Can't have nice things
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I had an 06 Ford Ranger (actually a Mazda). RWD with a 4 cylinder and a 5 speed. No frills at all. That was a phenomenal truck. You could put snow tires on it, throw some sand bags in the bed, and go just about anywhere.
I wish I’d never sold mine. It would still be running today if I had kept it.
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I honestly doubt it they would even look at a smaller vehicle now. Most of the people I run into vastly overestimate their needs in a vehicle. They get a diesel 3/4 ton to tow their 4000lb boat because they "need" the towing capacity to do it. They would not believe that if they got the right model the Maverick, it could easily handle their needs.
I get an insane amount of comments about my work setup when I am fully loaded. "You need a bigger truck." No I fucking don't. It's a F150 with a 16' 10K trailer. The truck's legal towing max is 10,200lbs. It's engine is rated for 13,000lbs. Since I am using it for commercial use I have a maximum towing of 10,000lbs. Any more would require a DOT registration and pay fees crossing state borders etc. It's a well balanced setup that I do around 100 deliveries with per year.
I could go up to a larger setup but the cost/benefit analysis doesn't add up. I would save approximately 5 trips per year (around 20 hours) having a larger capacity but it would cost me $15K more per year in expenses for a 3/4 ton diesel truck and 17K trailer.
My wife and I are in the preorder group for the Tello, and I think that might be where you're headed.
It's the size of a 4-door Mini. Because of the packing advantages of batteries and electric motors, it easily puts everything you'd want in a basic truck and then some. It fits a 4x8 sheet flat on its bed (with some hangover out the back) just fine because it doesn't have large wheel well intrusion. The wheels can be small because everything else is small, and that means there's plenty of bed space.
It can also tow 6,600 lbs. So maybe not enough for you, but 6,600 lbs is hardly small. If I wanted to make my Miata into a dedicated track car and trailer it around, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have much issue.
Chapman's "simplify and add lightness" works for trucks, too.
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In memory of my 95 extended cab
I needed a new vehicle this year and knew I wanted a small truck to help with my forever ongoing home renovation needs. A Ranger was definitely what I was targeting before ultimately falling in love with an 88 Jeep Comanche long bed. Perfect size truck that looks Comically small when parked next to any modern day truck
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In memory of my 95 extended cab
I really want a Kei Truck, and I can't be the only one.
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Sales figures don’t support it. There is some demand, but not enough to redesign the platform to support 2-door. That’s a consequence of unibody design, 2 door is a completely different engineering from 4 door.
2 door trucks are barely available for consumers these days, you practically have to get them off the fleet lots.
Small electric trucks are coming. Slate is marketing like crazy to drive up demand. Telo is struggling to get to market. CAFE killed small gas trucks. That’s probably OK, electric is more suited for small trucks anyway, just need truck people to understand how much better electric is on small platforms vs 4cyl.
I'd buy a electric truck with a full bed and a single cab if they made one. There are no options that don't have stunted beds that I've seen.
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Yep. But I'm not out hating people over it. I'd actually like to know.
Yeah, because you're in a big truck, and not a sensibly sized car getting pinched between a brodozer and a concrete barrier everyday.
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Telo is also struggling to get to market and will be a much better choice than Slate if they make it. They’re not nearly as well funded though.
The Telo is also quite a nice small size, but unfortunately double the MSRP, with the base model costing 41k. It's targeting a different market segment. The Slate's theoretical low cost is a big draw, despite it being less featured (that's actually what makes it appealing, IMO).
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I wish I’d never sold mine. It would still be running today if I had kept it.
Same. Poor decision on my part.
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Yeah, because you're in a big truck, and not a sensibly sized car getting pinched between a brodozer and a concrete barrier everyday.
No I'm mostly in my Miata or my bike. Again, y'all just invent things.
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Perfectly fair. You can have what you want. I just want to have what I want.
I'm trying to buy a compact on Autotrader and compacts are selling for more than low-end full size, so I think there's a demand.
Sorry, not trying to argue with you too if that came off wrong!
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No I'm mostly in my Miata or my bike. Again, y'all just invent things.
Ah, so you wouldn't recommend that someone buy one of these things as a daily driver? You only have the truck for doing truck stuff, right?
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In memory of my 95 extended cab
How else do you expect to fit two morbidly obese American parents and their morbidly obese children?
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hmmmm, this feels wrong, but off the top of my head i don't have many critics. but, like, what if the car makers just make very inefficient, but also very cheap cars? won't people buy that instead?
Very inefficient cars would burn a ton of fuel and then consumers would be paying a fortune in fuel taxes.
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Sorry, not trying to argue with you too if that came off wrong!
No worries! I'm not trying to do that either.
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2 things:
- The new truck has 4 doors. That's a crew cab.
- Part of the reason for today's massive trucks is a change in CAFE regs starting in 2012 that bases fuel economy standards on vehicle footprint. It's easier to make a larger footprint than a more efficient vehicle.
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I really want a Kei Truck, and I can't be the only one.
OMG, there are two people in my neighborhood with them and I want one soooo bad. Only problem is I need to haul stuff to the landfill and that requires getting on the interstate which I don't think they're rated for in my state.
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This is actually my fourth vehicle, lifetime. My second was a 97 ranger with the 5 speed and 4 banger. I sold it and missed it so bad I got this one after I lost the car in a flood.
I live in Worst Carolina, and I know the feeling when you can just say you lost something in "the flood" and people just nod their heads like, "yep, I know".
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And more children die nowadays for the sake of... what? Small egos?
For the sake of bigger profits.
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Yup. I have a play farm, not a real farm. Real farming is an industrial process that requires duallys and such. However, those are also real trucks. Beat to shit, tools in the bed, not lifted so much you can't load them, etc. They look the part. I do also have a 98 Chevy 3500 box truck. Drinks way too much gas to use it for anything other than its purpose, don't even have it registered right now, bad cats.
I know some play farmers with dualies. One is for building a fence, one is for towing a 5th wheel and a toy hauler. The fence builder is similarly unregistered because it's "expensive enough to maintain"
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I needed a new vehicle this year and knew I wanted a small truck to help with my forever ongoing home renovation needs. A Ranger was definitely what I was targeting before ultimately falling in love with an 88 Jeep Comanche long bed. Perfect size truck that looks Comically small when parked next to any modern day truck
They're a vanishing breed. I was searching Autotrader for a compact pickup, and the only thing I found was a Mazda B2300 ... from 1986. I can't use that - I'd be too worried about damaging it. It's a collector's item.
