1/2 ton pick-up as daily driver - parking?

[skrypj]

I agree with the others, and often roll my eyes or even chuckle at folks who drive these $80k monstrosities to the grocery store or bank. Why? Why would someone NOT IN A JOB THAT REQUIRES IT daily drive such a monstrosity? It makes very little sense from a practicality, enjoyability, or cost perspective, piling on daily driving miles on a very expensive valuable monster truck. A 2nd vehicle, like a normal car, makes far more sense in every respect. I just don't understand it. I have a truck. I use it for jobs that require a truck. It's not very enjoyable to daily drive because of its size and I don't like piling milk-run miles on it. I use my cars, for jobs that require a car. Tool use, 101, is use the right tool for the task.

Also, in parking lots, whenever possible I pull thru so I don't have to reverse but I only pull forward to leave. This should be a mandatory taught skill at drivers' education. In oversized or nice vehicles, I park far away from anyone, way out in the parking lot so nobody will hit me. If people drive monster trucks, I really do appreciate it when they park way out away from everyone else.

I watched in amusement one day, watching this mentally very slow person ironically try to navigate his quad cab extended bed pickup trunk into the regular sized car parking space right up front at the gym. At the gym. At the gym. 50 yards out, mind you, wide open spaces where he could have 4 spots if he wanted. But he needed to be right up front, pancaked between cars. At the gym. Reverse, forward, reverse, forward, reverse, forward, reverse, forward. Then park. Then open the door 6 inches, and squeeze out. Rear end hanging 5 feet into the driving lanes. At the gym. lol

My neighbor is an old lady near-retiree nurse who keeps a horse off site. She daily drives this huge full bed Chevy pickup with a huge horse trailer hitch on it. I think I've seen her tow a horse trailer only a few times. Yet she short trip daily drives the snot out of that extremely valuable truck, coming and going probably 5-10 times daily. Seems she practically runs a grub-hub as much as she comes and goes daily; The short-trip daily wear on that truck is staggering. And this lady isn't rich. And I think I understand why.

is it cheaper to own one vehicle or two? I pay one insurance, one car payment, and maintenance for one vehicle.

also, when I do tow with my truck, its often in to the desert 50 miles from nearby towns. My truck needs to be reliable so buying some old better for “truck things” is kind of out of the question.

I don't think too many people would be able to say their V8 RAM has been a fuel saver for them But there's one atleast!
But if you want to burn the fuel, and know how to drive, make good parking decisions, and can walk a few extra feet every so often, they are a good all round vehicle. And if you don't mind buying the previous generation of RAM new, they may have the lowest depreciation of any vehicle! That said, I do know of a few people that "needed" a fancy truck that aren't towing enough to bother my Outback, and are just burning cash that they could spend more wisely IMO, but that's their business.
Once they get a plugin hybrid with some electric only range, I think the pickup will make more sense for even more people, not cost too much for DD use, and still haul the rv trailer to wherever backwoods location you want.

i mean this is all of texas. All my coworkers down their drive trucks and never tow. Some of them drive Superdutys just because.

 

[RTexasF]

i mean this is all of texas. All my coworkers down their drive trucks and never tow. Some of them drive Superdutys just because.

I concur...almost every other vehicle in Texas is a pickup. Some are old regular cabs, some are more modern, some are monstrous 4 door dualies. They all manage to park when required. Is parking a no thought required task? Nope.

 

[spasm3]

I agree with the others, and often roll my eyes or even chuckle at folks who drive these $80k monstrosities to the grocery store or bank. Why? Why would someone NOT IN A JOB THAT REQUIRES IT daily drive such a monstrosity? It makes very little sense from a practicality, enjoyability, or cost perspective, piling on daily driving miles on a very expensive valuable monster truck. A 2nd vehicle, like a normal car, makes far more sense in every respect. I just don't understand it. I have a truck. I use it for jobs that require a truck. It's not very enjoyable to daily drive because of its size and I don't like piling milk-run miles on it. I use my cars, for jobs that require a car. Tool use, 101, is use the right tool for the task.

Also, in parking lots, whenever possible I pull thru so I don't have to reverse but I only pull forward to leave. This should be a mandatory taught skill at drivers' education. In oversized or nice vehicles, I park far away from anyone, way out in the parking lot so nobody will hit me. If people drive monster trucks, I really do appreciate it when they park way out away from everyone else.

