Yeah, I’m starting to see Dodge Rams and similar vehicles here in Germany, too. People are such assholes.

Interesting that they referenced the infographic multiple times but couldn’t be bothered to put it in the article.

I feel this so much in my 90s hatchback :'(

The SUV plague is a european phenomenon too.

Yeah I had the idea to buy a used one, but it’s such a risk especially since I know nothing about cars. It could develop issues days or weeks after purchase. It would be great if I already had one and it just kept chugging though. I wish your truck a long and healthy life

I would do this if I could afford it. I was looking a few months ago and somebody locally had a ‘00 Ranger 5 speed 2 seater w/ ~150k mi for $5000 and an ‘01 S10 for $7000.

I have actually had my eye on both the Telo and the Slate, very interesting concepts. I also appreciate the slightly smaller Maverick, but wish it had a bit more bed and/or a bit less cabin.

I can confirm that the Maverick is pretty much exactly the same size as a '90s Ranger, having parked my Ranger next to one before. The proportions are pretty different though, with the Maverick having a larger cab (four doors) and a proportionally smaller bed. A Maverick (and probably the other two you mentioned) would definitely be a good choice for people who think they need a truck for personal use.

However, there is one problem with all of those vehicles, which is that none of them are actually trucks.

You can tell the difference between a truck and a not-truck (a car-based “ute,” like an El Camino) by the fact that there’s no gap between the cab and the bed. Real trucks have body-on-frame construction, not a unibody, and can have the pickup bed replaced with custom flatbeds or utility beds or whatever.

In some sense it often doesn’t matter because a unibody ute would fit most people’s needs just fine. Until you want to do actual truck stuff, and then it matters. For example, the Slate Truck is rated to tow 1000 lbs, the Maverick is rated for 2000 lbs (or 4000 with the tow package), and a '90s Ranger is rated for up to 6000 lbs. (Mine can’t do that – it’s an I-4 manual 4x4, which is the worst configuration for towing – but an appropriately-configured V6 automatic 2WD one can.)

I need to take a Pic like that with my 63 ranchero

I actually have one! I was generously gifted a Ford E-Transit to transport my wheelchair-bound elderly mother. It’s all electric. It’s pretty heavy and unwieldy, but doesn’t have a massive horizontal profile like a lot of the common pickups these days. The van works great for this purpose, though it only has a 135 mile range. But that’s fine for going around the city. (I can’t park in parking garages though - it’s too tall.)

Before I got this, I was trying to find a small truck or SUV to transport the wheelchair in and it was very hard to find something that was small, not falling apart, cheap, etc. I had almost given up.

I have, and I’m disappointed. It was going to be my next Subaru, now I’m thinking Crosstrek, as long as it doesn’t get upsized.

Speaking as a woman, who works in a dock industrial district, while I could take the bus to work, I often work the late shift, and I really don’t want to be waiting at a bus stop at night in that area.

There’s the added fun that the bus stops running close to my work after a certain hour, so to catch the late bus I’d have to walk almost the full length of the industrial area. Alone.

A reasonable question, but I wouldn’t be able to fit my family in the Skoda. I know, I’ve tried. Getting two kids, two dogs, and the associated accoutrements around town just isn’t possible in a hatchback. The Minivan is an attractive option, but the hills and snowy winters in my neck of the woods suggest an AWD vehicle. The smallest car I considered was the Subaru Outback, and even that’s not particularly compact.

If we had viable public transit options, things would be different. We could travel via train on vacations, or take the bus about town for errands and appointments. If we had sidewalks and bike lanes, we could take advantage of good weather and get a little exercise to boot. We would probably still own a large car, but we would drive it less.