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Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

economist.com

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Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#221

Post by kube-system »

eduction wrote: post #217
nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standards. Even the advocate highlighted in this article (Economist) admits his would probably be a “death trap” on a busy highway. Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down v…

> Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down vehicle sizes.

They already have!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicl...

But it’s a hard sell when the US has so many high speed roads. I mostly see them used for facility maintenance, parking enforcement etc.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#222

Post by traverseda »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #30
joewhale wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's easy to throw rocks when you personally don't have 3-4 kids.

So what did people do when they had 3-4 kids in the 80s? I see families of 4 with huge SUVs these days. If anything they want a kei van right? It maximises the size of the vehicle, cuboid on wheels, and minimises the cost for that volume.

Station wagons are big and you could throw a couple kids in the back no seat belts no problem

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#223

Post by JKCalhoun »

eduction wrote: post #217
nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standards. Even the advocate highlighted in this article (Economist) admits his would probably be a “death trap” on a busy highway. Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down v…

States vary. Some disallow them on all highways, others allow them on State highways, not Federal....

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#224

Post by FanaHOVA »

nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

> micro-sized European city cars

I see plenty of Smarts and Fiat 500s in San Francisco

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#225

Post by JKCalhoun »

nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

Also, import tax on trucks is 20% (if I recall correctly). Maybe over double the tax on cars. Not sure why trucks get special protection(ism).

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#226

Post by pwthornton »

codalan wrote: post #190
pwthornton wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some smaller options these days. The Honda Ridgeline has led the way here as a very livable, smaller (although not small) truck. The Ford Maverick is even smaller. It is a bit more barebones but it might work for you.

The problem with the Maverick (as others have mentioned) is that they squander valuable bed space by adding a cab to the design. To me, a pickup truck is a pretty utilitarian thing. I don't need a cab. I have other vehicles if I need to take passengers. I remember pricing out a pickup a few years ago, and it was hard to find one that wasn't already configured with a cab. I guess the market demand is larger for people…

There is apparently no market for cab-less pickups in the U.S.

Ever since overfed suburban poseurs started buying trucks, the market has shifted to crew cab and luxury.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#227

Post by alexvoda »

echelon wrote: post #187
porphyra wrote: post #37

One of the most highly upvoted Reddit posts on /r/fuckcars mocks large pickups compared to the utility of a kei truck. https://reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/sdrgv3/japanese_truck... A kei truck has about 90% the bed length of a pickup while being a lot more nimble. The lower bed is more ergonomic to load and unload too.

The /r/fuckcars folks are being a little dishonest here. As another commenter mentioned, this is like asking a vegan for steak recommendations at a restaurant. Subaru Sambar (kei truck) towing capacity: 1,300 lbs Ford F-150 towing capacity: 5,000 to 11,300 lbs Ford F-250 Shelby edition towing capacity: 24,200 pounds And that's just one additional dimension where these vehicles significantly differ. These vehicles are…

And just how many of the F-150 owners have anything tow-able, let alone of that tonnage?

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#228

Post by JKCalhoun »

LinuxBender wrote: post #4

I've seriously contemplated getting one of these. Street legal, fuel efficient, simple, but when I started researching them I started to see a pattern. It's hard to find anyone in rural areas willing to work on them and not all mini trucks are equal. Some are not shipped correctly and have frame rust issues. There are YouTuber's that cover some of the models and the gotchas and things to inspect. I would never buy on…

Too bad you aren't inclined to work on them yourself. To me a key truck is a "hobby car" and I have no compunctions about learning to wrench on one. (YouTube certainly has plenty of how-to videos on it.)

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#229

Post by JKCalhoun »

munificent wrote: post #166
asciimov wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously miss compact trucks, like the Mazda B-series, Ford Courier, Ford Ranger (before it became a mid-size in 2019). These kinds of trucks might more to your liking. Sure they aren't as small and cute as the imports, but your local auto store can still get you parts for them. They are fun to drive, fairly fuel efficient, and are capable of hauling material from the home center. I learned to drive stick, and how…

I still drive a manual 2002 Toyota Tacoma and you'll have to claw it out of my dead hands for this exact reason. I really love the utility of a pick-up truck, but I absolutely despise the size of any of them in the US in the past couple of decades. I wish they still made mid-sized pick-ups that were actually mid-sized. A Tacoma is nearly the size of Tundra was twenty years ago, and a Tundra today is like the size of…

Yeah, what the hell happened?

And I miss my manual (1980's?) Chevy Luv.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#230

Post by JKCalhoun »

cvwright wrote: post #157
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Missing the point. Many people buying inefficient oversized pickup trucks don't care that there's smaller and more efficient options out there, but they do it for the status simbol and ego lifting, not to be utilitarian and efficient. I see these monster pick-up trucks more and more in European cities nowadays too, F-150s, Dodge Rams, with some fancy paintjob and big wheels but who's bed hasn't seen any actual use ca…

Not sure why you’re being downvoted. I live in Dallas and this is 100% true. What’s fun is when you notice that the biggest, flashiest trucks are all concentrated in the fanciest suburbs. Once you get out in the country, off the main roads like where I’m from, suddenly (1) pickup trucks make up a lower percentage of the traffic, and (2) they are generally* smaller, more utilitarian and more beat up. * except for the…

See a lot of "handy men" actually prefer old minivans as a "work truck".
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