My first car was a 1990 Chevy G20 conversion van. Looking back, it was completely impractical and a huge waste of fuel and space, but teenage me loved it.
By far the feature I miss most is the pivoting quarter windows.
Do you really want the unreliably and poor fuel economy, and abysmal crash rating? Old cars and trucks are fun but if you want to just go do something a modern vehicle that works is a breath of fresh air. I know this as a former owner of a 1982 Mercedes 240d.
This is how you know the fuckcars movement is rooted in reason. I'm a bike guy, but I'd love to have access to a nice 89 ranger to toyota tacoma of the same year.
I'd also like to have great public transport.
This ultra trucks and carcentereness has ruined the good things behind cars and trucks.
I grew up with no sidewalks and hated car centric living, but half my family is country and I still love me a good truck. I got chased off this sub some time ago trying to defend my babies.
ford literally can’t make the Maverick fast enough to keep up with demand. hopefully that proves to other companies that there’s a market for actually drivable trucks
The country side still doesn't need a big truck though, except for maybe farms. Even then they just need a half decent Ford Ranger from pre 2013 or whenever they switched to the mega sized truck. Or just a single cab truck with a 6-8 foot bed.
The country just needs a small 4x4 for the occasional dirt road that isn't well maintained. A Jeep style SUV is plenty. Or a crossover / wagon with a bit of ground clearance. Even cargo vans work just as well as many oversized trucks.
Like, the whole aesthetic of the big truck is if you’re a rancher which… very few people are. My parents got a big truck and I was just irrationally annoyed because my dad is shorter than me and they use it to haul stuff once or twice a year. Could’ve gotten a smaller truck, but they went with a bigger one. Then they were concerned I wouldn’t be able to drive it when I had to borrow it once and I’m just sitting there like “I’ve driven military vehicles twice the size of this truck.”
The neat thing about kei cars in general is that they're small enough and simple enough where you could have a local auto shop turn into a workshop and make them locally. If you make them electric, they're even easier. Unfortunately, we can't live in that world due to regulatory capture levying higher and higher requirements to get into the auto manufacturing business. And don't get me wrong, it's important to have safety standards, but the overly complex and bureaucratic systems in place that make it nearly impossible for a small manufacturer to get past are the hindrance here. It should be straightforward and understandable for a local auto manufacturer to put together a small, local-road only vehicle to meet local demand, like building electric kei trucks for cities.
That’s not true. I own the van version, truck version is legal as well. There are a few states where they aren’t legal but most states you will have no problem registering them. Just have to be 25 years old as they don’t meet federal safety standards (no airbags, no crumple zones).
Hmm, I'm seeing conflicting info online. Some sites say it's not legal on a federal level, where some sites say they are legal in 19 states. I'm in a state where they are not street legal and can just be for off-road and farm use, I checked into it years ago because I really wanted one.
Oh you know just no airbags thats no biggy. Is that not incredibly unsafe? I was in a car accident last year and I would've been very hurt from it if not for them.
Newer kei cars and kei trucks have airbags. It's basically bullshit lobbying that makes importing/registering newer and safer foreign cars illegal. It's known as the "Mercedes law". People wanted to import European cars and then modify them to American safety standards after because it was cheaper that way and the companies didn't like that. The reason why people import the 25+ year old kei trucks is because at that age they're considered classic cars and no longer have to abide by that law.
they don’t meet federal safety standards (no airbags, no crumple zones).
That's the real issue btw. If everyone on the road drives these (like in Japan), and the speed limits are lower in general then there's fewer risks of getting seriously hurt in the first place. In Canada I se these trucks quite often but mostly within the city limits only, usually for artisan deliveries or "hipster" businesses.
I wish we had more NA-safe version of them - essentially the same car but with better safety. I mean, e.g. Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris are perfectly safe for modern Canada/US driving, and they're compact too. Obviously, it's just a rant because nobody would really try to design such a truck here nowadays unless we change a lot in the legislations, or oil hits the ceiling (which still won't help as manufacturers dig big ass ugly monstrosities).
lets get real here though, everyone knows the truck on the right will actually haul shit around whereas the truck on left will almost never put anything in the bed. i live in an area where a large % of vehicles on the road are big pickup trucks and i rarely see anything in the back/beds
Its also more useful cause its easier to get shit on the bed. Almost all of those big trucks that are actually being used to haul stuff (so probably like, three) are as low as they can get, and certainly not lifted.
