OT Why we don’t have small trucks anymore
- Thread starter vacock
- Start date
We're from the government and we're here to help.
I used to have a 4 cylinder Ranger (really a Mazda with a Ford label). It was my kids’ first car.
Yep. I had a Mazda Se5. Turned out to be my son's first vehicle. Friend had the little Ford Courier - Mazda with a Ford emblem.
I have an old small pickup as second vehicle. It’s perfect for pretty much everything big trucks do. I get the CAFE problems which are kinda a case of outsmarting yourself when it comes to the small truck category.
BUT ALSO anybody who drives a huge a$$ truck and it is not their work vehicle…. Is an idiot, showing off a status symbol, suffers from ego problems, or has a small tallywhacker( not that I am being judgmental at all
) yes there are exceptions, but I see way too many folks in coat and tie getting out of an immaculate huge truck to get their Frappuccino latte at Starbucks to go to a white collar job
BUT ALSO anybody who drives a huge a$$ truck and it is not their work vehicle…. Is an idiot, showing off a status symbol, suffers from ego problems, or has a small tallywhacker( not that I am being judgmental at all
) yes there are exceptions, but I see way too many folks in coat and tie getting out of an immaculate huge truck to get their Frappuccino latte at Starbucks to go to a white collar job
Last edited:
Yep. And the MPG crap is BS (another talking head on YouTube). They can make EV small trucks.
Everyone wants big trucks or SUVs.
As a rule; the bigger the tires and the more jacked up a truck is, the smaller the guy driving it.I have an old small pickup as second vehicle. It’s perfect for pretty much everything big trucks do. I get the CAFE problems which are kinda a case of outsmarting yourself when it comes to the small truck category.
BUT ALSO anybody who drives a huge a$$ truck and it is not their work vehicle…. Is an idiot, showing off a status symbol, suffers from ego problems, or has a small tallywhacker( not that I am being judgmental at all
I love the "I need this truck to pull my boat" justification. I see HUGE Super Duty Fords and Duramax GMs at the boat ramp pulling a 17 foot boat that a small SUV could easily pull.
I love it when I see people with huge trucks and there's not a scratch or imperfection in the bed of the truck. Trucks are for one thing: work.
The proliferation of pickups and large SUVs is another example of govt ruining everything it touches. Govt fuel economy rules destroyed the full size station wagon that many families relied on to carry people and cargo and pull boats and other trailers. When the auto manufacturers had to stop making them the public turned to SUVs, which were classified as light trucks and therefore not subject to the fuel economy standards. The pickup craze is nothing more than a fashion fad which will pass. Now, the US auto makers have pretty well stopped making cars so the Japanese and Koreans are going to dominate the market when cars become fashionable again.
I agree, I don't think I'd call pickup trucks a fad necessarily. But it certainly has become more trendy over the years for people who have no practical need of a pickup truck to own one anyway. I was friends with a guy who lived in the DC suburbs. 100% white collar guy. Lived in a normal subdivision. No boat or RV to tow. Just bought a big ol' truck for no reason other than saying he was a truck guy.
Last edited:
Marketing would have you believe they have always loved trucks. Americans love SUVs and regular cars much more than pickups. In 2022 pickups were only about 8% of new car sales and SUVs were around 46%.
The mini-van is what killed the station wagon. It was as basic as changing consumer tastes.
People still wanted the room to carry around the family, but with the introduction of the mini-van the station wagon became passe.
Then with the introduction of the SUV, the mini-van fell completely out of favor. So now we have the proliferation of SUV's
Then, what are you complaining about? Is it a fashionable fad or not?
I specifically moved out here so my half-ton "Starbucks Wagon" would look like a small truck beside all the 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks.
Last edited:
Not complaining, I think the high dollar pickup as principal vehicle is a fad. When bankers and lawyers and doctors are driving $70K+ pickups and never use them for anything you need a truck for, that fad will pass like all others do.
In all
But another thing to keep in mind is just how expensive vehicles are nowadays. Back in the days of those small trucks the OP referenced, it was possible for somebody to have a truck, large or small, as a 3rd vehicle that they only drove when/if they needed to haul something. They often weren't pretty and they certainly didn't have leather interiors.
My daily driver now is a full size pickup. Do I need a truck every day? Absolutely not. For probably 340 days out of the year, I could drive a 4X4 SUV or even (gasp!) a Subaru Outback. But for those other 25 days, I need a pickup bed and/or at least 8000lbs of _comfortable_ towing capacity. I would love to have an SUV _and_ a truck, but I really can't justify another $40K+ vehicle sitting in the driveway. So, the truck ends up being the one vehicle that checks the most boxes. But that means for approx 340 days a year, I'm that guy driving a truck who doesn't need one.
Maybe. And I agree that a lot of folks are driving big pickup trucks who don't really need them.
But another thing to keep in mind is just how expensive vehicles are nowadays. Back in the days of those small trucks the OP referenced, it was possible for somebody to have a truck, large or small, as a 3rd vehicle that they only drove when/if they needed to haul something. They often weren't pretty and they certainly didn't have leather interiors.
