• PutangInaMo@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      For a little while my mentality was that vehicles were getting so big here that my family was better off in the biggest thing on the road. We bought a GMC Yukon XL Denali.

      I wised up and downsized twice. First to a minivan then a smaller SUV.

      You’re not wrong. But the other commenter is equally right. I was never given a poll or survey for preferred vehicle size, it’s just what the market is, not selected by commuters. It’s an industry thing.

      • Acters@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Most people are like you. We look around us and get what seems normal. Unfortunately, marketing and constant push to get the bigger(and more expensive) vehicle changes what the normal would be if we just humbly choose the simpler cost-effective option.

          • mommykink@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You spent zero time whatsoever researching what vehicle you needed and instead went with “monkey see, monkey do” and bought the largest, most dangerous 16mpg land barge you could find. I’m not even fuckcars but the idea that anyone outside of some sort of private escort service could see a fuckhuge $62,000 GMC truck and have the audacity to tell someone they bought it for “muh safety” is a liar.

    • Brocken40@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Well the customer definitely isn’t given a choice of a smaller model year new truck, but that is more on the manufacturer than the salesman

      • jscummy@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        There’s “smaller” trucks available, they’re just the same size as an early '00s full size

        • raptir@lemdro.id
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          1 year ago

          But not as capable in terms of payload and towing capacity, if you need that.

          • Saledovil@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            People who don’t use their car professionally hardly need to tow anything in their day to day lives. And payload, the most cargo that they haul would be luggage for family vacations or the weeks groceries, and then, protected cargo space is more important, because you don’t want your luggage or groceries to be lost or stolen. These trucks have this cover that can be placed on top of the truck bed, but that limits cargo space to less than a stationwagon.

      • ShittyRedditWasBetter@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Bullshit, you can get a maverick, Ridgeline, etc. They sell like shit because they don’t tow as much and offer less around large bulky items that folks like a truck bed for. Small trucks are rarely a suitable use case outside smaller tradesman and for most of them an actual van is more efficient and better business use case.

        The Merrick sales spiked as a new model selling 75k of them to pent up demand. They sold 150k vans. They sold nearly 700k f150s.

        Small pickups are a dumb class of vehicle which will always be a niche class. SUVs tow as much. Vans offer a better vehicle for less cost than a 1/4 ton pickup.

        • Brocken40@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          The problem with modern “small trucks” is the bed size is smaller than a truck from 30 years ago the maverick has a bed size of 54" while a 1990 chevy 1500 has a smaller wheelbase and a 78" bed that’s over a foot of more cargo space on a smaller frame! The truck is useless because it’s designed that way.

          • mommykink@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            No, that’s a kei truck which are utility vehicles designed for a very specific application that America does not have

            • biddy@feddit.nl
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              1 year ago

              Aka a small truck. Unlike oversized American pickup trucks which are designed for no application other that to make their owner’s dick feel bigger as they drive to the grocery store.

              • mommykink@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Show me a single kei truck that can haul a full crew, 3,000lbs, and go 70mph on the highway without frying its transmission.

                pro tip: you can’t.

                You do know they have full size pickup trucks in Japan, right? Kei trucks are pretty much only used for extremely light duty in the cities and within jobsites (as in, between two warehouses on the same site) because they’re so small and underpowered. They’re cool, but completely impractical in America

                • biddy@feddit.nl
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                  1 year ago

                  Again, it’s a small truck, with the advantages and limitations that come with that.

                  But let’s ignore the size, since a kei style truck can be sized up or down to fit. There’s a different conversation to be had here. American pickup trucks are focused on being fashion accessories for insecure suburbanites, which involves creating these theoretical numbers and making those numbers as big as possible. Is carrying 5 people and towing however many tons at 112 km/h a common use case? No, and I’m terrified that it’s legal to travel that fast while towing a trailer in some places. In inflating these pointless numbers, it neglects being a practical working vehicle, because that was never the goal.

                  A simple flatbed like the kei truck is so much more practical. It’s low to the ground so it’s easy to chuck things in and out of, the bed is easily replaceable when it gets damaged, the bed is much bigger for the size of the vehicle.

                • LucyLastic@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 year ago

                  At that point you want a Mitsubishi Fuso or something, they’re up to the task of doing real work while a US style pickup truck is for posing.

                  Hell, even a little Ute with a flathead is more practical for actually loading up with stuff

  • iforgotmyinstance@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This comic is 38 years old and still relevant. My friend just bought a new car and got absolutely ripped off at 26% interest. Sure he can refinance later, but he bought more vehicle than he needed at a high price.