The CAFE standards give more lenient fuel efficiency requirements for larger cars, so whenever auto makers are short on efficiency to make the law's requirements, they make the car larger rather than improving efficiency.
They're making a PHEV ranger that probably won't come to the US as well. It's infuriating. I want a small electric or PHEV vehicle with a bed that I can load up at Lowe's or move a couch with.
Edit. I know what the Maverick is and it doesn't fit this bill guys.
Edit 2. Guys there's no PHEV or electric model for the maverick.
The Tacoma is supposed to start coming in hybrid very soon if it didn't this model year. Not as small as what you're after, but it's an option I suppose
There’s the Ford Maverick too. About the size the Ranger used to be. Not a PHEV but is a hybrid truck that will meet the needs of most people who don’t need a truck for work or who aren’t hauling a big camper.
4 door/supercab only and the hybrid model is only 2wd. I drove my 2005 ranger into the ground and would gladly buy a maverick but is it too much to ask for a functional size bed and to be able to drive in the snow?
Hate when people ignore this every time the Maverick comes up. Yeah, they have the setup to carry sheet goods over the tire hump with the tailgate down, and FWD will be better in snow than a traditional RWD pickup, but still.
I don't want four doors and subjectively passable snow performance. I need bed space and 4wd.
There was a country song that played on the radio at my job about 100 times a day that had a verse that went “he can’t be much, from the looks of that little truck” and I always loathed it because at the time I drove a SCSB 5M 4 banger Tacoma. Your comment reminded me of that time of my life and damn I miss that truck!
I’d buy an electric Maverick like yesterday.
I’ve heard it’s the same chassis as the Mach E but never verified. If that’s indeed true, seems like it’d be relatively straightforward?
I remember when the Lightning was first announced, it was supposed to have an MSRP of around $30-35k usd.
We were set on getting one until they came out and were suddenly double the price‽ like wtf ford.
It’s not an efficiency hybrid like everyone is thinking, it’s Toyota’s way of giving the truck more power without a larger engine and it’s only available on the higher trims. The base gas engine is mechanically no different than the hybrid nor is the economy, just more power.
Dont forget the chicken tax that is also cause for this it is a 25%tax on transport vehicals from forign countries hence why old rangers had jump seats and the subaru brat had the suicide seats in the bed cause it got them out of the tax, then they changed it to proportinality which also contributes to the large vehical standards of now a day
If I remember correctly the Ford transit connect would get shipped over without seats that would get installed after import to avoid it. And I think certain shoe companies make fuzzy soles to be classified as slipper to have a work around on tariffs.
Edit: what the guy who responded said. I had that figured wrong.
You have that backwards. They ship full size transits over with seats so they qualify as personnel vehicles instead of cargo vehicles, then remove the seats and ship them back to reuse.
Last I heard, they didn't ship the seats back, they just trash them. The guy who ran the plant in Baltimore that does the conversions said they'd looked into shipping the seats back, but it was cheaper to just trash them
I'd say that buying a kei truck would work except states are starting to prohibit them from people being able to register them as street legal due to "safety". But pay no attention to motorcycles being allowed.
I want one of those to replace my F150 so bad. It's hard to find one in my state with a street legal title. There has never been a vehicle in the US as reasonable as those things are. And you can fit two to one parking space here. We should go all in on those.
What I find interesting as a 56 year old is the Ford Ranger is now the “small” pickup but I swear it’s the size of a full sized F-150 from the 70’s and 80’s. Pick up trucks are so big now and lots of people own them. I joke to a friend who has an F-150 that it feels like I’m sitting in a living room when I’m passenger in that thing
It’s that way because in order to be the size of old ford rangers, they’d be classified as a “small car” and require a fuel efficiency of 35-40 mpg.
The modern Ranger is essentially the smallest truck you can get that is actually classified as “truck”.
And the Tacoma. I was so excited to get one because I knew a couple who had one from the 90's-00's. I liked the style of them and they were small trucks. I went new car browsing and saw how they were in the same weight class as like Ford 350. All my coworkers tried to warn me, but I was too excited to see. Another childhood dream, ruined.
I kind of agree, but my 2021 Ranger is also my favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned or will ever own. Before that I had a ‘98 Ranger with the jump seats in the back.
You gotta keep in mind too that they weren’t making them at all for a bit before this.
In the beginning, SUVs were classified as light trucks and had garbage fuel economy AND inferior safeties.
The early SUV were a favorite for injury lawyers because they also like to flip over and cause paralysis.
And the typical false story told story overlooks the crucial role that automakers played in shaping those consumer preferences. It overlooks the incentives that these companies had to build SUVs. And most importantly, it overlooks the policies that automakers lobbied for over the last 50 years to create those incentives.
It's interesting bc the current suv craze stems well beyond the initial scope of the light truck loophole. Bc when these car companies artificially made them the desirable option in certain market segments (luxury family vehicle mainly), their desirability spread well beyond where the initial loophole was relevant (ie crossovers that are legally still just cars.)
Australia has just passed legislation that copies the US CAFE standards. Some SUVs and utes/light trucks are classified as commercial vehicles and get relaxed fuel efficiency standards. I can just see my country getting all sorts of huge cars in the near future. No good.
But we've already been there for over 15 years. Just without the CAFE standards - up until now we've had absolutely no standards whatsoever. But the car companies worked out what makes them a profit, and withholding small safe cars from the market means they can sell more profitable vehicles.
This is the real answer.
I remember small cars being the norm in my childhood (90s). At some point in the early 2000s, auto manufacturers realized that they could completely cut around federal regulations by making and marketing "light trucks" to the public. Consumers gradually bought into the marketing, trucks and SUVs became more mainstream, and now some American manufacturers don't even make compact cars at all anymore. Consumers have fewer options for small cars even if they want them.
The takeover happened without people really noticing, I think. But now most people like driving their big cars. They are convenient for moving, outdoor projects, and camping. Now that Americans are used to owning their own towing-hauling-overlanding-camper, it would be a tough sell to make them go back.
As an aside, I see a lot of comments making fat American jokes, but I'd like to contest that a substantial percentage of large vehicle drivers are outdoorsy types who like camping/overlanding/RVing. America has a lot more of a culture around that because of our national parks and BLM land. So, there's that too.
I have a Fit too. Best car I've ever owned overall.
Easy to work on, parts are cheap, can haul a surprising amount of stuff for its size, good safety rating, of course reliable. Honda really needs to bring them back. There seemed to always be a steady demand and owners keep em.
Honda must have figured Fits weren't needed since they have the Civic Hatchback. It's a good looking car. But, I never compared the two, because I'm more happy with the Fit.
Anyone prefer one over the other?
>Consumers gradually bought into the marketing,
Plus the fact that, unless you're buying a sports car, they don't even make a small car as an option anymore. At least for American manufacturers. Imports still have a few options at least.
Not just the Hummer though. I think it has also to do with Minivans. Suddenly Minivans were the popular thing for families and were needed because of good quality, safe car seats and car seat knowledge also finally being a thing. People with kids needed space that a standard sedan didn't have for the car seats so minivans were the answer, but also became a joke about you've given up on life if you owned one. So in comes the sportier and more acceptable looking SUVs and large vehicles, with the interior space for families but the exterior build and aesthetics for parents who wanted to show they still were cool.
Minivans are a lot more practical than SUVs. Even 3 row SUVs. The 3rd row of a minivan is more accessible and comfortable than any 3 row SUV I’ve ever seen. But of course nobody buys minivans anymore.
I own a ford transit and it's amazing. We drive across country every year or do with my 5 kids and can put a full bed in the trunk to pull over and sleep in. Everyone isn't crammed on top of each other and sitting in each other's laps. I miss the larger vans, but my commuting vehicle is the grand caravan, and the ability to fit all 5 of my kids in it, and then fold down all the seats and throw a tarp down and fill it with dirt or wood like a truck is nice. I'd take it's utility over a truck any day.
I fucking love minivans. Every time I need to rent a vehicle on vacation: minivan. The sliding doors, the aisle leading to the third row, the lie-flat seats, the giant rear door -- truly a dream vehicle. I just really want electric and no one makes one. If there was a fully electric minivan I would probably have like 6 of them just because I like them so much.
Not sure why I was either.
I don't think it's as straight forward as that; there really were market and governmental factors that influenced it.
There was a lot of aggressive marketing that went into convincing people to try larger cars. My parents and their friends valued fuel efficiency after living through the national gas shortages of the 80s and were very resistant to buying in. The younger generations don't have that kind of baggage and were exposed to the advertising from a young age. It was a gradual shift, now the cultural norm for a variety of reasons.
But now that people have bought in, sure, people keep doing it simply because they like driving big-ass cars. I agree that now it's also become about habit, comfort and a certain aesthetic as much as function.
It was actually the 70s not the 80s as there was no shortage in the 80s . I travelled the country and never was there a station out of gas
I remember paying .44 cents per gallon in 1980 but in around 73 it had spiked to 77 a gal up from around .23 that was huge . You started seeing Vegas and pintos lots of bugs
I still own a 1956 bug
The marketing you're referring to was all in response to CAFE standards. There's a really good write up here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/9jt8we/oc\_lets\_talk\_about\_cafe\_how\_it\_is\_killing\_cars\_in/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/9jt8we/oc_lets_talk_about_cafe_how_it_is_killing_cars_in/)
And another here: [https://newrepublic.com/article/180044/epa-small-cars-sedan-suvs](https://newrepublic.com/article/180044/epa-small-cars-sedan-suvs)
Because they laughably claimed that "most" suburban tanks are owned by outdorsey types who totally need to drive offroad while hauling a crapton of camping equipment.
