Nailed it. I considered buying a truck for years, but the minivan has everything I want out of a vehicle. I'm so glad we got one. It's strictly better for hauling dimensional or ply, strictly better for long road trips, for gas mileage, etc. It even tows more than my jeep did, but not as much as a full size pickup. and it has a really nice reconfigurable roof rack, so adding a trip carrier on top is simple. Add to that the optional bench in back, the built in vacuum, the built in TV + entertainment, the full length moonroof, on and on.

It's a luxury vehicle that beats SUVs hands down, and most functions of urban trucks as well.

It just gets soccer mom vibes, so it's not $120,000

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nonethewiser 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>It just gets soccer mom vibes, so it's not $120,000

The vehicle with soccer mom vibes may fit your use case better but that doesn't explain the cost difference. Mini vans are cheaper to manufacture. The frame, axles, brakes, engines, towing, payload hardware etc. are all lighter duty.

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eqvinox 6 hours ago | parent [-]

> The frame, axles, brakes, engines, towing, payload hardware etc. are all lighter duty.

I have 2 questions about this:

* are you actually, really, sure? (Is this hard data?)

* does it matter when it's never going to go off-road and rarely strained (e.g. for towing)?

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matwood 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Yes it's lighter duty parts. If you don't haul or tow, then there's no need for a truck.

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awakeasleep 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Agree with you, but want to say trucks are really for towing. To haul you want a trailer.

For example the f150 is rated for 1.2 tons, the 250 1.3 to 1.8 depending on configuration. gotta go to f350 for an 8 ton configuration.

For people who don't think about this often, imagine four 200lb guys riding in the cab of the f150. It's already a third of it's payload capacity at that point. Can't fit too many bags of cement in after that.

Of course this is moot in comparison to a minivan which has a payload capacity of about 3/4 ton. You’ll be over capacity in the minivan if you have a 175lb person on each seat.

	▲	eqvinox 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> Agree with you, but want to say trucks are really for towing. To haul you want a trailer. > For example the f150 is rated for 1.2 tons, the 250 1.3 to 1.8 depending on configuration. Now I'm really confused. My father's Citroën CX station wagon (built 1983) was rated to tow 1.5/1.7/1.8t depending on configuration (AFAIR 2.5l Diesel engine for 1.8t), and we regularly made use of that. Admittedly 2026 is not 1983, but a BMW 3 class (not X3) can also tow 1.8t. A current VW Passat tows 1.8t to 2.2t. (Both of those are available as either limousines or station wagons.) What's the point of the F150 then? I guess if you want to do tow 1.2t every day? I would expect that the max rating also be higher if the reliability/life is better... Ed.: nevermind, I should've just looked up the F150. It's listed as 3.4t up to 6.35t depending on configuration. Where do you get 1.2t? Is there a separate rating for "when you do this every day"? Ed.²: wait, are you talking about hauling there? That really didn't come across for me, with the preceding sentence. (more searching) Ah, yeah. 1.4t for F150, 2.6t for F350. The 8t on F350 you're mentioning is for towing again. (FWIW, Europeans needing anything like this generally get a Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter.)

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ex-aws-dude 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It totally depends on your use case

One of the reasons I love a pickup is that it separates the cargo from the interior

A lot of times I have oil/gas/chemicals/something dirty in the bed which I would not want in the cabin space

Also it depends do you care about height of cargo or not?

For example a minivan can fit plywood but not a dirt bike

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dschep 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> It just gets soccer mom vibes, so it's not $120,000

I always find such arguments comical. Have you seen soccer moms? They all drive huge SUVs. SUVs = soccer mom vibes!