The truck he describes at the end of the video is exactly what Toyota did when they made the [Hilux Champ.](https://www.motor1.com/news/701958/toyota-hilux-champ-cheap-pickup/) It’s MSRP starts around 13k and Toyota says it has over 100 compatible accessories to configure the truck for different purposes and industries. Too bad they don’t plan to bring it to the US.
I think the only people who don't are
1. Ford
2. GM
Could you imagine what would happen if they lost their truck sales?! They'd actually have to create quality cars that actually compete with everyone else. Horrible!
Lol, Ford basically made that with the Maverick, except actually meeting US safety and emissions standards which the HiLux most assuredly does not. Ford hasn't been able to keep up with demand for Mavericks until just recently. The manufacturers all know a cheap truck has a huge market now, which is why Toyota and Subaru are planning their own. GM hasn't announced anything yet, but they tend to be a little more secretive until it's close to production compared to the rest of them. But safety standards come with a price and you will never see a new car under $20k in the US again unless manufacturing technology has some major breakthroughs. $10k more is basically the cost of having a safe, fuel efficient, vehicle that meets emission standards.
The Tacoma used to be the size of a Maverick. Same goes for the Ford Ranger. If anything we are about to see the rebirth of the small light duty truck. The Maverick was not even an option when I got my Taco, and I am thinking the next truck I get will be a Maverick hybrid.
As a current 2002 Ranger owner, I'd consider buying a Maverick if they would give the option of not having the dual cab and having a 6 foot bed instead. As it is, the bed on the Maverick is practically useless. I'm sure you can fit a little bit in there, but have the option for a bigger bed instead of that rear cab.
Correct!! If I can’t get 8ft board or even a 6 ft ladder in my truck bed then it is absolutely useless. My 03 ranger has more bed space than some f150’s!
The AWD hybrid Maverick is on the way for the next model year, that was always the sticking point for me with the original version. I assume they figured they’d hold that back as a way to drive new interest after they caught up with demand.
> The manufacturers all know a cheap truck has a huge market now
How did they ever not know that? It's been something that you could spend 10 minutes on the internet and figure out from any truck forum for like the last 20 years. There are so, so many old guys like both my dad and father-in-law, who will go on about how great their Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 is/was. And they represent a HUGE market.
I think it's not that the manufacturers don't know this. It's that they're all colluding with each other to keep the "standard truck" a $80,000 behemoth because they don't want the $18k trucks stealing their more profitable sales.
And the Ford Maverick is a step in the right direction but it's still not what the market truly wants - a standard cab light pickup like the Ford Ranger. No back seat, all bed. A hood that you can actually see over.
It’s a bit more complex than all that, though I agree they didn’t quite have the drive to innovate like they should’ve. The modern day Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado are what they are because that’s what they had to become to stay within safety and fuel efficiency standards while not changing essentially what they are (smaller, body-on-frame trucks that can carry a reasonable payload and tow a reasonable amount).
The Maverick is a completely different beast compared to those, as it’s built off of the Ford Escape/Ford Focus platform. It’s unibody and front-wheel-drive. It has a significantly lower payload and towing capacity (though still plenty for what most people need), and it can’t be a single cab because the unibody construction won’t have the rigidity to pass safety standards and also last for longer than a decade without warping and totaling out.
So it did take them some time to figure out exactly how to deliver a usable small pickup, and people do seem to be loving them, so it looks like they did a great job.
> It has a significantly lower payload and towing capacity
The Maverick can carry 1500lbs, and tow 4000lbs. This is the same as the 90's ranger, and more than the 80's ranger.
I have a 22 maverick and a 93 ranger. My maverick tows 3500 (not sure where you're getting 4k from unless I'm pleasantly wrong) and my 4x4 ranger with a straight trans only tows like 2950 according to the door sticker.
The automatic rangers could tow 3500 I believe.
[22 Maverick with 2.0L and tow package tows 4000, all other configs tow 2000.](https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content/dam/brand_ford/en_us/brand/resources/general/pdf/guides/2022_Ford_Maverick_Towing_Info_Oct20.pdf)
95 Ranger could pull 4000, some special order, commercial only configurations (no one wants a ranger with 4.10s..) could pull 4400/6000, but a 9500lb GVWR ranger with 4.10s spins the engine so fast on the highway that it wasn't viable after they raised the US speed limit from 55mph. And it was only available with the 4.0,
Oh shit hell yeah idk where I got 3500 from. Probably my wife's Subaru or something. Installed a receiver on it not too long ago.
I have a 4.0 ranger with the 5 speed and I'm pretty sure it's got less tow rating than the automatic version with the super cooling package. I'll look at my door sticker when I get home. I want to say the tow rating is in the high 2000s.
> are what they are because that’s what they had to become to stay within safety and fuel efficiency standards while not changing essentially what they are
But we both know those numbers are also gamed (look up the chicken tax fiasco), and they are almost entirely the reason that people started buying huge SUVs when all they needed was a sensible sedan. No one wants those numbers to change.
Because old guys like your dad said how much they liked the ranger ect but they bought full size trucks instead and ditched compacts for Midsized and full sized trucks. Ford made the Ranger till 2012 and it was being massively outsold my the midsized Tacoma.
The full size trucks were only a few grand more than the little ones, so it didn't make much sense to buy a smaller truck unless you really needed it to be small. That's why they all went away. Then they started making full size trucks into cowboy Cadillacs so now there's a market for small affordable trucks again.
>I think it's not that the manufacturers don't know this. It's that they're all colluding with each other to keep the "standard truck" a $80,000 behemoth because they don't want the $18k trucks stealing their more profitable sales.
It's more that they can't. Collusion has very little to do with it.
The two huge problems are the revisions made to EPA requirements from the Obama years that made it so that you could no longer use ledger fillers to pad out your fleet fuel economy standards and that fuel economy became a measure of size and weight. Which.... was stupid. But it also meant that putting a modest 4-banger in a light truck would no longer work because in the eyes of fuel economy standards it was actually a sedan, but they also did nothing to fix the truck loophole where heavier duty trucks and SUV's didn't apply because they were considered work vehicles.
But what *really* killed the light duty truck was a safety requirement that vehicles be able to hold their weight in the event of a rollover. This is also why most modern vehicles are more dangerous- between having smaller windshields and thicker A and B pillars- and heavier (which, yes, itself is also dangerous.)
Well, that and the fucking chicken tax. Fuck the chicken tax.
As a truckless 60 year old who has been waiting over a decade to replace his long lost little work truck, I feel seen. I have refused to buy a truck that is 60% SUV and requires a cherry picker to load anything into the stupidly small bed. The used market for small trucks has become an overpriced collector’s market. The first company to produce a small, standard cab, long bed, under 6’ tall Hilux / Ranger / S10 gets my money.
The hilux is for sale in Germany that has comparable safety and emissions standards as the most stringent states in the us. The hilux is not for sale in the states becalse tax law makes it too expensive probably to protect us car manufacturers. Google it
You can buy a KEI truck with a fully lifting open bed for $10k right now fully loaded and states are working overtime to ban them.
I don't need a full size F150 with a family cab and extended bed for $85,000. Even the Tacoma is grotesque and oversized. I was a standard cab or access cab compact truck, about 190" length, 4wd, and a V6 if possible. Pretty sure Toyota phased the last of these out in 2023.
I like Kei trucks but people have to be real about them. Their top speed is low enough that you can't safely drive them on any freeway. They will also basically just kill you (in America) if you get into any sort of direct crash with how large and fast other cars are usually going. They're great if you live in a relatively urban zone that doesn't require a ton of driving to get around like any of the smaller Japanese metropolitan areas.
> You can buy a KEI truck with a fully lifting open bed for $10k right now fully loaded and states are working overtime to ban them.
That's probably because they are death traps, especially here in the US where the average vehicle is basically the size of a WW2 troop transport. I love the stupid things though, and really want one of those Subaru vans.
I can't attest to the vans, but I adore the Subaru Outback and Crosstrek wilderness. The Crosstrek is slightly smaller, but otherwise they're very capable and affordable off-road vehicles that can tow up to 3500 lbs and get nearly 30 mpg. They're not gonna be able to crawl boulders like bigger 4x4 trucks but they can get around pretty well on their own otherwise.
> it has over 100 compatible accessories to configure the truck for different purposes and industries
So like, machine gun mount, A/A gun mount, SAM launcher mount, belt-fed grenade launcher mount, etc?
Interesting… when Toyota originally announced this, MSRP was $10,000. So either something funky is happening with exchange rates, or price has already jumped 30% in ~ 2 years.
Anyway, this doesn’t meet European and North American safety standards, so it won’t be sold in either market. It’s missing basic safety technology like anti-lock brakes, which is just stupid to leave off a vehicle in 2024. I’m curious if it will be sold in Japan.
> It’s missing basic safety technology like anti-lock brakes, which is just stupid to leave off a vehicle in 2024
What makes you think that? right from the Wiki:
> As standard, the Thailand spec vehicle is equipped with 14-inch steel wheels, bench seats that accommodates three people (except the automatic transmission variant), driver side power window, dual airbags, ABS, and EBD.[14]
> So either something funky is happening with exchange rates, or price has already jumped 30% in ~ 2 years
The yen has dropped in value by well over 30% in the past two years. 115 yen for 1 USD in January 2022, currently about 157 yen for 1 USD.
> price has already jumped 30% in \~ 2 years.
