this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
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I was not aware of this. Further reasons to laugh at Musk are always welcome!
Anyone driving anything close to a pickup here is a knob. Ford Rangers or Raptors are for men whos wives dress them.
Hilux was acceptable but they are in the same boat now, you all look ridiculous.
I'm a sole trader, Stone Mason, I make enough to buy a used vehicle, but not new. Know what I would love? A light duty truck, no crew cab road princess bullshit, two seats in front, maybe a single half door passenger side for putting stuff behind the seats, and a properly sized bed. There's no such thing on the used market. There's absolutely uses for small trucks for trades folk. Back in Canada I had an older Ford Ranger, from when they were a rebadged Mitsubishi B3200. I would step over my dying gran for something like that here in the UK. The new Rangers are a fucking joke, FWD, crew cab standard, and they're the size of the old F-150s, completely unusable in the UK. I'm thinking about maybe importing a Japanese Kei Truck. There's some larger ones that are smaller than an old Ranger, but big enough for what I need....and they look cool AF.
@Sturgist @Squizzy #Suzuki #MightyBoy has entered the chat https://www.teammightyboy.com/suzuki-mightyboy-history.html
It's so cute!
A family member's a brickie. He ran an LDV Pilot for few years, until it died, and it was useful (piece of shit, but pretty reliable, and cheap to fix when it did break) while it lasted. But newer trucks and small vans aren't nearly as suitable.
The Pilot was ugly as fuck, but from what I've heard they were basically indestructible to a certain point....then there was almost no reviving them. Been considering getting a decommissioned ambulance and changing my trading name to Dr. Stone....
Ambulance is basically set up for a mobile shop, 240 and 110, loads of drawers and cupboards, tie-down points and either a fold down ramp or a hydraulic tailgate. Ambulance services are always refreshing their fleet, they get worked hard, but there's a maintenance standard so even with 180k miles on the Odo they're typically not running poorly. Idk...maybe I'm talking myself into it, maybe it's actually a good idea.
I used to have a proton jumbuck, really useful little pickup. But they're hard to find in the UK and getting parts can be tricky.
Yeah, easy access to parts is pretty important.
....I had to look it up, it looks like one of the guys who worked on the design of the El Camino smooth talked someone in C-Suite that it was their own idea that releasing one that was modernised would sell super well. That might sound like I'm taking potshots, but I love the El Camino and I would buy a Jumbuck in a heartbeat.
Yeah, el Caminos look proper cool. TBH I thought my jumbuck looked pretty cool too. And it was really useful, at the time I was hauling a lot of wood and it drove just fine with a heavy load. I think it was maybe a 1.2 petrol engine iirc. They are pretty cheap if you can find them, I sold mine with 6 months MOT for about £500 . But yeah, parts are tricky, which isn't great with a work vehicle
I had a Mazda Pricidia (MX-3) for a few years before I bought the Ranger. Thing was great. I had the rear seat pulled out and got a joiner pal build a custom wooden bed to put in. Did double duty, was enough to hold a week's worth of veneer stone and thinset plus my tools. Built-in storage boxes under the top. And with the front seats folded all the way forward there was an extra piece I could drop in, and all of a sudden you've got enough space for a double size inflatable camping mattress. I miss that thing.
Yeah that sounds like a pretty decent solution. I know someone who did something similar to a Volvo estate. Bit crazy though that we've got to modify old vehicles to get a suitable work motor - seems like a gap in the market. VW made some sensible size pickups back in the 80s - but like the jumbuck they are old now. I hate to say it, but you might do better with a transit or sprinter. It's enclosed space but you've got room for tools n stuff.
Yeah, too many people look at a truck and say to themselves: I think that'd do to take the kid to football practice and myself to the office!
They're just not making trucks for working anymore, and I personally am pissed!
I suppose I really should think about getting a small/medium sized van.... just irks me a bit. I guess growing up the only tradies using a van were painters, plasterers and glaziers. And folk with real jobs had trucks....🤣
Yeah I know what your saying, I'm thinking the last decent pickup truck was a Hilux around twenty years ago. I've never had one but I've had mates who did and who really reckoned em. I've driven one on a farm I worked on, it was old and not road legal but it was an amazing farm motor. But yeah, the new ones are too wide imo. Like you, I fuckin hate it when I'm trying to get back from work and it's school run, all the parents picking up their kids in pristine, huge trucks that they don't even know how to drive!
