[techsupporter]

> as a homeowner I need something with ample cargo area to get various things for my home

This might be off-topic and I don't mean to come across as confrontational, I would like to ask: I've read this as a reason to own a truck many times and, assuming you don't have something like a farm, I'm very interested to know what it is you're hauling on the regular?

I've owned property three times in my life, twice in Texas (where there's no shortage of trucks) and have never owned a truck. All three properties have been single-family detached structures with yards, once with a pool, the works. The few times I needed to bring something home my regular sedan couldn't handle, I rented a truck for a couple of hours or a day.

Full disclosure: I loathed driving the things, too. Pedestrians were virtually impossible to see, a staggering number of blind spots, felt like it took an entire county to bring the thing to a stop, and one refueling of the rental was about what I spent on a month of gas for my usual vehicle.

[sl1ck731]

Lumber and building materials for remodeling like my bathroom (shower and closet doors stuff like that), topsoil and grass seed/sod for redoing my yard. 2000lbs of lava rock most recently. A new water heater when mine went out. Taking loads to the town dump during spring cleaning. There is always something here to do. Not to mention the times I've been in the store looking at a new TV, lawn mower or anything else that I would like to take home immediately (I realize that delivery exists but the convenience is what a truck provides). I've also had times where I've gone to pick such things up and the local truck rentals were out which is super frustrating.

I also don't currently own a truck, but a small sedan so all of these recent things I had to wait/pay for delivery, borrow a truck, or depend on rentals so I'm familiar with "truckless" lifestyle and can say I would prefer at the least a beater truck for these tasks, at which point trading my current car would come out equal to a standard truck in that scenario.

[InitialLastName]

I'm with you on this, but I do find that the inertia of having to rent a truck discourages me from operating my abode optimally.

For example, I've been looking at appliances, and occasionally see nice appliances on sale on craigslist or the like... these would be dead simple to pick up if I had a truck, but I'm a small car kind of person.

Similarly, I've been putting off a Home Depot trip to buy lumber for a project because I would need to get the plywood cut down pretty small to fit in my car, and I can't be bothered to rent a truck.

[KozmoNau7]

> "For example, I've been looking at appliances, and occasionally see nice appliances on sale on craigslist or the like... these would be dead simple to pick up if I had a truck, but I'm a small car kind of person."

A good way to solve this issue is a small car with a trailer. Even the smallest trailers available here (750kg gross weight) are plenty to haul home any appliance or piece of furniture.

And the trailer doesn't impact your fuel budget when you're not using it.

[InitialLastName]

I'd never considered that, so thanks. Looking into that now (have to put a hitch on my car first).

More important for city living, the trailer doesn't make the vehicle fundamentally more difficult to parallel park in a tight spot.

[205guy]

Yup, I have seen on forums that you can even hook a trailer up to a Nissan Leaf. That would get you light and local towing (no big loads, no big hills).

[MrMan]

no one really needs a truck. even construction workers don't really need a truck, or at least not more than one per job site, as the supply company will deliver what you need. for some reason of identity people in the US like trucks. I think we enjoy feeling capable and strong, and hatchbacks for some reason make us feel weak. I drive a hatchback now and people ask me a lot of questions about it, mildly incredulous that I am willing to take the image hit.