Living in Texas has made me start wanting a truck. I ain't the guy who will really be using it "as a truck" fore say, but no one buying a Lamborghini is gonna be hitting 150 mph every day either. Point being, would you still advise one? Hoping there are a lot of truck drivers here, and I can't believe all the trucks on the road are in constant truck use.
Pros: You look manly. Good for the occasional haul. Ride high, see traffic. Can tow stuff. Dogs like hanging out in the bed (if it's not too hot). Cons: Gas mileage. People will hit you up to help them move. Can't take fast turns. Chicks don't like the "step up" to the cab. Some trucks are made by Chevy, GM, or Dodge.
Eh....depends on the girl. Country girls and city girls who like the traditional Texas/Western motif love trucks. The bigger the better. Personally, my next vehicle might very well be a truck. 4-door sedans don't hold a damn thing.
I went through that phase. I thought it would help make me a real "Texan". This was back when gas was cheap. When the gas prices went up in 2007, I decided I didn't need to be a "Texan" that badly. It was fun, and nice to be able to see over traffic, haul stuff if you need to, etc. Protects you in an accident. On the other hand, harder to maneuver and park. A girl pretended to be my friend just so I could help her move. I think some guys found it surprising but cool that I drove that big thing... found out later that it was one of the first things that interested my husband when he met me.
Mine is. International Harvester, Cummins turbodiesel. I wouldn't drive it unless I had to haul something. Trucks have pros. 1. Hauling prowess 2. Towing. Boats. Trailers. I have both and use both. 3. Look rugged when you pull up to the Dewdrop Inn Cons 1. Suck gas unless they're a diesel. And yes, even diesels are not exactly misers. And diesel fuel is more expensive. 2. They handle badly. Since they're designed to carry heavy loads, they sit up high and are as tipsy as a coed at a Panama City spring break party. 3. They're slow. Even the fastest ones will get their doors sucked off by your mother's Camry four-banger.
I wouldn't. I've owned both. Here are major truck cons: 1. Gas Guzzler 2. Difficult to park in most small places 3. Not fun to drive in traffic 4. Everyone wants to borrow it when they move or buy a new TV Having a truck sucked.
This reason alone made me sell the last truck I've owned back in 90's. Every weekend someone was wanting to borrow my truck.
Bought a 2010 SuperCrew F150 in Feb after having a 02 F150 with 225k miles on it. Really don't think I'll ever drive anything other than a truck or SUV. Kind of teetered on getting a car for the gas mileage, but knew I wouldn't be happy. I've got a boat, so I do use it to trailer it, throw my road bike in the back for rides and of course lend it out friends that need to move stuff. My mileage is somewhere from 16-17 mph. Having the SuperCrew is a must for hauling people. To each his own, but sitting higher than most and being able to put a crap load of stuff in the bed makes it a must for me.
Unless you are going to be hauling things frequently, the novetly of it will wear off. I had trucks for the past 10 years... an 02' Ford 2-door, 04' Ford 4-door and then a 07' Dodge Quad. For me it was a thing of hey I'm a guy and guys drive trucks. Plus like you said, its a texas thing. I lived on the border and now in San Antonio and so yes they are very common around these areas. I got a 2010 2-door Honda Accord last year and had no problems making the switch. First thing I noticed was the quickness and manuverabilty of the car. I can get in and out of lanes no problem. Plus gas mileage is huge. At $4 a gallon, it costs $100 to fill up a truck. It costs $60 to fill up the accord. 15 mpg on the truck, 25 mpg on the accord. Glad I made the switch.
