVs would be gone but that was wishful thinking on the part of environmentalists. Now they're everywhere and small cars are scarcer.
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:18 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,686,429 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Icy Tea View Post
It was only ten years ago that people were saying the hatchback was never coming back because people didn't like them and that coupes would always be the rage. Now coupes are scarce and hatchbacks are everywhere. What has hurt sedans is that they've tried to make them sporty and that's like trying to make a minivan sporty. Sedans need BENCH SEATS front and back to give them versatility. Six passenger seating in a no frills ride along with a spacious trunk for cargo. If the price is a few thousand less than a minivan, people will buy it.
They said the huge trucks and SUVs would be gone but that was wishful thinking on the part of environmentalists. Now they're everywhere and small cars are scarcer.
We lived off grid on solar power while we drove a truck exclusively. I like to think it gave us some environmental balance. No way could a Prius or subcompact have handled northern Idaho roads where we lived.
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:19 PM
 
27 posts, read 23,557 times
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There are plenty of buyers of all kinds of sedans and many of them are among:


Mercedes CLS, S550, C-Class, E-Class and variants up to AMGs, tons of them
BMW's, 3, 4, 5, and & series, tons of them
Jaguar saloons, XJ's
Cadillacs - XTS,, 6, CTS, tons of them
Lexus big 460's, and midsize 4 doors
Toyotas Camry's, Corollas
Sentras, etc, tons of them
Chevrolte Malibu, Impalas, tons of them
Mazda 6's, tons of them
Lincolns MKS, then new Lincoln Continental
Dodge Chargers, tons of them, including to countless law agencies
Nissan - Sentras, Altimas, zillions of them
Honda, Accords, zillions of them
Ford, Fusions, tons of them
Volkswagen, Jetta, Passat, Golf, tons of them
Hyundai, elantras, tons of them



NOPE, the death of sedans has not happened....get real
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Alaska
3,146 posts, read 4,053,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
This has been a longstanding topic of discussion on this Forum. While I'm reluctant to speculate as to the psychological reasons for the popularity of trucks, here are a few potential demographic reasons:

1. The demographic that used to buy a Camaro, a Monte Carlo, a Duster or a Falcon today evidently buys a pickup.

2. People who want a traditional RWD, body-on-frame vehicle, are now limited to buying a pickup.

3. With the demise of American performance cars in the 1970s - at a time when truck-performance more or less endured - a large swath of the American car-buying public switched to trucks. And they've never looked back.

4. Many amongst the environmentally-conscious, high-efficiency, low-carbon-footprint crowd are now eschewing motor vehicles altogether. They buy bicycles. They would have been buying compact passenger-cars, if they were buying a car at all. But their removal from the automotive market reduces popularity of cars, in favor of trucks.

5. Americans have always labored under an awe-shucks self-imposed humility, where aristocratic aspirations are viewed as uppity and gauche. Thus, driving a Mercedes S-class, an Audi A8 and that sortof thing, is viewed by many as being elitist and snooty. But driving a decked-out $85K pickup is just fine, because it signals working-class unpretentiousness.

6. Children today no longer play hockey in the street, or baseball in the back-yard. Instead, they're shuttled to formal after-school activities. This function is best accomplished by a truck, or truck-based vehicle.
I think an $85,000 price tag belies any genuine sense of unpretentiousness.
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Alaska
3,146 posts, read 4,053,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
I really don’t see how anyone could own a home and not have a truck, I know I use mine for so many things. Just last week I had to go buy a new water heater, if I didn’t have a truck I would’ve had to call a plumber. Now I suppose owning a utility trailer would work (and I do) as long as you have a vehicle capable of pulling it, but it’s easier for me to just have a truck in the first place.

I remember what it was like not having one, and having to ask other people to transport things for me. I won’t go back to that.
I own a home and I have never needed a truck.

If I ever needed a water heater, then I would just call my home warranty number and they would arrange everything.

On the rare occasion that I have needed to buy an appliance, Home Depot was more than happy to deliver it to me for a reasonable fee or I rented a U-Haul for a reasonable fee.