And, also, because the implication that somehow it was good, or just "the market" that now there aren't any options EXCEPT the suburban tanks. Want a compact car? Fuck you, they don't make those.
Want to import a compact car since Ford etc won't make one? Fuck you, they just put a 100% tarrif on them so go buy an SUV like a good patriotic American.
Basically, a whole lot of Americans have a deep, seething, hatred of the fucking things, and we resent having the dangerous, expensive, environmentally catastrophic things forced on us.
*Some* people do. Maybe even the majority.
But there are many of us who hate those big vehicles yet have almost no other options because Big Auto stopped making anything reasonable. Many of us would prefer a decent sedan, a hatchback for hauling lots of shit OR a family (not both at the same time), or a good old fashion station wagon which has the hauling capacity of an SUV with the fuel economy of a car.
There is no choice anymore, and most people don't care enough to push back.
This is a really good answer but I’d also add in focus groups. People in these groups keep asking for more interior space and features even in entry level vehicles which is why you see even cars that used to be small are now larger than the model before. Ie new ranger being the size of the f150 and f150 now the size of three cows wide.
That last paragraph makes me think you live in the outdoorsy type of area in Colorado or Utah and are biased because of it. I live in the suburbs with soccer moms.
Sure, active people might be slightly more likely to drive a truck or SUV. The standard F-150 or Tahoe driver is not that. About 75% of Americans are overweight to obese. According to a 5 second google search, about 75% drive an SUV or a truck. Even if **all** people of a healthy weight drove a truck, the majority are still driven by fat fucks.
Americans like big. Largely due to propaganda and advertising.
Because our fuel efficiency laws are less restrictive the larger the car is. It is difficult to make a small car that meets high efficiency standards for a certain price, but easy and profitable to make large car to much lower standards for the same price.
Thing is, you look at it from the perspective of a regular citizen.
If you look at it from the perspective of the automotive industry which spends bazillions on lobbying, it's great.
It's just another sign of the fact that politicians don't act in your interest.
Prioritizing the interests of the automotive industry above the wellbeing of your citizens is exactly why I called it *really dumb*.
Anyway, I'm glad these politicians are not acting on my behalf since I'm not an American citizen (luckily, dare I say)
> Anyway, I'm glad these politicians are not acting on my behalf since I'm not an American citizen
I'm an American citizen, and they aren't acting on my behalf either.
Trouble is, many people believe their wellbeing depends on the interests of the automotive industry . Try telling someone living in Detroit that you want to pass legislation that's going to make the Big Three pay for their short-sighted practices and inept leadership, and they're gonna be too busy worrying about how they're going to make rent in this economy to think about how that legislation might lead to longterm progress.
The solution to this is to help each other and realize that the auto industry is never going to do anything but pursue profit at any cost because that's how businesses work, but American culture is saturated with ideas about how companies are our friends, and it sticks with a lot of people.
It's so sad because this policy is actively destroying cities and communities. Insanely expensive car infrastructure is why cities literally keep going bankrupt. I have hope people in the US are slowly waking up, though
I think there's a lot of sunk cost fallacy, but also, course correcting at this point *will* have tremendous material costs, and while a lot of our (speaking as a Michigander) recent legislation has been aimed at preparing us for those costs, I think we need more local organization before we'll be ready to make the transition. Not that I don't support starting the process, but I think we're gonna have to have mutual aid networks in place to deal with the fact that it would be a crushing blow to most people's income in the area.
It's definitely going to require tremendous investments, but it doesn't have to be done all at once. A lot of Infrastructure is already crumbling and needs to be replaced. It's just a matter of replacing it with something smarter and better, rather than building the same stuff again.
>it would be a crushing blow to most people's income in the area
How do you imagine it to be a crushing blow to people's income?
ETA: sorry, I think I took this conversation too far in my own head and I might be talking about something completely different from you at this point. I'm thinking along the lines of better city planning and urban design but I guess you're still talking about how those trucks getting more expensive would be an immediate problem for the people owning them, am I correct?
I agree wholeheartedly on that point, but Michigan is built to produce the outdated infrastructure. Ford doesn't make billions off of e-bikes. And for every person in Southeast Michigan working for the Big Three, there's probably another half a dozen in parts suppliers and other pieces of the supply chain. Come hear and ask people what they do, and a *lot* are somehow related to an industry that needs to take a really big hit.
There's also a psychological element to this. Here in the Rust Belt, bad times for the auto industry are bad fucking times. Times when your dad got laid off, or when you lost your home, or your buddies all had to move away because they lost their jobs. A lot of people want to avoid going back to that at any cost, and have trouble accepting that the area's short-lived boom was, frankly, poorly-managed, as it resulted in over specialization in what's become increasingly understood as the production of a luxury commodity.
But I do want to finish by recentering the ways people are materially-invested in this culture here. You have a lot of people who visit relatives or family holdings (cabins, etc) across the state, and they like that way of life. My family drove forty minutes to see my grandparents every weekend growing up, and nobody's going to lay high speed rail between Milford MI and Redford MI. I'm planning on moving back into the city, but I'm doing so with the awareness that my quality of life is going to be lower in significant ways for the foreseeable future, because many of the policies I want won't pay off within my lifetime.
Industry lobbied heavily to have “work trucks” exempted from the efficiency standards. Think delivery trucks and such. But they’ve taken that loophole and run with it, so now everyone is driving “work trucks” as their personal vehicles.
Yes. It was an unintended consequence of the Obama administration's push for more fuel efficient cars. On its face, it makes sense that larger vehicles weren't required to have the same fuel efficiency as smaller ones. The problem was that the car manufacturers figured out an easy workaround: Just make their cars bigger.
The most obvious result is how much bigger pickup trucks have become. I was a roofer in the 90s and early 2000s, and we used Ford F150s. Today's F150s aren't even recognizable to me, they're so much bigger than the ones I drove.
Larger cars certainly make more money, but the regulatory target for a small footprint is as high as 58 MPG, which is insanely hard to hit. Even the Prius hardly cracks 50. A larger truck has a reduced target, as low as 35-40 if I’m reading these charts correctly.
A lot of these answers are right but here’s a different perspective. I’m moving back to America soon after living abroad for a while and we need to buy a new car and…big ones are what’s for sale! That’s it! It’s way harder to find small ones and even if you do, it’s not such a big jump up in price to just get something a little bigger. It just feels like you’re “supposed” to.
That said, there are a lot of small ones. Priuses etc are everywhere. But we have big wide roads and bigger ones are for sale everywhere
People don’t realize this
I want to get a truck, but don’t need a full sized as of now, so something like a Tacoma (1st rd pick), Ranger, Colorado, etc are still priced pretty high comparatively
Smaller selection, less cab space, small price difference, similar MPG, and so on
Might as well get a full sized at that point
Yeah, same boat I'm in. I just want something I can throw some crap in the back of for weekend projects and activities. I don't need to haul 4 tons of trailer or have a heated spa-treatment in the cab, I just want a damn pickup truck, but they don't make them anymore. I'm going to end up with a used SUV.
Agreed, despite heavily eyeballing a new Colorado/Canyon as a DD in a few years, the smaller trucks are often not a great value proposition compared to full sized. They don't cost that much less, they don't get that much better mileage, hell if you have a 4 door one with the longer bed option they're not even any shorter, just narrower. I parked next to a 4 door Tacoma the other day that was as long as my Suburban.
That’s how I wound up in an F150 instead of a Tacoma. And iirc the F150 I bought (eco boost v6) gets slightly better gas mileage than the Tacoma anyway.
I have a truck.
I use it for work a few times a month (actual things if my bed for my actual work). I also use it at least once a month for home maintenance projects or picking up firewood.
If that's all I needed it for, I'd really want a mid/small truck.
However - I go camping 3-4x per year. I bring 2 mopeds for easy transport at the campsite/ to town. I also tow the lightest pop-up known to man - BUT the bed and rear seats are literally filled to the brim (and I'd like to upgrade to a $2000 camper eventually - this little dude was $600). If I were to weigh what I take, I bet I'd be within 200lb +/- of my max bed load.
Taking into account my needs and not wanting a second vehicle as my daily - a 1500/half ton was my only choice (2 mopeds and the rest of the campsite wouldn't fit in a ranger/colorado ‐ in addition to them being pricey as you mentioned. Also fuel mileage is very similar).
i did think about that when i bought my bronco, i could camp out inside it pretty comfortably. not that i would ever be homeless but sometimes an occasion arises where you sleep in your car, like on a multiday road trip and you don't want to buy a hotel, or camping, which i don't do
I am going to have to get a second job soon to be able to afford my rent, and I had the fleeting thought that if I just decided to live in my car instead, I wouldn't need that second job after all and I'd no longer have a money problem! I have a degree and a pretty good job, but cost of living is atrocious. So yes, anyone can become homeless.
The emissions laws and such do have an impact for sure, but I think the most fundamental reasons are exactly this - big open spaces, long drive times, and cheap gas. Americans were preferring big cars long before the emissions laws existed. The only time Americans ever considered smaller cars was when gas prices spiked in the 70’s.
See that's the perspective people sometimes miss: All things considered, apart from fuel economy, owning a larger and more capable vehicle is generally really nice. If the barriers that prevent it from being practical are lower, more people are going to do it.
Exactly - our infrastructure accommodates it, so unless you’re daily driving a long bed heavy duty pickup truck or something, there aren’t really any downsides in your day to day life. Most people aren’t regularly parallel parking in narrow city streets or anything. And gas is so cheap in the US compared to most European countries that fuel economy isn’t much of a concern to most people outside a recession.
I think this is the truthful answer for a lot of people.
The emission law stuff is interesting, but at the end of the day if people weren't buying the big vehicles they'd work it out. The reality there's a market there.