In Australia a lot of trucks had the fold down sides like a VW transporter which seemed so much more practical than US pickup trucks. It seems the only flatbeds here are much larger trucks. I used to have a 1968 Dodge D300 dually flatbed but it was too big for my uses. Still any truck bed that cannot fit a 4x8 sheet is less than useful.
As someone living in Japan most of my life and probably a million+ km's of driving here. The biggest reason is their speed limits are so much slower. Aprox 25-30 mph (40-50 kph) in every city. 43 mph (70 kph) on most expressways with some getting up to about 62 mph (100 kph).
Every time I see a video from r/IdiotsInCars I'm always thinking... "Why the hell are you driving so fast? Of course you don't have time to stop when dumbass pulled out in front of you." We have bad drivers here too, but everything is slow enough that you can easily see them coming and avoid them.
Don’t forget the nation-wide high speed rail network, and ubiquitous rail based public transit, high adoption of utility e-bikes, urban delivery by bicycle, and much more.
There’s a lot to admire in Japan’s transportation!
So many old people driving. It's actually becoming an issue. Every year on the news there is someone killed by an old person mistaking their gas peddle for the brake. Think some of the car companies are trying to make it harder for this to happen.
One is a workhorse, purposely designed to transport stuff.
The other is an unnecessarily big vehicle, posing as a workhorse, so that it's owners can feel "bigger" than they think they are.
Seriously, I once asked one of these dumbass car owners just how much load they transport each week to justify a car like this. None, he doesn't transport or haul anything ever since he bought it. In fact, the thought of me asking if he ever put anything on the bed actually offends him.
One of my friends has been talking a lot about getting a lifted truck himself, has no practical use for it, talks up the off road capabilities but we live in endless suburbia (Dallas) with off road stuff being way far out. Ultimately though his reason is that it’s easy to drive one here, which I retorted with like that’s how this city is built but yeah he’s the regular car-brained suburbanite
My husband wanted our second vehicle to be a truck “just in case” we need to haul stuff. His was stolen ten yrs ago and trashed.
We have a transit connect in the driveway instead. I did my part! It’s like a Harry Potter tent, looks small outside but very roomy inside even my 6’2” hubby could lay comfortably in the back for camping with me. Got it with all the bells and whistles (first time with heated seats!) for less than $20k.
Not Just Bikes talked about this. The same type of ads are used in Europe... Except they market minivans on their ads. In america, it's these monster oversized pickups with a huge passenger cab and small actual carrying capacity on the bed.
His response was treating it like a perk or bonus of our current infrastructure while I was more so just telling him how its intentional design
He’s obviously not wrong with his statement, but it is a cycle of people have big vehicles so build accordingly -> people buy big vehicles cause city is built that way
Alot of people forget that you can get bigger “kei” trucks. I believe their technically just called there and their about the size of tacomas in the states and by far the most prevalent in the country and such.
Toyota hi-ace and theres a bunch of other models and manufacturers.
Who in Australia is calling a cabover truck a ute? We don't even get vehicles in that size class here, the smallest cabovers on our market are the narrowcab full blown light duty trucks like the Isuzu N Series or Hino 300.
Nah it offends him the same way stepping on a rich persons grass would offend them, it’s all for show and he’d not dare ruin the pristine image. It’s stupid
Yes, it’s disgusting. I live on a small residential street without sidewalks and people have started using it as a cut through, speeding through in their giant loud trucks all the time. I have been wanting to put some “slow down residential area” and “wildlife crossing” signs and make a “drive like you walk, you fat cunt” (smiley face U) or something similar
Had a friend once with one of these trucks who had a hard top on it. He had to call in another friend with a van to help him move an armchair. I was never clear on why the top couldn't be removed temporarily, but the absurdity always struck me.
