dude, a pickup truck is terrible no matter how you qualify it, they’re needlessly huge and have barely any cargo space, they’re just objectively bad in every single way.
there is no use case where a pickup truck is better than something like a kei truck, they even come in actually usefully lifted versions that would traverse offroad environments better since they’re lighter.
Yeah, that’s an insane comment. I regularly tow an 8,500 lbs trailer with my pickup and regularly haul 2,000 lbs of pellets for our stove in it. Sometimes I tow the trailer with an additional 500 lbs of stuff in the bed of the pickup. I seriously doubt a kei truck - which aren’t even available here in the US - could handle either of those tasks.
We have a 3/4 ton Ram 2500 with the diesel for the aforementioned towing and hauling, and there’s no question it’s a luxury vehicle. I recognize that. I also don’t daily drive it - it’s 9 years old and still has less than 60k miles on it and my plan is to keep it as close to forever as possible.
If we weren’t towing the trailer and hauling those pellets with it, an old beater half ton would still be a pretty handy vehicle to have around. I occasionally need lumber for various projects around the house; I have to run things to the dump sometimes; I sometimes need to get propane (which shouldn’t be carried in an enclosed vehicle for obvious reasons, though I did it many times before we had a pickup); sometimes I’m working on a car and need to carry a greasy or oily part; sometimes I move heavy arcade games; and so on.
Maybe a kei truck would work for those latter tasks, I don’t know…since they aren’t available here, the whole argument is kind of moot. If the manufacturers thought there was a reasonable market and profit for them, they’d be doing it. My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that the kei trucks do not meet US crash standards, and modifying them to meet that standard would kill the utility they have now.
Unless you’re talking about towing other cars and carrying entire trees yea a kai probably wouldn’t make the cut but for furniture transportation fire wood mail delivery and mulch transportation are all things that take way less horsepower than you think hell even with car towing I’ve done with a dinky little 4 wheeler from the 80s if a atv can do all the things I mentioned a kai can absolutely accomplish them and you don’t take up soo much space when you take your haul through the city the reason everyone hates full size pickups is because soo many people just use them to get groceries and nothing more
so what’s so magical about the US that people need pickups there but not in the rest of the world? If you need to haul tools you have a van, which can carry a vastly larger volume without getting things wet.
there is no use case where a pickup truck is better than something like a kei truck
I like the mini-trucks like the Kei, they are practical and useful for light loads around town. What they don’t do is heavy loads and / or long distances.
So here’s a “use case” where my full sized American pickup truck is required. Several times in the last 6 months I’ve pulled a triple axle trailer weighing 12,000lbs (5,440 kilograms) a distance of 200 miles (320 kilometers) at an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) ). Assuming the weight didn’t collapse the rear axle or buckle the frame on a Kei then trying to actually pull the weight would certainly destroy the transmission and / or engine.
If you want to discuss “cargo space” then ALL pickups, including the Kei, suck. Holding cargo internally is what van bodies are for, not pickup bodies. This why city based tradesman the world over drive chassis with van bodies.
So called “Off Road” is a whole different can of worms, nearly no one really does it (even if they think they do) and I’d submit that NO mass produced pickup is truly suited for it as real Off Roading is done with vehicles specialized for the terrain they are working in.
Mini-trucks are great at what they’re meant for but they aren’t meant for everything.
If you live in a village and don’t have to haul much weight or drive far, sure, kei trucks make sense. I definitely saw them around Germany and France. In the US, everything is spread out. Also, kei trucks aren’t widely available in the US, and certainly not as much as Pickup trucks. Pickup trucks are also designed with use as a daily driver, since most people buying one will have that as their only vehicle. For someone with a great need of one, it’s both a highway vehicle and an off-road capable vehicle with high ground clearance. It’s a truck that will let you tow a trailer full of equipment one day and make that 50-mile commute to work the next.
dude, a pickup truck is terrible no matter how you qualify it, they’re needlessly huge and have barely any cargo space, they’re just objectively bad in every single way.
there is no use case where a pickup truck is better than something like a kei truck, they even come in actually usefully lifted versions that would traverse offroad environments better since they’re lighter.