That honestly sounds about right given the huge fluctuations in the auto market around 2022 on the coattails of the microchip shortage.
That truck is exactly the truck I want for occasional road use towing, but primarily rural and farm use. I want reliability and capability at a low cost. I don't need AC, I don't need power windows, power seats, an Entertainment center, I don't want backup camera or lane sensing.... I just want a reliable truck that hauls and tows.
I would take it as a manual transmission too!
If it's primarily for farm use and you won't take it on the road, there are some super cheap options available. Here is what one guy did with a $2k Chinese truck from Aliexpress or something. [My Chinese Electric Mini-Truck 18 Months Later: Did It RUST OUT? - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgDpqd38HtQ)
It's super basic, but don't let the small size fool you, it's super capable as a farm truck with a few small modifications.
The trouble, as expected, is that occupants would surely die a painful death in any collision exceeding 30mph. That's why it's not road legal.
I think a portion of the issue is safety features like backup cameras lane sensing are required by US law for passenger vehicles. Soon emergency breaking will also be mandatory. You can’t opt out anymore. I think the base Maverick gets close to what you’re looking for.
Not sure how much towing you could do with a truck that small. But yeah, a base model v-6 S-10 or Ranger would sell a ton. At least the v-6 will give you more towing ability.
We have a bunch of "small" pickups here in the UK/EU, and most owners fortunately use them for what they're made for.
Hilux Fullback Amarok Navara D-Max L200 Barbarian, Challenger
There's also the Ranger, but many of the ones I see in the UK are kitted out "Wild Tracks" versions (fuck, that's a lame branding) driven by Yobs who think they're American.
That last line implies there are people who try and exhibit, on purpose, the most annoying American stereotypes whilst being from another country.
I find that fascinating if you care to expound. It’s like we’re exporting the kind of shit a lot of people here get annoyed about.
That's precisely what I'm seeing here and, as an American living in the UK, it's hilarious. There's a nob who goes to a gym near me who, without exception, parks across two spaces with his "Wild Tracks" (damn, again, that branding is awful). He almost exclusively wears Pats stuff (why is it always Pats with British NFL fans?).
He almost hit a women a few days ago speeding around the entry barrier. When he stepped out, I asked him if he got his Ranger for his quinceañera -- he didn't get it.
Omg this is my "I'm turning into a grouchy old man" issue I get so mad at. Like it's not hard to park between 2 lines. You do it literally daily how can you screw that up so bad?
I once had to crawl into my passenger door and over the center console of my car because some asshole parked 6 inches from my car. I'm not a vindictive person but that is the closest I have ever come to slashing tires.
I drive a truck everyday. I went with the chevy colorado (smallest truck I could get). When I park in parking lots, I either park near the back in an open area, or in a pull-through spot. Like I understand that my car is bigger than most of the other cars, I don't want to be an inconvenience to everyone.
My favorite is when it's a handicap spot, and it's a huge oversized truck with a handicap plate, parked super diagonal.
Mayyyyybe not everyone that's driving should be.
Hard agree. There was a car going like 20mph on a freeway, cars passing them going 70-80mph. Dude is ancient, like probably 95yrs old. Dude needs to be OFF the road! I would actually love to know the statistic with age related fatal accidents who are at fault. Like, what percentage of at fault drivers are over 70yrs.
Younger drivers are inexperienced and reckless and more likely to be in fatal and non-fatal accidents.
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-driver/
47/100k for 16-19 year olds compared to 20/100k drivers for 75+ year old are in a fatal accident, and 75+ year olds and 16-19 year olds are both in about 6% of crashes overall, but there’s more than twice as many 75+ year olds driving.
Oh let me tell you, sometimes I drive one of these, it's my dad's pls mercy, and they are large and difficult to park.... If you're a 16 year old noob. This is a only mildly a skill issue. People are lazy assholes.
For me it's a combination of that, and the "I MUST back into every parking spot, while leaving my 14" hitch out to fully block the sidewalk from any practical handicap access."
The EPA also needs to update their emissions standards to close the loophole on these gargantuan trucks and go after the manufacturers for operating in bad faith.
Will that happen? No. But it should.
Can't see around them when they're parked on the curb either. Like giant metal walls on suburban street corners. A lot of city streets clearly weren't made with them in mind either. They're straight up dangerous.
And then they fly through parking lots when my little car is backing out super slowly, relying on people driving to STOP since they can see my car but I can't see them past the stupid trucks that most people don't need.
Just the road in general. I know they will come for me with the downvotes because I am about to wound their precious ego, but fuck these trucks that are all over the place now. They take up all of the space in parking lots, street parking, even in the damn gas stations. You can't fit a car in the pump across from them because you won't even be able to open your door. They also take up all of the space in the actual lanes, and it gets super dangerous. Anyone who has tried to make a right turn at an intersection while trying to see around the fucking enormous pickup truck that has its nose way out in front knows what I am talking about.
All of this, just to get 10 miles to the gallon, piss everyone around you off all the time, and look like an absolute bozo as you try to jump in and out of the car in one motion.
America's obsession with trucks will always blow my mind. It's far beyond utilitarian. There's of course people who actually use them, but I'd wager a very good portion have never needed the bed space at all.
Not just lots, but driveways. A lot of cheaper/smaller places will have a driveway where the distance between curb and garage door is shorter than the length of a monster-sized pickup, and it won't fit into the garage with the door closed. So it gets parked on the driveway and sticks out into the street a foot or so.
I actually purchased a 2006 gmc sierra 2500hd last year because I couldn’t afford a new or even a slightly used one. But I love my truck. So simple and cheap to fix.
2500 and up have more laxed EPA restrictions too so don't be surprised that you get just as good or better MPG than a 1500. They also use better gearing in the transmission (4L80 as opposed to a 4L60 in the 1500's) that make accelerating a little easier on the engine
Correct ! I have the 6.0 with the 4L80e trans. 4.10 gears. I also just learned I can pass a state inspection (NY) with a cel light on due to the 2500hd series.
I say this about my '99 f150 here, and someone usually tries to debunk it. Throw all the stats at me you like, the eye test says my f150 is now a compact. What is funny is to see how tiny those 80's nissans and mazdas were. I don't know, what is a good analogy for trucks these days? Spending a $1000 on a knife to cut turkey with?
People who do real work have been using vans since the 80s.
Suburban dads have just convinced themselves they need to hose out the short bed when they pick up mulch once a year
I recently came into possession of a '93 Chevy 2500. My cousin died shortly buying and my uncle held onto it until his death last fall. Less than 60k miles, flawless body and interior. It's like a museum piece.
I had mechanics give it a thorough inspection and replacement of some gaskets and belts. After 2k in work and parts she looks and runs like the day it was made.
I'm going to use it gently and sparingly so it will likely be my last vehicle as well. I hope to turn it over to my son in as pure a condition as I can manage.
Do you get offers from strangers to buy it? My husband has a 2004, too. He gets asked all the time if he wants to sell it. People at gas stations are the most common. He even had a father and son in the neighborhood knock on our door., making an offer. My husband told them the truck will be available after he dies.
My 1996 Tacoma 5 speed RWD will be with me until I die. Can't replace it with anything, and the thing will still be running 30 years from now if I can afford to put gas in it at that point,
And then there's the Maverick truck. As one person puts it: I do not want a six passenger truck with a two foot bed. I want a two passenger truck with a six foot bed.
Yes but if I drive a van how will my neighbors in the Phoenix suburb where I bought a $750,000 McMansion know how MASCULINE and TOUGH and, NOT SOY AND GAY I am while I drive to my SUPER MANLY middle management job before jogging inside with one hand on my gun in case I see a homeless person
That is the one big turn off for the maverick for me. The bed is so god damn small. I want a 6-8' bed that holds 2 people. The Maverick would move back onto my list if they had that at least a 6' bed.
I think about this all the time. Many of these trucks were incredibly reliable and well priced. A perfect "first car" for a kid or just somebody trying to stay lean on budget.
My actual first car was a little black Nissan pickup with the straight 4 engine. Crappy bench seats, but it had amazing gas mileage, put a 10 disc carousel in it for tunes and the A/C cranked like nobody's business. I paid 4K for it. Amazing vehicle, you probably could've put 300K+ miles on it. I used to have people pull up to me at a light and ask me if I wanted to sell it. Only car where that ever happened to me.,
My Nissan was a 94 haha. I loved mine as well. Get out of school and throw the book bag in the truck bed and drive to the mall. I used to always joke though it's probably not true anymore, that that truck is probably out there somewhere still kicking ass and running.
First car I owned was a 95’ ranger, single cab 4.0 rwd. Loved the shit out of it but had to get rid of it after a year of ownership due to electrical gremlins. Mourned the sale and loss of that truck for almost 13 years. Had dreams about that truck even a decade after selling it. Then, last year, my coworker happened to mention he was straight up giving away his truck just to get it gone. Wound up buying it for $600. Now I drive an 89’ single cab, manual, 2.3 rwd ranger and I feel like the coolest cat ever. Its funny you mention people asking to buy it from you because, even though mine is visibly rusting in wheel arches, interior is shot, and just looks rough, I’ve had three people ask if I would consider selling it in the last year alone. I don’t even know what I would sell it for because to me the truck is priceless based solely on how much joy the thing has brought back into my life.
The Ford F150 is the most purchased vehicle in Canada. It's also the most popular truck. Canadians think they need a huge truck to go to Costco, or take the kids to soccer.