I watched in amusement one day, watching this mentally very slow person ironically try to navigate his quad cab extended bed pickup trunk into the regular sized car parking space right up front at the gym. At the gym. At the gym. 50 yards out, mind you, wide open spaces where he could have 4 spots if he wanted. But he needed to be right up front, pancaked between cars. At the gym. Reverse, forward, reverse, forward, reverse, forward, reverse, forward. Then park. Then open the door 6 inches, and squeeze out. Rear end hanging 5 feet into the driving lanes. At the gym. lol

My neighbor is an old lady near-retiree nurse who keeps a horse off site. She daily drives this huge full bed Chevy pickup with a huge horse trailer hitch on it. I think I've seen her tow a horse trailer only a few times. Yet she short trip daily drives the snot out of that extremely valuable truck, coming and going probably 5-10 times daily. Seems she practically runs a grub-hub as much as she comes and goes daily; The short-trip daily wear on that truck is staggering. And this lady isn't rich. And I think I understand why.

Why are you worrying about what other people drive, or for what purpose they drive them? Drive what you like and be happy.

 

[OVERKILL]

I don't think too many people would be able to say their V8 RAM has been a fuel saver for them But there's one atleast!
But if you want to burn the fuel, and know how to drive, make good parking decisions, and can walk a few extra feet every so often, they are a good all round vehicle. And if you don't mind buying the previous generation of RAM new, they may have the lowest depreciation of any vehicle! That said, I do know of a few people that "needed" a fancy truck that aren't towing enough to bother my Outback, and are just burning cash that they could spend more wisely IMO, but that's their business.
Once they get a plugin hybrid with some electric only range, I think the pickup will make more sense for even more people, not cost too much for DD use, and still haul the rv trailer to wherever backwoods location you want.

Yes, I'm actively contemplating a PHEV X5 right now with gas prices they way they are, plus, driving a guzzler doesn't really dovetail all that well with my nuclear advocacy, lol

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Why are you worrying about what other people drive, or for what purpose they drive them? Drive what you like and be happy.

Why are you worrying about what I'm worried about? Seems controlling to me. lol. It makes me happy to worry about such things. lol.

But in seriousness, other peoples' driving behavior directly impacts me. It impacts my safety, and my convenience in driving and parking. When I cannot see around monster trucks it's a safety issue. When I cannot get into my car because some behemoth parked next to me and left me no room to open my door, that impacts me.

How is this any different than nearly any topic of any conversation humans have in observing the (often very odd or selfish) behaviors of others?

 

[spasm3]

Why are you worrying about what I'm worried about? Seems controlling to me. lol. It makes me happy to worry about such things. lol.

But in seriousness, other peoples' driving behavior directly impacts me. It impacts my safety, and my convenience in driving and parking. When I cannot see around monster trucks it's a safety issue. When I cannot get into my car because some behemoth parked next to me and left me no room to open my door, that impacts me.

How is this any different than nearly any topic of any conversation humans have in observing the (often very odd or selfish) behaviors of others?

 

[wpod]

I always park on the far last spot, people are too lazy to walk that far.

That is what I do !

 

[spasm3]

That is what I do !

Same here, i park way way out. I generally don't drive my truck much when not towing, except to maybe home depot, for large items.

 

[skrypj]

Why are you worrying about what I'm worried about? Seems controlling to me. lol. It makes me happy to worry about such things. lol.

But in seriousness, other peoples' driving behavior directly impacts me. It impacts my safety, and my convenience in driving and parking. When I cannot see around monster trucks it's a safety issue. When I cannot get into my car because some behemoth parked next to me and left me no room to open my door, that impacts me.

How is this any different than nearly any topic of any conversation humans have in observing the (often very odd or selfish) behaviors of others?

This is more enraging when its the idiot in the Chevy Bolt or Honda Fit that should have 3' on all sides of their car in any normal parking spot and still park crooked and 6" from my door. They are just straight up ignorant and inconsiderate.

At least parking my behemouth truck I try as best I can to make sure its centered. Maybe the problem is the size of the parking spots, not the vehicles in them.