As a runner who is often on sidewalks and who has been hit while on them, I simply beg to all here to not drive your car on them. Ever.

 

the way i see it (which i'll be the first to admit is not how the public would see it lol), the land cruiser, the timeless legendarily rugged global icon that has conquered the roughest parts of the far corners of the world, is being held up by some cheap disposable appliance for no good reason... THAT is an injustice

 

Personally for me. I like body on frame vehicles, more specifically Toyota and Lexus. And for last 25 years, the only way to get body on frame Lexus was with a V8 and full time 4WD. Engines were always truck engines and not the exact same engine from a car. I also like how he cab is more upright. For the most part, you aren’t forced to have a 3rd row.. I also like the ride of them. Full size space tire. I could go on and on and on…

 

I definitely see the appeal of those vehicles

 

‘I understand why they are so popular. It was always somewhat difficult to get awd in a sedan, so you had to get a crossover. Also a little easier to get into for older folks


Most trucks and SUVs that are body on frame don’t usually have a door sill. Easier to get in and don’t have to lift your feet over

 

All Toyota truck engines are car engines out of the LS. There hasn't been a single one that is not a derivative of the flagship engine

 

The appeal of crossovers makes sense too. Usually they are cheaper and more fuel efficient . I really like the design of the new Lexus RX. On the other hand, the new Land Cruiser with here cloth seats is nice

 

Most people don't know this! Remember when Toyota truck engines ended up in their cars?

 

Well, if I remember correctly, the Toyota Tundra's first V8, some years ago, was a Lexus-derived 4.7L.....that was a case of a truck getting a car-derived V8.

 

Perhaps I am blind to the appeal of crossovers because I live in SoCal and 4wd is not needed often. The two I drove were only fwd and they were just high, small cars. The autobahn is not a North America driving experience and both crossovers were predictably lethargic because they are base models and don’t have gobs of power.

The Kona was better on the autobahn than the Citroen and also better on the smaller, twistier roads, but it was still not good. Neither vehicle would seat four people with luggage (2 people, 2 checked bags, 2 carry on bags removes one back seat because you have to fold one down), so the tall compact car handling deficiency combined with lack of interior space was not great.

I would much rather have a wagon.

 

initially i was going to write you don't know what you're talking about but i'll rephrase as you're not aware of what i actually NEED to do fairly often.

take yesterday... at the office we've been piling up old pc's, a giant laser printer, other pieces of dead gear. i've wanted to take them to the e-recycling center but for some reason it's been closed... another biz in town though gets an e-recycling pick up every few months and said it was fine for me to bring all that to them, so i folded the back seats down and did. no problem.

in a vehicle with "much less capacity" i definitely would not "do just fine" and would not have been "happy" having to make multiple trips.

the ioniq isn't huge, but it's fine for what i need.

 

It’s not just you, it’s all of us. We all have cars with much more capability than we need. Do you do that on a regular basis or has that stuff been building for years? If you didn’t have that vehicle to do that with you would have called somebody to come get that stuff, etc. You don’t carry stuff in it that wouldn’t fit in a smaller car on a regular basis, am I wrong?

It’s like saying it would have made sense for me to have a capable high ground clearance 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee for years and years because one time over that whole ownership I drove it in heavy snow. In reality, I could have just not done that for a day and a half.

Another case in point, we have a minivan. Do we NEED a minivan? Not at all. I’ve had the Pacifica this week getting the tires replaced and the dent fixed etc and guess what? My wife has done fine with the Mercedes full of kids. She carpooled multiple days in it with 4 kids, she took 4 kids yesterday in it to the pumpkin patch and came home with 5 pumpkins and 4 kids and herself and she did fine. A minivan makes her life easier but she doesn’t NEED one. The Mercedes looks AWFUL inside and out but that’s a different story lol. In reality she could drive a sedan just fine.

With pickup trucks, it’s just the same as all of us, they buy something for the look and capability that they really rarely if ever use.

 

Fine is a very subjective word. You could be fine driving an Avalon or Accord or Camry. That can be justified as a wise purchase too. Lol. I know what you mean. I was trying to come up with an American sedan and headed to ford.com. I realized Mustang is the only vehicle closest to sedan they make. Wow... All trucks and SUV/CUV.

 

I would absolutely be fine driving an Accord or Camry. In fact, I don't even need that...thats my point. We ALL buy what we want not what we need, so saying that people who buy pickups are ridiculous for buying a vehicle that has work capability they don't use isn't fair.



Issue with wagons is they don't have any different capabilities or attributes over a sedan other than cargo capacity, and in America people don't choose a crossover or SUV over a sedan simply for cargo capacity. Wagons don't offer a higher driving position, they don't offer the rugged looks, they don't offer the AWD or the ground clearance or the go anywhere capability that people want even if they never use it. Thats why in the US you see that companies that make wagons only sell them in "SUV-ish" trims like the Cross Country Volvos and All Terrain Mercedes and Outback Subarus...because they are trying to attract US buyers who need that to dissuade them from a crossover. In Europe buyers are much more practical than we are here.

We looked at a beautiful E Class wagon, and my wife was intrigued because she doesn't want to drive a big vehicle she just feels she needs it. The wagon though lacked any of the functionality of a minivan, no roof height for kids to easily move around inside, bench seat in the second row, rear facing third row which the kids would like but they have to be loaded through the hatch, just a non starter.

 

yes, you're wrong. the dead equipment stash accumulated in a couple of weeks. we get rid of old gear all the time. also, there's no one to call to come get that stuff. e-recyclers would typically only haul if it's a HUGE amount of stuff. best buy will take dead stuff to recycle but only 1 item a day i think, which is worthless for us.

thankfully we don't live in a marxist country (yet) - each according to their need...

as i think you know, i grew up in england, where most people drove tiny gutless cars because that's all they could afford plus parking is very tight, and gas is hugely expensive due to taxation. so did my fam and others 'get by' with a tiny gutless car? sure. were there things we couldn't do? absolutely, like take much on a family vacation (i really don't know how we did it)

this isn't ours but same kind of car we had when i was a kid.



specs: 141in. long.
engine: .9 or 1.0L engine (rear!)
so that front is a frunk!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillman_Imp

house i grew up in with parents and 3 sisters was, i'm guessing, 1200sq. ft (2 floors, 3 bedrooms).

so i certainly understand need vs. want, what people can get by with... etc.

i left the country for a better life.