memes

The argument is not that some people need trucks.

It is that huge trucks and suvs shouldn’t be the way they are nowadays. They can tow just as much if the hood is redesigned so it has better visibility than an M1 tank, because it’s currently worse. They’re stupid and oversized in the wrong ways.

If you need a real truck, you probably should get a flat front Isuzu FTR or something more functional than a sidewalk princess designed to kill pedestrians.

Honestly I don't mind trucks or SUVs specifically but vehicles are getting way too big on average, I mean the F150 is North America's best selling vehicle (*edit: I have since learned as of 2024 that spot actually belongs to the RAV4) since forever. It's a problem of misaligned incentives.

There's an exception carved out for large vehicles in the EPA guidelines that hold them to less stringent emissions standards which incentivizes building larger vehicles 1

Large cars are also incentivized by our crash safety rating system which only takes into account the mortality rate of those inside the car as apposed to average related fatalities. This means it will prioritize safety of those in the vehicle, which has led to our average fatalities increasing. 2

As an unintended side effect this also damages roads much faster because vehicle weight per axle determines the magnitude of the damage a vehicle does to the road. 3 anecdotally this makes me concerned for the additional weight that electric cars add.

Also as vehicles increase in weight the amount of microplastics put into the air as a by product of tire wear increase. 4

As cars increase in size (and therefore weight) the downsides are exponential.

Vans and minivans do everything trucks and SUVs do,

And move big things. I have a minivan. But I destroyed my suspension using it to rent yard equipment. I couldn't rent many because they wouldn't fit. There's also the whole moving a muddy bush hog into my carpeted minivan that is a huge hassle.

Vans and minivans do everything trucks and SUVs do, and they do it better.

Except tow things.

I'm an American in the rural South East. I can count on one hand the amount of people I've seen, met, or are my in laws who NEED a truck. I do not have enough body parts to count the amount of trucks that are used by compensating good ol' boys and girls. The amount of shitty drivers in SUVs who have the mindset of "if I'm in an accident I'll be ok, so I don't have to worry about driving like there are other people on the road" is down right astounding.

And also, can't do a thing about blinding headlights in giant suvs nope not a thing.

We’re pop up headlights a danger? I always wondered why they went away as a style choice

The distances are a problem in the US for good public transport.

So are: Lawyers, NIMBYs, classism, racism, anti-tax, automotive lobbyists, peer pressure, and even environmentalists.

I would love to buy a kei car but the USA won't import them. I want a Nissan Sakura - an EV that costs $15,000 new. Nope. The USA has all these rules in place to prevent competition. They say it's about fuel efficiency or safety, but many foreign cars are more fuel efficient than USA cars, and this is an EV - so it's vastly more fuel efficient! As for safety, we allow motorcycles, golf carts, and farm tractors on our roads but not kei cars?

It's not about fuel efficiency or safety. It's about protectionism. USA auto manufacturers have rigged our market to ensure we have to pay $30,000 or more to buy a new car. They don't want $10,000 kei cars being sold here because they know they can't compete.

Does pop-up headlights mean the old kind that mechanically raise when turned on? I was fully unaware of safety concerns and govt regs against them and just assumed they were too costly and overly complex for manufacturers to keep doing. And I still see them in some sporty models.

I’m curious how many folks in the US basically go broke from truck payments and interest rates. I do pretty well working in tech and I still gasp whenever I look at truck prices here. They’re a massive fucking ripoff—even small trucks like the Ranger and Tacoma. I probably walk past folks on the daily that are paying 4-digits every month for a stupid status symbol, while they get paid like shit.

Interesting note: the reason so many vehicles are black, white or silver/gray is that dealers have found those are the colors customers looking for other colors will settle for if they get a good deal, so dealers stock a lot more of those 3 colors.

I live on vancouver island and a minivan cannot replace my pickup truck in multiple ways lol

OP thinks their city is the center of the universe, probably American haha. Just because your area is flat and paved doesn't mean the rest of the world is

Its all capitalism. In germany, people also buy larger and larger suvs and just a couple minutes ago i saw a petition for the EU to limit car soze growth. Its infinitely braindead. You dont need a car the size of a small house. Streets are not your property. I would limit individual cars to the smallest size possible. Driving a car isnt just bad for the environment, it is also a logistical nightmare. Therefore, the benefit of the many trumps the benefit of the few.

While I don't entirely agree with the sentiment of your post. I will sure add my two cents:

I travel for work and have learned the Chrysler Pacifica minivan rental cars are unbeatable machines for loading equipment and driving long distances. The seats fold right down into the floor and I can load it to the ceiling with my Pelican cases. The larger crossover SUVs are just sedans that somebody attached a bike pump to and inflated the metal between the inside and outside of the vehicle. There ain't shit for space anymore. Also the Pacifica is comfy af.

Also also, you don't have to lift your heavy shit 4 feet off the ground... Big bonus.

Not even close to true. We have a small car (integra) and a giant truck (F250). We use the F250 to tow boats and a camper. Most people look at the tow limit and don’t realize the limiting factor is the payload. We had to trade in our F150 for the F250 because the F150 only had 1500 lbs payload. The camper (6000lbs dry, 7500 lbs max) had a dry tongue weight of 850 lbs and a loaded payload closer to 1000 lbs. Leaving about 500 lbs for people, dogs, and cargo. Doesn’t work. F250 has 3300 lbs payload. Find me a van with 3300 payload and no, don’t look in the manual. Those are all the theoretical max payload. Look at the door sticker. F150 manual says something like 2200 lbs, but door sticker says 1500 lbs. And yes, the F250 is no fun to drive in a city or take shopping. Thats what the Integra is for.

Are crossovers that bad? They seem mostly to be sedans with better storage and a little worse gas mileage. The latter of which minivans definitely dont win on.

I just got back from Europe and I'm so fucking sick of how stupid North America is when it comes to transports. I just want to break all those stupidly big trucks and cars that all over my city. Seriously fuck you, driving a fucking tank in the middle of 1.5 millions city shouldn't be a right, just because some idiots want to do it.