• 33550336@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I would not say that we can completely get rid of cars, or that all cars are evil, but such absurdly big, extremely inefficient trucks with negligible visibility just should be taxed to shit.

  • verstra@programming.dev
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    3 months ago

    What i don’t understand is how fuel efficiency does not seem to be a concern of an average buyer? It is a large factor for me, and I’m proud to have highly efficient car for its class. Are those large trucks somehow more efficient than older, smaller models? Or are average buyers just not concerned with efficiency?

    Well not everyone has seen the light of factorio, so i might be over-fixating on efficiency.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Oh, they don’t care. Didn’t you know the price of gas is always the fault of the opposing parties last or current elected president??? That’s the AMERICAN way! Blame everybody else, and never accept the consequences for your own actions.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yeah all the people bitching about gas prices are getting 8-12 mpg in these things, filling a 25 gallon tank once a week. A lot of these folks aren’t exactly rich either and the trucks are expensive. They’re paying a mortgage payment in monthly fuel, insurance, and loan expenses on these things.

      If they could keep their egos in check, they’d save a lot of money.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        My 91 Cherokee has better mileage than a lot of modern cars, I think the last time I did some basic calculations it came out to about 25 MPG.

    • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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      3 months ago

      Full size trucks can get about 22 mpg highway. A 2011 Ford Ranger, the last year they were made, got 19 highway, with the v6…

      They have gotten more fuel efficent.

      • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Not sure if you’re aware but Ford has resumed production of the Ranger, it’s just now the same size as the Chevy Colorado: huge.

  • BezzelBob@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I remember reading a study done in the late 1990s (I’m pretty sure it was ford) that looked at who was most likely to buy a pickup truck so they could market them better, and they found the people who buy pickup trucks fall into 2 categories, one, a blue collar boss buying it for his employees, or two, an insecure man in his 30s-50s trying to compensate

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      a blue collar boss buying it for his employees

      I assume this means for his business, to be used by employees? I can’t imagine a boss buying his employees a truck.

    • LANIK2000@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      To be fair, the first pick up can haul dirty stuff or things that stick out like pipes, signs or maybe something like small boats. It’s still hilarious tho that the carry capacity is comparable. Like you could theoretically fit a small pizza oven into it xD

      • Aux@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        What baffles me about Americans is that truck owners insist that they need to haul things. And I’m always wondering why would anyone spend time and money doing that? Here in the UK delivery is usually free. New bed? Free delivery. New PC hardware or huge TV? Free delivery. Lumber for a DIY project? Free delivery. A palette of cat food? Free delivery! Why the fuck would anyone waste money on petrol and haul shit themselves? The only paid delivery is groceries and it’s £1 from Sainsbury’s, I ain’t driving for £1, fuck it.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          As a Swede, I think the reason this baffles you has a lot to do with the fact that the U.K. is comparatively tiny, with 67 mil inhabitants on 244 sqkm. Sweden for example has 10.5mil inhabitants on 450 sqkm.

          What happens is that densely populated areas will have access to these services, perhaps not for free, but they’re at least there. Less sparsely populated areas have less service coverage, and so you get more car dependant. Here in Sweden at least we have a decent public transport network so even in my old village of 600 people you could make do without a car, you just couldn’t be particularly spontaneous about things.

          The U.S. is very much structured around owning cars. Massive roads, poor pedestrian/cycling infrastructure, and a general lack of public transit. I visited Massachusetts back in 2019 and got a completely different perspective on things. Until then I didn’t understand why my friend just didn’t bike everywhere, but having been there it’s easy to see that it’s not viable. Even the cul-de-sac they lived on wasn’t very pedestrian friendly.

          That’s not to say that the U.S. could have more sensible sizes on their cars, they definitely could. I think the sizes of cars growing has to do with manufacturers wanting increased profit. We’re seeing an increase in the average car size here in Europe as well, with a lot of the more compact cars being taken off the market.

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Particularly in rural America, that’s not an option. When dealing with used stuff, well one person or the other is going to need a truck to haul it. If you take a boat regularly to water or a camper regularly to outdoors, you need something that can tow.

          I rarely need to haul, but I do need to tow a lot, so I have an SUV that can tow and rent a trailer on the odd occasion I have to haul stuff. The SUV is from a European manufacturer if that’s comforting.

          But these pickups have laughably tall heights that is just a detriment to utility and a safety hazard. Ironically brought on by efficiency standards that gave a pass to larger vehicles, so when the car company can either try to engineer more efficiency or just make them bigger, they chose ‘just make em bigger’. The truck buying market doesn’t help, with a lot of people getting giddy at the thought of playing “I drive a big rig” with their personal vehicle.