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Yeah, that’s an insane comment. I regularly tow an 8,500 lbs trailer with my pickup and regularly haul 2,000 lbs of pellets for our stove in it. Sometimes I tow the trailer with an additional 500 lbs of stuff in the bed of the pickup. I seriously doubt a kei truck - which aren’t even available here in the US - could handle either of those tasks.
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And let’s face it, there are quite a few pickups around that have never hauled anything. But to claim they can’t haul anything is just bizarre.
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I agree.
We have a 3/4 ton Ram 2500 with the diesel for the aforementioned towing and hauling, and there’s no question it’s a luxury vehicle. I recognize that. I also don’t daily drive it - it’s 9 years old and still has less than 60k miles on it and my plan is to keep it as close to forever as possible.
If we weren’t towing the trailer and hauling those pellets with it, an old beater half ton would still be a pretty handy vehicle to have around. I occasionally need lumber for various projects around the house; I have to run things to the dump sometimes; I sometimes need to get propane (which shouldn’t be carried in an enclosed vehicle for obvious reasons, though I did it many times before we had a pickup); sometimes I’m working on a car and need to carry a greasy or oily part; sometimes I move heavy arcade games; and so on.
Maybe a kei truck would work for those latter tasks, I don’t know…since they aren’t available here, the whole argument is kind of moot. If the manufacturers thought there was a reasonable market and profit for them, they’d be doing it. My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that the kei trucks do not meet US crash standards, and modifying them to meet that standard would kill the utility they have now.
Unless you’re talking about towing other cars and carrying entire trees yea a kai probably wouldn’t make the cut but for furniture transportation fire wood mail delivery and mulch transportation are all things that take way less horsepower than you think hell even with car towing I’ve done with a dinky little 4 wheeler from the 80s if a atv can do all the things I mentioned a kai can absolutely accomplish them and you don’t take up soo much space when you take your haul through the city the reason everyone hates full size pickups is because soo many people just use them to get groceries and nothing more
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so what’s so magical about the US that people need pickups there but not in the rest of the world? If you need to haul tools you have a van, which can carry a vastly larger volume without getting things wet.
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you’re the one who’s clearly coping and seething lol, but hey have fun
I like the mini-trucks like the Kei, they are practical and useful for light loads around town. What they don’t do is heavy loads and / or long distances.
So here’s a “use case” where my full sized American pickup truck is required. Several times in the last 6 months I’ve pulled a triple axle trailer weighing 12,000lbs (5,440 kilograms) a distance of 200 miles (320 kilometers) at an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) ). Assuming the weight didn’t collapse the rear axle or buckle the frame on a Kei then trying to actually pull the weight would certainly destroy the transmission and / or engine.
If you want to discuss “cargo space” then ALL pickups, including the Kei, suck. Holding cargo internally is what van bodies are for, not pickup bodies. This why city based tradesman the world over drive chassis with van bodies.
So called “Off Road” is a whole different can of worms, nearly no one really does it (even if they think they do) and I’d submit that NO mass produced pickup is truly suited for it as real Off Roading is done with vehicles specialized for the terrain they are working in.
Mini-trucks are great at what they’re meant for but they aren’t meant for everything.
If you live in a village and don’t have to haul much weight or drive far, sure, kei trucks make sense. I definitely saw them around Germany and France. In the US, everything is spread out. Also, kei trucks aren’t widely available in the US, and certainly not as much as Pickup trucks. Pickup trucks are also designed with use as a daily driver, since most people buying one will have that as their only vehicle. For someone with a great need of one, it’s both a highway vehicle and an off-road capable vehicle with high ground clearance. It’s a truck that will let you tow a trailer full of equipment one day and make that 50-mile commute to work the next.