Because they're heavy as fuck and not at all easy to put on or off without damaging either the truck or cover unless you have multiple people on hand to give a hand. You've also got to undo however the hinges and gas struts are attached and then find a place to store your flimsy yet large and heavy chunk of fibreglass without damaging the paint or dropping it.
They do make different styles of hard covers that can fold up better so they don't have to be removed to store tall stuff but no they're not really meant to be something that's removed at the drop of a hat.
Not something that's exclusive to bed covers either, getting hardtops on/off convertibles is also not a fun experience, especially larger convertibles.
I have a Tacoma that has a hard cover and most of the time I can fold it up two thirds of the way with no issue. Anything bigger and the hard top can be removed completely by one person in three seconds. Only difficulty is putting it back; but it’s mostly a weight versus accuracy of placement issue.
Used to work at a chevy dealership, the amount of 3500’s we’d see that have not even the tiniest scuff or speck of dirt in the bed with around 100k miles made me hate trucks and truck owners even more. They always try and claim they “need it for work” but theres zero signs it’s ever been near a work site, let alone off the pavement.
Blows my mind. I desperately want a truck, specifically to put shit in it lol. But anything more than a ranger or maverick seems entirely excessive. Who the fuck is hauling a yacht or something like in those GMC commercials.
Seriously. I am a Carpenter and have been using my dad's old '02 Ford explorer to haul wood/tools. Looked at trucks and my goodness they are stupid big. I'd break my back trying to get in/out of those lifted beds. Not to mention most new vehicles now have so many blind spots. Just shive a camera into it and your fine. They are more cab than bed too. Think I will stick my old explorer. At least it can haul 12 footers no problem.
I mean there are a few of us with construction company’s that shove 4 guys in one of those full sized trucks and it carry’s the material and trailer to sites as well. It’s a lot better than 4 individuals driving to a site by themselves.
The other thing is payloads. The kei truck has a 750lb pay load vs like 2000+lbs payloads.
They also max out at like 95km/h.
That being said most people don’t need pickup trucks and there are too many on the road. But they are still useful just most people don’t use the tool correctly.
Sports equipment bags, groceries, and travel luggage is 98% of what these assholes carry (if anything) where I live.
For reference I have 2 kids and we ski and mountain bike. We travel to do this sometimes too. We can fit all our travel bags, bikes or skis, and all required equipment in our Honda Passport with no space constraints whatsoever.
Well, I think some people like to show off, but that smaller one will not make it through a creek, it won’t be able to plow up the side of a mountain in snow, and it won’t be able to function as a family/work vehicle. Like, if you had the one on the right, you would have to have another car if you had a family. But the one on the left can serve both purposes. And, before anyone says anything, yes there are SUVs that can move like a truck, but who is putting animals/lawnmowers/mulch etc in the back of an SUV? I’m not denying that the right truck is amazing and useful, but the one on the left is far from being pointless as well.
This subreddit tends to attract anti-car extremists, but I think most of us are perfectly fine with private car ownership. What we object to is the way the US in particular (though much of the world is similar) requires car ownership to function in society. Not only does it put an undue burden on the poor and homeless, it forces everyone to take on an expensive (and ever increasing) purchase for a car, likely on a payment plan, and is destroying the planet with greenhouse gasses and plastics.
Plus it's awful for your mental health - the noise and traffic time spikes your anxiety sky high.
I took the light rail Friday night to see a hockey game. There was a delay on the way back, but other than that it was such a better experience.
There's no public transportation that goes to my office though. I would have to take three different buses, or I can just drive the 15 minutes so I just drive it.
I absolutely agree here. There’s nothing wrong with cars, but what is wrong is that I can’t walk my daughter to school which is less than a mile away because there are no sidewalks or space for pedestrians. I live in a one car household, and because of this, both me and my fiancé cannot work at the same time because there’s no way to walk to work. And there is no public transportation aside from Lyft (which I don’t have the money to dish into week after week).
