View Single Post
Old 12-31-2010, 02:18 AM   #15 (permalink)
Clev
Wannabe greenie
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Yorba Linda, CA
Posts: 1,098

The Clunker (retired) - '90 Honda Accord EX sedan
Team Honda
90 day: 29.49 mpg (US)

Mountain Goat - '96 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 SuperCab
90 day: 18 mpg (US)

Zippy - '10 Kymco Agility 125
90 day: 65.03 mpg (US)
Thanks: 5
Thanked 53 Times in 40 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3058 View Post
Good point, unless you are towing a fully-loaded cargo trailer or car hauler, probably not much.
My Silverado 1500 regularly hauls my quad but rarely tows anything. An S10 or Colorado could have done the same thing - why not get the 3,000 lb mini-truck? Couple issues:
1) A new Colorado 4x4 (w/ext cab cause the reg cab is pretty small) was only a few thousand dollars less, for what seemed to be a lower quality vehicle, with notably less power, less cab room, and smaller box.
2) The Colorados only got about 2mpg better than the Silverados.
3) Resale on the small trucks is much less than the full-size versions.

For me buying brand new, the compacts just didn't compare. When considering total life-cycle cost though (purchase price, loan interest, fuel costs) - for 95% of the truck owners out there, a used S10 would suffice. Now if only we could convince people of that...
And that's the problem: Americans think that there are only two choices: a big guzzling truck, or a giant guzzling truck. A Foreman 4x4 quad on a Harbor Freight folding flatbed trailer is 850 pounds, and can easily be towed by anything larger than a Smart FourTwo. For 95% of the truck owners out there, a car would suffice.

And it's absolutely unacceptable that compact trucks get such poor mileage. There's no reason why they shouldn't get 30 mpg, or even more with a diesel.
__________________

  Reply With Quote