My daily driver now is a full size pickup. Do I need a truck every day? Absolutely not. For probably 340 days out of the year, I could drive a 4X4 SUV or even (gasp!) a Subaru Outback. But for those other 25 days, I need a pickup bed and/or at least 8000lbs of _comfortable_ towing capacity. I would love to have an SUV _and_ a truck, but I really can't justify another $40K+ vehicle sitting in the driveway. So, the truck ends up being the one vehicle that checks the most boxes. But that means for approx 340 days a year, I'm that guy driving a truck who doesn't need one.
I'm not sure as to what the OP considers a small truck, but the following are listed as mid size, so there still is some market out there.
Nissan Frontier
Chevy Colorado
Toyota Tacoma
Ford Ranger.
We used to have a Dodge Dakota, sure did love that truck. But we moved on to a luxury SUV
Nissan Frontier
Chevy Colorado
Toyota Tacoma
Ford Ranger.
We used to have a Dodge Dakota, sure did love that truck. But we moved on to a luxury SUV
Last edited:
I have a Tacoma now and had a Ranger before that which I drove for 25 years. I notice that, after a several-year absence, Ford brought the Ranger back with a stretch cab and sales seem to be going well. I would hardly call that a big truck.
Last edited:
As an example, my dad sold his half-ton truck because he no longer needed a "big" truck. He wanted to buy a Tacoma or Colorado. The Toyota dealer in his town also sells RAM trucks. After seeing the prices of the Tacomas that had the features he needed, my dad joked to the salesman that at those prices, he could probably buy a 3/4 ton truck. The salesman said "you aren't joking" and pointed to some RAM 2500s that were significantly cheaper than the Tacomas. My dad ended up buying a new 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi, off-road package, and towing package. He freely admits it's more truck than he needs, but jokes it's the only one he could afford.
So, while there are still some "small" trucks on the market, they don't come with small price tags.
The Tacoma was - and is - a great truck. People still covet them- hence the price - and they have gotten fancier. But I must say, Toyota's overall line is high-priced. People like them because they can trust them.
Truth. I have an 07 with just over 100k. Want to get 250 300k out of it.
Asked about a single cab tacoma and they told me about 30k, this was about 7 years ago also. Madness.
When we moved a little farther into the country, my wife said I had to get a truck. I really wanted a hybrid truck but none were available. I bought a 2017 Honda Ridgeline which is basically a Honda 4 door SUV with a bed in the back. The cab holds 5 people and gets 23 MPG. I got a fancy one which has a 120 volt AC outlet in the side of the truck bed. Handy when the power goes out. It’s a nice size for me.
My di$k is plenty big enough, I don't need a monster truck to compensate.
I'd buy a small truck in a heartbeat. I'm not a contractor, don't need a monster hauler or great towing capacity but I would love a small truck to haul mulch, plants, the occasional piece of furniture, help my kids move, a random trip to the dump, etc.; but the monster trucks and their price tags keep me in more reasonable vehicles. It is a LOT cheaper for me to rent a uhaul every once in a while, rather than pay for the current offerings.
Maybe you are the exception to the market. Customize your own damn F150, hacksaw.My di$k is plenty big enough, I don't need a monster truck to compensate.
I'd buy a small truck in a heartbeat. I'm not a contractor, don't need a monster hauler or great towing capacity but I would love a small truck to haul mulch, plants, the occasional piece of furniture, help my kids move, a random trip to the dump, etc.; but the monster trucks and their price tags keep me in more reasonable vehicles. It is a LOT cheaper for me to rent a uhaul every once in a while, rather than pay for the current offerings.
They really are good trucks. I've heard too many stories about Tacomas having 200,000 and 300,000 miles on them to think they are anything but bulletproof. Having said that, my dad has put about 17,000 miles on his Dodge in 3 years (but some of that was pulling a 5th wheel camper). At 79 years old, he determined his ROI on the Ram would be sufficient.
Just kidding about Outbacks. My wife is very happy with her Crosstrek. And when she wears it out after a quarter-million miles or so, she will probably buy another one. Subaru doesn't do everything well, but they do all-wheel-drive better than anybody. We are likely to see snow/ice on the roads here in at least 8 months of the year, so their winter performance was the priority.
Among my elk hunting buddies, one of them used an Outback, which happened to be his daily driver, as his hunting vehicle for a couple of years. He couldn't go down all the forest service roads, but he could go down enough of them. The other guys would routinely give him some good-natured ribbing at the trailheads when he pulled up and parked among a bunch of trucks. But they weren't making fun of him when he drove out with most of a 6X6 bull elk strapped to the roof.
You can get a diesel in a Dodge 1500 now. The new Ford Maverick P-up is $30k and under. Hyundai has a truck and the new Honda Ridgeline came this year is looking good as a smaller truck. Subaru has put off there 4 door truck into in the states for several years and hopefully it hits next year? It’s everywhere but here! It’s the size Tacoma’s were 15-20 yrs ago. I worked at a Toyota dealership and saw old T1000 trucks with 6-700k miles on them. We had a 74 Toy Corona 4dr that our family put 476k miles. My Dad sold it in 1985. That person put another 230k miles on it before he hit a deer.