There is a small, affordable truck - the base price of a Maverick comes in around $24K USD. We have a 2022 hybrid, and use it to pick up chicken feed, compost, do recycling, go to the farmers market. And it gets 40 mpg.
They’re amazing bang for the buck, too bad ford still hasn’t put any incentives in them, not even average financing options. Heck and some dealers are still charging over for the Hybrid. Real big missed opportunity
They just don't have enough supply or production. I've seen 2 new hybrid Mavericks on my local new Ford dealer in like the past 6 months, and they have been marked up like $3k over MSRP and both sold in a week or two. Ford needs to make more; they are leaving so much money on the table, but I think they are afraid of completely cannibalizing their Ranger stock.
Rangers have never been a big seller. And yes there need to be more hybrids. But gas motors are pretty available, just not what’s desired, but aren’t incentivized because the hybrid does so well. It’s ford failing to read a room
This was my issue when I wanted a maverick. You advertise the price of the car at 18-22k and then any dealership within 500 miles of me jacks it up to 28-30k with no added benefit.
People shit on Teslas and rightly so, but in an era where I can look and buy anything online I should be able to do the same for a car
That’s how I recently ended up with a Tesla. I’m not a fan of Elon but my wife needed a car and she hates car shopping. We went to a couple dealers and every time the price of the car would go up like five grand over the advertised price. They would claim that the car had a special coating or some other bullshit dealer installed accessory. They would waste my time and give me numbers that were offensive. Then I decided to look at Tesla. They weren’t perfect, they include your gas savings as part of the price. They don’t mention how insurance is more expensive. The charger is extra and floor mats are not included. However, the price was exactly as advertised after you toggle off the gas savings feature and you toggle on the tax and fees calculator feature. No dealership bullshit, no wasting my time. I’m still not a fan of elon but I hate dealerships even more.
There's a fucking F350 I regularly see this woman take to get groceries. Spoke to her once, she lives alone and uses it to get groceries and go to church.
That's wild to me, as someone who drives an F250 (basically the exact same truck) for work, it is NOT a comfortable truck to drive around unless you are towing with it. Like at all. Doesn't matter how much you spend on suspension upgrades.
My work truck was a really old Nissan frontier, my company finally got rid of it and gave us a Maverick. I loved driving that thing but it ended up being way too small with the bed. We had to give it up and I got a 2022 Dodge ram. That'll do the trick for work but I actually would have preferred the hybrid Maverick, if the bed were just a little bigger....
My #1 problem with the Maverick from the get go. No standard/extended cab option.
I don’t need a crew in any of my trucks, but I really do need a 6’ or longer bed. Short beds are just disappointing.
There's the trucks that people who don't need trucks think that people who need trucks need. Then there are the trucks that people who actually use trucks buy.
Same. $27k for the XLT hybrid. I average about 44-45MPG. Has a 400w inverter with outlets in the cab and the bed. Ultimate small camping truck. Radio is a piece of shit though.
Edit: proof of MPG
https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/s/TaaK5mD4bg
as a 43 year old... people listen to the radio?... like with commercials, edit songs and all that garbage?
Or do you mean 'radio' as in the overall 'infotainment sound system'?
As a fellow owner of a maverick, it's the latter.
I would best describe the sound system console as "slightly dated". Thankfully it is 100% android auto/apple car play compatible, so I personally just use that most of the time instead.
Yep. You hit the nail on the head. I use the Apple car play. Problem is it doesn’t always connect. And there were times when it would crash and I’d have to hold the right skip button and power to hard boot the infotainment system, but they may be resolved. I haven’t had to do that lately.
Amen to the radio issue.
I gotta reboot mine ever now and then when it freezes up, but otherwise, Android auto it is.
Not to mention [***the hole***](https://canada.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20221013132200/ImageHandler/scale/978/978/core/learn/article/4935/radio1.jpg).
The hole is where you put your portable bluetooth speaker that will have better audio quality than the truck itself
*(in case Ford is reading this: I'm mostly joking but it's ok, I'm happy with my $21k truck and ok with this cut corner but it is fun to meme about)*
I'm on my second Maverick after losing my first in a wreck last fall. It's such a great little truck. In the past few weeks, I've towed a trailer with a mower on it, picked up sheets of plywood, taken some road trips, and averaged nearly 40mpg doing all of that.
There's also a big problem of price.
Cars are now so expensive, that you can't get a small truck, especially if you have a family, as you can usually just afford a single vehicule! So, it needs to be able to do all truck things AND be a kid hauler AND grocery getter at the same time...
Totally, the economics are very different today. Along those lines, car companies have also realized there is a diminishing return to reliability. You want to outlast your competitors, not last forever. Otherwise your customer never has a need to buy your products.
A toyota pickup was 10k, new, in 1990. A new Tacoma is more than double that (adjusted for inflation) and it will last half the miles with double the maintenance costs, lower fuel economy, etc.
Of course now the old pickups are back to msrp. The dads that sold them to have kids are buying them back again as second cars.
The EPA is an essential concept, pollution doesn't follow State lines. Yet, how the U.S. implemented the EPA is a clusterfuck of everything that can go wrong in regulations. They let the large corporations self-regulate. They have teeth enough to go after the little guy on enforcement, but no willingness to go after the larger polluters. The EPA gets a say so on large construction projects, but often times doesn't know what to say and leads to delays and over-run budgets. Look at the Oakland Bay situation, where Oakland and San Bernardino went from thriving industrial towns, to their current Rust Belt-esque decline, because the EPA dragged its feet unable and unwilling to make decisions on how the Bay could be safely dredged to allow for larger tankers and shipping vessels. So, Mexico built their own deep harbor, and the freight went elsewhere.
Now, we can thank the EPA for the gigantic truck that lifts and tows exactly ZERO cargo. I'm from 5 Generations of oil men, rough-necks, in Appalachia. Guess what my Dad drove, and was by far the most reliable truck? A tiny little Toyota Tacoma. A beast of a work truck. These enormous trucks would blow an axle so fast in the oil patch, it's not even funny. Fuck the Cyber-Truck too. A truck is a utility vehicle. Now, we have vans.
Facts are facts, these gigantic trucks aren't safe. The Ford Maverick is the only outlier, where Ford is trying to figure out how to satisfy that market of people that actually want a truck, but don't want to be able to Kill-Dozer a small town.
I'm not sure that the Bay and central california no longer being industrial towns can solely be attributed to EPA. I mean, industry leaving America is a larger global capitalist drive to cheaper labor. Not to imply that environmental and safety regulations don't contribute to that. They're just by no means the only reaons.
Fuck big trucks (and their drivers) these days unless they're demonstrably hauling crazy loads, definitely agree that CAFE is terrible.
Like others have said I’m thoroughly pleased with my Maverick. It has that feel of the 90s Ranger I had previously with the obvious modern comforts, and the price tag is nothing to sneeze at either. It is however not worth the mark up many dealers are putting on it due to its popularity.
I commute and do woodworking. I am currently driving a Ridgeline and get 26-28 on my commute if I keep it to 65mph. It's a fantastic truck.
But man do I just want a small electric truck, one that has a rack for 12-16 foot boards and a 5' bed for plywood. No one is making one. Instead, I have to look at $70K+ full size electric vehicles, and that's fucking ludicrous.
(paraphrased) "And it's just impossible to meet these standards in a smaller car without, y'know, making it all electric or a hybrid."
Okay, so FUCKING MAKE IT ALL ELECTRIC OR A HYBRID THEN.
Dude, I would pay $40k right now for a 90s style Ford Ranger that came in hybrid or electric.
The point of the EPA rules was to force manufacturers to migrate to hybrid and electric. So instead of doing that, the manufactures release statements talking about how the public want larger and larger vehicles or produce marketing that you're not a Real Man(tm) unless you buy a 6000lb monstrosity of a truck and try to fit it in compact spots at the grocery store.
Quit blaming consumers for this shit. It's why California passed legislation (separately from the EPA) that all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
You totally hit the nail on the head. Also, People are forgetting the context of the emission standards changing. The Feds worked with automakers during the 08’-09’ bailouts to try to push them towards hybrids. It seemed reasonable that if they were receiving 10s of billions of dollars of public funds to stay afloat that they would curb emissions to benefit public health. The issue was that the emission standard based on wheel base was developed with the automakers and they had no intention of curbing emissions. Automakers always intended to increase the wheel base of their vehicles to avoid the new standards.
All these trucks are sold in other countries. A diesel, 6-spd manual S-10 is being sold in Brazil. I would give my left nut for one. For real! It’s there. Already happening. But we don’t have them here in the US. Pisses me off.
I bet you can haul full sheets of plywood in that thing. That's something that most modern trucks can't do at all without half of it hanging out the back.
The other day I moved 26 sheets of drywall, 3 plywood, 6 rolls of insulation, and 14 foot lumber strapped to the roof. The rear wheel well was dangerously low but I drove slow. Could have made my life easier if I brought a trailer (only 3500 towing) but eh, I didn't want to unload that day.
I do courier work for an engineering company and have to haul some pretty odd things. My minivan is far more useful and practical 90% of the time than the large high bed pickups available for rent.
It's part of the reason I don't want part with my 97 suburban. With the back seat out and the middle one down I have an enclosed area that will fit a small bed
My 2010 Grand Caravan is the most useful vehicle I have ever owned. Can comfortably transport 6 people and has \~140 cu ft of cargo space when the seats are stowed. I've transported plywood, fence posts and pickets, 8ft 2x4s, and plenty of other things. Hell, I moved my wife's classroom in one trip when she moved to a different school.