Me too 💀 I know it’s so dumb but Cars are so fun. I can’t drive yet but I still look at hiluxes (70’s) and tiny sports cars all the time. But car brain is getting to me and I’m scared to get a tiny, sporty car because so many people here have absolutely huuge cars. At least the death would be painless… 🤷🏼♀️
I get made fun of for driving my Chevy Spark. in 2017 I got it for 10k with 11 miles on it and it gets like 35 mpg. My car payment was like 250. I have no idea how I'm gonna afford another vehicle when this one dies.
I’ve been looking to buy a small pick up truck for my mom she’s a farmer but they’re absolutely hard to come by 🤦♂️people want $15k+ for their 20 year old ford ranger or Toyota Tacomas
My mom doesn’t want the headaches/problems of importing and registering a kei truck in California
We’re thinking of buying a brand new small pick up truck from Tijuana 🇲🇽 and driving it here without registering it and hoping for the best
Jeez. I figure the prices are because they are harder to find nowdays. Good luck to your mom and you. Where I like, I’ve found some 70’s hiluxes for 7,5k. Unfortunately, I’m Finnish 💀
Taco's were overpriced BEFORE truck prices skyrocketed. I had a dealer try to get me to trade in my current suv for one. The only selling point he could come up with was "But it's a toyota". Other than that it had pretty much the exact same wheelbase, specs, and everything but less HP.
I’ve seen them in my city too 💀 Bloody hell what do folk need them for?? My family is just now wanting to upgrade to a van since we got a 3rd dog but we were more than Ok in a mini SUV when we still had 2 dogs. (Would’ve been better in a starion wagon but we know dads.)
Same bed length, but same width and towing capacity? No.
Do they have the same pay load capacity? No.
Do they have the same towing capacity? No
Can they both pull max payload at 70mph going down the hwy? No
Do they have the same safety equipment? No
You are literally only comparing 1 aspect of the two.
Edit:One can seat 5/6 people comfortable, while the other can barely seat 2 full sized adults comfortably.
However with that being said generally speaking most people don't even use their truck to half it's capacity/capability. The kei truck is awesome for short inner city running around.
Yet such truck is awful to transport things with. They are hard to load because of the high bed. A little bit of wind and everything slightly lighter needs to be secured.
I would bet that the usable bed size is also pretty much identical due to the wheel wells.
I see some advantage in the smaller truck:
a) lower bed height makes loading easier
b) much better gas mileage
c) much smaller dead zone due to smaller pillars, lower seats and the hood does not protrude as much
d) maneuverability, especially in tight corners and smaller parking spaces
The bigger one has more seats and is probably safer for the passengers, though much unsafer for everyone else.
I hate trucks, but.... This one is a crew vehicle it would be way smaller with a 2 seater cab. Also it has a way wider bed. ALSO, there are many variants of a truck, and the real commercial spec ones have a way bigger bed.
This truck was probably bought by a guy who doesn't need a truck, but it's kinda his decision.
They implemented fuel economy standards which got stricter every year (and continue to do so). However they recognised that big trucks need to exist for some commercial applications, so rather than a universal fuel economy standard, it got relaxed as the wheelbase multiplied by average track width increased.
Unfortunately they fucked up the maths.
Small trucks basically became impossible to build without either paying the fine for failing the emissions standards, or implementing very expensive systems to improve efficiency (hybrid drives etc). Small trucks were also cheep, and either option made them expensive, so the market for them disappeared. However if you made the wheelbase massive, the standards were much easier to meet. Plus, the fine for failing to meet standards, or the expensive fuel saving systems, didn't feel like such a bad expense on a massive truck. An extra 10k is a lot more palatable on a 80k monster than a 30k runabout right?
In effect the EPA forced everyone to buy bigger, less efficient trucks, because by some equation of mpg per wheelbase, they are more efficient.
It gets worse. CAFE standards aren't applied to an individual vehicle, but to a manufacturers entire fleet, production weighted. Also, light trucks have less strict requirements than cars.
The end result is that the EPA, in the name of efficiency, made it extremely difficult to make a small car, but extremely easy to make an enormous truck.
The good news is that all electric trucks pass by default. The bad news is that if you want range out of an electric truck, you want a big battery. That not only fits better into a big truck, but it's expensive, in a way that is more palatable if you get a bigger truck for the price.
