• Empricorn@feddit.nl
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    2 months ago

    Unpopular opinion: unless you regularly haul things, you don’t need a truck of any size. Unless you regularly go off-road or are transporting 5+ people and a dog or more, you don’t need an SUV. You can rent one of those for the rare times you need it! And in the meantime, you’ll save gas money and pedestrian deaths will go down…

    • DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      I will somewhat disagree with the SUV comment, as my escape counts as an SUV, and I regularly fill it far past a sedan’s capacity when I go grocery shopping (the savings from driving 3+hours each way to the nearest Costco far outstrips the cost in gas) and when I go camping.

      And, as I camp in a tent, and have kayaks I can strap to the roof, I don’t need a truck at all, because my car can get me to every campsite that a truck can get to, often easier than someone dragging a camper can.

      Plus, since its a plug-in hybrid, and Canada doesn’t burn fossil fuels for power, my fuel efficiency is significantly better than the average sedan in drives under 100km, and breaks even above that.

      On a 60km drive, I average 2L/100km, a 100km drive I average 4.6L/100km, and on a 300km drive I average 6.6L/100km (100km/h), 7.5L/100km (110km/h), or 8.8L/100km (120km/h), which is well within what sedans average.

      • formulaBonk@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        All absolutely valid points and my only counter argument here is that is why wagon sedans exist. Growing up in Poland a wagon was the family hauler bringing all the stuff you mentioned to pretty much anywhere you need. People even haul rvs with the wagons and you’re still smaller and relatively more pedestrian friendly. Hell they even make performance cars in wagon spec like the bmw m3. Not saying that to discredit your point just that there was another option before the suv craze came about

        • Opinionhaver@feddit.ukOP
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          2 months ago

          Fun fact: Only 1.4% of the cars sold in the US are wagons and of them 72% were Subaru Outbacks.

        • DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          The last wagon style sedan I had had worse fuel efficiency than a modern f150 does (though it was an early 2000’s model).

          Brakes on that thing also scared the shit out of me, it did not like stopping.

          • formulaBonk@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            The Subaru forester sedans were very popular in New England from the early 200s to like 2014. Idk just saying there are good option, there were even diesel wagons from WV that had solid efficiency later on .

            • wraithcoop@programming.dev
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              2 months ago

              I’ve been thinking about replacing my 2005 car but the only thing I want to replace it with is an electric station wagon, of which Europe has several options and America has 0. I don’t want a compact SUV, I just want a wagon! I’ll probably leave the country before I have any options lol

              • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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                2 months ago

                Station wagons are for mommies in the 1980s; all the cool kids want SUV and pickups.

                So car manufacturers made station wagons with upright seating positions and “off road” styling and called them Crossovers.

                • wraithcoop@programming.dev
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                  2 months ago

                  Yeah, my car I always though was a hatchback, but apparently is actually classified as a crossover. The main reason I still have it (other than having been paid off) is because it still gets competitive mpg and it’s so practical. I used it to take all my crap to and from college. I can carry 9ft lumber in the cabin with the passenger seat down. I’ve gone on a service road in a state park and I didn’t get stuck.

                  The thought has crossed my mind to get an electric conversion for it instead of buying a new spyware riddled car 😆

      • Azal@pawb.social
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        2 months ago

        Modern pickups are bad. Old pickups were fantastic for “I need to pile a bunch of (insert thing here) in the back.”

        But now every pickup is a massive motor for a tiny truckbed that my ford focus wagon has better hauling capacity.

    • 1984@lemmy.today
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      2 months ago

      Capitalism and consumerism is about buying shit we dont need man.

      That why America doesnt buy public healthcare, its needed so we dont buy it. Ok?

    • Opinionhaver@feddit.ukOP
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      2 months ago

      Everyone has things they want but dont need. I doubt that guy has any real need for that thing but I’m sure it’s a ton of fun to own and drive around nevertheless.