A truck is not always needed

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Certainly. I hear a lot of talk locally about how "I need a truck because sometimes I buy a bag of dirt at Home Depot" though.

You know they have a truck rental service at most stores? $19 @ 75 minutes

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

You know they have a truck rental service at most stores? $19 @ 75 minutes

Yeah but how are they going to get to the rental truck without a truck?

[Fat Charlie]

Use the rental truck so you don't scratch the paint in the bed of your $50,000 pimpmobile. Me? I need a 2500 to haul my ego to work and back, and it's got to be a diesel because my balls are so huge. I also don't trust anything less than LT tires with that kind of load.

I had a full size upright freezer in the back of my Legacy, the hatch closed just fine. My wife's minivan carries either the kids and some of their friends or 4x8 sheets in the back, also with the hatch closed. Meanwhile, of all the manly rigs (sorry, "nice things") I see on the road, I think I know one guy with an 8' bed- and he doesn't have a cap. I don't have to tie anything down or tarp it in the minivan.

I worked with a guy (divorced, lived alone) who bought a brand new quad cab with a V8. He went on a hunting trip once a year with his two brothers and they took turns driving, so that's one trip every 3 years for his truck- and no car on the planet can fit 3 adults, 3 bags and 3 rifles. The other "practical" use was in case other family flew in to visit he could drive them and they wouldn't have to rent a car.

I'm sorry, but maybe 90% of truck buyers are lying to themselves.

[redpoint5]

What percent of purchases are made based on need?

It's a provable fact that big trucks tend to attract the attention of women more than a Hyundai Accent. We're designed by nature to display excess as a way to signal suitability for mating and project our influence.

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Yeah but how are they going to get to the rental truck without a truck?

I can walk to my orange box store, or use the bicycle, bus, ev ranger, VW Golf, hitch a ride. Cant fly there, no legal way to land. YMMV

And if I really get desperate, buy it online and get it delivered.

[Fat Charlie]

We all spend more than is absolutely necessary on things we don't need. But the reasons are important. "I got this because I wanted it" is a legitimate reason. "I spent extra because this is nicer" is legitimate.

It's best summed up in the old "I don't know much about art, but I do know what I like". I'm not judging people based on their likes or how they have fun, but I do judge them for their lying justifications. I respect the guy with a cartoonish 4x4 who has it because he likes that sort of thing, but the guy with an identical rig who pretends to need it because he has a dirt driveway or something is just an idiot.

[freebeard]

Wasn't it "I can't define 'art', but I know it when I see it"?

[Fat Charlie]

That's obscenity, Justice Stewart.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

What percent of purchases are made based on need?

It's a provable fact that big trucks tend to attract the attention of women more than a Hyundai Accent. We're designed by nature to display excess as a way to signal suitability for mating and project our influence.

This is also a cycle of fads.

First everyone wants a station wagon as a family vehicle. Then it has to be a minivan. Now everyone thinks it has to be an SUV or a Pickup. Why? Because that's what society tells them. Now you can't drive a station wagon because that's an old person's vehicle. And now you can't drive a minivan because that makes you a soccer mom. (And what's wrong with being a soccer mom anyway?)

Truths and half truths also shape the way we think. Many people buy bigger vehicles because they think they are safer. The heavier the vehicle the safer it is. The F-150 is the most popular pickup because it's a big heavy full sized truck. Little do buyers know that a 2021 F-150 can have a curb weight as low as 4,000lbs, the same as what many full sized cars start out at also. The Toyota Rav4 looks bigger than a Camry so it must be safer. Yet nobody pays attention that these vehicles weigh the same, and what is more, the 2021 Camry has a perfect 5 star safety rating but the RAV4 only a 4 star rating. (Maybe that's why it's called the RAV4 and not the RAV5.)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Years ago when there were far fewer paved and maintained roads, when snow removal wasn't near as good and when more people lived out in the country most people would go camping regularly in their 2wd station wagons and would boast over how well their sedans drove in the snow.

Think about how many people here in Brazil still resorted to a VW Beetle or its derivatives until relatively recent times. And with a roof-mounted rack for the luggage, there was enough space for the kids behind the rear seat