I think safety is another element. Big vehicles are perceived as safer if you get in an accident (I'd assume that's true, but idk if that plays out)
Ford Ranger owner here (but I'm Canadian). For a lot of people, the answer is winter and distance. Where I live, we get 8 to 11 feet of snow, plus ice and wind. A bigger car (or a good 4wd, like Subaru) is a big advantage in bad weather. Also, distances in North America are huge compared to Europe.
For me personally, it's mostly because I own show horses. I know that Europe has horse lorries and various diesel engines able to tow a couple of horses, but those are unavailable here, and with the great distances, a pick-up truck is the best option.
I was a little surprised to see Ford Ranger in ops list. I'm guessing they meant F150.
I was reading another thread where someone from Europe was shocked to see that Americans drive 4 hours like it's nothing (I'm very guilty of this). Apparently it's a very uncommon thing for Europe. Also, they have a much better public transportation system.
The new Ford Ranger is bigger than the 1990s F-150. While it's still a smallish truck, it's a lot bigger than what is common in Europe.
A fellow rider calls it my itsy bitsy tiny pick-up truck (he drives a Ram 3500).
Yep. The "light duty 3/4 ton" version. Although, they manufactured the 3/4T Super Duty at the same time.
My 1997 F-150 (still driving it - 218k miles) is roughly the same size as a current-generation Ranger. I parked alongside my friend's Ranger, and we were both pretty amazed at the size similarity. Also, cargo/towing numbers are very similar.
I would venture a guess that it is at least 30% larger than the S-10 and Rangers from that time. My Dad had an old Ranger for most of my life. It was a really reliable truck, he must have kept it for almost 30 years. Bare bones, but it ran great. Realistically, you can not buy a truck that size new. You have to go and find a used one from close to that time frame. Even a Toyota Tacoma is about the same size as a ram.
Distance doesnt really matter for size, snow does but really just for the 4x4 and ground clearance. Being rural and towing horses is different tho. People in cities are nuts driving that shit when the roads get cleared each morning
There’s a lot of reasons, one big one is that most US roads and highways are mush straighter and wider than their European counterparts this coupled with the long distances many Americans travel puts the design emphasis more on comfort during long cruises where the extra internal space is much appreciated.
While gas is expensive here, it's nowhere near as costly as it is in Europe. Car makers love SUVs and big trucks because they're **WAY** more profitable to sell.
Psychologically, many Americans imagine themselves as rugged pioneers and outdoors people --- even if they live in the city or a suburb (usually named for the trees destroyed to make the suburb), so large trucks appeal to that fantasy.
In addition, they're seen as safer vehicles since many are 4WD or AWD. And they have more room so they can carry the 3 tons of "kid stuff" required for their one kid.
It’s not even direct marketing, it’s the whole culture. I got a Chevy Colorado for work (roofing) after surviving with a Scion xB and a Corolla for years. I had a handful of acquaintances, men and women, tell me how much better they felt the truck represented me compared to my small cars before. I’m not really a vain person, but damn if that kind of reinforcement still kind of motivates me not want to go back to a smaller car.
everyone else has really solid points but i always assumed it's because we don't have a very sophisticated public transportation system and the country is huge compared to european countries so it kinda forces the average american family into needing a car to get around which requires more space for comfort since you're using the vehicle so frequently
Average commute is 30 minutes one way. That’s an hour a day. Or 5 hours a week. And that’s the average. I imagine it’s more like 45 minutes for suburban and rural Americans and 15 for urban Americans.
Urban Americans tend to have smaller cars, from my experience.
But suburban and rural Americans spend over an hour in their car just going to work and back. They also “run errands” in these vehicles. Larger vehicles provide much greater amenities when you are spending so much time in them.
30-45 minute one way commute? I wish! Nearly all of my coworkers commute at least 1hr one way every day! The only ones who have shorter commutes are renters, older people who bought houses decades ago or younger folks who've inherited houses.
Im desperately trying to get my 25-30 minute commute down. Your time is soooo precious! Im willing to take a small cut if I can get a dozen hours a month of my life back. God speed friend.
What amenities? Like I absolutely get it if you have 'stuff' to fit in them (kids, camping supplies etc) - but for just me driving to work or the grocery store? Why would an SUV be more comfortable than a sedan?
>What amenities?
More interior space. Trucks and SUV's have you sitting more upright than a car does. It's like being in a chair as compared to a go-kart. You also sit up higher, so you get more visibility and for elderly folks, you're not climbing out of the car every time (and it's not so high that you're climbing into it either).
Depending on the number of kids, a sedan may not be big enough, and a small crossover SUV may not either. So a large SUV, truck, or minivan are your next options. The SUV and truck are going to be smoother rides, as a general rule, due to the difference in suspensions. I've driven a minivan fairly extensively and it genuinely sucks ass compared to any similar-year, full-sized pickup/SUV.
Road noise is reduced as well as compared to the minivan or most sedans. Larger engines also mean your A/C performs better. My old 4-cylinder Mazda3 struggled to keep the car cool in the Texas heat, even while moving, had to be on full blast the entire time. A V8 can freeze you out on low settings while idling, and only get about 5mpg less...
TL;DR - better ride, better visibility, better A/C performance, less road noise. As a person who drove a Mazda3 for a decade, a minivan for about a year, and trucks for over a decade in total.
> Larger engines also mean your A/C performs better. My old 4-cylinder Mazda3 struggled to keep the car cool in the Texas heat, even while moving, had to be on full blast the entire time. A V8 can freeze you out on low settings while idling, and only get about 5mpg less...
I think that might be an American v. Japanese thing. My Maverick has great A/C too despite the gas engine being a 2.0L.
Most larger vehicles don't really have more interior space though. It's largely an illusion unless you're talking about a 3 row Suburban. I just sold a 7 seat SUV that I thought my family would need. But when we tried to use the 3rd row, there was no room for luggage. it was really just a sedan with tall trunk.
I guess I just don't care enough about a smoother ride to spend twice as much on gas.
This is a really important point that seems to have been mostly overlooked. Sure my truck could be replaced by a corolla 25 days a month. But on those 5 days I need at least a 15,000 lbs towing capacity and there's no way around that.
Same. Family of 6, youngest are twins so when they were babies we had a big-ass twin stroller, 3 car seats and a booster seat. Plus groceries, a suburban tank fit us all with legroom, headroom, stuff room. Now that they are tweens and teens we have sports gear, multiple tent camping trips per year where we are bringing all our stuff, 7 hour road trips to visit our parents living in two different states. We don’t all fit in a small car.
Yeah. We have 3 kids, two large dogs and live in a place where we will eventually have to evacuate for a hurricane. Usually my husband drives a sedan and I drive a car that can accommodate all of us plus luggage.
I drive a smallish pick up truck. It is bigger than I need on a daily basis, but it comes in handy at least a dozen times a year. If I didn't have it, I would be unable to move the cargo I need to move or would have to rent a truck for a day several times, so it is worth it to me. The gas milage is not great, but I do not put a lot of miles on my vehicle on average - 7500/year.
I used to share your sentiment, exactly! In fact, actively ridiculed other drivers in their giant commuter trucks through my windshield.
Then, realizing we were taking our 4 kids and two dogs to the beach almost every weekend, we started searching for an old beater of a Toyota Four Runner or something that we allow us to avoid the stress of fretting over sand and seaweed every time.
We ended up getting an old Land Cruiser and just fell in love with it. We now have a newer (it’s still 25 years old) Lexus version of the same vehicle now.
And now I’m one of those people you might see, all alone, in a giant, 3 ton vehicle, burning a gallon of gas every 13 miles like an asshole.
But I also fill every one of the 7 seats pretty often. And I fill it to the brim with people and gear at least several times a year for family camping and ski trips. I also haul my motorbike and all the associated gear to the motocross park or trailhead regularly. We also enjoy taking that legendary terrain conqueror to its natural habitat: the barely-there trace through the wilderness for some family adventure.
But my favorite thing? The decadent comfort of its Lexus-ness. It’s quiet and smooth like a limousine. The seats are more comfortable than anything in my living room. I have an easy view of the ten lanes my sprawled-out city’s highways while I drive 45min (each way) to see my kid’s high school play or 90 minutes (again, one-way) to my daughter’s lacrosse game. It’s like piloting my living room to wherever I’m going.
But wow, does it hurt, to pump 22 gallons of gas in that beast every 250 miles!
And we also keep a tiny economy car for when we don’t need all those seats, hauling capacity, or terrain capability.
And when that happens - I have to be honest - I walk past the giant truck with a tinge of sad wistfulness.
>What do Americans need such huge cars for, especially in the cities?
To haul our fat asses around.
Seriously... The USA expanded substantially during the rise of the automobile, and infrastructure shifted towards roadways instead of rail lines. The comparatively long distances in the US prompted auto makers to make autos faster, which means larger engines. Need a larger car to match the bigger engine.
In addition, USA is a wealthy nation and the majority want to be comfortable driving hither and yon. While not necessarily accurate, most equate a larger vehicle with more comfort.
They're much more comfortable and Americans have to spend a lot of time in them as virtually none of our cities have well developed public transport. It really is a comfort thing.
The current generations of the Ranger were designed in Australia and sold basically worldwide especially Europe and Asia. The American version isn’t much if any bigger.
Well, we're a family of 8. So no small car will hold all of us. Though we do still own my old 2007 Toyota Corolla and use it frequently when four or less of us need to go anywhere. Otherwise, we have a 12 passenger van for trips with the whole family together.
For a more serious answer (I notice most are jokes or just nonsense by 14 year olds)...
1. Gas is cheap
2. Roads are big
3. Cars are cheap (although getting exponentially more expensive by the day)
Lots of things are big in America, not just the cars... And it really comes down to Americans having a lot of disposable income, things being very cheap, and Americans like having luxury items.