But yeah, if you just want functionality I'd say grit your teeth and get a transit. An swb transit will get anywhere in a city, plus you can put a workshop in back. You might wanna tail lift being a mason, I dunno. But lithium leisure batteries are getting crazy cheap at the mo, put a 500w solar panel on roof and regulator charging lithium battery and you'll run a 2kw inverter no prob. You'd prob get all the bits for under £500 and then it's just a bit of wiring. I have a similar setup myself, except I live in it
Uuuuuuugh...... fuuuuuuuck. Guess I'll have to eh?
Lol mate look I'm thinking you gotta go Hilux or transit. Yeah you can't get everywhere on a transit especially if it's muddy, but you can have a workshop in there. Like I say, throw some solar panels on the roof, a decent battery, inverter, you can have 2k of 240v easily. Also when it's raining you can sit in it all have a cuppa. I know they are fuckin bland vehicles, but it is what you make it. 4wd transit might make you feel better about it? But I've only ever seen a couple
I'm feeling like buying a decommissioned ambulance would be about the same as getting a used transit, with all the electrics installed already, including batteries, and only need to do the inverter and panels. Almost no faffing about with installing storage, maybe just a flam vault and a lockbox for the really expensive stuff. Almost all of them have 1-3 seats already in the back, so seating for the crew is sorted. Most good condition ones I've seen are £5k at 110k-170k miles.
They have there place, but they are in the same boat as vans etc. They are commercial vehicles, to do a job, not city runabouts to stroke egos.
Yeah, get a van. The only people on site with these are lads with more money than work, mammy and daddy funded, or the developer who wouldnt see concrete dust land on it.
A van can't deal with even remotely muddy grass. I lost count of how many vans I rescued, back when I had my pickup. They are also a lot less effective at dragging a horse trailer etc. Vans also (generally) don't have back seats. If you're also having to trek up and down the motorways, then the comfort of the ranger makes a big difference.
Our plant hire is delivered by a 20 year old mondeo. Van have more room for the work stuff and are plenty comfortable for motorway travel. Our off road vehicles are outlanders and vans are everything from mercedes to renault. Never had a problem that a pick up would have resolved.
Pickups have their uses in Europe as well. Where I live, it seems like most pest controllers (rat catchers, an easy to clean open trunk is probably very nice) and land surveyors prefer them over other vehicles. They all use smaller sensible size pickups from Japanese brands though.
I think I've spotted only 2 different modern USA oversized pickups in traffic. Both full black, never a speck of dirt on them, always tailgating someone. They are vastly outnumbered by the sensible pickups, but you just can't miss spotting them in traffic.
Pretty much true in the US too - especially a Raptor.
Let's see how big of a mouth you run when i pull up in my ranger plastered with punisher skulls you beta 😎😎 ~jkdon'tbullymepls~
I used to have a proton jumbuck, it was a really handy pickup and the same size as a regular car. But it's hard to find parts for em in the UK. It's a shame there aren't many sensibly-sized pickups.
But yeah, I kind of think most people who have massive ones that only get used for school run and supermarket are knobs.
Mate my wife dresses me but categorising me with them POS trucks is just too far.
Yeah man I didnt mean to do that, mine dresses me too...or rather she would do a better job of it anyway
The only acceptable vehicle is a range rover, and even then it has to have mud on it.
This metal blob goes against so many safety regulations in Europe, it is basically unfixable. And even then you would need a truckers licence to drive it, like the ones for big commercial trucks.
Yeah technically it's a HGV, and you need an HGV license in order to be able to drive it.
Although apparently the other problem is that it has red indicators, because in the US they don't have separate lights for brakes and indicators they just flash the brake light.
Most cars have yellow lights for indicators and red for brakes. Even for the US having red indicators is at least uncommon.
No it's not. I see red turning indicators waaay more often than yellow ones.
You live somewhere with a lot of trucks? Most cars and suvs have separate ones, i don't remember the last time I saw a red indicator other than on a semi. I see a lot of people not bother to indicate but the yellow or orange is there.
Montreal but also lived in Toronto for four years. It's red blinkers everywhere, annoying as heck.
Not that many trucks, I guess. Are we talking about trucks only? I might be wrong then. Mostly crossover SUVs.
Can't wait to hear soldiers killing people in Ramstein driving these.