How's your truck doin'?

[Hagar]

Emotional support vehicle, inadequate male member projection?

Pothole makers, car park menaces, narrow lane blockers, energy wasters, why in Europe do we need such large vehicles for everyday driving tasks particularly in cities towns and our narrow country lanes?

Please, for the love of God, stop buying supersized cars | Arwa Mahdawi

Why would anyone want a car that’s too big for parking spaces, or that’s a menace to other road users? Arwa Mahdawi has a theory

www.theguardian.com

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Guardian article just saying Guardian things.

 

[koolpc]

Big headed people who love to drive around in big cars!!

I can understand people in the US driving them but our roads are tiny etc...

 

[Diddums]

why in Europe do we need such large vehicles for everyday driving tasks particularly in cities towns and our narrow country lanes?

Because it's a tax loophole.


See absolute boatloads of them commuting every day. Not so much as a screw or nut in the bed, not a speck of dust. "Workhorse" my ass

 

[Dis86]

Literally pointed out SUVs and the such are emotional support vehicles years ago. Glad the terms catching on!

 

[lordrobs]

Guardian article just saying Guardian things.

Before holding out their begging bowl asking for £12 a month for such quality journalism

 

[Uther]

Now I drive a small car I just laugh at people trying to park their barges.
Don't you drive a heavy EV though?

 

[Rroff]

Easier said than done to not buy large cars when everything has got so big, and what remains of smaller cars aren't suited for everyone. Also I think people underestimate how many people actually prefer a higher ride height compared to older cars once they actually experience both - personally having my head height above the ground closer to standing height when travelling feels far more natural (I don't suffer from motion sickness).

I just laugh at people trying to park their barges

On the Qashqai I have 360 cameras and all-around parking sensors, aside from when dealing with very tight angles/spaces it is easier to park or as easy to park as most smaller cars.

 

[Begbie]

Whilst not truck related I do find it hilarious that families 'need' massive cars now. Yet 6 of us would go to Ireland as kids in a mini metro.

Easier said than done to not buy large cars when everything has got so big, and what remains of smaller cars aren't suited for everyone. Also I think people underestimate how many people actually prefer a higher ride height compared to older cars once they actually experience both - personally having my head height above the ground closer to standing height when travelling feels far more natural (I don't suffer from motion sickness).



On the Qashqai I have 360 cameras and all-around parking sensors, aside from when dealing with very tight angles/spaces it is easier to park or as easy to park as most smaller cars.

Surely not if a smaller car also has all this assistance?

 

[Rroff]

Surely not if a smaller car also has all this assistance?

Just as easy until you are dealing with very awkward spaces IMO, but compared to a smaller car without the assistance even then it makes it a breeze. I think I'd actually struggle now parking even a smaller vehicle without as I'm so out of practise having used vehicles with at least rear view camera and parking sensors for so long now.

Whilst not truck related I do find it hilarious that families 'need' massive cars now. Yet 6 of us would go to Ireland as kids in a mini metro.

I grew up with larger vehicles conversely - my dad liked his Capris then with a family moved on to Cortina Estate, then the Montego Estate and then people carriers like the VW Sharan.

 

[Bear]

Whilst not truck related I do find it hilarious that families 'need' massive cars now. Yet 6 of us would go to Ireland as kids in a mini metro.

Life has moved on, we dont have toliets outside these days either. I'd rather shift a family in comfort than squeeze into a Metro, people enjoy the space, luxury and comfort

 

[shifty_uk]

I know someone that leased some high end pickup thinking he was going to look the adventure type, take up surfing and what have you. He ended up paying 9 grand just to get out of the term early, it was that bad.

Tax benefits aside, I don't get the obsession.

 

[lordrobs]

Life has moved on, we dont have toliets outside these days either. I'd rather shift a family in comfort than squeeze into a Metro, people enjoy the space, luxury and comfort

Exactly and to add to that, take a look at the size of a modern ISOFIX car seat. Also the size of most travel system push chairs. The smallest family members now soak up loads of space in a car.

 

[Rroff]

I know someone that leased some high end pickup thinking he was going to look the adventure type, take up surfing and what have you. He ended up paying 9 grand just to get out of the term early, it was that bad.

Tax benefits aside, I don't get the obsession.

Thing with pickups they are a compromise - if like myself you do a little bit of everything they are the least worse compromise, I don't think they make sense for a lot of people in general - especially when you stick a Truckman type hardtop on the back, which takes away some of the flexibility and visibility benefits, and then I often question why people have them over a van unless they are regularly visiting remote sites which might have significantly degraded access roads.

Also it varies a lot model to model - personally would not want to be spending a lot of time on the road in a Hilux, L200, or even the newer D-MAX, while the Rangers, Amarok and Navara aren't too bad on the road (on a good motorway or dual-carriageway run my Navara just sits there effortlessly, loads of cabin space, nice seats, just a breeze to do a lot of miles, but the ride is noticeably less pleasant if doing a lot of miles on mixed roads though I don't mind it personally and at least on mine it has good seats which soak up quite a bit of that otherwise lesser ride compared to a decent car so most passengers don't mind).

I know a guy with a pickup who has spent thousands on kitting it out for adventure but has never that I know of used it for anything other than the school run, I think it has become a hobby for him to tinker with in the garage though.

 

[Maundie]

Next door is a fencer and he was looking at the Ford Ranger (he wanted one of the orange ones) and ultimately decided that it wasn't secure enough as people could just lift the tools off the back, he said if he got a hardtop to fit it would make the area about as big as a Berlingo van'ish so he just went massive LWB again and he can fit 6ft fence panels in it as well as the concrete posts.

 

[sovietspybob]

I really don't get why anyone would choose a pickup unless they absolutely needed one as they're objectively so much worse than a van for 95% of trades people and way worse than a car for normal people.

I get that they're a massive tax loophole which is why we see so many but even so it's a big compromise to live with one every day to con the government out of a few quid.

A friend has one (L200) as he's a farmer so he needs to tow cattle trailers and take bales of hay or whatever around a lot but even he finds its a pain as his 'car' he much preferred the audi A4 he had previously but puts up with the pickup as its utility uses are needed almost daily for him.

 

[dave28]

I live in a rural area with narrow B roads everywhere and pick up trucks are absolutely fine because they are not particularly wide.
I have no problem with them, there are hundreds of them here.

What sucks the most is wide vehicles that take up most of the road, motorhomes, luxury cars, large vans

 

[Rroff]

A friend has one (L200) as he's a farmer so he needs to tow cattle trailers and take bales of hay or whatever around a lot but even he finds its a pain as his 'car' he much preferred the audi A4 he had previously but puts up with the pickup as its utility uses are needed almost daily for him.

Although the likes of the Hilux and L200 are (or at least were) more robust than the likes of the Navara, and the Navara can feel a bit nervous towing something like a cattle trailer though it does the job fine, the Navara is just so different to live with for everyday driving in comparison. I can see like 5 L200s from my window and no one around here uses them for everyday driving.

 

[shifty_uk]

Thing with pickups they are a compromise - if like myself you do a little bit of everything they are the least worse compromise, I don't think they make sense for a lot of people in general

Yeah, I've no doubt they are great general utility vehicles especially for those who live in rural areas.

It's people that use them for doing the school run or commuting to the office every day - They are inferior to most SUV's for normal use cases.

 

[Rroff]

I live in a rural area with narrow B roads everywhere and pick up trucks are absolutely fine because they are not particularly wide.
I have no problem with them, there are hundreds of them here.

What sucks the most is wide vehicles that take up most of the road, motorhomes, luxury cars, large vans

Not to mention the full size farm vehicles heh.