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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

#321

Post by chrisco255 »

libraryatnight wrote: post #207
echelon wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I know a lot of people with those ridiculous big trucks, and 2 of them use them for utility, one has a boat and one has a 5th wheel. The others just...have them. So until there's zero people driving them for vanity or aggression reasons, it doesn't feel dishonest at all. Your response feels like a typical US response to social ills - turn a blind eye to a problem because a) the thing causing the problem is fun/popula…

I know a lot of people who drive big trucks, and all of them regularly use them for: hauling building materials, towing RVs, towing boats, towing four wheelers/dirt bikes/UTVs/snowmobiles, pulling utility trailers (for trash pickup, job site cleanup, lumber & metal, piping, furniture, landscaping, tree service, etc), tailgating parties, hunting, mudding, off-roading, barbecuing (towing a smoker), etc.

Literally don't know one person that drives a truck "for vanity" and I gotta know at least a few hundred truck owners.

I drive a F350. It will tow a mountain. I pull a fifth wheel with it. People are often surprised to hear that it gets 20 miles per gallon when it's not towing anything.

While I love the truck, I miss my old Tacoma. The Tacoma was a smoother ride and far more practical for urban navigation. But Tacomas have a bout a fifth or even less as much tow capacity as an F350.

Big trucks aren't causing social ills for anyone except people that have nothing better to do but complain about other people enjoying their own lives.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#322

Post by pookah »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #53
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.

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…

There's nothing more utilitarian than an extended-cab truck if you're a "divorced dad". You're hauling kids, furniture, trash, tools, etc. And if you need to move cross country guess what...You can tow a trailer. And I'd argue "ego lifting" is buying a 15k carbon fiber bike and riding in a traffic snarling peleton with your euro bike buddies...Everybody's guilty of some form of ego.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#323

Post by derefr »

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…

What counts as "importing a car", anyway? What's stopping someone from e.g. having the car disassembled, imported as parts, and reassembled?

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#324

Post by crazyjncsu »

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…

I’m Jake from the article.

The trucks have all just gone through auction and have inspection reports. Mine I bought for $2k was grade 3.5 and what I’d consider pristine for a 25 year old truck. The Japanese are pretty trustworthy people to do business with, and they build great vehicles.

One thing the author left out was the fascination I had with the whole process. Watching auctions, assignment to a ship, tracking it through the ocean and storms and watching on video as it passed through the Panama Canal. Then the customs and importation paperwork with CBP, going to the port, the driving 200 miles home in my new “truck” that had road manners more akin to my golf cart than anything actually on the road around me. I-95 was terrifying— I barely got off the on-ramp before looking for the next off-ramp to find backroads for the rest of the journey.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#325

Post by 77pt77 »

derefr wrote: post #323
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…

What counts as "importing a car", anyway? What's stopping someone from e.g. having the car disassembled, imported as parts, and reassembled?

Registering the vehicle must likely.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#326

Post by nickpeterson »

RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u wrote: post #316
trafnar wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t it better in safety due to the physics you mentioned?

Yes and no. Let's say everyone drives compact cars, then my risk level -- completely made up number -- is 20. However, if everyone's driving para-tanks while I keep driving my compact car, then my risk level rises to 60, due to aforementioned physics. Now, if I join everyone, then my risk level falls to 40, so I'm safer. But compare to the initial case, I'm still less safe. Hence the prisoner's dilemma.

I’ve been downvoted over this before but really we just need weight limits on cars. Efficiency is pretty closely aligned and we seem to regulate that just fine.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#327

Post by chrisco255 »

hedora wrote: post #231
echelon wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

RAM 1500: Towing capacity up hill. Zero. The transmission overheats after 3-4 hours going uphill with no load. They made it too heavy for the powertrain! It’s also depressingly easy to trigger the overload light on the dashboard by doing things like buying bricks at Home Depot. Seriously, WTF? Do we need a 2500 class to replace our old pre-fuel-injection GMC 1500? It had better fuel economy and was also lower to the…

Sorry to hear that. The modern Ford PowerDiesels are amazing though. Mine has towed 20K+ pounds through a 10% grade in the Grand Tetons without breaking a sweat.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#328

Post by derefr »

upofadown wrote: post #284
nostromo wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't necessarily regulatory capture or protectionism. Half of all cars sold in the US are imported. Toyota, a Japanese company, is the most popular brand of car sold in the US. So, yes, you can import cars all you want, they just need to follow US safety and emissions standards. These cars do not meet those requirements, so you can't import them. If you didn't block them as imports, we'd have lots of people jus…

Toyota can't import trucks with such a small footprint. That would screw up their fuel efficiency metric. That could lead to fines from the US government. That is the primary issue here that prevents the sale of small trucks in the US. With the current regulations, it makes the most sense to sell trucks with the longest wheelbase and largest width.

I wouldn't mind driving a car composed of a narrow kei-car chassis resting atop a wide but low-riding platform. It'd be like a bumper car!

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#329

Post by hytdstd »

iancmceachern wrote: post #302
strken wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A 13,000lb RV is doing a similar job to a 6lb tent, 1lb sleeping mat, 3lb sleeping bag, and 2lb stove. There are obviously some good reasons to buy a huge RV instead of using a tent, but the RV itself is an expensive and heavy status symbol.

Do you live in a tent? Would you make the same comparison about your house? We live in our RV for 3-6 months a year, in weather from -10 in Colorado blizzards and 120 degree California summers. In rain snow and sleet. I work remotely from it. A tent is not a home. An RV It is for many of us. Before you throw more stones, it's far more eco friendly and lower carbon Footprint to own an rv and travel and stay in it in v…

> it's far more eco friendly and lower carbon Footprint to own an rv and travel and stay in it in various places than to own several properties and fly between them.

It's considered worse to drive (vs fly) unless you have more than 2 people-- and that's for a normal car. With a truck+trailer the break-even point would need more passengers.

https://terrapass.com/blog/carbon-footprint-of-driving-vs-fl...

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/09/evolving-climate-...

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#330

Post by WillPostForFood »

nickpeterson wrote: post #326
RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. Let's say everyone drives compact cars, then my risk level -- completely made up number -- is 20. However, if everyone's driving para-tanks while I keep driving my compact car, then my risk level rises to 60, due to aforementioned physics. Now, if I join everyone, then my risk level falls to 40, so I'm safer. But compare to the initial case, I'm still less safe. Hence the prisoner's dilemma.

I’ve been downvoted over this before but really we just need weight limits on cars. Efficiency is pretty closely aligned and we seem to regulate that just fine.

Efficiency is pretty closely aligned

Not in the battery power era.

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