            • jj4211@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              It turns out that over 97% of people in the US do not live in NYC. I don’t know why you think when I cited rural America I would have even possibly been trying to cover NYC…

        • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          American here looking to buy a truck that’s not absurdly oversized and over priced. I need it to haul hay and bring garbage to the dump. I save a couple hundred a year for bringing my own garbage instead of doing trash pick up, and hay deliveries cost way more than they used to.
          Plus my rural area requires driving everywhere and the winters are pretty bad so a 4 wheel drive vehicle is good to have for going to work or emergencies.
          I’m looking into those tiny Japanese kei trucks as a potential alternative if I can’t find something that’s reasonable though.

          • Aux@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Let’s be honest here, the majority of Americans with trucks don’t live in a rural area. Rural life is different ofc, people not only have trucks here, but also tractors, telehandlers and whatnot.

            • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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              3 months ago

              Even out here in the rural areas people who have these ridiculous, oversized, luxery trucks aren’t using them for actual work. I guess that was kinda my point. People who haul stuff want something affordable that can take a bit of a beating. Not some gas guzzling humongous thing that doesn’t even offer more hauling space.
              Those trucks are definitely not being built for work. I hate them because finding a decent work truck that won’t bankrupt me is becoming a huge hassle.

  • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Gods I’d love A small truck like that if they made them, I know this is fuck cars and I agree with the sentiment, but I’d much rather these be everywhere than the monstrosities on the road today

      • Caboose12000@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Aren’t those illigal to drive in most of the US? Besides that, they also cap at like 60mph, right? That really limits thier usefulness in a lot of the US, these are mostly good for cities, right?

        Don’t get me wrong I love kei trucks, but I think having small regular pickups would help a ton too.

  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    If you compare the same type of truck instead of comparing a regular cab mid size truck with a full size crew cab truck, you realize that they’re mostly higher than they were before but otherwise their dimensions aren’t that much bigger, especially if you compare with the evolution of car sizes. The mk6 Jetta was a subcompact even though it’s the same size as a mk5 Passat which was a compact.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Regular cab vs crew cab, short box vs long box, mid size vs full size, that’s the same kind of truck for you?

        • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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          3 months ago

          Are there any small trucks available that aren’t crew cabs? I know the maverick didn’t have an option for it last time I looked and that’s everyone always suggests when I bring up that I hate all the available trucks these days. I don’t need to cart around a family of four. I need to haul lumber, tools, and furniture. Give me a single cab with a full bed that isn’t half the size of a school bus. Thanks to the fucking chicken tax and CAFE that’s impossible now.

          • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Extended cab with 6’ box are a thing, regular cabs are available on full size trucks with the same fuel economy.

            • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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              3 months ago

              It could be 8ft if they ditched the extended cab and I do not want a full size truck. I’m short as fuck and they’re a pain in the ass to get things in and out of and just more of a pain to get around in general. I want a truck like the 1998 Ford Ranger. Unless something like that becomes available I’ll stick to my civic and borrowing my dad’s shitty Colorado when I need a truck.

              • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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                3 months ago

                The Ranger never had an 8ft bed so I don’t know why an extended cab + 6 ft bed isn’t ok considering that it means you have space to transport stuff outside the elements without needing a storage box inside the bed taking space.

                And worst case, just get an older truck, it’s not as if vehicles just explode after 5 years on the road.

                • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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                  3 months ago

                  The Ranger never had an 8ft bed so I don’t know why an extended cab + 6 ft bed isn’t ok

                  I was just pointing out that they could do that and it would be better for me. If you need the stuff you’re hauling to be protected from the elements you can use a bed cover or a tarp. Even with my civic I just put groceries or whatever small stuff in the passenger seat. I have little use for interior space. There have been many occasions using that Colorado where a longer bed would have been great.

                  As far as old trucks go you’d have to go back a lot further than five years to find something that meets the criteria I’m looking for and hope you find one that was actually cared for.

  • Nik282000@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    I have one of those 2 seater pickups from 2010. Best vehicle ever, 7-8L/100km and the same size box as the whale behind it.

    • cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      There’s no way you can get 7-8L/100Km on a pickup in the city. Are you living in the countryside so there’s no traffic?

      • Nik282000@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        I have a 30km commute of mostly 50-70km/h roads.

        edit: 7.8L/100km on the last fill