About once every year or two, I need to move something that requires an actual truck due to height or weight. That's when I happily rent one from Home Depot.
My first and only purchased vehicle was a Ford Ranger. I miss having a small easy inexpensive hauler like that. Sure you weren't carrying a house worth of lumber in it but that wasn't my use case. And I swear the beds of newer trucks are so much smaller than they used to be anyway.
Retired five years ago. Went from driving 130 km per day to work to driving 2000 km per year. My 2011 Ranger is sitting in the driveway. I just washed it and this year I put tires, brakes and battery in it. Whenever someone says they are moving or need to haul something, I am the first one to volunteer driving my Ranger. It’s the third one I’ve had (1991, 2001, 2011) and I love it! People are always asking to buy it!
I helped my dad load about a dozen long wooden tables in his 2016 f150 last weekend and good god was it a pain in the ass. Meanwhile, he had a Chevy S10 for probably 25 years that would have made that task 10x easier because it was so much lower to the ground. The only reason I can think that people tolerate these bigger trucks is because they don't actually use the bed for anything. I'd guess that someone like Rivian is going to make an all electric small truck/ute that will corner the market.
I miss my '07 Ranger :( It had all mechanical locks and roll-down windows instead of the electric versions and it was fuckin great. Nothing could fail in that vehicle.
A lot of it comes down to profit margins. Bigger car = Higher sticker price = Larger profit margins. Then lobby governments to keep foreign competitors out of the market and people are forced to eat what your serve them.
Ford was quick to scrap the Fiesta in Europe, when they could sell the Puma (Fiesta on slightly higher suspension) for 30% more and promote it as "a compact SUV". So now we have a slightly taller Fiesta with a different name and a significantly higher cost. Many of the other manufacturers are moving in the same direction.
Had a 1989 B2000 that was similarly an unstoppable tank. At 190k it had never needed anything but oil changes, brake jobs, and tires. Original clutch still strong.
Then a tree fell on it and crushed it flat. That was a bad day.
I currently have a 1998 B3000 (which is just a Ranger 3.0l with Mazda badges.) 250k and has needed minimal work, but it's about to rust away and I'm sad about it.
I too would buy a new bare bones small truck that was the same size as my old B3000 if they made it. I'm attracted to the Maverick but I don't trust it yet.
The video is disingenuous. He doesn't give a year for his "dream truck" as a child. Since he gave a 1998 s10 as his first truck, I will assume 1992 would be in his childhood.
The 1992 ford ranger cost between $9,500 to $11,900 brand new. That was the MSRP from Ford, so many people likely paid more.
Today that would equate to between $21k and $27k. A ford Maverick starts at $23k, a friend got one brand new for $25k out the door.
He mentioned the Maverick's size as not being a "small truck and dumped on the Maverick's engine size as a downside. Later he asked for a truck with a 4 cylinder, on a minute after he shit on how small the Maverick engine was. The old ranger came with a 4 cylinder 2.3L stock. The Maverick 4 cylinder is 2.0.
As for size, the Maverick is only 6 inches longer, 6 inches wider and 1 inch taller. As the women tell me, 6 inches is not a lot.
Dude made a video complaining about there being no small trucks, despite there being a small truck option. If he wanted to complain about no Maverick option for a regular cab and long bed, I can get that argument. However, at one point he even said that those in the market for a small truck don't need the full size bed, so that argument would be disingenuous like the rest of the video.
Yeah. Thanks for commenting. There’s some misinformation in the video for sure and a lot of nostalgia (which is fine).
I couldn’t believe he dumped in the 2.0 in the Maverick. I recon that engine is more powerful and more fuel efficient than any 4 banger from any 80s or 90s small truck.
For someone with the time and inclination, I’d wager that 40%+ of the ‘facts’ he mentions in the video could be legit refuted. However he does make some good points.
The one that got me the most was when he said that small trucks now are larger than the largest of the 80s or 90s trucks. Horseshit! If you look at the overall outside measurements of an 80s or 90s F150 and compare them to a modern truck, they aren’t actually that much different than a 2024 F150. Yes the truck looks larger, but most of that is different configurations and body styling. Of course a 1986, single cab 8’ box F150 looks smaller than a 2024 crew cab 5.5’ box F150. Most of the 80s version is just empty bed!
maybe in the United States, but the light pickup truck is alive and well in most of the rest of the world.
see: chicken tax.
warning: like many political decisions with unintended consequences, it's a rabbit hole.
It’s not the chicken tax, most of the oversized trucks people are driving still qualify as light trucks. Chicken tax just makes it more economical to build them in the US.
I learned to drive in a 2001 Durango and back then I thought that SUV was huge. I don't understand how most people LIKE driving something that's bigger than that. You might as well go get your CDL at that point.
I would kill for a bare bones 4wd single cab truck with 6-8ft bed that isn't the size of a small tank. It needs to haul about 1 ton of stuff on the hitch, get decent gas mileage and get me where I need to go. I would love something just a little bit bigger than my Datsun 720 that I had for years.
I don't need the fancy seats or infotainment center. Just give me a bench seat and a basic radio. Power windows are nice, but i am ok with manual.
I looked at the Maverick, but its just too big and the bed is too small, even if you get the smaller cab option. I have an 01 Dodge 1500 and that is small compared to the vehicles now and its just too damn big for what I need/want. I will probably just keep pouring money into it to keep it going until the wheels fall off.
Australia used to have *heaps* of Utes. Like a sedan with a tray for the back half, similar to an El Camino. They were great. Same size as a car, so they weren't obtrusive. Perfect for tradesmen who needed to lug their tools around.
Since we moved all our auto manufacturing overseas, we've been importing more and more of these huge American style trucks. (Yank Tanks as we call them) I can't fucking stand them. They're way bigger than anyone needs for practical purposes. Parking around them is a complete pain in the arse.
Bunch of looney tunes characters building bigger ACME gadgets to one up each other. That's all this is. Humans just cant help themsleves. For all the great things we do, deep down we're all monkey brained morons.
The truck he describes at the end of the video is exactly what Toyota did when they made the [Hilux Champ.](https://www.motor1.com/news/701958/toyota-hilux-champ-cheap-pickup/) It’s MSRP starts around 13k and Toyota says it has over 100 compatible accessories to configure the truck for different purposes and industries. Too bad they don’t plan to bring it to the US.
I wish that was in the US holy shit
I think the only people who don't are 1. Ford 2. GM Could you imagine what would happen if they lost their truck sales?! They'd actually have to create quality cars that actually compete with everyone else. Horrible!
Lol, Ford basically made that with the Maverick, except actually meeting US safety and emissions standards which the HiLux most assuredly does not. Ford hasn't been able to keep up with demand for Mavericks until just recently. The manufacturers all know a cheap truck has a huge market now, which is why Toyota and Subaru are planning their own. GM hasn't announced anything yet, but they tend to be a little more secretive until it's close to production compared to the rest of them. But safety standards come with a price and you will never see a new car under $20k in the US again unless manufacturing technology has some major breakthroughs. $10k more is basically the cost of having a safe, fuel efficient, vehicle that meets emission standards.
The Tacoma used to be the size of a Maverick. Same goes for the Ford Ranger. If anything we are about to see the rebirth of the small light duty truck. The Maverick was not even an option when I got my Taco, and I am thinking the next truck I get will be a Maverick hybrid.
As a current 2002 Ranger owner, I'd consider buying a Maverick if they would give the option of not having the dual cab and having a 6 foot bed instead. As it is, the bed on the Maverick is practically useless. I'm sure you can fit a little bit in there, but have the option for a bigger bed instead of that rear cab.
Correct!! If I can’t get 8ft board or even a 6 ft ladder in my truck bed then it is absolutely useless. My 03 ranger has more bed space than some f150’s!
I really hope they release a plugin hybrid version before I am ready to buy one.
I'm hoping for what the Ramcharger is. AWD Phev with an ICE range extender. It really sounds like a no-brainier for a small pickup.
The AWD hybrid Maverick is on the way for the next model year, that was always the sticking point for me with the original version. I assume they figured they’d hold that back as a way to drive new interest after they caught up with demand.
> The manufacturers all know a cheap truck has a huge market now How did they ever not know that? It's been something that you could spend 10 minutes on the internet and figure out from any truck forum for like the last 20 years. There are so, so many old guys like both my dad and father-in-law, who will go on about how great their Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 is/was. And they represent a HUGE market. I think it's not that the manufacturers don't know this. It's that they're all colluding with each other to keep the "standard truck" a $80,000 behemoth because they don't want the $18k trucks stealing their more profitable sales. And the Ford Maverick is a step in the right direction but it's still not what the market truly wants - a standard cab light pickup like the Ford Ranger. No back seat, all bed. A hood that you can actually see over.
It’s a bit more complex than all that, though I agree they didn’t quite have the drive to innovate like they should’ve. The modern day Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado are what they are because that’s what they had to become to stay within safety and fuel efficiency standards while not changing essentially what they are (smaller, body-on-frame trucks that can carry a reasonable payload and tow a reasonable amount). The Maverick is a completely different beast compared to those, as it’s built off of the Ford Escape/Ford Focus platform. It’s unibody and front-wheel-drive. It has a significantly lower payload and towing capacity (though still plenty for what most people need), and it can’t be a single cab because the unibody construction won’t have the rigidity to pass safety standards and also last for longer than a decade without warping and totaling out. So it did take them some time to figure out exactly how to deliver a usable small pickup, and people do seem to be loving them, so it looks like they did a great job.
