They’re not as cool as you think

Six reasons not to get that pickup truck

Thinking about buying a pickup truck?  Here are six reasons to think again:

1. They’re expensive to buy: if you want anything but the bare bones, expect to put down a ton of money – way more than you’d pay for a typical EV.
2. They’re really expensive to own: with today’s gas prices, you can expect to spend well over $100 on every fill up, and that will only get worse as gas prices climb.  That’s a lot to pay for a glorified commuter vehicle, which is functionally what most pickup trucks are.  (The fuel cost per kilometer of a typical truck is eight times that of a typical EV.  Eight times!)
3. They take up a lot of space: some barely fit in garages or standard parking spaces.  They can be pretty hard to manoeuvre in tight places like parking garages too.
4. They’re not all that practical: the cab’s not especially suited to family needs, and the box is too short for plywood.  Plus everything is a higher lift, including yourself.  Plus anything theft-worthy needs to be kept in the cab (unless you want to lay out even more cash for a lockable tonneau).
5. They’re the main reason why Canada has the least efficient motor vehicle fleet in the world, and why transportation emissions are such a large share of our total emissions.
6. Honest, you won’t really be that cool: my wife chuckles at ego-stroking truck names like Maverick, Raptor, Rebel and Warlock.  “They’re not rebels, they’re conformists; everybody’s got one of those!”

After a pandemic-related hiatus, the lots at my local dealerships are once again dominated by pickup trucks looking for buyers.  Hopefully the above reasons are enough to demonstrate why one of them shouldn’t be you!  (And if enough of us do, perhaps manufacturers will take note and focus on more practical, sustainable vehicles.)