[corrral]

> There's a subset of contexts where they make sense although I think for _most_ people they're infrequent enough that it's way more sensible to use a cargo van or a sedan and then just rent a truck during the minority of times when you actually need one.

Even a minivan can tow a small trailer for occasional lumber store runs or towing a jet ski or two. Or just use the roof rack and some tie-downs. Or take the seats out, many of them will fit some plywood inside without trouble. For a larger boat, you can often rent a slip at your usual lake or whatever cheaper than the difference in annual TCO between a truck and a smaller car. Not helpful if you move your boat from one body of water to another a lot, but the only folks I know who do that have small fishing boats that a van could probably tow just fine. Besides, you can pay for several construction deliveries and probably pay to have your boat moved a couple times a year for the difference in annual cost. No sense paying all that extra gas, insurance, and up-front cost for something with features you only use every other month or less, when you can just pay less money to do a daily truck rental periodically, for a delivery service, et c.

But no, people need their immaculate $50,000+ trucks in the 'burbs just to show that they could blow $50,000+ on a truck they don't need, and so they fit in with their buds who also own trucks. Quite a few are purchased for good reasons, but a lot are mostly purchased for social signaling.

[bluGill]

If you need a truck even 5% of the time it is overall cheapest to just own a truck. Insurance, car payments, and other fixed costs are too high to make a second car worth it, and renting a car is not cheap, not to mention rental rules often mean you can't use the truck as a truck. (I've been looking for a place to rent a truck so I can replace mine, a couple times a year I do something that no rental truck will let me do) Sure a truck uses a lot more fuel, but fuel is a small part of the cost of a car.

Though I don't get families with more than one truck/suv. One will do the job for all of those things, and a EV (even a limited range one like the older leaf) will take care of all the other. Only rarely do you have to tell your spouse that you need the truck so drive "my" car.

[olyjohn]

No it's cheaper to just get a utility trailer and hook it to your existing vehicle. Even a compact economy car can do just fine towing one. They can carry up to 1500lbs for the smaller ones, and cost less than $1000. You don't have to pay the same road tax every year, or insurance. You don't have maintenance to do on it other than tires and wheel bearings which are all generic and dirt cheap.

I've been able to do all my house projects for the last 7-8 years towing one behind my Honda Fit. I've picked up motorcycles with it (which is way easier to load than a tall pickup bed). Picked up engines, car parts. I have hauled sheetrock, pavers, plywood, lumber, furniture... I have done countless dump runs... I have moved with it, and helped others move with it. The car + trailer ends up embarrassing the pickups who show up to help move, as they can't carry as much stuff as the car + trailer combo.

And when I'm not hauling things, the car seats 4 comfortably, and we can put stuff in the hatch without worrying about it getting wet... I get mid-30s mpgs.

Anything that's too big or heavy for my trailer... well I have it delivered. Chances are, that load is also too big for your average 1500 pickup.

[JoeAltmaier]

Most compact cars can tow maybe 1000 pounds. Thats including the trailer weight. Any more, you risk damage to the transmission - they're largely aluminum these days, and not designed to do much more than move the car around.

You have FWD, don't even think about it.

I would be careful taking any recommendation to 'just pull a trailer'. Sure U-Haul will install the hitch. That doesn't mean anything.

[yencabulator]

> renting a car is not cheap

U-Haul pickups are $19.95 + mileage. For me personally, I think that'd come to something like $50 for a single hardware store trip, plus inconvenience. So far I haven't had to do that, so I can't vouch for that number to be accurate.

[ovao]

There’s the subject of availability, however. Pickup trucks tend to move quickly on weekends especially. The last time I needed to rent one on a Saturday, for example, it took eight or nine phone calls and driving to three different Home Depots (which rent out trucks on a first-come, first-serve basis). Just getting the truck took half a day.

More planning would’ve helped on my part, but damn, what a hassle.

[yencabulator]

Sure, your mileage may vary. There's a lot of pickups and small box trucks a few miles from here, and I've never seen it empty in the last several years. I'm pretty remote though, bigger cities are probably much more rush hour driven.

[NeuNeurosis]

Is your need expedition based; ie, rugged backcountry vacation? or work based, need to haul some dirt, lumber, random material? If so what about renting a truck form Uhaul?

[bluGill]

I collect antique tractors which will fit on a heavy duty car trailer. One bigger than what uhaul rents for cars.

As mentioned elsewhere, uhaul is often sold out when i'm likely to do this.

[corrral]

I expect using a truck as a truck, for a situation in which a roof rack or a small trailer towed by a lesser vehicle wouldn't have sufficed, 18-19 days a year would put you way above average for non-business truck owners in my area.

[quickthrowman]

> I've been looking for a place to rent a truck so I can replace mine, a couple times a year I do something that no rental truck will let me do

Off the top of my head: Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, U-Haul, Penske, United Rentals, Sunbelt Rentals.

[mulmen]

Will those places let you tow a heavy utility trailer with trailer brakes?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32158302

[quickthrowman]

Yes, United or sunbelt for sure, they rent construction equipment.