What happened to small trucks?

[dave1949]

Yes, they really sucked. By my standards a "standard" cab truck is about worthless to me. I would never own one again.

You are not alone. A standard cab can be hard to sell, just like a manual transmission.

 

[AaronS]

Yep, the first time I hooked up a trailer using the rear camera on our Dodge, it felt like I was cheating.

 

[newbury]

Many people need to learn how to DRIVE some of these larger pickups... then again too many seem to feel that because they drive more than they can handle, the rest of us should accomodate them.

That and the large SUV's.

It seems in the DC area there is an abundance of small Asian women driving Ford Excursion size vehicles with a cell phone permanently attached to their ear and oblivious to other traffic.

 

[Oaktree]

By my standards a "standard" cab truck is about worthless to me. I would never own one again.

Yeah, I've gotten spoiled by mine with the club cab. Just the thing when you're carrying stuff you don't want exposed in the bed. I have no need for one with a full back seat though...other than the wife, I almost never have any passengers...I'd rather have a longer bed (hey, the whole reason I bought a truck in the first place!).

It has a backup camera, and I could not do without it. One of the best innovations on a vehicle that they ever made!

I have mixed emotions on backup cameras. As others have noted they sure are handy when hooking up a trailer or backing with a load in the bed (never got the hang of backing with mirrors). OTOH, do vehicles really need such a high beltline as they do today so you can't see out of them? What's up with that? 20+ years ago you didn't need one...you could actually see where you were going. Small windows seems to be the styling fad du jour, but I hate it. I get that the automakers need to meet fuel economy standards, and more aerodynamic vehicles help, but I wonder if the gain is worth the downside?

 

[buickanddeere]

If small sized, stripped down pickups actually sold. The manufactures would build them and dealers would inventory them.
All this talk of micro cheapo beater trucks is from a exceeding minuscule market segment that is too small and unprofitable market share to address.

 

[ArtMech]

They were bouncy, they hopped all over the road, they didn't have plush seats and all the amenities that your typical biased car magazine writers thought they should have so they gave them low marks, completely missing the purpose of such vehicles. Everyone should drive a vehicle that is sexy, exciting, goes fast and has Bluetooth or it isn't worth owning. Didn't you know that?

I knew and still know that. Unfortunatelly all that is around me.

 

[DrRod]

I think the real answer is that they were victims of the government fuel economy standards [we knew the government had to be behind this somehow]. The formulas are complex but essentially:

"In 2006, CAFE altered the formula for its 2011 fuel economy targets, by calculating a vehicle's "footprint", which is the vehicle's wheelbase multiplied by its wheel track. The footprint is expressed in square feet, and calculating this value is probably the most transparent part of the regulations. Fuel economy targets are a function of a vehicle's footprint; the smaller the footprint, the tougher the standards are. A car such as the Honda Fit, with its footprint of 40 square feet, has to achieve 61 mpg CAFE, or 43 mpg IRL by 2025 to comply with regulations. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a full-size truck like the Ford F-150, with a footprint of 75 square feet, only needs to hit 30 mpg CAFE, or 23 mpg IRL, by the same timeframe. Full-size trucks have become a "protected class", safe from the most aggressive targets, while compact trucks have become nearly extinct as a result."

These two links give the full story.

How CAFE Killed Compact Trucks And Station Wagons - The Truth About Cars
Bigger Pickups Are Result of Change in Fuel Standards - Bloomberg Business

 

[NoTrespassing]

That and the large SUV's.

It seems in the DC area there is an abundance of small Asian women driving Ford Excursion size vehicles with a cell phone permanently attached to their ear and oblivious to other traffic.

Seriously? Did you really type that, and why is that ok? Don't get me wrong, my wife is a "small Asian woman" and I'm not offended, but would it be ok to say that about other races? Sorry for off topic.

 

[KennyG]

For a variety of reasons (mainly available parking or garage space), over the years I have had a Datsun pickup, a Ford Courier, a Ford Ranger and now a Dodge Dakota. All have been reliable useful vehicles, but none have really had enough gas mileage/cost advantages to balance the lower capacities for hauling and towing compared to a full size truck. Finally, there will be an F-150 in my future.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Used to drive a 4 cylinder ranger manual transmission. It got about 25 mpg highway. My current F150 reg. cab long bed 2wd gets 21+ highway. I regularly use our Hyundai Accent hatchback as a small pickup putting up to eight 50lb bags of feed in it and still get over 30 mpg. I don't see enough advantages to small trucks to own one. That said, I wouldn't own a full size short bed either.

Kevin