QOTD: No Going Back?
A family member asked me advice about a possible vehicle purchase over the weekend. The vehicle in question was something they had been thinking of for a while, seeing it as just the thing to support the day-to-day lives and vacation preferences of a traditional nuclear family. While lesser vehicles could easily cover most of the family’s needs, albeit with some concessions on the part of kids, pets, or luggage, this one did everything.
It may come as no shock that the mystery vehicle here happens to be the world’s best-selling vehicle.
Yes, the Ford F-150, especially an off-lease one with a lowered sticker price, offers the broadest of appeal. There’s no sale yet, but it’s leaning that way.
Earlier, the family looked at a Nissan Pathfinder, finding the three-row crossover to be spacious but entirely forgettable, with a tow rating that fell below the desired tonnage. Then came the F-150.
The “once-bitten” phenomenon is real. After one spin behind the wheel, any doubts that existed about the suitability — and perhaps most importantly, the desirability — of this vehicle melted away. They were converts, though concerns still exist re: fuel economy.
You can’t get everything in life, I suppose.
The experience of this family member repeats itself daily in North America, with individuals from all walks of life finding themselves irresistibly attracted to the go-anywhere capability and commanding road presence of a full-size 4×4 pickup. Any full-size 4X4 pickup. If sales numbers tell us anything, it’s a hard attraction to shake.
Our question today is this: If you happen to be one of these people, did you ever go back to sedans, hatches, or CUVs? Could you?
[Image: Ford]
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I went to a full-size truck despite the lack of any objective reason, and as much as I enjoy it there probably won't be a sequel. Next ride will likely be an AWD wagon or possibly liftback.
I have almost always owned pickups. There were 2 years where I owned a Safari van but I did not like having my cargo occupy the same space as me. I just move between small truck, 1/2 ton and HD based upon my needs at the time.
Agree if you have dirty loads or large bulky items then a truck is a much better choice. The only question is do you use it enough to pay for itself which some of us do but trucks are not for everyone. I have utilized my trucks to the fullest but I will eventually reach a point where I will not but that is more of a lifestyle change.
I went from a coupe to a full sized pickup, back to a Pony car (Firebird), to another Pony Car (Camaro), then to a full sized old school SUV, a Blazer. From the Blazer to a minivan to a compact SUV, then to 2 Jeep Grand Cherokees, and then a Sierra 1500 Ext cab 4x4, and finally a Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4x4 when the GMC got wrecked. I loved the Ram. I had one single issue with it, fixed under warranty, and when it was almost 5 years old, I had to go back to a car after I was seriously injured in late 2007. Since then, I've had a Charger R/T, a Challenger R/T, and now a Challenger Scatpack. If I wasn't crippled, I would almost surely have held onto the Ram, which I saw a few days ago, rusted, but seemingly running fine, for a winter vehicle. Anytime the weather gets bad, I miss the full sized trucks and SUVs I've had.