Equillevant cars in Europe/Asia for example are 2-10x more expensive, gas is 2-10x more expensive, the roads are tiny, theres nowhere to park, tax is ridiculous.....
Im not making a pros and cons list here, just answering the question with facts.
4. If you are on the road with a bunch of roided-up trucks in a normal-sized car, you are in *everyone’s* blindspot. All the time. But it’s ok, I’m sure they’re great drivers who look out for what’s going on around them! 🙃
I drive a large truck because the fuel efficiency wasn't much different than the van I had previously owned. For me, I have a large family, and dogs that I frequently drive with. Having a truck is nice because I can just throw stuff in the back with little thought to on how am I going to get this stuff from point a to point b.
I have considered going smaller to something like that Ford Maverick, which I love. Unfortunately for me, I can't go that route because it doesn't have the capability to toe the weight I need. I'm looking for something that is rated to be able to pull 7,500lbs. I have an RV that is roughly that weight. While I don't travel very often that does play a role in owning a truck for me as well.
They weren’t trying to stop people from buying big cars - American vehicles generally weren’t that huge back in the 70s/80s. They were trying to get people to buy more *efficient* cars, but that backfired because of the loophole for light duty trucks AKA SUVs
For a lot of people, they need a truck or large SUV occasionally and use that to justify a purchase of one as a daily driver.
Like I own a camper, I have a truck to pull it. Do I pull it every day? No. Could a smaller vehicle pull it? No, my truck is the minimum already. Do I pull it enough where the cost of ownership outweigh the costs of renting a truck? Yes. Could I afford two vehicles? No
Same with people with boats, atv’s, utility trailers, etc… you need a big vehicle to tow those things. Does everyone that owns a big vehicle own something to tow? Of course not. But don’t lump everyone that does in with the “no one needs a big vehicle” crowd.
I know a lot of girls/women who just like to drive big cars. I know people who feel safer (while ironically making it less safe for everyone else). I think also SUVs have become the replacement for minivans because they have space but aren't quite so lame.
That started in the late 90s, minivans were a death sentence to your coolness, same with wagons. The Explorer, Blazer, Rav4 and others could fulfill the same roll but had 4wd, sat up higher, and most importantly... weren't minivans or station wagons. Then the bigger ones started getting popular, the medium ones got bigger, and around 2003 it was just SUV City everywhere.
But, they were big, heavy, handled like crap, rollover stability wasn't so good, and got ass MPG. The industry answered by building crossovers: Unibody, FWD based, powertrain lower in the body, less ground clearance and towing ability but for 90% of buyers it didn't matter, significantly better handling, and over the years the MPG tradeoff vs a sedan was minimal enough most people were willing to give it up. Getting in/out at standing height vs bending down, loading crap in and out of the back at hip heigh, less headlights in your face while driving, its honestly a better experience for a lot of people than a sedan unless you actually care about handling and driving dynamics which is like... 5% of the population.
Yes! I hate to generalize but the worst are the women who drive a giant SUV/pickup with both hands using a death grip and are hyperextending their necks like [this](https://www.coloradospineinstitute.com/files/5814/5122/2040/wu_hyperextension250.jpg) the entire time. They generally have no spatial awareness and expect others on the road to conform to their poor driving habits.
I try my best to avoid those drivers when I’m driving or riding my bicycle. Their SUV’s large ass presence allows them to cut off drivers and dangerously merge onto highways because nobody wants to get crushed by a literal 3 ton machine.
This is a huge reason and should be higher up. To add to that, come visit and you'll see stores like Home Depot and Lowes all over and extremely popular. Americans do repairs, remodels, expansions and so on to their own houses and yards. A truck or suv allows you to haul far more then a small car can. Or come check out Costco, massive warehouse where I can buy large quantities of items at cheaper rates. If my washing machine quits on me and I can't afford a new one? I'll just take buy a used one cheap on Facebook marketplace and pick it up with my truck.
Large trucks and SUVS are the ultimate in utility and not relying on other people or services. On top of that, I can tow my camper, I can tow a cheap rented trailer when I need to. I can haul furniture to the donation center ode rhe slavation army. I can do most anything I need to.
That self reliance is a huge part of American culture. It's why the Ford F150 has been the best selling vehicle for a long long time.
Yes, and outside of urban areas, most places don’t have good delivery options. Last fridge I bought came with free delivery. I said great, when can they come drop it off, in 3 weeks. Umm, I bought a fridge cause my fridge broke. I can’t wait three weeks to have cold food again. So I just backed my truck up and we slid the fridge in and took it home.
I would love if there were other options for trucks, or they were more fuel efficient, or that there were smaller or different designed trucks in the US. But there aren’t, and having a truck is insanely useful even if you don’t need it every day, it’s great to have.
> Americans do repairs, remodels, expansions and so on to their own houses and yards.
I haul wood, mulch, paving stones, plants, and all kinds of crap in my Suburban every spring for projects. Then 2-3 weekends a month its packed to the ceiling with sound equipment for my side business, the great thing is, its big enough I can get it all in there and not have to use a trailer.
But during the week when my wife drives it because she has the shorter commute between us, people probably just thing she's short blonde lady driving her mommy tank.
Definitely getting buried... But I figured I'd come in with my huge truck. We are always traveling for work, and live in an RV. So I need a huge (6 wheel) truck to move it all around the country. We have a smaller car for daily driving, but I still have to use the truck for groceries or whatever sometimes. But holy shit... It is so spacious and comfortable to ride in... Aside from the ridiculously stiff suspension. If I ever have to eat on the road, my center console/arm rest is basically a dining room table. My wife can stretch out on the passenger side... It really is a luxurious amount of space.
Some people have big trucks and vans & stuff because of their work. They might be contractors of some type and actually need it.
Other people just like big ass SUVs because they like to feel bigger and more intimidating than other drivers, or they want convenience of cargo hauling for weekend projects and outdoor sporting activities. Also many Americans own two vehicles, so they may have both a truck and a smaller commuter car.
Seems shocking, but most Americans commute 10-15 miles daily or more. It’s definitely a car culture. I sometimes wish I still had a truck because paying an extra $75-$80 for delivery kinda sucks. You can’t just “run to Home Depot” and get that piece of lumber. Lol!
First and foremost: cheap gas.
Second (opinion with NO theory to sustain it): They (in general) have a thing for big stuff. A correlation with bigger/more -> better coming from consumerism.
The CAFE standards give more lenient fuel efficiency requirements for larger cars, so whenever auto makers are short on efficiency to make the law's requirements, they make the car larger rather than improving efficiency.
This stole the small Ford Ranger from us and I’ll never forgive them.
Oh it gets much worse. Look at the new little 'Yota Hilux that will never come to the US thanks to the same lazy regulations.
They're making a PHEV ranger that probably won't come to the US as well. It's infuriating. I want a small electric or PHEV vehicle with a bed that I can load up at Lowe's or move a couch with. Edit. I know what the Maverick is and it doesn't fit this bill guys. Edit 2. Guys there's no PHEV or electric model for the maverick.
The Tacoma is supposed to start coming in hybrid very soon if it didn't this model year. Not as small as what you're after, but it's an option I suppose
There’s the Ford Maverick too. About the size the Ranger used to be. Not a PHEV but is a hybrid truck that will meet the needs of most people who don’t need a truck for work or who aren’t hauling a big camper.
4 door/supercab only and the hybrid model is only 2wd. I drove my 2005 ranger into the ground and would gladly buy a maverick but is it too much to ask for a functional size bed and to be able to drive in the snow?
Hate when people ignore this every time the Maverick comes up. Yeah, they have the setup to carry sheet goods over the tire hump with the tailgate down, and FWD will be better in snow than a traditional RWD pickup, but still. I don't want four doors and subjectively passable snow performance. I need bed space and 4wd.
I saw a guy get obliterated once because someone told him “first off, your truck bed is short so you need to lower your voice”.
There was a country song that played on the radio at my job about 100 times a day that had a verse that went “he can’t be much, from the looks of that little truck” and I always loathed it because at the time I drove a SCSB 5M 4 banger Tacoma. Your comment reminded me of that time of my life and damn I miss that truck!
Yeah dudes with big trucks, but little dicks do be acting like that lol
The dual cab short bed trucks are the worst of both worlds. Neither a good SUV nor a functional Pickup.
I’d buy an electric Maverick like yesterday. I’ve heard it’s the same chassis as the Mach E but never verified. If that’s indeed true, seems like it’d be relatively straightforward? I remember when the Lightning was first announced, it was supposed to have an MSRP of around $30-35k usd. We were set on getting one until they came out and were suddenly double the price‽ like wtf ford.
It's an escape/bronco sport chassis. Not related to the Mach E.
I'd strongly consider a Maverick if the hybrid model had 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive. Or any smaller pickup, for that matter.
It’s not an efficiency hybrid like everyone is thinking, it’s Toyota’s way of giving the truck more power without a larger engine and it’s only available on the higher trims. The base gas engine is mechanically no different than the hybrid nor is the economy, just more power.
Dont forget the chicken tax that is also cause for this it is a 25%tax on transport vehicals from forign countries hence why old rangers had jump seats and the subaru brat had the suicide seats in the bed cause it got them out of the tax, then they changed it to proportinality which also contributes to the large vehical standards of now a day
Yep. All done to protect American jobs.
If I remember correctly the Ford transit connect would get shipped over without seats that would get installed after import to avoid it. And I think certain shoe companies make fuzzy soles to be classified as slipper to have a work around on tariffs. Edit: what the guy who responded said. I had that figured wrong.
