to not understand why people drive massive pick up trucks?!

[PyongyangKipperbang]

There seems to have been a big increase in these recently, and I dont get why!

They are not filled with gardening/farming equipment and clearly used rurally, but immaculately clean with those "boxes" or whatever they are called creating a normal boot. So why bother? They are so wide that a lot of UK b roads are too narrow for them to pass another vehicle, they are no more useful or practical than other 4x4 cars and they are very expensive to buy and insure. There are now several on the school run and its bad enough around school at the best of times, without these behemoths taking up masses of space. You cant park next to one in bay parking as they are so wide and they are UGLY!

I have noticed that a certain type of man seems to drive them, flame me for making generalisations, and I am wondering if they are the new generation of Mid Life Crisis Car.

Oh I see now. People need massive gas guzzling cars because you can put a duvet in the back and look at stars. Or that you might need to use it a few times a month to carry something big around.

All makes sense now. Thanks for clearing that up.

They are really heavy so able to tow large caravans/horse boxes. If they are through work and weigh at least 1 tonne then they are classed as vans so you pay a lot less tax than a normal car

iam what else is everyone meant to do? Hire one every time (twice weekly) when they need it for work or whatever

IAm - the point is there are so many uses for these types of vehicles. Yes they are practical for certain jobs but I think it's been clearly demonstrated several times that they are:
Affordable
Great for towing
Fun
Should we have a different car for every use? so if I'm doing the school run I'm only allowed a smart car, unless I'm picking several kids up in which case I'm allowed the shogun that day, and if we are doing the tip run or delivering something for work THEN we're allowed the pick up truck...my dilemma is holidays in the caravan. We need a big car to tow...but driving around our holiday destination we wont be towing, so perhaps we should drive a second estate car as well as the car to tow?
OR perhaps, people can have one vehicle that does everything they need, even if they only need it 'a few times a month'?!

errrrr - because they like them?! why not? You don't have to 'understand why' - everyone is entitled to drive what they want - surely!! bizarre thread OP.

I have one. I love it. We have horses so use it for towing. We use it atm for stuff for the allotment. Later on today I am picking a chicken coop up with it. The dog doesn't get mud all over my car seats. All 4 suitcases will fit in it easily for our holidays.

It's fun to drive. As easy as my focus to park though reversing is a bit of bitch.

Our neighbors have one. Very large ugly thing. They also can't park so it takes up half the road outside their house as neither of them can manage to get it in their drive.

Parking thread worthy.

My gripe is that they waste fuel , so v polluting. Also because of them being classified as off road vehicles they don't have a crumple zone (safety feature required in all cars, that the front crumples on impact protecting passengers). 4x4 S don't have this and will ride up over bonnet in head on impact, crushing the passengers in other vehicle
So given that drivers of SUVS are putting our lives at risk on a daily and more long term environmental basis, I feel ok to say THEY SHOULD BE BANNED unless you have proof it's necessary

Are you sure about this? I have a Volvo T8, it's a hybrid as are lots of bigger cars. We use electric for all our local journeys.

The bumper scored maximum points for its protection of pedestrians' legs, providing good protection in all areas tested. However, the protection offered to the pelvic region was predominantly poor. The bonnet offered good or adequate protection to the head of a struck pedestrian over almost all of its surface and no poor results were recorded, even on the stiff areas around the windscreen. The XC90's standard-fit autonomous emergency braking system recognises pedestrians and cyclists as well as other cars. Euro NCAP will start to assess the performance of such functionality in 2016 so the system cannot be rewarded here

This was scored higher for pedestrian safety than the Nissan micra and most other small cars.
The pedestrian rating was 58% for the micra, 72% for the Volvo XC90 T8.

I get annoyed with huge SUVs or vans and trucks used for non-commercial use because they take an inordinate amount of space up parking which screws up parking for residents on our road, which feels selfish and inconsiderate. I do think they're wasteful and ostentatious and total overkill.

In terms of claiming back the tax etc that feels like bullshit as you have to spend a bloody fortune on them in the first place, so you could have made a saving by buying a less expensive vehicle.

Even claiming the entire amount back even seems like using a hammer to crack a nut in that the tax reduction probably isn't equivalent to the saving you'd have made by just buying a less showy car in the first place. In any case I don't care. I just don't like them.

