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Toyota's new $10k pickup

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Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#51

Post by toast0 »

QuarterReptile wrote: post #27
MarkusWandel wrote: post #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.

You can still buy those, typically ex-contractor vehicles at auction. Crank windows, cloth bench, long bed, crappy radio.

You can still buy them, but when they're gone, they're gone. After Ford stopped the Ranger in 2011, nobody has sold a US market regular cab compact pickup truck. (The more recent Ranger isn't available as a regular cab)

You can get a regular cab F-150, or similar, and you can get a smaller truck with a tiny bed and two rows of seats.

This seems unlikely to make it here, but my hope is someone bring something like it here. It will probably need to be electric to meet cafe standards, but I'd prefer hybrid.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#52

Post by specialist »

pedrocr wrote: post #21
petee wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

The Chinese manufacturers are definitely promising but it's still an import ordeal for a dubious quality product. For now we're making do with some second hand lead-acid UTVs and planning on doing lithium conversions mostly to get rid of the hassle of watering and maintaining lead-acid. But this market could definitely use some more options from the automotive side. EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my min…

> EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my mind for a while now.

That'd be perfect.

Please share when you do.

I was curious about converting a 80s VW Rabbit/Golf to BEV. Starting with a non-functioning car, my wild guess is ~8k. Assuming a ~10 kWh battery, which should have > 100m range. Way more than I need for dog parks, groceries, errands.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#53

Post by cameldrv »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #37
QuarterReptile wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still buy those, typically ex-contractor vehicles at auction. Crank windows, cloth bench, long bed, crappy radio.

I have a 2 door late 2000’s Ford Ranger I’ve been driving for the past decade. Crank windows and the vinyl seats are falling apart and it’s my favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned. Low maintenance costs: only had one actual mechanical problem, bad coil pack, since I’ve owned it and I’ve had the sway bar replaced but otherwise nothing. other than that it’s only been batteries, oil and tires and registration/insurance. I b…

All of the mid-size trucks (Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier) have 6 foot bed versions. Unfortunately they don't make the traditional pickup single row seat versions anymore, but you can still get a two door model with the little back seats.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#54

Post by gottorf »

specialist wrote: post #52
pedrocr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese manufacturers are definitely promising but it's still an import ordeal for a dubious quality product. For now we're making do with some second hand lead-acid UTVs and planning on doing lithium conversions mostly to get rid of the hassle of watering and maintaining lead-acid. But this market could definitely use some more options from the automotive side. EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my min…

> EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my mind for a while now. That'd be perfect. Please share when you do. I was curious about converting a 80s VW Rabbit/Golf to BEV. Starting with a non-functioning car, my wild guess is ~8k. Assuming a ~10 kWh battery, which should have > 100m range. Way more than I need for dog parks, groceries, errands.

> which should have > 100m range. Way more than I need for dog parks, groceries, errands.

If that's the range you're looking for, very lightly used (under 20k miles and less than 3 years old) Nissan Leafs can be had for around $20k, and comes with CarPlay. It certainly wouldn't be as cool as an 80s Golf EV conversion, but it would also be a lot more comfortable inside ;-)

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#55

Post by Freedom2 »

hasmanean wrote: post #29
MarkusWandel wrote: post #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.

Half a ton cargo capacity? That’s like the weight of what, 2 fat people? A ton is 1000 lb, right?

A ton has always meant 1000 lb to me and my Texas education - ya'll are dreaming when you mention 2200 lbs or whatever.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#56

Post by avar »

rewmie wrote: post #31
eschneider wrote: post #3

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.

> Oooh, I would _absolutely_ buy one of these to tow with. From an outsider, that's the thing that baffles me the most about the current state of the whole world's auto industry. Sometimes it seems that all auto makers are colluding to prevent any competition based on price, and are instead invested in forcing this notion that the only possible consumer pressure is on seeking luxury features like onboard computers, t…

The reason is government regulation. I'm not saying that increased safety and emission standard are bad, but they're the main thing driving up car prices.

How can I assert that with confidence? Because all you need to do is to look up what the cars that are illegal to sell in the US, EU and countries that are similarly regulated.

E.g. South Africa has pickup trucks starting at around $15k, new: https://briefly.co.za/facts-lifehacks/top/138901-12-cheapest...

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#58

Post by pedrocr »

specialist wrote: post #52
pedrocr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese manufacturers are definitely promising but it's still an import ordeal for a dubious quality product. For now we're making do with some second hand lead-acid UTVs and planning on doing lithium conversions mostly to get rid of the hassle of watering and maintaining lead-acid. But this market could definitely use some more options from the automotive side. EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my min…

> EV converting a small Suzuki 4x4 has been on my mind for a while now. That'd be perfect. Please share when you do. I was curious about converting a 80s VW Rabbit/Golf to BEV. Starting with a non-functioning car, my wild guess is ~8k. Assuming a ~10 kWh battery, which should have > 100m range. Way more than I need for dog parks, groceries, errands.

There are a few on YouTube already if you want to check them out. And for an old Golf that's probably even easier. EVWest and others probably already have a drop in kit for those.

Re: Toyota's new $10k pickup

#60

Post by tonyarkles »

cameldrv wrote: post #53
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 2 door late 2000’s Ford Ranger I’ve been driving for the past decade. Crank windows and the vinyl seats are falling apart and it’s my favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned. Low maintenance costs: only had one actual mechanical problem, bad coil pack, since I’ve owned it and I’ve had the sway bar replaced but otherwise nothing. other than that it’s only been batteries, oil and tires and registration/insurance. I b…

All of the mid-size trucks (Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier) have 6 foot bed versions. Unfortunately they don't make the traditional pickup single row seat versions anymore, but you can still get a two door model with the little back seats.

Yeah, I've got a 2016 Tacoma TRD OR Access Cab (6' box, tiny back seat with suicide doors) and it has been absolutely fabulous. The little back seats are big enough for my nephews or my dogs... not so much our wives when we went on a couples' hiking trip.
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