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> If you think all truck owners actually need one, count how many of the ones you see are carrying some load and do the math. Okay, let's do the math. Suppose

> If you think all truck owners actually need one, count how many of the ones you see are carrying some load and do the math. Okay, let's do the math. Suppose you need a truck once a week and it costs $100 to rent one. To rent one would then be $400/mo, which you haven't got. You could buy both a truck and a car and only use the truck once a week, but between payment and insurance then that's again several hundred a month over the cost of having only one vehicle. Or you could buy a truck as your only vehicle. Then you commute in it two ways five times a week, and it hasn't got anything in it on the way back from the once a week you actually needed it, so it's not carrying any load 95% of the time. But you still need a truck because the alternatives are prohibitively expensive.

chneu 1y ago
You forgot cost of fuel(this alone likely offsets your imaginary rental cost), higher insurance rates for trucks(they kill people in routine accidents), cost of extra tires(trucks eat through tires), and higher cost of ownership in general. If you're using a truck as a work truck it'll also need to be replaced much quicker, adding to the overall cost. Trucks are expensive for the owner and society. Also, the majority of trucks in the US never do truck things. Like 75% are urban grocery getters. Americans have a serious consumption/ego/entitlement problem. Trucks are a great example of that problem. Instead of just saying, "I like truck. I want truck. I don't care it bad", people make up imaginary math that doesn't make sense instead of just admitting it's an ego thing. The sad part of all this is the world laughs at the US over this stuff. We're a laughing stock and the people embarrassing us are proud of it. It's so shameful. "I'm not that kind of American" has become a routine thing to say while traveling abroad.
- natmaka 1y ago
  Tall grille, heavy... they are more and more dangerous. "only a quarter of truck owners use their trucks’ towing capacity more than once a year. Only about 30 percent of truck owners go off-road more than once a year. And 35 percent of truck owners basically never even put anything in their truck beds" https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-deadly-dont-buy-em.html https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-d...
  - chneu 1y ago
    Americans love to cosplay rural life.
- AnthonyMouse 1y ago
  > You forgot cost of fuel(this alone likely offsets your imaginary rental cost) Does it? Toyota Highlander Hybrid gets 35 MPG. Ford Mavrick Hybrid, 38 MPG. > higher insurance rates for trucks This is a <$100/year difference for minimum coverage, much less $400/month, and for full coverage the car is actually more expensive: https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/truck-vs-car-insurance/#average-car-insurance-rates-for-cars-vs-trucks https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/truck-vs-car-insuranc... > cost of extra tires(trucks eat through tires) Truck tires and car tires last around the same amount of time. > If you're using a truck as a work truck it'll also need to be replaced much quicker, adding to the overall cost. In that case the car isn't even on the table.
bmicraft 1y ago
Nobody needs one once a week. Either you need for you job (and more than once a week), or you need it way less than that and renting becomes a viable option.
- AnthonyMouse 1y ago
  How is it that nobody needs it once a week? Suppose you do a weekly recreational event and you have to bring your equipment to it.
andrepd 1y ago
Your premise is wrong. Most pick up drivers don't even use it more than once a year. Either you do need a truck for work and then you get an actual work vehicle and not a tough guy cosplay like a dodge ram, or you don't and you shouldn't get one, or at least you should pay out of your ass for the increasing danger, road damage, pollution, etc. https://www.strategicvision.com/nves https://www.strategicvision.com/nves

chneu 1y ago

You forgot cost of fuel(this alone likely offsets your imaginary rental cost), higher insurance rates for trucks(they kill people in routine accidents), cost of extra tires(trucks eat through tires), and higher cost of ownership in general. If you're using a truck as a work truck it'll also need to be replaced much quicker, adding to the overall cost. Trucks are expensive for the owner and society. Also, the majority of trucks in the US never do truck things. Like 75% are urban grocery getters. Americans have a serious consumption/ego/entitlement problem. Trucks are a great example of that problem. Instead of just saying, "I like truck. I want truck. I don't care it bad", people make up imaginary math that doesn't make sense instead of just admitting it's an ego thing. The sad part of all this is the world laughs at the US over this stuff. We're a laughing stock and the people embarrassing us are proud of it. It's so shameful. "I'm not that kind of American" has become a routine thing to say while traveling abroad.

natmaka 1y ago
Tall grille, heavy... they are more and more dangerous. "only a quarter of truck owners use their trucks’ towing capacity more than once a year. Only about 30 percent of truck owners go off-road more than once a year. And 35 percent of truck owners basically never even put anything in their truck beds" https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-deadly-dont-buy-em.html https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-d...
- chneu 1y ago
  Americans love to cosplay rural life.
AnthonyMouse 1y ago
> You forgot cost of fuel(this alone likely offsets your imaginary rental cost) Does it? Toyota Highlander Hybrid gets 35 MPG. Ford Mavrick Hybrid, 38 MPG. > higher insurance rates for trucks This is a <$100/year difference for minimum coverage, much less $400/month, and for full coverage the car is actually more expensive: https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/truck-vs-car-insurance/#average-car-insurance-rates-for-cars-vs-trucks https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/truck-vs-car-insuranc... > cost of extra tires(trucks eat through tires) Truck tires and car tires last around the same amount of time. > If you're using a truck as a work truck it'll also need to be replaced much quicker, adding to the overall cost. In that case the car isn't even on the table.

bmicraft 1y ago

Nobody needs one once a week. Either you need for you job (and more than once a week), or you need it way less than that and renting becomes a viable option.

AnthonyMouse 1y ago
How is it that nobody needs it once a week? Suppose you do a weekly recreational event and you have to bring your equipment to it.

andrepd 1y ago

Your premise is wrong. Most pick up drivers don't even use it more than once a year. Either you do need a truck for work and then you get an actual work vehicle and not a tough guy cosplay like a dodge ram, or you don't and you shouldn't get one, or at least you should pay out of your ass for the increasing danger, road damage, pollution, etc. https://www.strategicvision.com/nves https://www.strategicvision.com/nves