I earn a fair bit but drive a 10 year old hatchback. It costs me next to nothing to run and is paid off long ago. I seriously can't understand why people spunk out so much on a machine to get around.

But each to their own so both you and I are being unreasonable!

DP, (who is more than adequately bedicked, btw ) would love one. He's a big man who spends a lot of time shifting stuff, so the height and the space would be brilliant.

He doesn't have one however as he wouldn't be able to afford to run it.

I had one for years, necessary to pull a horse box and great in the winter, or maybe I just purchased one to enlarge my small breasts?

wisteriainbloom I could be wrong, but don't those tests only compare and score vehicles against others in the same class? In which case you can't compare a good pedestrian safety score on a monster truck with the same on a Micra.

Genuine question, btw.

Because we occasionally tow a horse trailer with it. And we have a lot of kids and animals. I absolutely love mine.

And it was much much cheaper than a disco or equivalent

I had one until I killed it but tow my horse to different places and have 8 dogs; big boot is extremely handy for them as well as things like hay bales.

ComputerUserNotTrained

You are possibly correct on that, I will go back and check. Still, it has definitely got crumple zones, more safety features that stop you having a collision in the first place and it runs on electricity.

I must admit to advance searching some of the more pious posters and seeing that they fly abroad while saving the environment. I haven't flown for 23 years.

It wouldn't occur to me to judge anyone based on their car.

My gripe is that they waste fuel , so v polluting. Also because of them being classified as off road vehicles they don't have a crumple zone (safety feature required in all cars, that the front crumples on impact protecting passengers).

This isn't true. They're not classified as off-road vehicles: there's no such classification, and all vehicles on the road have to comply with current safety legislation.

In terms of claiming back the tax etc that feels like bullshit as you have to spend a bloody fortune on them in the first place, so you could have made a saving by buying a less expensive vehicle

We have to have a 4WD, for various work-related reasons. We used to have Discoveries, but they are horribly unreliable and horribly expensive because they are cars. Now we have Hiluxes and they are incredibly reliable and much, much cheaper because we don't have to pay the VAT on them. They are also much cheaper to run than the Discoveries ever were, and use far less fuel, so are probably less polluting too.

DP, (who is more than adequately bedicked, btw grin ) would love one. He's a big man who spends a lot of time shifting stuff, so the height and the space would be brilliant.

He doesn't have one however as he wouldn't be able to afford to run it.

As I think I said up-thread, our Hiluxes have a lot less space inside than the Discoveries we used to have. The load room is both shorter and lower in height. They're deceptive. But even so, I do love ours. They're so easy to do stuff in, and they never let us down.

Commercial vehicle excise duty as a company car.

Naff status symbol unless you're a plumber etc or pulling a trailer in a rural area. Some parents at school use them for a school run in an urban area. They usually have all the naff designer gear too etc

I dont have a BMW nor do I live in a city

Flying
I said I dont understand which is why I asked and many people have explained to me their reasons for having one. You have just been rude and assumed things in my post that werent there in order to be nasty. I did not judge, sneer, make assumptions or say anything about perceived inferiority or otherwise. The fact that you see all those things is quite telling though, and i am very sorry for you.

We have a GMC Sierra 1500. It's got the 5.4L we love it, the most practical car we have ever had. Gets decent MPG (17) we can fit 6 people and haul a load of stuff.

The next one we get will be the 2500 with 8ft bed.

If the bed floor isn't scratched then you don't need one.

It's an American thing - men's Facebook accounts are full of them. It's all liked to the very expensive hunting lifestyle out there and seen as aspirational and matcho - DH wants one for this reason. I have informed him it doesn't work like that here and that everyone will assume he lugs scrap around for a living. Oh, and they are TINY inside!

I looked at some when I last changed cars but in the end went for another 4x4. I need a 4x4 for where I live some winters plus there's loads of space for kids and their stuff.

Now my sister has bought one and I LOVE it! Will probably look at them again when I want to change car just because I like them.

Don't come to Canada, we've all got them

I don't understand why people drive the new BMW minis. To me the dials are all wrong and would frustrate me. Then I remember that people like different things and I stop being a judgemental idiot.

For what its worth, I would live a pick up or a defender. I like the way they look and feel that I have some (small) justification for having one due to my commute to work. I also love my citroen c2 because it is lovely to park. Different strokes for different folks.