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I just don't get the huge-truck-owning mentality, even after reading about it. Unless it's serving its actual purpose of being a truck, it's a waste of a vast

by rleigh 8y ago

I just don't get the huge-truck-owning mentality, even after reading about it. Unless it's serving its actual purpose of being a truck, it's a waste of a vast amount of money to purchase, and the poor fuel economy will cost a fortune to run as well. I'm sure they great to drive, with good riding position, powerful engine etc., but I don't understand why all the big negative factors of owning such a beast don't come into play more significantly. I know the USA has much lower fuel prices than here in the UK, but even so surely it's something to factor in? Also, it's a relatively recent-ish phenomenon even in the USA isn't it (i.e. marketed for lifestyle/personal use outside their original intended commercial purposes)? I was in the market for a new vehicle recently and went to test drive a few, even some bigger ones like the Nissan X-Trail. But even this had something like 60mpg fuel economy. The smaller stuff I tested was ~70mpg. I'll have to factor in the purchase cost, maintenance costs, fuel costs etc. They are all such significant expenses I couldn't afford not to. And I'll more than likely end up with an equivalent to the Ford Focus 1.6L I just sent to the scrapyard, because it's decent enough but affordable. Or a Transit Connect/Caddy minivan for moving all my biking gear around. I'd love a bigger and more luxurious car, but it's very hard to justify rationally. A truck would be way out of the question for both affordability and practicality. It's not really even there on the spectrum of desirability, and I think anyone who did get one would be roundly mocked for "compensating for something" and "not caring about the planet".

dougmwne 8y ago
Pickup trucks are a marketing success story. The missing links in your undstanding of this phenomenon are hours of commercials during your adolescence linking your masculinity to the truck and the judgement of your peer group of whether your vehicle is manly enough. That's why the bigger the better, why people lift the suspension to make them taller, why models with quieter engines secretly play engine revving sounds through the stereo, and why people hang fake testicles off the trailer hitch. When my friend bought his first car at 16, a compact sedan, everyone told him it was a college girl car. Poor guy.
- Brakenshire 8y ago
  And what makes that possible is the difference in space. In Western Europe you just look like a massive knob making your life difficult squeezing through small lanes or into city parking spaces with your pointlessly oversized vehicle. But in a sprawling suburban or rural setting there are no such limits, and marketing can have its way.
  - edejong 8y ago
    Unfortunately, I see these abominations more often on the road in the Netherlands. Unfathomable... Such a blight on our otherwise reasonable, albeit overcrowded, highways. Tax them off the road as fast as possible, I'd say.

by rleigh 8y ago

dougmwne 8y ago

Pickup trucks are a marketing success story. The missing links in your undstanding of this phenomenon are hours of commercials during your adolescence linking your masculinity to the truck and the judgement of your peer group of whether your vehicle is manly enough. That's why the bigger the better, why people lift the suspension to make them taller, why models with quieter engines secretly play engine revving sounds through the stereo, and why people hang fake testicles off the trailer hitch. When my friend bought his first car at 16, a compact sedan, everyone told him it was a college girl car. Poor guy.

Brakenshire 8y ago
And what makes that possible is the difference in space. In Western Europe you just look like a massive knob making your life difficult squeezing through small lanes or into city parking spaces with your pointlessly oversized vehicle. But in a sprawling suburban or rural setting there are no such limits, and marketing can have its way.
- edejong 8y ago
  Unfortunately, I see these abominations more often on the road in the Netherlands. Unfathomable... Such a blight on our otherwise reasonable, albeit overcrowded, highways. Tax them off the road as fast as possible, I'd say.