Pro - You can get a used one cheap now that gas prices are so high. I'm sure there are plenty of people that may want to get out of one they bought when gas was lower. Con - Most trucks aren't fun to drive but I guess that depends on what you like in terms of vehicle feel. May you can look into something smaller, like a Toyota Tacoma. They have the X-Runner that is supposed to handle a little better. Not sure if driving a Toyota will give you that Texan feeling X-Runner Specific The Toyota X-Runner is a limited production trim. The X-Runner is only available in three colors per year, and only four colors total. From 2005-2008 the X-Runner is available in Speedway Blue, Radiant Red and Black Sand Pearl. In 2009 Radiant Red was discontinued and replaced with Barcelona Red Metallic. Key differences between the X-Runner and the other packages include tweaks to the suspension, ground effects, and a 3.15 Final Drive ratio(3.73 for V6 PreRunner and 4X4). Toyota added a rear mounted X-Brace to stiffen up the rear end (hence the name X-Runner). The chassis was further stiffened by adding two more support braces to the frame. An optional big brake kit by TRD is also available on the X-Runner; which consists of a 332 mm slotted rotor and 4 piston caliper. The BBK (big brake kit) was designed by StopTech.
I say **** the pros and cons - if you want a truck, go get a truck. You can worry about why it sucks later.
I have a 08' Avalanche, I really like it. I actually need a truck for work, but I think this is the best of both worlds as far comfort. I had 05 fx4 before this and liked it, too, until someone t-boned me on 290. but be prepared for 15 mpg, I drive to Houston and back to Austin once a week and spend 400-500 in gas a month.
Most chevy owners feel that way. Makes sense because GM vehicles are such crap. Gas milage will always be worse in a truck over a car but Ford just released the Ecoboost gTDI engine with 365HP and 420 lb·ft. It gets over 20mpg in a full size truck.
"Wanting" a truck for what? I'm guessing 70-85% of the people that buy them rarely use them as one, so even if you say that justifies why you want one, too, do you have any reason to want one other than "everybody else has one"? If you're not hauling or towing stuff fairly regularly, just get something smaller that gets better mileage instead of trying to be one of the "Joneses" for the reasons many have already stated. If you need a truck, I would think you could go rent one.
I wouldn't mind having a truck if I used it/needed it. In Texas, I feel like a lot of the time its more a fashion statement than utilitarian. We all knew a hot little showty who sported a truck with a ten foot lift and Flintstone tires. Or been inconvenienced with riding in the back seat of your friends' truck. As long as your truck doesn't have balls or Yosemite Sam mudflaps, you wouldn't tweak my douchvision. But if I'm getting relatively bad gas milage, I better justify that with some heavy hauling on a semi-regular basis.
Compared to a sedan, a truck has a seating position that is very unique. The floor is much lower and the position is less cramped. Most trucks sold are 4 doors or SUVs and with the new gTDI there is much less difference in gas milage. the sticker on an AWD Acura TL is 18/26mpg. A 4 door F150 with gTDI and 60 more HP is 16/23mpg. The sticker prices are comparable. Heck the F150 gets better mileage than the much smaller Acura MDX which is 16/21mpg.
Got a Toyota Tacoma Prerunner and I love it. I'm not a car guy and can't see myself ever being one. I like the occasional drive in the wife's manual Corolla S but that's about it. And a full size pickup is too much for my needs. The Tacoma is just enough truck. Got the V6 so it has enough power, gas mileage is ok and I stretch it, and honestly I really like how it handles. It could use a little more cab space (have the ext cab) so I'll prob upgrade to a double cab before long. Never towed anything with it but I use the bed regularly. Will add another con....and that's the tires. Gets expensive to replace!
This just points to what I was saying. Buy for what you need. When I said buy a car instead of a truck, I meant, go buy a Hyundai Sonata or something if you don't need to tow anything or haul anything. I didn't mean go buy a $35-$45,000 entry-level luxury vehicle, instead. lol. The Acura TL will outcorner the Ford. The Acura TL will out-accelerate the Ford. I'll take the Acura's AWD system for traction on most ice and snow over the Ford. Most people are going to opt for the FWD version anyway which gets better mileage than the SH-AWD model and costs less. Also, real-world mileage is better than what the sticker says. I'll take the interior on the TL over the Ford. Just a hunch : the ride in the FWD Acura is probably better, too. The Ford tows more than the Acura TL. The Ford hauls more than the Acura TL. They both have jacked up grilles (though the '12 TL kind of fixes that). And who pays sticker? TL's have been holding pretty good resale value as well - I'm honestly not sure about F150's. Neither is necessarily better than the other, so buy for what you need.