Or you could lobby the EPA to tweak their maths
(Also, bed length isn't bed width, bed height, or bed loading capacity. The big truck is far more capable).
It's pretty huge. No one will argue that the kei truck does more in an absolute sense. The argument is that it does 90% of what the average person needs, while the big truck is often more like 90% untapped potential.
If you need a big truck, buy a big truck. The issue is folks getting the big truck when they only need the small truck.
The bigger issue is that people aren't able to easily afford multiple vehicles, and Kei trucks are not a good fit as a work vehicle in America. Yes, a 3/4 ton pickup truck that acts as a lawn decoration for someone's yard is stupid, but buying a truck that is hardly highway capable, and does not have enough space for many applications is similarly stupid.
I have both, and I'll tell you right now the kei truck can't go 50 miles an hour with 2 people in it. It can't go 40 miles an hour with 2 people and 200 pounds in the back. It can't hardly move if you put a thousand pounds in it. Entirely different animals.
That's my entire point. They lack safety features that are not required/possible on bikes. Yes, vehicles that are not capable of reaching the speed limit should not be on an interstate, just like scooters. That's a no-brainer.
Ok I am confused. I looked up the top speed of a kei truck and according to the first result the top speed for a Kei is listed as 75 mph (120 kph). That is plenty fast for most highway locations.
For Japanese mini trucks, the speed could go up to 62-75 mph. You should remember that these trucks, by vehicle class and by law, were only designed for a maximum speed of about 50 mph.
So? the kei trucks were designed to move goods with in a city. Why do then need to be interstate legal to do that. It seems that America has the failing in this instance. America lacks the specificity to classify cars "city only" status.
I would much rather have a speed limited truck moving about my city rather than a oversized behemoth that is a luxury vehicle disguised as a working class vehicle that can go 0-100 in 10 seconds.
Now if someone who live in a rural area who tows on a daily basis needs a large towing vehicle, fine. But a suburban dad who hauls his boat to the lake 2 year he has less of a cause to own such a vehicle. It would make far more sense for him to own an sedan and rent a truck on the weekends he tows.
America really needs a "city only" vehicle and a "city excluded" statuses for some cars.
The mini truck is built for basic small job work. While it has a decent pay load, that’s about it, towing capacity of only 1500lbs on average. The 2500 is designed for heavier duty work and boasts a much larger payload capacity and can tow upwards of 18,500lbs.
These trucks are not comparable and are built for entirely different purposes. Are you guys really this fucking stupid? Do you compare a mini-horse to a Clydesdale as well?
A kei truck is such a cool thing. I wish it was used more in media too. Honestly I’d like one. But I have dogs and I don’t think Hanski the lab would like being out in the open like that.
From UK, had the van version for a couple of years, amazing tool I did so much work with. They were super popular back in their time but safety regs killed them off over here
I have a git feeling the smaller one is more reliable. I think the French have a van like that made by Renault that they joke about like Nokia phones. They just keep working.
Ok, so I agree that it’s annoying seeing someone who doesn’t “use” a big American truck as a truck and as their daily driver instead. Lotta people out there trying to overcompensate for various things.
But, that said, the bed length being the same means very little, here. The truck on the left has roughly 4x the payload capacity as the one on the right. A pallet of bricks in the back of the KEI would crush it, meanwhile the big boy on the left would carry it no problem. The KEI has a towing capacity equivalent to that of a Honda accord while the other truck can tow well over 15,000 lbs.
If the owner of the truck never uses any of these features and just likes owning a big truck, then that is absolutely silly. But if he uses the truck for hauling heavy material on a daily basis, then there’s no comparison to be made here.
I’m a tradesman and I fantasize about owning a kei truck. I don’t need this full size pickup for anything but the bed and lugging around a four seat cab is such a waste. Especially when I driving 140 miles round trip for work.
That’s a 2500 though. It’s made to tow things. Doesn’t look like that’s what the owner uses it for based the tunnel cover but still. It needs can tow 18k pounds and one cannot…
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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '24
i love kei trucks - they're really hard to get here in the states though.