| ▲ | johng 2 hours ago |
| Lots of people haul things. The US is huge compared to what most people expect. Big trucks can be a necessity depending on what you do for a living/your way of life. |
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| ▲ | throw0101a 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| > Lots of people haul things. Not with pick-up trucks they don't: > Nearly 90 percent of truck buyers said they never use their truck for business towing, as a mobile office, or as a work site. Yet nearly 40 percent said they drive their truck strictly for pleasure at least once a week. * https://www.carscoops.com/2025/11/capability-by-numbers-what... * https://www.powernationtv.com/post/most-pickup-truck-owners-... And these are self-reported numbers: what people say about their own behaviour(s). > Big trucks can be a necessity depending on what you do for a living/your way of life. For something like ~90% of pick-up owners that is grocery shopping and errands. As one headline put it, most folks don't need a pick-up truck but rather a cowboy costume: > But, as it turns out, a significant portion of truck owners never use their trucks for these capabilities. According to Edwards’ data, 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less. And a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d’être—once a year or less. * https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz... People would do better to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle, and use the money saved to rent a truck (or van) the few times a year they need those specific capabilities. They'd probably save money, and we'd probably have fewer dead people and children as well: * https://carbuzz.com/news/the-abrams-m1-tank-has-better-visib... |
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| ▲ | bobthepanda 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The vast majority of pickups are not actually used for workmen like purposes. In fact, as carmakers have started pivoting more towards selling them to affluent suburban households, the usable cargo volume has decreased over time despite increasing size. |
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| ▲ | delta_p_delta_x 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Things can be hauled just fine in an estate, saloon, or even a hatchback. European camper vans are regularly hauled by tiny Golfs or Polos with barely a litre of engine displacement and a hundred kilowatts of power. Americans just buy much bigger vehicles than necessary. |
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| ▲ | snypher 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | >Big trucks can be a necessity depending on what you do for a living/your way of life. You might have missed this part. My round bales are 1000kg, and the field gets wet. How do I move the goats? How do I pull someone out of that ditch where the sign says 15mph but every winter they slide through my fence? | | |
| ▲ | cr3ative 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | A tractor, probably. | | |
| ▲ | twineorwire 12 minutes ago | parent [-] | | Grew up in farm country and on a (hobby) cattle farm, can confirm, the best tool for between two and three[1] of those is a tractor. Though yes obviously if you have an actual working farm, in any capacity, you need a truck that can tow trailers with decent weight on them. I have noticed truck ownership patterns vary with region, which may be why some people bristle at the notion that vanity-driven truck ownership is common. It's extremely common in the Midwest, city suburbs are full of people who bought an expensive truck either because that's the purchase that'll get them positive attention from their peers at work or in their friend group (and because other options for show-off cars might get them ribbing instead of kudos) or for aspirations they'll never fulfill ("yeah, I'll totally tow a boat to the lake every weekend! Maybe I'll even buy a fifth-wheel camper!" then they end up doing it like twice a year and never buy the camper). It's less common in (at least large parts of) the Northeast. The "I have a nice car people may comment positively on or otherwise approve of" purchases here swing more Volvo and Audi and such, even out in what the locals consider the "country" (it's... not, LOL). [1] Where are the goats being hauled? Just on your property, between fields? To somewhere farther away? On roads? How far on roads? Truck still might be the wrong tool, or at least not better. |
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| ▲ | well_ackshually 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | With anything but an F350. How did farmers do anything before Ford saved them with the worst trucks to ever exist, truly a wonder. | |
| ▲ | adaml_623 an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | If you are really a farmer then I would expect you to have more sense than defending all the people who drive to their office job in their massive trucks. Yes people on farms need big vehicles. We're not talking about them. |
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| ▲ | 6SixTy 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Right, but seeing trucks obviously not set up for towing or hauling is becoming more common nowadays. With the level of luxury trims available on some trucks now, it's obvious that they aren't a necessity anymore. This is on top of trucks prioritizing 4 door models and taking bites out of the truck bed |
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| ▲ | ebbi 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | Same trend here in NZ. People buying utes/trucks just because they want, not because they need. They're not as big as the American F150s etc, more a Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger. And they're often driven by reckless road ragers, often modified with uncertified suspension, bush lights turned on at night blinding oncoming traffic, and wheels extending past the fender flares. These vehicles are often financed to the hilt, so spending money on certifying the modifications is out of the picture, so a lot of these are not legal to drive on the roads. | | |
| ▲ | 6SixTy an hour ago | parent [-] | | Remember that the US is it's own market with different regulations and has a complicated history with imports, so no Hilux. Though it does look like the Ranger is externally the same between NZ and US. I'm not counting maybe 1mm as different. I am somewhat familiar with a Ute since I've seen Subaru Bajas before. Not old enough to see Subaru Brats around or El Caminos. It does seem like those people are emulating Americans though a lot of those mods are passable without certification, and it's up to a cop to pull over people using bush lights (they probably won't). |
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| ▲ | LeBit 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| What do you think is the % of people having F150 that really do need F150? |
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| ▲ | eks391 18 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | As someone who does not own an F150 (or any truck), I find myself frequently wishing I had a truck, and either borrowing a friend with a truck, renting a truck, or doing some really unsafe things with my hatchback while muttering with my wife that our next car with be a truck. If we had a truck, what % of the time would we be using it for things that can only be done with a truck? Very little, since it would also be our daily driver, but even if just 1% of the time, it's 100% worth having a truck over some sedan (or a hatchback!) | | |
| ▲ | bobthepanda 14 minutes ago | parent [-] | | Tbh as someone who does not drive or own a car regularly, I get by renting those U Haul vans (not trucks). It’s not expensive and it’s a hell of a lot more useful than a truck for doing the random heavy odd job. |
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| ▲ | angry_octet 16 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Can't be more than 1% at this point. The cleanest cars on the road, and the only rough terrain they face is climbing kerbs to bypass queues in traffic. | |
| ▲ | 9x39 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | What % of people who have wealth really need that wealth? | | |
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| ▲ | readthenotes1 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| That may be true. However it does not explain how many people have big trucks that are never used as trucks |
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| ▲ | brnt 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Lots of people haul things everywhere. Driving a truck as your main vehicle because you haul something twice a month is ridiculously wasteful, of money foremost. I have a small trailer, rent a bigger one or van when needed. |