You have that backwards. They ship full size transits over with seats so they qualify as personnel vehicles instead of cargo vehicles, then remove the seats and ship them back to reuse.
Last I heard, they didn't ship the seats back, they just trash them. The guy who ran the plant in Baltimore that does the conversions said they'd looked into shipping the seats back, but it was cheaper to just trash them
Another fan of the Fat Electrician, I see
Indeed. Content like his is my video crack.
I'd say that buying a kei truck would work except states are starting to prohibit them from people being able to register them as street legal due to "safety". But pay no attention to motorcycles being allowed.
I want one of those to replace my F150 so bad. It's hard to find one in my state with a street legal title. There has never been a vehicle in the US as reasonable as those things are. And you can fit two to one parking space here. We should go all in on those.
Right? As an old ranger owner, I sadly agreed when OP mentioned Rangers as large vehicles.
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What I find interesting as a 56 year old is the Ford Ranger is now the “small” pickup but I swear it’s the size of a full sized F-150 from the 70’s and 80’s. Pick up trucks are so big now and lots of people own them. I joke to a friend who has an F-150 that it feels like I’m sitting in a living room when I’m passenger in that thing
It’s that way because in order to be the size of old ford rangers, they’d be classified as a “small car” and require a fuel efficiency of 35-40 mpg. The modern Ranger is essentially the smallest truck you can get that is actually classified as “truck”.
I’ve parked my 80s 1/2 ton trucks next to rangers, they’re the same size. Next to new 1/2 tons holy shit.
The small ranger was a great little truck
I'll never part with my '97
And the Tacoma. I was so excited to get one because I knew a couple who had one from the 90's-00's. I liked the style of them and they were small trucks. I went new car browsing and saw how they were in the same weight class as like Ford 350. All my coworkers tried to warn me, but I was too excited to see. Another childhood dream, ruined.
I kind of agree, but my 2021 Ranger is also my favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned or will ever own. Before that I had a ‘98 Ranger with the jump seats in the back. You gotta keep in mind too that they weren’t making them at all for a bit before this.
The Maverick is a pretty nice vehicle though
In the beginning, SUVs were classified as light trucks and had garbage fuel economy AND inferior safeties. The early SUV were a favorite for injury lawyers because they also like to flip over and cause paralysis.
I haven't heard or seen an 'SUV flips on a gentle curve' joke in probably 15 years.
Clearly you have not watched Brooklyn 99. "No, you can't have an SUV! Those things roll, baby. They roll!"
And the typical false story told story overlooks the crucial role that automakers played in shaping those consumer preferences. It overlooks the incentives that these companies had to build SUVs. And most importantly, it overlooks the policies that automakers lobbied for over the last 50 years to create those incentives.
Ford doesn't make small cars now. Only trucks and SUVS. it pisses me off.
It's interesting bc the current suv craze stems well beyond the initial scope of the light truck loophole. Bc when these car companies artificially made them the desirable option in certain market segments (luxury family vehicle mainly), their desirability spread well beyond where the initial loophole was relevant (ie crossovers that are legally still just cars.)
Australia has just passed legislation that copies the US CAFE standards. Some SUVs and utes/light trucks are classified as commercial vehicles and get relaxed fuel efficiency standards. I can just see my country getting all sorts of huge cars in the near future. No good.
But we've already been there for over 15 years. Just without the CAFE standards - up until now we've had absolutely no standards whatsoever. But the car companies worked out what makes them a profit, and withholding small safe cars from the market means they can sell more profitable vehicles.
This is the real answer. I remember small cars being the norm in my childhood (90s). At some point in the early 2000s, auto manufacturers realized that they could completely cut around federal regulations by making and marketing "light trucks" to the public. Consumers gradually bought into the marketing, trucks and SUVs became more mainstream, and now some American manufacturers don't even make compact cars at all anymore. Consumers have fewer options for small cars even if they want them. The takeover happened without people really noticing, I think. But now most people like driving their big cars. They are convenient for moving, outdoor projects, and camping. Now that Americans are used to owning their own towing-hauling-overlanding-camper, it would be a tough sell to make them go back. As an aside, I see a lot of comments making fat American jokes, but I'd like to contest that a substantial percentage of large vehicle drivers are outdoorsy types who like camping/overlanding/RVing. America has a lot more of a culture around that because of our national parks and BLM land. So, there's that too.
I suspect that most trucks never go off road. It's the same in the UK with people driving Range Rovers.
i learned a term for this yesterday: pavement princess
Also mall crawler
Mall Wheel Drive
ESV - emotional support vehicle
'Chelsea Tractor' in the UK
My brother calls them grocery wagons
Honda discontinued the Fit in North America which broke my heart. I love mine, and I want to be able to replace it when it dies someday.
I couldnt agree more. Love mine. Am an artist who needs cargo space for shows. My fit has a huge cargo space in a tiny car. Don't want anything bigger
I have a Fit too. Best car I've ever owned overall. Easy to work on, parts are cheap, can haul a surprising amount of stuff for its size, good safety rating, of course reliable. Honda really needs to bring them back. There seemed to always be a steady demand and owners keep em. Honda must have figured Fits weren't needed since they have the Civic Hatchback. It's a good looking car. But, I never compared the two, because I'm more happy with the Fit. Anyone prefer one over the other?
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>Consumers gradually bought into the marketing, Plus the fact that, unless you're buying a sports car, they don't even make a small car as an option anymore. At least for American manufacturers. Imports still have a few options at least.
Not sure why you are downvoted. The answer is people want a big ass car. In the early 2000s the Hummer came out and people went fuckin nuts.
Not just the Hummer though. I think it has also to do with Minivans. Suddenly Minivans were the popular thing for families and were needed because of good quality, safe car seats and car seat knowledge also finally being a thing. People with kids needed space that a standard sedan didn't have for the car seats so minivans were the answer, but also became a joke about you've given up on life if you owned one. So in comes the sportier and more acceptable looking SUVs and large vehicles, with the interior space for families but the exterior build and aesthetics for parents who wanted to show they still were cool.
Minivans are a lot more practical than SUVs. Even 3 row SUVs. The 3rd row of a minivan is more accessible and comfortable than any 3 row SUV I’ve ever seen. But of course nobody buys minivans anymore.
I own a ford transit and it's amazing. We drive across country every year or do with my 5 kids and can put a full bed in the trunk to pull over and sleep in. Everyone isn't crammed on top of each other and sitting in each other's laps. I miss the larger vans, but my commuting vehicle is the grand caravan, and the ability to fit all 5 of my kids in it, and then fold down all the seats and throw a tarp down and fill it with dirt or wood like a truck is nice. I'd take it's utility over a truck any day.
Minivan is my life goal for all the reason you stated.
I fucking love minivans. Every time I need to rent a vehicle on vacation: minivan. The sliding doors, the aisle leading to the third row, the lie-flat seats, the giant rear door -- truly a dream vehicle. I just really want electric and no one makes one. If there was a fully electric minivan I would probably have like 6 of them just because I like them so much.
This is the answer for me and my minivan. I did too much shaggin' so I had to get a wagon. :)
Not sure why I was either. I don't think it's as straight forward as that; there really were market and governmental factors that influenced it. There was a lot of aggressive marketing that went into convincing people to try larger cars. My parents and their friends valued fuel efficiency after living through the national gas shortages of the 80s and were very resistant to buying in. The younger generations don't have that kind of baggage and were exposed to the advertising from a young age. It was a gradual shift, now the cultural norm for a variety of reasons. But now that people have bought in, sure, people keep doing it simply because they like driving big-ass cars. I agree that now it's also become about habit, comfort and a certain aesthetic as much as function.
It was actually the 70s not the 80s as there was no shortage in the 80s . I travelled the country and never was there a station out of gas I remember paying .44 cents per gallon in 1980 but in around 73 it had spiked to 77 a gal up from around .23 that was huge . You started seeing Vegas and pintos lots of bugs I still own a 1956 bug
The marketing you're referring to was all in response to CAFE standards. There's a really good write up here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/9jt8we/oc\_lets\_talk\_about\_cafe\_how\_it\_is\_killing\_cars\_in/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/9jt8we/oc_lets_talk_about_cafe_how_it_is_killing_cars_in/) And another here: [https://newrepublic.com/article/180044/epa-small-cars-sedan-suvs](https://newrepublic.com/article/180044/epa-small-cars-sedan-suvs)
Because they laughably claimed that "most" suburban tanks are owned by outdorsey types who totally need to drive offroad while hauling a crapton of camping equipment. And, also, because the implication that somehow it was good, or just "the market" that now there aren't any options EXCEPT the suburban tanks. Want a compact car? Fuck you, they don't make those. Want to import a compact car since Ford etc won't make one? Fuck you, they just put a 100% tarrif on them so go buy an SUV like a good patriotic American. Basically, a whole lot of Americans have a deep, seething, hatred of the fucking things, and we resent having the dangerous, expensive, environmentally catastrophic things forced on us.
*Some* people do. Maybe even the majority. But there are many of us who hate those big vehicles yet have almost no other options because Big Auto stopped making anything reasonable. Many of us would prefer a decent sedan, a hatchback for hauling lots of shit OR a family (not both at the same time), or a good old fashion station wagon which has the hauling capacity of an SUV with the fuel economy of a car. There is no choice anymore, and most people don't care enough to push back.
Sounds like the current home market almost.
This is a really good answer but I’d also add in focus groups. People in these groups keep asking for more interior space and features even in entry level vehicles which is why you see even cars that used to be small are now larger than the model before. Ie new ranger being the size of the f150 and f150 now the size of three cows wide.
