Live data from Hacker News

Toyota's new $10k pickup

motortrend.com

11–20 of 137 posts

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#11

Oooh, I would _absolutely_ buy one of these to tow with. (looks like that diesel has _enough_ torque for my needs.) It's become almost impossible to find a cheap pickup truck in the US. Even older USED trucks are commanding $30K these days. If they could fit this out to pass safety regs in North America and keep the price under $20K, it would be a license to print money.

Toyota has a small pickup in the works for the US market to compete with the Ford Maverick, which is a huge success. Probably won't see it till 2027.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#12
post #9

Oooh, I would _absolutely_ buy one of these to tow with. (looks like that diesel has _enough_ torque for my needs.) It's become almost impossible to find a cheap pickup truck in the US. Even older USED trucks are commanding $30K these days. If they could fit this out to pass safety regs in North America and keep the price under $20K, it would be a license to print money.

A small pickup, at least with any kind of ICE, is literally illegal to sell here due to CAFE regulations, which are strangely based on the footprint of the car. An actually small pickup would have to be as fuel-efficient as sedans and small SUVs, which isn't going to work out. EVs will work, but not at that sub-$20k price point.

People don't even realize that the government agencies responsible for saving us from "climate change" are the same ones causing absolutely stupid issues like this.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#13

> The Toyota Tacoma pickup is built in America for Americans and Canadians, to dodge the "chicken tax," ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax Yet another regressive slant in our tax system, inglorious legacy of an earlier generation.

The loophole examples in this article are great.

> Japanese manufacturers initially found they could export "chassis cab" configurations (which included the entire light truck, less the cargo box or truck bed) with only a 4% tariff. A truck bed would subsequently be attached to the chassis in the United States and the vehicle could be sold as a light truck.

> From 1978 to 1987, the Subaru BRAT carried two rear-facing seats in its rear bed to meet classification as a "passenger vehicle" and not a light truck.

> Ford imported all of its first-generation Ford Transit Connect models as "passenger vehicles" by including rear windows, rear seats, and rear seat belts. The vehicles are exported from Turkey, arrive in Baltimore, and are converted back into light trucks by replacing rear windows with metal panels and removing the rear seats and seat belts.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#14
For a farm run around I'd love an EV version of this with just a small motor and battery. Even a simple golf cart costs more than this these days. A 50kW motor and 25kWh LFP or Sodium battery would be plenty and should allow hitting a very similar price point.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#15

Oooh, I would _absolutely_ buy one of these to tow with. (looks like that diesel has _enough_ torque for my needs.) It's become almost impossible to find a cheap pickup truck in the US. Even older USED trucks are commanding $30K these days. If they could fit this out to pass safety regs in North America and keep the price under $20K, it would be a license to print money.

> If they could fit this out to pass safety regs in North America and keep the price under $20K

And add dealer's markup fee and hidden fees, it will automatically touch 30K

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#16
In other words, a pickup truck! Not a giant SUV masquerading as one, with a 5ft bed and 5-passenger luxury car cab, with price to match. I'm old enough to remember normal pickup trucks, affordable for actual "work" use, with bench seating for three, full 8x4 bed with half ton cargo capacity and not much else.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#17
post #11

Oooh, I would _absolutely_ buy one of these to tow with. (looks like that diesel has _enough_ torque for my needs.) It's become almost impossible to find a cheap pickup truck in the US. Even older USED trucks are commanding $30K these days. If they could fit this out to pass safety regs in North America and keep the price under $20K, it would be a license to print money.

Toyota has a small pickup in the works for the US market to compete with the Ford Maverick, which is a huge success. Probably won't see it till 2027.

The Maverick is nowhere near a success. Powertrain issues aside, it was nearly impossible to buy the $20,000 trim of the truck. Sure you can buy a $40,000 optioned out hybrid version, but a used Frontier or Tacoma is a much better option for a $20,000 truck.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#18
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toyota has a small pickup in the works for the US market to compete with the Ford Maverick, which is a huge success. Probably won't see it till 2027.

The Maverick is nowhere near a success. Powertrain issues aside, it was nearly impossible to buy the $20,000 trim of the truck. Sure you can buy a $40,000 optioned out hybrid version, but a used Frontier or Tacoma is a much better option for a $20,000 truck.

If you ordered new from Ford, you'd get the maverick with your desired options at the advertised price. The problem was, it's such a great truck that the order books for the entire year have closed within DAYS of opening. It's the used ones, or the new orders declined by the customers and then sold by the dealerships, that are ridiculously priced. If you have the time, ordering from Ford is a great option to get a great value truck.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#19
post #14

For a farm run around I'd love an EV version of this with just a small motor and battery. Even a simple golf cart costs more than this these days. A 50kW motor and 25kWh LFP or Sodium battery would be plenty and should allow hitting a very similar price point.

I'm sure you've seen this already (or its numerous bretheren) and it's relatively affordable --

https://electrek.co/2021/10/25/i-actually-bought-a-cheap-ele...

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#20
post #8
post #5

I mean, $10000 is almost enough to ignore just how ugly that thing is. I just don't see the comparison to the 70 series or Hilux, except vaguely, maybe similar to La Croix's relationship to water. To be clear, I find the effort they put into "styling" it ugly; if they committed and made a utilitarian vehicle without the style-effort, it likely would look great.

It's modular. Doesn't look bad at all when built out. https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2025-toyota-imv-0-pickup-...

I get that, which on its own is awesome. But even fitted out, it looks like overlanding is their goal market, cause its gotta look "mean." Maybe because I use power tools so often that when something flips form-follows-function backwards, it stands out like a sore thumb -- for example none of the exterior design of the cab affects its use or modularity, yet they clearly spent some time on it.
Post reply on HN