Over the years, these options have been far cheaper than the long term costs to purchase, register, insure, fuel, and maintain a rarely "needed" product like a truck.
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:44 PM
 
Location: Floribama
18,923 posts, read 43,211,623 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
A water heater weighs maybe 100 pounds. A 4x8 folding trailer that sits upright in your garage can be towed by any econobox with a bolt-on receiver hitch. An aluminum one at Northern Tool weighs 195 pounds and costs $599.

I have a 6 cylinder Outback with a receiver hitch rated for 3,000 pounds. I rent U Haul trailers for sub-$20. A 5x8 enclosed cargo trailer works better than a pickup for hauling furniture. A 5x8 open trailer is perfect for yard debris. I also have an unregistered trailer for my fiberglass bottom inflatable dinghy I haul a couple times per year to get it on and off the dinghy dock. I might tow something 10 times per year. My car has 6 foot cargo area length with the back seat dropped. I have a roof rack. Unless I'm buying plywood, I don't ordinarily need a trailer for Home Depot/Lowes runs.

I figure most people who own pickups and don't work in the trades are compensating for something. Stallone types who need elevator shoes. A Viagra Rx. The $50K truck with the 6 year loan parked in front of the 40 foot double-wide.
My point was that there’s always things that come up. It reminds me of when I bought my 60†TV a couple of years ago, I wasn’t intending to buy a TV that day but I found a deal too good to pass up. I was driving my Sonata at the time and I could not get that TV into the car no matter what way I tried it, so I had to make another trip back to the store (90 miles round trip) the next day in my pickup.

And not everyone is driving a $50k+ truck. I bought my 2009 Tundra SR5 back in 2011 and it had 35k miles on it, if my memory is correct I paid around $24k for it. The suckers can pay $50k for a new truck if they want, and I’ll gladly buy it a few years later at half price.
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Old 04-11-2018, 12:49 PM
 
27 posts, read 23,557 times
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A Datsun Tundra is a truck??
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Old 04-11-2018, 01:13 PM
 
1,347 posts, read 934,163 times
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I've always driven sedans/coupes/hatchbacks, no plans to change that. I live in "real America" (as the OP refers to non-coastal regions), there are still plenty of sedans here. In fact, I unknowingly made the mistake of buying a common color/model this last time, so it's not as easy as it used to be to identify exactly which vehicle is mine in a parking lot (barring key FOB tactics).

I agree that the preference for pickups seems to be status driven. Most of the ones I see around here have empty beds, some of which don't look like they've ever been used for hauling anything.

I'm a homeowner with a family. Sedans serve our needs just fine. Heck, my family of four growing up made do with a Ford Escort at one point, and later a Dodge Aries and some other similar vehicle (name is escaping me, but different brand). My dad got himself a truck when I was a teenager, but it only seated two so that became "his" vehicle. With the exception of one van, all the other vehicles owned in my family have been sedans/coupes/hatchbacks/etc as well. And now that I think about it, same for my in-laws (rural Midwest residents).

As a short person, getting into a truck/SUV is like mountain climbing 101, so I'm not a huge fan of that aspect. Stairs, please.
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Old 04-11-2018, 01:14 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,686,429 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 18Dmodem View Post
A Datsun Tundra is a truck??
For suburbanites I guess.
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Old 04-11-2018, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,686,429 times
Reputation: 5686
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
My point was that there’s always things that come up. It reminds me of when I bought my 60” TV a couple of years ago, I wasn’t intending to buy a TV that day but I found a deal too good to pass up. I was driving my Sonata at the time and I could not get that TV into the car no matter what way I tried it, so I had to make another trip back to the store (90 miles round trip) the next day in my pickup.

And not everyone is driving a $50k+ truck. I bought my 2009 Tundra SR5 back in 2011 and it had 35k miles on it, if my memory is correct I paid around $24k for it. The suckers can pay $50k for a new truck if they want, and I’ll gladly buy it a few years later at half price.
It’s actually much cheaper to pay for delivery or rent a small trailer than to buy a “truck” in case you run across a 60” TV on sale.

I live in the city now and have a house and we keep our truck out at the barn where we board and keep our trailer. We’ve never needed it for anything house related. Nor would we put an expensive TV in the back of a pickup.
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