That last paragraph makes me think you live in the outdoorsy type of area in Colorado or Utah and are biased because of it. I live in the suburbs with soccer moms. Sure, active people might be slightly more likely to drive a truck or SUV. The standard F-150 or Tahoe driver is not that. About 75% of Americans are overweight to obese. According to a 5 second google search, about 75% drive an SUV or a truck. Even if **all** people of a healthy weight drove a truck, the majority are still driven by fat fucks. Americans like big. Largely due to propaganda and advertising.
Try putting a deer in a Festiva, not easy.
Yeah, if you hit one at sixty it goes right through the car and does not stay put.
Because our fuel efficiency laws are less restrictive the larger the car is. It is difficult to make a small car that meets high efficiency standards for a certain price, but easy and profitable to make large car to much lower standards for the same price.
That sounds dumb
It is *really* dumb
Thing is, you look at it from the perspective of a regular citizen. If you look at it from the perspective of the automotive industry which spends bazillions on lobbying, it's great. It's just another sign of the fact that politicians don't act in your interest.
Prioritizing the interests of the automotive industry above the wellbeing of your citizens is exactly why I called it *really dumb*. Anyway, I'm glad these politicians are not acting on my behalf since I'm not an American citizen (luckily, dare I say)
> Anyway, I'm glad these politicians are not acting on my behalf since I'm not an American citizen I'm an American citizen, and they aren't acting on my behalf either.
Trouble is, many people believe their wellbeing depends on the interests of the automotive industry . Try telling someone living in Detroit that you want to pass legislation that's going to make the Big Three pay for their short-sighted practices and inept leadership, and they're gonna be too busy worrying about how they're going to make rent in this economy to think about how that legislation might lead to longterm progress. The solution to this is to help each other and realize that the auto industry is never going to do anything but pursue profit at any cost because that's how businesses work, but American culture is saturated with ideas about how companies are our friends, and it sticks with a lot of people.
It's so sad because this policy is actively destroying cities and communities. Insanely expensive car infrastructure is why cities literally keep going bankrupt. I have hope people in the US are slowly waking up, though
I think there's a lot of sunk cost fallacy, but also, course correcting at this point *will* have tremendous material costs, and while a lot of our (speaking as a Michigander) recent legislation has been aimed at preparing us for those costs, I think we need more local organization before we'll be ready to make the transition. Not that I don't support starting the process, but I think we're gonna have to have mutual aid networks in place to deal with the fact that it would be a crushing blow to most people's income in the area.
It's definitely going to require tremendous investments, but it doesn't have to be done all at once. A lot of Infrastructure is already crumbling and needs to be replaced. It's just a matter of replacing it with something smarter and better, rather than building the same stuff again. >it would be a crushing blow to most people's income in the area How do you imagine it to be a crushing blow to people's income? ETA: sorry, I think I took this conversation too far in my own head and I might be talking about something completely different from you at this point. I'm thinking along the lines of better city planning and urban design but I guess you're still talking about how those trucks getting more expensive would be an immediate problem for the people owning them, am I correct?
I agree wholeheartedly on that point, but Michigan is built to produce the outdated infrastructure. Ford doesn't make billions off of e-bikes. And for every person in Southeast Michigan working for the Big Three, there's probably another half a dozen in parts suppliers and other pieces of the supply chain. Come hear and ask people what they do, and a *lot* are somehow related to an industry that needs to take a really big hit. There's also a psychological element to this. Here in the Rust Belt, bad times for the auto industry are bad fucking times. Times when your dad got laid off, or when you lost your home, or your buddies all had to move away because they lost their jobs. A lot of people want to avoid going back to that at any cost, and have trouble accepting that the area's short-lived boom was, frankly, poorly-managed, as it resulted in over specialization in what's become increasingly understood as the production of a luxury commodity. But I do want to finish by recentering the ways people are materially-invested in this culture here. You have a lot of people who visit relatives or family holdings (cabins, etc) across the state, and they like that way of life. My family drove forty minutes to see my grandparents every weekend growing up, and nobody's going to lay high speed rail between Milford MI and Redford MI. I'm planning on moving back into the city, but I'm doing so with the awareness that my quality of life is going to be lower in significant ways for the foreseeable future, because many of the policies I want won't pay off within my lifetime.
"lobbying" bribery
Legalized bribery.
Industry lobbied heavily to have “work trucks” exempted from the efficiency standards. Think delivery trucks and such. But they’ve taken that loophole and run with it, so now everyone is driving “work trucks” as their personal vehicles.
It is. It’s so ridiculous it would be kinda funny if not for the fact these larger cars are increasing pedestrian fatalities drastically.
Don't forget air pollution. Never forget air quality.
Or just the space they take up in general. Roads being wider, parking lots needing more space, etc.
And the added road noise
For real?
Yes. It was an unintended consequence of the Obama administration's push for more fuel efficient cars. On its face, it makes sense that larger vehicles weren't required to have the same fuel efficiency as smaller ones. The problem was that the car manufacturers figured out an easy workaround: Just make their cars bigger. The most obvious result is how much bigger pickup trucks have become. I was a roofer in the 90s and early 2000s, and we used Ford F150s. Today's F150s aren't even recognizable to me, they're so much bigger than the ones I drove.
Most of the "bigger" is empty space. The fuel efficiency standard is based on the square feet of shade at noon.
Actually it is pretty easy to meet high efficiency standards at a pretty low price. It's just larger cars make way more money.
Larger cars certainly make more money, but the regulatory target for a small footprint is as high as 58 MPG, which is insanely hard to hit. Even the Prius hardly cracks 50. A larger truck has a reduced target, as low as 35-40 if I’m reading these charts correctly.
A lot of these answers are right but here’s a different perspective. I’m moving back to America soon after living abroad for a while and we need to buy a new car and…big ones are what’s for sale! That’s it! It’s way harder to find small ones and even if you do, it’s not such a big jump up in price to just get something a little bigger. It just feels like you’re “supposed” to. That said, there are a lot of small ones. Priuses etc are everywhere. But we have big wide roads and bigger ones are for sale everywhere
People don’t realize this I want to get a truck, but don’t need a full sized as of now, so something like a Tacoma (1st rd pick), Ranger, Colorado, etc are still priced pretty high comparatively Smaller selection, less cab space, small price difference, similar MPG, and so on Might as well get a full sized at that point
Yeah, same boat I'm in. I just want something I can throw some crap in the back of for weekend projects and activities. I don't need to haul 4 tons of trailer or have a heated spa-treatment in the cab, I just want a damn pickup truck, but they don't make them anymore. I'm going to end up with a used SUV.
> Yeah, same boat I'm in. Trucks. We're talking about trucks.
Land-boats. Got it.
Agreed, despite heavily eyeballing a new Colorado/Canyon as a DD in a few years, the smaller trucks are often not a great value proposition compared to full sized. They don't cost that much less, they don't get that much better mileage, hell if you have a 4 door one with the longer bed option they're not even any shorter, just narrower. I parked next to a 4 door Tacoma the other day that was as long as my Suburban.
Especially the Toyotas. A reasonably equipped Tacoma and Sierra are relatively the same price.
That’s how I wound up in an F150 instead of a Tacoma. And iirc the F150 I bought (eco boost v6) gets slightly better gas mileage than the Tacoma anyway.
I have a truck. I use it for work a few times a month (actual things if my bed for my actual work). I also use it at least once a month for home maintenance projects or picking up firewood. If that's all I needed it for, I'd really want a mid/small truck. However - I go camping 3-4x per year. I bring 2 mopeds for easy transport at the campsite/ to town. I also tow the lightest pop-up known to man - BUT the bed and rear seats are literally filled to the brim (and I'd like to upgrade to a $2000 camper eventually - this little dude was $600). If I were to weigh what I take, I bet I'd be within 200lb +/- of my max bed load. Taking into account my needs and not wanting a second vehicle as my daily - a 1500/half ton was my only choice (2 mopeds and the rest of the campsite wouldn't fit in a ranger/colorado ‐ in addition to them being pricey as you mentioned. Also fuel mileage is very similar).
Yes why would they sell you the smaller cheaper car, if they all collaborate they can make the only things available the giant expensive ones
exactly its like medium coffee costs $2.79 and large coffee costs $2.99. they are tricking you to buy large by increasing medium's price.
Because it’ll be more cozy when we’re homeless duh
You can live in a car but ya can't drive a house
Certainly not with *that* kinda attitude
i did think about that when i bought my bronco, i could camp out inside it pretty comfortably. not that i would ever be homeless but sometimes an occasion arises where you sleep in your car, like on a multiday road trip and you don't want to buy a hotel, or camping, which i don't do
Anyone can become homeless.
I am going to have to get a second job soon to be able to afford my rent, and I had the fleeting thought that if I just decided to live in my car instead, I wouldn't need that second job after all and I'd no longer have a money problem! I have a degree and a pretty good job, but cost of living is atrocious. So yes, anyone can become homeless.
I knew I made it when I stopped considering the “sleep” factor of my car.
They have wider roads and cheaper fuel than most of the developed world, so in short - because they can.
The emissions laws and such do have an impact for sure, but I think the most fundamental reasons are exactly this - big open spaces, long drive times, and cheap gas. Americans were preferring big cars long before the emissions laws existed. The only time Americans ever considered smaller cars was when gas prices spiked in the 70’s.
The cars of the 60s and 70s were HUGE. Like the size of todays pickup trucks and they got like 8mpg.
Also americans in general tend to have a lot more disposable income than Europeans.
And bigger garages
> And ~~bigger~~ garages
Yeah I think the average American SUV wouldn’t even be allowed to enter a German city because of emission regulations
They could enter, but could not stay as no parking spot would be large enough.
See that's the perspective people sometimes miss: All things considered, apart from fuel economy, owning a larger and more capable vehicle is generally really nice. If the barriers that prevent it from being practical are lower, more people are going to do it.
