Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

axios.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 143 posts

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#131

Post by jonah »

dylan604 wrote: post #58
josephpmay wrote: post #16

This is actually a pretty interesting story, from a career perspective: The CEO of VW North America is on vacation with his family, sees a restored classic Scout, and falls in love with it. He finds out that coincidentally VW now owns the rights to the Scout brand, so he steps down from his post to start a new Scout subsidiary.

If I were the grease monkey type that could work on my own car, a Scout is definitely in the realm of classic car that I would love to have as a daily driver.

My dad owned several way back when.

He did a lot of converting them around. One from right hand drive to left, one to propane fuel, and one from an automatic to manual transmission!

They're really simple, crude vehicles. They have terrible handling and ride like a tractor.

But... they look super cool and give off rug and vibes...

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#132

Post by rascul »

mulmen wrote: post #130
rascul wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lay down in the bed and nobody will see.

Have you ever been in the back of a pickup? This would be incredibly uncomfortable at best and is likely to cause a concussion or worse.

I have. I had a pillow. Went about 45 miles. I don't recommend it.

Edit: The ride really wasn't so bad, but it wasn't exactly comfortable, and it was a bit awkward. I recommend riding in a factory installed seat with a seat belt. For safety.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#133

Post by wink »

mulmen wrote: post #120
ozarker wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably all the trucks I see driving in cities. Come out to the country and see how much trucks get used.

I live in the city and I see pickup trucks every day. Most of them are "work trucks" but that just means city trucks are getting a lot of use too.

Still seems to be an American phenomenon (saw it first hand in Mexico, not US/Canada) - in Europe everyone has a van for (construction) work, not a pickup truck. And by everyone I mean easily 90% (unless you're talking real truck of 7.5t+) with maybe an exception for garden workers.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#134

Post by RickJWagner »

In the mid-80s I had a Scout from the mid 60s. It was the most basic vehicle you could imagine. Everything was operated manually. The roof would come off, if you unfastened about 6 bolts. I think it had about 4 instruments, including the gas gauge, which did not work. (I'd check the gas level by opening up the gas cap and rocking the vehicle to listen to the sloshing sounds.) Still, you could fix most anything with very basic tools.

I wish VW good luck. They currently have a reputation for complicated, fragile vehicles so sort of the opposite of my old Scout. Maybe the change to an electric drivetrain will let them move closer to their spiritual ancestor.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#135

Post by yread »

bluGill wrote: post #117
SoftTalker wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As mentioned in another subthread, rental contracts for pickup trucks often prohibit towing, and the trucks aren't even fitted with a tow hitch. If you want to tow with a rented truck, you'll need to rent from a "commercial" rental company and you'll be paying a lot more.

Even then, the rental trucks i've found that let me tow have the wrong hitch (bolted on ball of the wrong size) and don't have a brake controller meaning they can't tow my trailer.

Sounds like a hole in the market!

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#136

Post by [deleted] »

wink wrote: post #133
mulmen wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in the city and I see pickup trucks every day. Most of them are "work trucks" but that just means city trucks are getting a lot of use too.

Still seems to be an American phenomenon (saw it first hand in Mexico, not US/Canada) - in Europe everyone has a van for (construction) work, not a pickup truck. And by everyone I mean easily 90% (unless you're talking real truck of 7.5t+) with maybe an exception for garden workers.

[deleted]

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#137

Post by Ancapistani »

waiseristy wrote: post #128
EricE wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It keeps being brought up because there is a pent up demand for them. Safety standards are BS. If Mazda can and does keep the Miata complaint with safety standards while preserving the bulk of the original Miata soul, then these other manufacturers could do the same with mini trucks. The real problem is they don't have to. Bigger vehicles have better profit margins, and the chicken tax limits competition. Repeal the…

I think you overestimate this pent up demand. The Santa Cruz sells like shit. The Ridgeline is right there by it New players don’t come into the US truck market with mini-trucks because they simply don’t sell

Both the Santa Cruz and the Ridgeline are unibody. The 1st gen Tacoma was body-on-frame. HUGE difference.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#138

Post by EricE »

throwaway6734 wrote: post #127
EricE wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start lobbying your congress critter(s) to repeal the chicken tax. Otherwise it will never happen :(

Chicken tax?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#139

Post by freemint »

rascul wrote: post #125
freemint wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What if you need to haul things while simultaneously carrying a family around? Have one partner drive a sedan/wagon with the kids and another partner haul. A lot more economical too.

How is it more economical to drive the truck and car instead of just the truck?

Because you can drive such a truck https://preview.redd.it/jxpnmzv586e81.png?width=1024&auto=we... if you do not need to transport a family and a sedan and those two will weigh less and have better combined gas mileage than american larger truck. If you relax the assumption that you always transport both a family and a truck load you allow for more powerful trucks and still come out ahead.

In addition you do not need to waste gas if either capability goes unused and the mileage of transporting people won't depreciate the more expensive truck faster.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#140

Post by waiseristy »

Ancapistani wrote: post #137
waiseristy wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you overestimate this pent up demand. The Santa Cruz sells like shit. The Ridgeline is right there by it New players don’t come into the US truck market with mini-trucks because they simply don’t sell

Both the Santa Cruz and the Ridgeline are unibody. The 1st gen Tacoma was body-on-frame. HUGE difference.

What? How? They have strikingly similar towing and payload. There’s nothing wrong or different about a unibody. It’s actually preferable in a lot of ways for small trucks
Post reply on HN