Europe cut down most of their forests. They don’t have very many forest fires... I'll take the forest and the fire. Just saying - it's possible to cut em all down if you really want to. A few thousand years ago it was forested continuously from Portugal to Russia. If we get started now I bet we can cut them down way…

I tend to group them together. But I'd agree that the old ranger at least has a better reputation than the S10. And I do occasionally still see one on the road. Can't remember the last S10 or Dakota I've seen still driving around. 

I can understand why they’ve used them. They’re idiot proof. And a lot of U-Haul renters challenge even the most idiot proof systems to find a way to screw it up.

If you don’t want excess - why aren’t you riding the bus?

200k is unusual for an S10. They were not well built trucks. Everything - body, interior, engines, transmissions, suspension components and axles were all poor quality parts. It wasn’t an accident that people quit buying them and they were discontinued. It’s great that you were able to limp an S10 along for 200k miles…

You lost me at light weight. They are many things. Light weight is not one of them.

I think the Maverick will be super popular. There’s a ton of people driving crvs and Rav4s who would rather have a Tacoma but can’t justify the $45k price tag or the 20mpg. Maverick is just right for them. Can still haul 4 adults and 4 kayaks or bikes. Decent all weather capability. That’s what they want. No one in…

Powered by a Navistar 6.0 (AKA 6.oh no powerstroke). No thanks. I wouldn’t test drive it any further than I wanted to walk back. On the plus side - while you’re frequently broke down waiting for the (very expensive) tow truck, at least you have somewhere to hang out!

I may be built differently. I’m 6'3" ~200lbs. Even if you’re pretty tiny it still seems hard to argue with big comfortable seats with lots of leg room, luxury features, capability, and smooth quiet ride. Unless maybe your feet don’t reach the floor or something. Most buyers like these things.

In addition to my f250 (which is noisy and rides like crap), I also own an rx350 a 4runner and a Land cruiser. None of them are as nice on the highway as a modern luxury truck. Not even close. I think they beat my rx350 in road noise by ~ 5db. High trim late model trucks are in the 65-66db range. The number of cars…

Have you ridden in a modern truck? They’re better. Objectively, they will ride smoother, be significantly quieter, handle bad weather better, and get similar mileage (the big 3 all have models that are near 30 mpg). Yeah, they’re also lot more expensive. That’s probably the biggest downside - near 6 figure price tags.

I’m mostly just giving you are a hard time about the “I can move anything I need for my projects in my station wagon, So nobody else needs a truck.”

It’s not as big as a 7 series. It's 8 inches shorter and over 1,000lbs lighter. 

Does it matter if they “need” to be truck owners? No one needs as car at all. It’s all a luxury of sorts. Just a different luxury to be able to tow and haul stuff. 

Most people don’t need any car at all. Transit, rentals, ride share. It’s just a spectrum. Why do many Jalops seem to go down the same trope of “I can cut the top off my Camry and one by one haul my cows to market so no one needs a truck” I seriously do not understand. I’ve never seen a truck guy telling a Jetta owner…

I think what I read is that you mostly don’t actually do things yourself although you call it DIY?

Is it actually the size you want? It’s the 40mpg that I think most buyers care about. Not the 8 inches longer than an 80's mini truck. The Maverick is barely longer than my 4runner. It’s a pretty small trucklet in my book.

I think we’re maybe talking about different sizes of tools. My air compressor is moved with a fork lift. My welder would fit in a big SUV. But not in my rx350. I live in the city, but obviously don’t live in an inner city apartment. I have a big yard and shop on my property. So my version of diy is a little different…

You don’t see rangers and S10s for the same reason you don’t see Dakotas. They were low quality products that didn’t last. They’re all in junk yards because they weren’t worth the cost to keep repairing. They were basically giant pieces of shit. Like all American cars from the 90s.

How do you move a skid steer, small excavator, telehandler, forklift, etc? How do you move big tools - like an air compressor or welder?