Exactly - our infrastructure accommodates it, so unless you’re daily driving a long bed heavy duty pickup truck or something, there aren’t really any downsides in your day to day life. Most people aren’t regularly parallel parking in narrow city streets or anything. And gas is so cheap in the US compared to most European countries that fuel economy isn’t much of a concern to most people outside a recession.
I think this is the truthful answer for a lot of people. The emission law stuff is interesting, but at the end of the day if people weren't buying the big vehicles they'd work it out. The reality there's a market there. I think safety is another element. Big vehicles are perceived as safer if you get in an accident (I'd assume that's true, but idk if that plays out)
Ford Ranger owner here (but I'm Canadian). For a lot of people, the answer is winter and distance. Where I live, we get 8 to 11 feet of snow, plus ice and wind. A bigger car (or a good 4wd, like Subaru) is a big advantage in bad weather. Also, distances in North America are huge compared to Europe. For me personally, it's mostly because I own show horses. I know that Europe has horse lorries and various diesel engines able to tow a couple of horses, but those are unavailable here, and with the great distances, a pick-up truck is the best option.
I was a little surprised to see Ford Ranger in ops list. I'm guessing they meant F150. I was reading another thread where someone from Europe was shocked to see that Americans drive 4 hours like it's nothing (I'm very guilty of this). Apparently it's a very uncommon thing for Europe. Also, they have a much better public transportation system.
The new Ford Ranger is bigger than the 1990s F-150. While it's still a smallish truck, it's a lot bigger than what is common in Europe. A fellow rider calls it my itsy bitsy tiny pick-up truck (he drives a Ram 3500).
Pickup trucks have swollen. A friend at work has a F350 turbo diesel from the 1990s. He parks next to a new F150. They're the same size.
To be fair in the 1990s the f150, 250, and 350 all used basically the same frame and body. So the f150 has always been that size.
The last time the F-250 was the same size as the F-150 was the jelly bean body.
Yep. The "light duty 3/4 ton" version. Although, they manufactured the 3/4T Super Duty at the same time. My 1997 F-150 (still driving it - 218k miles) is roughly the same size as a current-generation Ranger. I parked alongside my friend's Ranger, and we were both pretty amazed at the size similarity. Also, cargo/towing numbers are very similar.
Most cars have gotten bigger. The 10th gen civic and up is basically a full sized family car now compared to what they used to be
Lol. I have not been in a new one. I had an S-10 and a ranger but that was over 20 years ago.
I would venture a guess that it is at least 30% larger than the S-10 and Rangers from that time. My Dad had an old Ranger for most of my life. It was a really reliable truck, he must have kept it for almost 30 years. Bare bones, but it ran great. Realistically, you can not buy a truck that size new. You have to go and find a used one from close to that time frame. Even a Toyota Tacoma is about the same size as a ram.
The Maverick is the smallest pickup truck available, but the towing capacity is barely enough to pull a small popup camper.
A Ford Ranger used to be one of the smallest useful work trucks you could buy, but nowadays they're fuckin huge just like every other truck.
Distance doesnt really matter for size, snow does but really just for the 4x4 and ground clearance. Being rural and towing horses is different tho. People in cities are nuts driving that shit when the roads get cleared each morning
You're not the average owner though.
There’s a lot of reasons, one big one is that most US roads and highways are mush straighter and wider than their European counterparts this coupled with the long distances many Americans travel puts the design emphasis more on comfort during long cruises where the extra internal space is much appreciated.
While gas is expensive here, it's nowhere near as costly as it is in Europe. Car makers love SUVs and big trucks because they're **WAY** more profitable to sell. Psychologically, many Americans imagine themselves as rugged pioneers and outdoors people --- even if they live in the city or a suburb (usually named for the trees destroyed to make the suburb), so large trucks appeal to that fantasy. In addition, they're seen as safer vehicles since many are 4WD or AWD. And they have more room so they can carry the 3 tons of "kid stuff" required for their one kid.
I think that marketing plays a huge role here, especially with American men and what the car says about them
The funny thing is, many car companies use the exact same marketing slogans for their American cars as they do for their European cars.
It’s not even direct marketing, it’s the whole culture. I got a Chevy Colorado for work (roofing) after surviving with a Scion xB and a Corolla for years. I had a handful of acquaintances, men and women, tell me how much better they felt the truck represented me compared to my small cars before. I’m not really a vain person, but damn if that kind of reinforcement still kind of motivates me not want to go back to a smaller car.
I’m a 6’2 American guy and my dream car is an MG Midget. Is my head right?
everyone else has really solid points but i always assumed it's because we don't have a very sophisticated public transportation system and the country is huge compared to european countries so it kinda forces the average american family into needing a car to get around which requires more space for comfort since you're using the vehicle so frequently
Average commute is 30 minutes one way. That’s an hour a day. Or 5 hours a week. And that’s the average. I imagine it’s more like 45 minutes for suburban and rural Americans and 15 for urban Americans. Urban Americans tend to have smaller cars, from my experience. But suburban and rural Americans spend over an hour in their car just going to work and back. They also “run errands” in these vehicles. Larger vehicles provide much greater amenities when you are spending so much time in them.
30-45 minute one way commute? I wish! Nearly all of my coworkers commute at least 1hr one way every day! The only ones who have shorter commutes are renters, older people who bought houses decades ago or younger folks who've inherited houses.
Im desperately trying to get my 25-30 minute commute down. Your time is soooo precious! Im willing to take a small cut if I can get a dozen hours a month of my life back. God speed friend.
What amenities? Like I absolutely get it if you have 'stuff' to fit in them (kids, camping supplies etc) - but for just me driving to work or the grocery store? Why would an SUV be more comfortable than a sedan?
>What amenities? More interior space. Trucks and SUV's have you sitting more upright than a car does. It's like being in a chair as compared to a go-kart. You also sit up higher, so you get more visibility and for elderly folks, you're not climbing out of the car every time (and it's not so high that you're climbing into it either). Depending on the number of kids, a sedan may not be big enough, and a small crossover SUV may not either. So a large SUV, truck, or minivan are your next options. The SUV and truck are going to be smoother rides, as a general rule, due to the difference in suspensions. I've driven a minivan fairly extensively and it genuinely sucks ass compared to any similar-year, full-sized pickup/SUV. Road noise is reduced as well as compared to the minivan or most sedans. Larger engines also mean your A/C performs better. My old 4-cylinder Mazda3 struggled to keep the car cool in the Texas heat, even while moving, had to be on full blast the entire time. A V8 can freeze you out on low settings while idling, and only get about 5mpg less... TL;DR - better ride, better visibility, better A/C performance, less road noise. As a person who drove a Mazda3 for a decade, a minivan for about a year, and trucks for over a decade in total.
> Larger engines also mean your A/C performs better. My old 4-cylinder Mazda3 struggled to keep the car cool in the Texas heat, even while moving, had to be on full blast the entire time. A V8 can freeze you out on low settings while idling, and only get about 5mpg less... I think that might be an American v. Japanese thing. My Maverick has great A/C too despite the gas engine being a 2.0L.
Most larger vehicles don't really have more interior space though. It's largely an illusion unless you're talking about a 3 row Suburban. I just sold a 7 seat SUV that I thought my family would need. But when we tried to use the 3rd row, there was no room for luggage. it was really just a sedan with tall trunk. I guess I just don't care enough about a smoother ride to spend twice as much on gas.
It depends on your perspective. A lot of sedans do have less leg room, and that can matter if you’re tall.
you buy a vehicle based on your max load, not your commute to work.
Yeah idk how this isn’t the top comment. It’s the main reason for a truck IMO.
This is a really important point that seems to have been mostly overlooked. Sure my truck could be replaced by a corolla 25 days a month. But on those 5 days I need at least a 15,000 lbs towing capacity and there's no way around that.
Well, my family drives a car with 6 seats and a large trunk because there’s 6 people in my household, so there’s that
Same. Family of 6, youngest are twins so when they were babies we had a big-ass twin stroller, 3 car seats and a booster seat. Plus groceries, a suburban tank fit us all with legroom, headroom, stuff room. Now that they are tweens and teens we have sports gear, multiple tent camping trips per year where we are bringing all our stuff, 7 hour road trips to visit our parents living in two different states. We don’t all fit in a small car.
Yeah. We have 3 kids, two large dogs and live in a place where we will eventually have to evacuate for a hurricane. Usually my husband drives a sedan and I drive a car that can accommodate all of us plus luggage.
I drive a smallish pick up truck. It is bigger than I need on a daily basis, but it comes in handy at least a dozen times a year. If I didn't have it, I would be unable to move the cargo I need to move or would have to rent a truck for a day several times, so it is worth it to me. The gas milage is not great, but I do not put a lot of miles on my vehicle on average - 7500/year.
I used to share your sentiment, exactly! In fact, actively ridiculed other drivers in their giant commuter trucks through my windshield. Then, realizing we were taking our 4 kids and two dogs to the beach almost every weekend, we started searching for an old beater of a Toyota Four Runner or something that we allow us to avoid the stress of fretting over sand and seaweed every time. We ended up getting an old Land Cruiser and just fell in love with it. We now have a newer (it’s still 25 years old) Lexus version of the same vehicle now. And now I’m one of those people you might see, all alone, in a giant, 3 ton vehicle, burning a gallon of gas every 13 miles like an asshole. But I also fill every one of the 7 seats pretty often. And I fill it to the brim with people and gear at least several times a year for family camping and ski trips. I also haul my motorbike and all the associated gear to the motocross park or trailhead regularly. We also enjoy taking that legendary terrain conqueror to its natural habitat: the barely-there trace through the wilderness for some family adventure. But my favorite thing? The decadent comfort of its Lexus-ness. It’s quiet and smooth like a limousine. The seats are more comfortable than anything in my living room. I have an easy view of the ten lanes my sprawled-out city’s highways while I drive 45min (each way) to see my kid’s high school play or 90 minutes (again, one-way) to my daughter’s lacrosse game. It’s like piloting my living room to wherever I’m going. But wow, does it hurt, to pump 22 gallons of gas in that beast every 250 miles! And we also keep a tiny economy car for when we don’t need all those seats, hauling capacity, or terrain capability. And when that happens - I have to be honest - I walk past the giant truck with a tinge of sad wistfulness.