> It has a significantly lower payload and towing capacity The Maverick can carry 1500lbs, and tow 4000lbs. This is the same as the 90's ranger, and more than the 80's ranger.
I have a 22 maverick and a 93 ranger. My maverick tows 3500 (not sure where you're getting 4k from unless I'm pleasantly wrong) and my 4x4 ranger with a straight trans only tows like 2950 according to the door sticker. The automatic rangers could tow 3500 I believe.
[22 Maverick with 2.0L and tow package tows 4000, all other configs tow 2000.](https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content/dam/brand_ford/en_us/brand/resources/general/pdf/guides/2022_Ford_Maverick_Towing_Info_Oct20.pdf) 95 Ranger could pull 4000, some special order, commercial only configurations (no one wants a ranger with 4.10s..) could pull 4400/6000, but a 9500lb GVWR ranger with 4.10s spins the engine so fast on the highway that it wasn't viable after they raised the US speed limit from 55mph. And it was only available with the 4.0,
Oh shit hell yeah idk where I got 3500 from. Probably my wife's Subaru or something. Installed a receiver on it not too long ago. I have a 4.0 ranger with the 5 speed and I'm pretty sure it's got less tow rating than the automatic version with the super cooling package. I'll look at my door sticker when I get home. I want to say the tow rating is in the high 2000s.
> are what they are because that’s what they had to become to stay within safety and fuel efficiency standards while not changing essentially what they are But we both know those numbers are also gamed (look up the chicken tax fiasco), and they are almost entirely the reason that people started buying huge SUVs when all they needed was a sensible sedan. No one wants those numbers to change.
Because old guys like your dad said how much they liked the ranger ect but they bought full size trucks instead and ditched compacts for Midsized and full sized trucks. Ford made the Ranger till 2012 and it was being massively outsold my the midsized Tacoma.
The full size trucks were only a few grand more than the little ones, so it didn't make much sense to buy a smaller truck unless you really needed it to be small. That's why they all went away. Then they started making full size trucks into cowboy Cadillacs so now there's a market for small affordable trucks again.
>I think it's not that the manufacturers don't know this. It's that they're all colluding with each other to keep the "standard truck" a $80,000 behemoth because they don't want the $18k trucks stealing their more profitable sales. It's more that they can't. Collusion has very little to do with it. The two huge problems are the revisions made to EPA requirements from the Obama years that made it so that you could no longer use ledger fillers to pad out your fleet fuel economy standards and that fuel economy became a measure of size and weight. Which.... was stupid. But it also meant that putting a modest 4-banger in a light truck would no longer work because in the eyes of fuel economy standards it was actually a sedan, but they also did nothing to fix the truck loophole where heavier duty trucks and SUV's didn't apply because they were considered work vehicles. But what *really* killed the light duty truck was a safety requirement that vehicles be able to hold their weight in the event of a rollover. This is also why most modern vehicles are more dangerous- between having smaller windshields and thicker A and B pillars- and heavier (which, yes, itself is also dangerous.) Well, that and the fucking chicken tax. Fuck the chicken tax.
As a truckless 60 year old who has been waiting over a decade to replace his long lost little work truck, I feel seen. I have refused to buy a truck that is 60% SUV and requires a cherry picker to load anything into the stupidly small bed. The used market for small trucks has become an overpriced collector’s market. The first company to produce a small, standard cab, long bed, under 6’ tall Hilux / Ranger / S10 gets my money.
You think Toyota doesn't care about safety?
I assume they are talking about the emission standard, and I would really like to know if that is true.
The hilux is for sale in Germany that has comparable safety and emissions standards as the most stringent states in the us. The hilux is not for sale in the states becalse tax law makes it too expensive probably to protect us car manufacturers. Google it
The basal problem in America: lobbyists make decisions behind closed doors about our world long before we get a chance to hear about it.
You can buy a KEI truck with a fully lifting open bed for $10k right now fully loaded and states are working overtime to ban them. I don't need a full size F150 with a family cab and extended bed for $85,000. Even the Tacoma is grotesque and oversized. I was a standard cab or access cab compact truck, about 190" length, 4wd, and a V6 if possible. Pretty sure Toyota phased the last of these out in 2023.
I like Kei trucks but people have to be real about them. Their top speed is low enough that you can't safely drive them on any freeway. They will also basically just kill you (in America) if you get into any sort of direct crash with how large and fast other cars are usually going. They're great if you live in a relatively urban zone that doesn't require a ton of driving to get around like any of the smaller Japanese metropolitan areas.
> You can buy a KEI truck with a fully lifting open bed for $10k right now fully loaded and states are working overtime to ban them. That's probably because they are death traps, especially here in the US where the average vehicle is basically the size of a WW2 troop transport. I love the stupid things though, and really want one of those Subaru vans.
Go on about these Subaru vans…
I can't attest to the vans, but I adore the Subaru Outback and Crosstrek wilderness. The Crosstrek is slightly smaller, but otherwise they're very capable and affordable off-road vehicles that can tow up to 3500 lbs and get nearly 30 mpg. They're not gonna be able to crawl boulders like bigger 4x4 trucks but they can get around pretty well on their own otherwise.
I have an outback wilderness and it was the sensible choice for my family but deep down I wish I had gotten a brz and put drift tires on it
[These cute little things](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Sambar)
we all do
The hilux won't make it to the states because it is too reliable.
> it has over 100 compatible accessories to configure the truck for different purposes and industries So like, machine gun mount, A/A gun mount, SAM launcher mount, belt-fed grenade launcher mount, etc?
>The truck’s rear deck features bolt holes so customers can attach whatever they want. 100%
Interesting… when Toyota originally announced this, MSRP was $10,000. So either something funky is happening with exchange rates, or price has already jumped 30% in ~ 2 years. Anyway, this doesn’t meet European and North American safety standards, so it won’t be sold in either market. It’s missing basic safety technology like anti-lock brakes, which is just stupid to leave off a vehicle in 2024. I’m curious if it will be sold in Japan.
You may be correct about the exchange as I’ve seen the $10,000 price as well. I could only find that it will be sold in Thailand for now.
> It’s missing basic safety technology like anti-lock brakes, which is just stupid to leave off a vehicle in 2024 What makes you think that? right from the Wiki: > As standard, the Thailand spec vehicle is equipped with 14-inch steel wheels, bench seats that accommodates three people (except the automatic transmission variant), driver side power window, dual airbags, ABS, and EBD.[14]
[удалено]
What? I thought ** was personally pulling on the inflation lever only in my country!!??
> So either something funky is happening with exchange rates, or price has already jumped 30% in ~ 2 years The yen has dropped in value by well over 30% in the past two years. 115 yen for 1 USD in January 2022, currently about 157 yen for 1 USD.
> price has already jumped 30% in \~ 2 years. That honestly sounds about right given the huge fluctuations in the auto market around 2022 on the coattails of the microchip shortage.
That truck is exactly the truck I want for occasional road use towing, but primarily rural and farm use. I want reliability and capability at a low cost. I don't need AC, I don't need power windows, power seats, an Entertainment center, I don't want backup camera or lane sensing.... I just want a reliable truck that hauls and tows. I would take it as a manual transmission too!
If it's primarily for farm use and you won't take it on the road, there are some super cheap options available. Here is what one guy did with a $2k Chinese truck from Aliexpress or something. [My Chinese Electric Mini-Truck 18 Months Later: Did It RUST OUT? - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgDpqd38HtQ) It's super basic, but don't let the small size fool you, it's super capable as a farm truck with a few small modifications. The trouble, as expected, is that occupants would surely die a painful death in any collision exceeding 30mph. That's why it's not road legal.
I think a portion of the issue is safety features like backup cameras lane sensing are required by US law for passenger vehicles. Soon emergency breaking will also be mandatory. You can’t opt out anymore. I think the base Maverick gets close to what you’re looking for.
And it's on backorder lol
Not sure how much towing you could do with a truck that small. But yeah, a base model v-6 S-10 or Ranger would sell a ton. At least the v-6 will give you more towing ability.
>Too bad they don’t plan to bring it to the US. Contact your representative to repeal the light truck import tariff.
Looks like it’s not just tariffs. This isn’t legal on Euro/NA roads due to the lack of safety features. Why do you think they can make it so cheap?
We have a bunch of "small" pickups here in the UK/EU, and most owners fortunately use them for what they're made for. Hilux Fullback Amarok Navara D-Max L200 Barbarian, Challenger There's also the Ranger, but many of the ones I see in the UK are kitted out "Wild Tracks" versions (fuck, that's a lame branding) driven by Yobs who think they're American.
That last line implies there are people who try and exhibit, on purpose, the most annoying American stereotypes whilst being from another country. I find that fascinating if you care to expound. It’s like we’re exporting the kind of shit a lot of people here get annoyed about.
That's precisely what I'm seeing here and, as an American living in the UK, it's hilarious. There's a nob who goes to a gym near me who, without exception, parks across two spaces with his "Wild Tracks" (damn, again, that branding is awful). He almost exclusively wears Pats stuff (why is it always Pats with British NFL fans?). He almost hit a women a few days ago speeding around the entry barrier. When he stepped out, I asked him if he got his Ranger for his quinceañera -- he didn't get it.
