Originally Posted by blupupher
Originally Posted by joekingcorvette
Some buy them for safety. If you have an accident with a car chances are you will be safer in the truck.
Perceived safety. Look at actual crash tests, some trucks are at the bottom of the list of vehicles for overall safety.
Originally Posted by odotb
I bought this new in 2005, still have it. It has a small BDS lift kit under it, dealer installed. For many years I really enjoyed the added height, you could see everything around you very easily and it was fun to drive. I am now 70 years old with health issues, and the added height is a pain. It's hard to get in and out of and working under the hood without a step ladder is next to impossible. If I get another truck it will be 2 wheel drive and no lift of any kind.
Problem is new full size 2wd trucks are as tall as your current truck with a lift.
A 2wd "midsize" will probably be more what you will want, but even then, they are getting tall as well.
Originally Posted by Speak2Mountain
and jack up demand/price for those of us who have to have trucks? If I could get away with driving a Corola or Camry, I would.
I think I get what you are saying, not as much a slam on those that choose to buy these fancy trucks, but the fact that truck sales have increased so much and are in such demand that prices on them have risen drastically in the past 20 years. Plus there are no longer any "cheap" trucks out there.
In the 80's and 90's, you could get a Ford Ranger/Mazda 2000, Chevy S-10/GMC S-15, Jeep Comanchee, Dodge Dakota for pretty cheap even new, and they were a basic truck. Sure you could get A/C as an option, and maybe power windows and locks, but they were cheap.
Now days to get a basic truck it has to be special ordered. Few dealers (except very rural dealers or high volume dealers that deal with fleet sales) have anything that could be considered inexpensive in stock or even interested in ordering one for you.
Cheapest truck right now is a Nissan Frontier, starts at $19,300.
Where are the economy trucks? They would sell, but not with the profit of the mid-size and full size, so they don't make them.
This is one of the reasons the old Ford Ranger and S-10 pickups are still holding their value, people like the size and practicality of them, and they don't make anything like it any more.
Heck, I think a new Ford Ranger mid size is bigger and taller than my '02 F150.
Wrong just plain wrong. I helped my Son buy a new 18 Silverado WT for 23K. It was white single cab 4.3 V6 manual locks and windows. It was fun to drive. The dealership had 6 of them in Scottsdale Arizona. Basic inexpensive trucks are easy to find.