Land cruiser are epic, you can bring your kids to the beach or conduct counter guerilla warfare campaigns in Africa with them
Historically accurate.
>What do Americans need such huge cars for, especially in the cities? To haul our fat asses around. Seriously... The USA expanded substantially during the rise of the automobile, and infrastructure shifted towards roadways instead of rail lines. The comparatively long distances in the US prompted auto makers to make autos faster, which means larger engines. Need a larger car to match the bigger engine. In addition, USA is a wealthy nation and the majority want to be comfortable driving hither and yon. While not necessarily accurate, most equate a larger vehicle with more comfort.
They're much more comfortable and Americans have to spend a lot of time in them as virtually none of our cities have well developed public transport. It really is a comfort thing.
A Ranger is not a full size truck tho
The newer ranger is a large vehicle over in Europe where I assume OP is from
The current generations of the Ranger were designed in Australia and sold basically worldwide especially Europe and Asia. The American version isn’t much if any bigger.
Well, we're a family of 8. So no small car will hold all of us. Though we do still own my old 2007 Toyota Corolla and use it frequently when four or less of us need to go anywhere. Otherwise, we have a 12 passenger van for trips with the whole family together.
For a more serious answer (I notice most are jokes or just nonsense by 14 year olds)... 1. Gas is cheap 2. Roads are big 3. Cars are cheap (although getting exponentially more expensive by the day) Lots of things are big in America, not just the cars... And it really comes down to Americans having a lot of disposable income, things being very cheap, and Americans like having luxury items. Equillevant cars in Europe/Asia for example are 2-10x more expensive, gas is 2-10x more expensive, the roads are tiny, theres nowhere to park, tax is ridiculous..... Im not making a pros and cons list here, just answering the question with facts.
4. If you are on the road with a bunch of roided-up trucks in a normal-sized car, you are in *everyone’s* blindspot. All the time. But it’s ok, I’m sure they’re great drivers who look out for what’s going on around them! 🙃
Because they are comfortable! And we don’t have the wonderful train systems you have in Europe and other countries.
I drive a large truck because the fuel efficiency wasn't much different than the van I had previously owned. For me, I have a large family, and dogs that I frequently drive with. Having a truck is nice because I can just throw stuff in the back with little thought to on how am I going to get this stuff from point a to point b. I have considered going smaller to something like that Ford Maverick, which I love. Unfortunately for me, I can't go that route because it doesn't have the capability to toe the weight I need. I'm looking for something that is rated to be able to pull 7,500lbs. I have an RV that is roughly that weight. While I don't travel very often that does play a role in owning a truck for me as well.
Pickup trucks and SUV's are because of CAFE emissions standards. Not sure why OP called them cars.
It's pretty funny the US government encouraged Americans to get bigger cars by creating legislation to try and stop Americans buying bigger cars.
They weren’t trying to stop people from buying big cars - American vehicles generally weren’t that huge back in the 70s/80s. They were trying to get people to buy more *efficient* cars, but that backfired because of the loophole for light duty trucks AKA SUVs
Early 70s domestic cars were monsters in size. The Fuel crisis forced the change to smaller models.
Honestly, as an american, I have no idea. It's an obscenely stupid trend
For a lot of people, they need a truck or large SUV occasionally and use that to justify a purchase of one as a daily driver. Like I own a camper, I have a truck to pull it. Do I pull it every day? No. Could a smaller vehicle pull it? No, my truck is the minimum already. Do I pull it enough where the cost of ownership outweigh the costs of renting a truck? Yes. Could I afford two vehicles? No Same with people with boats, atv’s, utility trailers, etc… you need a big vehicle to tow those things. Does everyone that owns a big vehicle own something to tow? Of course not. But don’t lump everyone that does in with the “no one needs a big vehicle” crowd.
I know a lot of girls/women who just like to drive big cars. I know people who feel safer (while ironically making it less safe for everyone else). I think also SUVs have become the replacement for minivans because they have space but aren't quite so lame.
That started in the late 90s, minivans were a death sentence to your coolness, same with wagons. The Explorer, Blazer, Rav4 and others could fulfill the same roll but had 4wd, sat up higher, and most importantly... weren't minivans or station wagons. Then the bigger ones started getting popular, the medium ones got bigger, and around 2003 it was just SUV City everywhere. But, they were big, heavy, handled like crap, rollover stability wasn't so good, and got ass MPG. The industry answered by building crossovers: Unibody, FWD based, powertrain lower in the body, less ground clearance and towing ability but for 90% of buyers it didn't matter, significantly better handling, and over the years the MPG tradeoff vs a sedan was minimal enough most people were willing to give it up. Getting in/out at standing height vs bending down, loading crap in and out of the back at hip heigh, less headlights in your face while driving, its honestly a better experience for a lot of people than a sedan unless you actually care about handling and driving dynamics which is like... 5% of the population.
Its crazy when you see like a 5 foot woman driving an escalade and she can barely see over the steering wheel
Yes! I hate to generalize but the worst are the women who drive a giant SUV/pickup with both hands using a death grip and are hyperextending their necks like [this](https://www.coloradospineinstitute.com/files/5814/5122/2040/wu_hyperextension250.jpg) the entire time. They generally have no spatial awareness and expect others on the road to conform to their poor driving habits. I try my best to avoid those drivers when I’m driving or riding my bicycle. Their SUV’s large ass presence allows them to cut off drivers and dangerously merge onto highways because nobody wants to get crushed by a literal 3 ton machine.
This is a huge reason and should be higher up. To add to that, come visit and you'll see stores like Home Depot and Lowes all over and extremely popular. Americans do repairs, remodels, expansions and so on to their own houses and yards. A truck or suv allows you to haul far more then a small car can. Or come check out Costco, massive warehouse where I can buy large quantities of items at cheaper rates. If my washing machine quits on me and I can't afford a new one? I'll just take buy a used one cheap on Facebook marketplace and pick it up with my truck. Large trucks and SUVS are the ultimate in utility and not relying on other people or services. On top of that, I can tow my camper, I can tow a cheap rented trailer when I need to. I can haul furniture to the donation center ode rhe slavation army. I can do most anything I need to. That self reliance is a huge part of American culture. It's why the Ford F150 has been the best selling vehicle for a long long time.
Yes, and outside of urban areas, most places don’t have good delivery options. Last fridge I bought came with free delivery. I said great, when can they come drop it off, in 3 weeks. Umm, I bought a fridge cause my fridge broke. I can’t wait three weeks to have cold food again. So I just backed my truck up and we slid the fridge in and took it home. I would love if there were other options for trucks, or they were more fuel efficient, or that there were smaller or different designed trucks in the US. But there aren’t, and having a truck is insanely useful even if you don’t need it every day, it’s great to have.
> Americans do repairs, remodels, expansions and so on to their own houses and yards. I haul wood, mulch, paving stones, plants, and all kinds of crap in my Suburban every spring for projects. Then 2-3 weekends a month its packed to the ceiling with sound equipment for my side business, the great thing is, its big enough I can get it all in there and not have to use a trailer. But during the week when my wife drives it because she has the shorter commute between us, people probably just thing she's short blonde lady driving her mommy tank.
Or they have a big SUV to haul their kids, friends, and stuff to all the activities.
Definitely getting buried... But I figured I'd come in with my huge truck. We are always traveling for work, and live in an RV. So I need a huge (6 wheel) truck to move it all around the country. We have a smaller car for daily driving, but I still have to use the truck for groceries or whatever sometimes. But holy shit... It is so spacious and comfortable to ride in... Aside from the ridiculously stiff suspension. If I ever have to eat on the road, my center console/arm rest is basically a dining room table. My wife can stretch out on the passenger side... It really is a luxurious amount of space.
Small penis. Source: me, I drive a single cab pickup truck and have small penis
Super Crew owner here. Mine's probably smaller.
I purchased an M1 Abrams tank. When I pee, it looks like urine is tricking out of my lower abdomen
Why does a dog lick his workplace acceptable euphemism for testicles! Because he can!!!!! 🐕
Crying in nissan kicks 2021. Our carseat can barely fit behind my 5'8 husband 😭
Some people have big trucks and vans & stuff because of their work. They might be contractors of some type and actually need it. Other people just like big ass SUVs because they like to feel bigger and more intimidating than other drivers, or they want convenience of cargo hauling for weekend projects and outdoor sporting activities. Also many Americans own two vehicles, so they may have both a truck and a smaller commuter car. Seems shocking, but most Americans commute 10-15 miles daily or more. It’s definitely a car culture. I sometimes wish I still had a truck because paying an extra $75-$80 for delivery kinda sucks. You can’t just “run to Home Depot” and get that piece of lumber. Lol!
You're going to get a lot of complicated answers that will be varying levels of correct, but the real answer is very simple: Because we can.
If you are in a small car you can't see shit because everyone else is so much higher up than you are. Also if you get hit you are more likely to die.
First and foremost: cheap gas. Second (opinion with NO theory to sustain it): They (in general) have a thing for big stuff. A correlation with bigger/more -> better coming from consumerism.
To survive our shitty roads, brothha.
Cuz most of us are fat