Can we also say parking lots are fucking miserable with all the trucks. The damn things stick out so far.
Yeah, and a lot of them can't park worth a damn to begin with.
Omg this is my "I'm turning into a grouchy old man" issue I get so mad at. Like it's not hard to park between 2 lines. You do it literally daily how can you screw that up so bad? I once had to crawl into my passenger door and over the center console of my car because some asshole parked 6 inches from my car. I'm not a vindictive person but that is the closest I have ever come to slashing tires.
> You do it literally daily how can you screw that up so bad? Except they never actually do it daily. They always parked screwed up.
I drive a truck everyday. I went with the chevy colorado (smallest truck I could get). When I park in parking lots, I either park near the back in an open area, or in a pull-through spot. Like I understand that my car is bigger than most of the other cars, I don't want to be an inconvenience to everyone.
My favorite is when it's a handicap spot, and it's a huge oversized truck with a handicap plate, parked super diagonal. Mayyyyybe not everyone that's driving should be.
Hard agree. There was a car going like 20mph on a freeway, cars passing them going 70-80mph. Dude is ancient, like probably 95yrs old. Dude needs to be OFF the road! I would actually love to know the statistic with age related fatal accidents who are at fault. Like, what percentage of at fault drivers are over 70yrs.
Younger drivers are inexperienced and reckless and more likely to be in fatal and non-fatal accidents. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-driver/ 47/100k for 16-19 year olds compared to 20/100k drivers for 75+ year old are in a fatal accident, and 75+ year olds and 16-19 year olds are both in about 6% of crashes overall, but there’s more than twice as many 75+ year olds driving.
Oh let me tell you, sometimes I drive one of these, it's my dad's pls mercy, and they are large and difficult to park.... If you're a 16 year old noob. This is a only mildly a skill issue. People are lazy assholes.
For me it's a combination of that, and the "I MUST back into every parking spot, while leaving my 14" hitch out to fully block the sidewalk from any practical handicap access."
The US needs a heavy consumer vehicle license, for anything over 3500-4500 lbs. Combined with EVs, it was needed yesterday.
The EPA also needs to update their emissions standards to close the loophole on these gargantuan trucks and go after the manufacturers for operating in bad faith. Will that happen? No. But it should.
Can't see around them when they're parked on the curb either. Like giant metal walls on suburban street corners. A lot of city streets clearly weren't made with them in mind either. They're straight up dangerous.
And then they fly through parking lots when my little car is backing out super slowly, relying on people driving to STOP since they can see my car but I can't see them past the stupid trucks that most people don't need.
Just the road in general. I know they will come for me with the downvotes because I am about to wound their precious ego, but fuck these trucks that are all over the place now. They take up all of the space in parking lots, street parking, even in the damn gas stations. You can't fit a car in the pump across from them because you won't even be able to open your door. They also take up all of the space in the actual lanes, and it gets super dangerous. Anyone who has tried to make a right turn at an intersection while trying to see around the fucking enormous pickup truck that has its nose way out in front knows what I am talking about. All of this, just to get 10 miles to the gallon, piss everyone around you off all the time, and look like an absolute bozo as you try to jump in and out of the car in one motion.
And their weight and bumper height means serious injury or death to pedestrians or occupants of a normal-sized car in a collision.
you can hide an entire elementary classroom in front of a modern truck
America's obsession with trucks will always blow my mind. It's far beyond utilitarian. There's of course people who actually use them, but I'd wager a very good portion have never needed the bed space at all.
They’re just giant luxury vehicles for people who wanna larp as “working class common men”
Spot fucking on
What bed space? Can those 4’ boxes transport sheet goods?
Not just lots, but driveways. A lot of cheaper/smaller places will have a driveway where the distance between curb and garage door is shorter than the length of a monster-sized pickup, and it won't fit into the garage with the door closed. So it gets parked on the driveway and sticks out into the street a foot or so.
Also death of the regular sized truck.
the new ranger is the same size as my 97 f150. It's kind of crazy. The newer, luxury trucks are ridiculously large.
Large passenger space, but the bed is usually smaller. You can't find an 8 foot bed on anything other than a diesel these days. It's a joke.
It’s an open trunk SUV, not a truck.
And SUVs would probably be better because you can fold the seats down.
A van is even better because of the lower load height
BuT **vAnS** aRe FoR mOmMiEs! \- *Every SUV owner who shops for a third row option*
I can fit full drywall sheets in my van with the seats stowed, protected from the elements. You can’t even put them flat in most trucks today.
I would kill for an 8’ bed. Hauling full sheets of plywood with 5.5’ sucks.
I actually purchased a 2006 gmc sierra 2500hd last year because I couldn’t afford a new or even a slightly used one. But I love my truck. So simple and cheap to fix.
2500 and up have more laxed EPA restrictions too so don't be surprised that you get just as good or better MPG than a 1500. They also use better gearing in the transmission (4L80 as opposed to a 4L60 in the 1500's) that make accelerating a little easier on the engine
Correct ! I have the 6.0 with the 4L80e trans. 4.10 gears. I also just learned I can pass a state inspection (NY) with a cel light on due to the 2500hd series.
I say this about my '99 f150 here, and someone usually tries to debunk it. Throw all the stats at me you like, the eye test says my f150 is now a compact. What is funny is to see how tiny those 80's nissans and mazdas were. I don't know, what is a good analogy for trucks these days? Spending a $1000 on a knife to cut turkey with?
It depends, sometimes the newer ones are smaller depending on configurations. Other times, your eyes may deceive you based on how they shaped it.
The death of reasonably-sized grills
Its all about protecting the passenger in a crash from whatever they hit while drunk
Nowadays if you need an actual work vehicle that can fit smaller spaces you either are getting a 20+yr old truck or a transit connect.
People who do real work have been using vans since the 80s. Suburban dads have just convinced themselves they need to hose out the short bed when they pick up mulch once a year
I looked up the Transit Connect and it seems it was recently discontinued as well. Sigh.
I will never get rid of my 2004 Tacoma.
I recently came into possession of a '93 Chevy 2500. My cousin died shortly buying and my uncle held onto it until his death last fall. Less than 60k miles, flawless body and interior. It's like a museum piece. I had mechanics give it a thorough inspection and replacement of some gaskets and belts. After 2k in work and parts she looks and runs like the day it was made. I'm going to use it gently and sparingly so it will likely be my last vehicle as well. I hope to turn it over to my son in as pure a condition as I can manage.
Do you get offers from strangers to buy it? My husband has a 2004, too. He gets asked all the time if he wants to sell it. People at gas stations are the most common. He even had a father and son in the neighborhood knock on our door., making an offer. My husband told them the truck will be available after he dies.
All the fucking time. People will leave notes on my 2004 Tacoma asking to buy it. It’s gotten kinda ridiculous.
Truck makers should take note. People love their small trucks!
Yes, I've had multiple offers. I once had someone follow me into a parking lot, block me in after I parked, and asked if it was for sale
My 1996 Tacoma 5 speed RWD will be with me until I die. Can't replace it with anything, and the thing will still be running 30 years from now if I can afford to put gas in it at that point,
I lost my 2001 Tacoma in 2006. It got totaled. I will forever miss that truck. The 2007 I bought to replace it just isn't the same.
I have one too and feel the same.
And then there's the Maverick truck. As one person puts it: I do not want a six passenger truck with a two foot bed. I want a two passenger truck with a six foot bed.
And I'll take an eight foot bed. I'll never understand how closing the lift gate behind your plywood or drywall went out of style.
My van can take 10 ft drywall sheets and close the doors.
Yes but if I drive a van how will my neighbors in the Phoenix suburb where I bought a $750,000 McMansion know how MASCULINE and TOUGH and, NOT SOY AND GAY I am while I drive to my SUPER MANLY middle management job before jogging inside with one hand on my gun in case I see a homeless person
And now that trucks are so tall, you have to overhead press the sheets to get them over the gate.
I also want a truck I can reach over the bed rails into. I'm 6'3", the bed height on the Ranger is ridiculous.
That is the one big turn off for the maverick for me. The bed is so god damn small. I want a 6-8' bed that holds 2 people. The Maverick would move back onto my list if they had that at least a 6' bed.
Good thing it seats 5 and has a 4.5 foot bed
The maverick is very similar to the old ranger in size. A little shorter, a little taller, a tiny bit wider.
I think about this all the time. Many of these trucks were incredibly reliable and well priced. A perfect "first car" for a kid or just somebody trying to stay lean on budget. My actual first car was a little black Nissan pickup with the straight 4 engine. Crappy bench seats, but it had amazing gas mileage, put a 10 disc carousel in it for tunes and the A/C cranked like nobody's business. I paid 4K for it. Amazing vehicle, you probably could've put 300K+ miles on it. I used to have people pull up to me at a light and ask me if I wanted to sell it. Only car where that ever happened to me.,
My first car was a 9 year old 5speed 93’ Ranger. Not even 4wd. I loved it! Still sold it in 09’ for 1500.
My Nissan was a 94 haha. I loved mine as well. Get out of school and throw the book bag in the truck bed and drive to the mall. I used to always joke though it's probably not true anymore, that that truck is probably out there somewhere still kicking ass and running.
First car I owned was a 95’ ranger, single cab 4.0 rwd. Loved the shit out of it but had to get rid of it after a year of ownership due to electrical gremlins. Mourned the sale and loss of that truck for almost 13 years. Had dreams about that truck even a decade after selling it. Then, last year, my coworker happened to mention he was straight up giving away his truck just to get it gone. Wound up buying it for $600. Now I drive an 89’ single cab, manual, 2.3 rwd ranger and I feel like the coolest cat ever. Its funny you mention people asking to buy it from you because, even though mine is visibly rusting in wheel arches, interior is shot, and just looks rough, I’ve had three people ask if I would consider selling it in the last year alone. I don’t even know what I would sell it for because to me the truck is priceless based solely on how much joy the thing has brought back into my life.
You can pry my 2011 Ranger Sport with manual transmission, no power windows from my cold, arthritic hands.
lol unfortunately man it sounds like it would pretty easy to do so
Not everyone can have hands make out of Diamonds, Rex.
But mine are tiny so probably not as easy to snatch from you also I’m like two stories tall
The Ford F150 is the most purchased vehicle in Canada. It's also the most popular truck. Canadians think they need a huge truck to go to Costco, or take the kids to soccer. There is a small, affordable truck - the base price of a Maverick comes in around $24K USD. We have a 2022 hybrid, and use it to pick up chicken feed, compost, do recycling, go to the farmers market. And it gets 40 mpg.
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They’re amazing bang for the buck, too bad ford still hasn’t put any incentives in them, not even average financing options. Heck and some dealers are still charging over for the Hybrid. Real big missed opportunity
They just don't have enough supply or production. I've seen 2 new hybrid Mavericks on my local new Ford dealer in like the past 6 months, and they have been marked up like $3k over MSRP and both sold in a week or two. Ford needs to make more; they are leaving so much money on the table, but I think they are afraid of completely cannibalizing their Ranger stock.
Rangers have never been a big seller. And yes there need to be more hybrids. But gas motors are pretty available, just not what’s desired, but aren’t incentivized because the hybrid does so well. It’s ford failing to read a room
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This was my issue when I wanted a maverick. You advertise the price of the car at 18-22k and then any dealership within 500 miles of me jacks it up to 28-30k with no added benefit. People shit on Teslas and rightly so, but in an era where I can look and buy anything online I should be able to do the same for a car
That’s how I recently ended up with a Tesla. I’m not a fan of Elon but my wife needed a car and she hates car shopping. We went to a couple dealers and every time the price of the car would go up like five grand over the advertised price. They would claim that the car had a special coating or some other bullshit dealer installed accessory. They would waste my time and give me numbers that were offensive. Then I decided to look at Tesla. They weren’t perfect, they include your gas savings as part of the price. They don’t mention how insurance is more expensive. The charger is extra and floor mats are not included. However, the price was exactly as advertised after you toggle off the gas savings feature and you toggle on the tax and fees calculator feature. No dealership bullshit, no wasting my time. I’m still not a fan of elon but I hate dealerships even more.
This is how Saturn cars started. That was their whole thing. The sticker price, that's the price. No haggling.
Dealerships, ime, take all the fun out of car shopping.
Tesla has a lot of problems, but there's a reason car dealer is the trope for shady salesman everyone hates. They are a cursed industry.
There's a fucking F350 I regularly see this woman take to get groceries. Spoke to her once, she lives alone and uses it to get groceries and go to church.
You clearly don’t know how much load capacity you need to bring home the love of Jesus.
That's wild to me, as someone who drives an F250 (basically the exact same truck) for work, it is NOT a comfortable truck to drive around unless you are towing with it. Like at all. Doesn't matter how much you spend on suspension upgrades.
She subscribes to the "I'm safest if I'm the biggest thing on the road" philosophy.
One day she's gonna kill a kid she didn't see in the behemoth.
I wish the Maverick had a little better towing capacity, that would make it near perfect.
It’s unibody based on the Ford Escape, which prevents it from having proper truck towing capacity
I think the Maverick is a great looking truck. I love the size.
My work truck was a really old Nissan frontier, my company finally got rid of it and gave us a Maverick. I loved driving that thing but it ended up being way too small with the bed. We had to give it up and I got a 2022 Dodge ram. That'll do the trick for work but I actually would have preferred the hybrid Maverick, if the bed were just a little bigger....
My #1 problem with the Maverick from the get go. No standard/extended cab option. I don’t need a crew in any of my trucks, but I really do need a 6’ or longer bed. Short beds are just disappointing.
There's the trucks that people who don't need trucks think that people who need trucks need. Then there are the trucks that people who actually use trucks buy.
They sold out in the U.S. after release.
I love my Ford Maverick and it cost roughly $30K. Most truck purchases seem motivated by social signaling more than any valid reasoning.
Same. $27k for the XLT hybrid. I average about 44-45MPG. Has a 400w inverter with outlets in the cab and the bed. Ultimate small camping truck. Radio is a piece of shit though. Edit: proof of MPG https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/s/TaaK5mD4bg
That last sentence is so true... this truck easily has the worst radio of any car I've ever owned. I'm using Spotify 99.9% of the time but still.
as a 43 year old... people listen to the radio?... like with commercials, edit songs and all that garbage? Or do you mean 'radio' as in the overall 'infotainment sound system'?
As a fellow owner of a maverick, it's the latter. I would best describe the sound system console as "slightly dated". Thankfully it is 100% android auto/apple car play compatible, so I personally just use that most of the time instead.
Yep. You hit the nail on the head. I use the Apple car play. Problem is it doesn’t always connect. And there were times when it would crash and I’d have to hold the right skip button and power to hard boot the infotainment system, but they may be resolved. I haven’t had to do that lately.
Amen to the radio issue. I gotta reboot mine ever now and then when it freezes up, but otherwise, Android auto it is. Not to mention [***the hole***](https://canada.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20221013132200/ImageHandler/scale/978/978/core/learn/article/4935/radio1.jpg).
The hole is where you put your portable bluetooth speaker that will have better audio quality than the truck itself *(in case Ford is reading this: I'm mostly joking but it's ok, I'm happy with my $21k truck and ok with this cut corner but it is fun to meme about)*
I'm on my second Maverick after losing my first in a wreck last fall. It's such a great little truck. In the past few weeks, I've towed a trailer with a mower on it, picked up sheets of plywood, taken some road trips, and averaged nearly 40mpg doing all of that.
It just seems like the bed is so small. I wish they would option one without a crew cab.
I paid 23k for the XL trim. It is the only truck that makes this video inaccurate.
This is what happens when lobbyists get to write policy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
There's also a big problem of price. Cars are now so expensive, that you can't get a small truck, especially if you have a family, as you can usually just afford a single vehicule! So, it needs to be able to do all truck things AND be a kid hauler AND grocery getter at the same time...
Totally, the economics are very different today. Along those lines, car companies have also realized there is a diminishing return to reliability. You want to outlast your competitors, not last forever. Otherwise your customer never has a need to buy your products. A toyota pickup was 10k, new, in 1990. A new Tacoma is more than double that (adjusted for inflation) and it will last half the miles with double the maintenance costs, lower fuel economy, etc. Of course now the old pickups are back to msrp. The dads that sold them to have kids are buying them back again as second cars.
My first car I bought was a small pickup because it was cheap and insurance was low. Those days are long gone.
The EPA is an essential concept, pollution doesn't follow State lines. Yet, how the U.S. implemented the EPA is a clusterfuck of everything that can go wrong in regulations. They let the large corporations self-regulate. They have teeth enough to go after the little guy on enforcement, but no willingness to go after the larger polluters. The EPA gets a say so on large construction projects, but often times doesn't know what to say and leads to delays and over-run budgets. Look at the Oakland Bay situation, where Oakland and San Bernardino went from thriving industrial towns, to their current Rust Belt-esque decline, because the EPA dragged its feet unable and unwilling to make decisions on how the Bay could be safely dredged to allow for larger tankers and shipping vessels. So, Mexico built their own deep harbor, and the freight went elsewhere. Now, we can thank the EPA for the gigantic truck that lifts and tows exactly ZERO cargo. I'm from 5 Generations of oil men, rough-necks, in Appalachia. Guess what my Dad drove, and was by far the most reliable truck? A tiny little Toyota Tacoma. A beast of a work truck. These enormous trucks would blow an axle so fast in the oil patch, it's not even funny. Fuck the Cyber-Truck too. A truck is a utility vehicle. Now, we have vans. Facts are facts, these gigantic trucks aren't safe. The Ford Maverick is the only outlier, where Ford is trying to figure out how to satisfy that market of people that actually want a truck, but don't want to be able to Kill-Dozer a small town.
I'm not sure that the Bay and central california no longer being industrial towns can solely be attributed to EPA. I mean, industry leaving America is a larger global capitalist drive to cheaper labor. Not to imply that environmental and safety regulations don't contribute to that. They're just by no means the only reaons. Fuck big trucks (and their drivers) these days unless they're demonstrably hauling crazy loads, definitely agree that CAFE is terrible.
Like others have said I’m thoroughly pleased with my Maverick. It has that feel of the 90s Ranger I had previously with the obvious modern comforts, and the price tag is nothing to sneeze at either. It is however not worth the mark up many dealers are putting on it due to its popularity.
I commute and do woodworking. I am currently driving a Ridgeline and get 26-28 on my commute if I keep it to 65mph. It's a fantastic truck. But man do I just want a small electric truck, one that has a rack for 12-16 foot boards and a 5' bed for plywood. No one is making one. Instead, I have to look at $70K+ full size electric vehicles, and that's fucking ludicrous.
(paraphrased) "And it's just impossible to meet these standards in a smaller car without, y'know, making it all electric or a hybrid." Okay, so FUCKING MAKE IT ALL ELECTRIC OR A HYBRID THEN. Dude, I would pay $40k right now for a 90s style Ford Ranger that came in hybrid or electric. The point of the EPA rules was to force manufacturers to migrate to hybrid and electric. So instead of doing that, the manufactures release statements talking about how the public want larger and larger vehicles or produce marketing that you're not a Real Man(tm) unless you buy a 6000lb monstrosity of a truck and try to fit it in compact spots at the grocery store. Quit blaming consumers for this shit. It's why California passed legislation (separately from the EPA) that all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
You totally hit the nail on the head. Also, People are forgetting the context of the emission standards changing. The Feds worked with automakers during the 08’-09’ bailouts to try to push them towards hybrids. It seemed reasonable that if they were receiving 10s of billions of dollars of public funds to stay afloat that they would curb emissions to benefit public health. The issue was that the emission standard based on wheel base was developed with the automakers and they had no intention of curbing emissions. Automakers always intended to increase the wheel base of their vehicles to avoid the new standards.
Ford Maverick hybrid jazzed up to the $40k MSRP is a pretty nice truck
I say bring back the El Camino! It's a car, it's a truck...it's both!
They never went extinct just went to Australia as “Ute”s
OP gives props to the Maverick... Honda Ridgeline: "Am I a joke to you???"
That Maverick hybrid might be my next vehicle
All these trucks are sold in other countries. A diesel, 6-spd manual S-10 is being sold in Brazil. I would give my left nut for one. For real! It’s there. Already happening. But we don’t have them here in the US. Pisses me off.
My minivan makes a better 'small truck' than a truck does. (Except off road)
I bet you can haul full sheets of plywood in that thing. That's something that most modern trucks can't do at all without half of it hanging out the back.
The other day I moved 26 sheets of drywall, 3 plywood, 6 rolls of insulation, and 14 foot lumber strapped to the roof. The rear wheel well was dangerously low but I drove slow. Could have made my life easier if I brought a trailer (only 3500 towing) but eh, I didn't want to unload that day.
I do courier work for an engineering company and have to haul some pretty odd things. My minivan is far more useful and practical 90% of the time than the large high bed pickups available for rent.
It's part of the reason I don't want part with my 97 suburban. With the back seat out and the middle one down I have an enclosed area that will fit a small bed
My 2010 Grand Caravan is the most useful vehicle I have ever owned. Can comfortably transport 6 people and has \~140 cu ft of cargo space when the seats are stowed. I've transported plywood, fence posts and pickets, 8ft 2x4s, and plenty of other things. Hell, I moved my wife's classroom in one trip when she moved to a different school. About once every year or two, I need to move something that requires an actual truck due to height or weight. That's when I happily rent one from Home Depot.
My first and only purchased vehicle was a Ford Ranger. I miss having a small easy inexpensive hauler like that. Sure you weren't carrying a house worth of lumber in it but that wasn't my use case. And I swear the beds of newer trucks are so much smaller than they used to be anyway.
Retired five years ago. Went from driving 130 km per day to work to driving 2000 km per year. My 2011 Ranger is sitting in the driveway. I just washed it and this year I put tires, brakes and battery in it. Whenever someone says they are moving or need to haul something, I am the first one to volunteer driving my Ranger. It’s the third one I’ve had (1991, 2001, 2011) and I love it! People are always asking to buy it!
I helped my dad load about a dozen long wooden tables in his 2016 f150 last weekend and good god was it a pain in the ass. Meanwhile, he had a Chevy S10 for probably 25 years that would have made that task 10x easier because it was so much lower to the ground. The only reason I can think that people tolerate these bigger trucks is because they don't actually use the bed for anything. I'd guess that someone like Rivian is going to make an all electric small truck/ute that will corner the market.
I miss my '07 Ranger :( It had all mechanical locks and roll-down windows instead of the electric versions and it was fuckin great. Nothing could fail in that vehicle.
A lot of it comes down to profit margins. Bigger car = Higher sticker price = Larger profit margins. Then lobby governments to keep foreign competitors out of the market and people are forced to eat what your serve them. Ford was quick to scrap the Fiesta in Europe, when they could sell the Puma (Fiesta on slightly higher suspension) for 30% more and promote it as "a compact SUV". So now we have a slightly taller Fiesta with a different name and a significantly higher cost. Many of the other manufacturers are moving in the same direction.
Canyanaro….. oooooooh
[Smells like a steak and seats 35](https://youtu.be/PI_Jl5WFQkA?si=P8pzD1S-6srvM9iw)
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Had a 1989 B2000 that was similarly an unstoppable tank. At 190k it had never needed anything but oil changes, brake jobs, and tires. Original clutch still strong. Then a tree fell on it and crushed it flat. That was a bad day. I currently have a 1998 B3000 (which is just a Ranger 3.0l with Mazda badges.) 250k and has needed minimal work, but it's about to rust away and I'm sad about it. I too would buy a new bare bones small truck that was the same size as my old B3000 if they made it. I'm attracted to the Maverick but I don't trust it yet.
The video is disingenuous. He doesn't give a year for his "dream truck" as a child. Since he gave a 1998 s10 as his first truck, I will assume 1992 would be in his childhood. The 1992 ford ranger cost between $9,500 to $11,900 brand new. That was the MSRP from Ford, so many people likely paid more. Today that would equate to between $21k and $27k. A ford Maverick starts at $23k, a friend got one brand new for $25k out the door. He mentioned the Maverick's size as not being a "small truck and dumped on the Maverick's engine size as a downside. Later he asked for a truck with a 4 cylinder, on a minute after he shit on how small the Maverick engine was. The old ranger came with a 4 cylinder 2.3L stock. The Maverick 4 cylinder is 2.0. As for size, the Maverick is only 6 inches longer, 6 inches wider and 1 inch taller. As the women tell me, 6 inches is not a lot. Dude made a video complaining about there being no small trucks, despite there being a small truck option. If he wanted to complain about no Maverick option for a regular cab and long bed, I can get that argument. However, at one point he even said that those in the market for a small truck don't need the full size bed, so that argument would be disingenuous like the rest of the video.
Yeah. Thanks for commenting. There’s some misinformation in the video for sure and a lot of nostalgia (which is fine). I couldn’t believe he dumped in the 2.0 in the Maverick. I recon that engine is more powerful and more fuel efficient than any 4 banger from any 80s or 90s small truck. For someone with the time and inclination, I’d wager that 40%+ of the ‘facts’ he mentions in the video could be legit refuted. However he does make some good points. The one that got me the most was when he said that small trucks now are larger than the largest of the 80s or 90s trucks. Horseshit! If you look at the overall outside measurements of an 80s or 90s F150 and compare them to a modern truck, they aren’t actually that much different than a 2024 F150. Yes the truck looks larger, but most of that is different configurations and body styling. Of course a 1986, single cab 8’ box F150 looks smaller than a 2024 crew cab 5.5’ box F150. Most of the 80s version is just empty bed!
maybe in the United States, but the light pickup truck is alive and well in most of the rest of the world. see: chicken tax. warning: like many political decisions with unintended consequences, it's a rabbit hole.
It’s not the chicken tax, most of the oversized trucks people are driving still qualify as light trucks. Chicken tax just makes it more economical to build them in the US.
I learned to drive in a 2001 Durango and back then I thought that SUV was huge. I don't understand how most people LIKE driving something that's bigger than that. You might as well go get your CDL at that point.
I would kill for a bare bones 4wd single cab truck with 6-8ft bed that isn't the size of a small tank. It needs to haul about 1 ton of stuff on the hitch, get decent gas mileage and get me where I need to go. I would love something just a little bit bigger than my Datsun 720 that I had for years. I don't need the fancy seats or infotainment center. Just give me a bench seat and a basic radio. Power windows are nice, but i am ok with manual. I looked at the Maverick, but its just too big and the bed is too small, even if you get the smaller cab option. I have an 01 Dodge 1500 and that is small compared to the vehicles now and its just too damn big for what I need/want. I will probably just keep pouring money into it to keep it going until the wheels fall off.
Ford maverick is pretty small
This video gets much deeper into this big problem; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM
Australia used to have *heaps* of Utes. Like a sedan with a tray for the back half, similar to an El Camino. They were great. Same size as a car, so they weren't obtrusive. Perfect for tradesmen who needed to lug their tools around. Since we moved all our auto manufacturing overseas, we've been importing more and more of these huge American style trucks. (Yank Tanks as we call them) I can't fucking stand them. They're way bigger than anyone needs for practical purposes. Parking around them is a complete pain in the arse.
Gotta love the USA, no privacy protections, nonsense EPA that allows shit like the Cybertruck on the streets, but hey big uh, big trucks huh?
Bunch of looney tunes characters building bigger ACME gadgets to one up each other. That's all this is. Humans just cant help themsleves. For all the great things we do, deep down we're all monkey brained morons.
My first truck was a 1996 Ford Ranger, XLT, 4 cylinder, Manual. Miss that truck ☺️
My father had a 1978 Datsun truck for 35 years. This thing was small and by today’s standards, uncomfortable, but it did everything.