Are we a reflection of our vehicles, or are they a reflection of us?
I live in a little small town, total pop less than 7000. Semi-rural, big city is 10 miles away.
I live on a corner and my neighbor and I were cussing and discussing traffic through our neighborhood yesterday. He’s retired and likes sitting on his porch watching the world go by, since he’s NOT a big TV fan. I go out in my garage to smoke, since I don’t smoke in the house, so we have similar perspectives… And both cuss the number of people that run the 4 way stop… Easily 30% of the total traffic. And we have seven small kids within a block! We also have a lot of walkers early in the morning/late evening especially during the summer.
80 to 85% of the vehicles that drive through are either pickups, work trucks, or SUVs. Probably 5% are Jeeps, 5% are cars, and the rest are a mix of hot rods, old/restored cars/trucks, and large vehicles. Within about 2 blocks there are, I think, five or six cars, mostly owned by little old ladies, and a couple of vans owned by families with 3 or more kids. That I know of, there are TWO Tesla EVs in the entire town, and one is owed by a sheriff’s deputy, because her mother and dad bought one before they moved here.
Many of the trucks and SUVs are muddy, depending on the time of year, and are working vehicles. Granted we do have a couple of blinged out pickups, but not many, and those don’t seem to be out/about when it rains…LOL
I’d say our neighborhood is a mix of older folks and a few younger couples, but we all get along, often talking and keeping up with whom is on vacation, keeping an eye on houses, etc. which is a HUGE change from what I had for neighbors in northern Virginia!
Anyhoo, back to vehicles. I ‘think’ we tend toward practicality as opposed to keeping up with the Jones/latest fad. And we do see the occasional snow/rain events that cause flooding, and the need to actually haul stuff (folks seem to be pretty handy and not afraid to do house/yard stuff as necessary), rather than hiring somebody to do it. A lot of folks work for ranches/oil field/businesses that pretty much require trucks to get to/from work in the field.
The Jeeps? Sigh…don’t ask me…
I know for ‘some’ of us old farts, an SUV is easier on our broke old bodies to get in and out of, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 🙂
YMMV, IANAL, and I sure as hell didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night…
I’ve been a pickup-driver since 1982, only switching to a Suburban between 1998 and 2003 then switched back. My wife has small SUV, but like many seasoned citizens, climbing up and out is hard on my knees and hips. The truck on the other hand is very slightly lifted, and climbing in and out is much easier.
We have occasional use hauling bulky items to/from the cattle pasture and I am a hunter so why I keep the truck which burns approximately twice what the wife’s vehicles burn.
Our vehicles are not glamorous – the newest is 2018 with nearly 100,000 miles on that. My truck is a 2000 GMC club cab with 222,200 +/- that gets things done. Our town is approximately 105,000 souls with other similar towns nearby = adjacent. Getting crowded actually.
That is our neck of the woods.
My FIL had to give up his license at 92 a couple weeks ago,
He’s used to getting in and out of his 2500 Silverado, four door with 6 foot bed. The back bumpers gotten a couple creases lately.
I wonder where.
But he complains about getting in and out of my wifes Taurus.
When we did a CalExit to S Central Oregon in 2003, we started with a 2WD Ranger and a car. The car got traded for a base ’03 4WD Silverado. With a lumber rack and shell, it did decent service for the construction I did around the place. It died one too many times, and it got replaced by a 2019 Honda Ridgeline. No lumber rack, but it’s good with a utility trailer.
The Ranger ended up getting replaced by a couple of Subaru Foresters. Subie 1 was because my wife hated to drive the Chevy, and the Ranger had to be parked all winter. I got Subie 2 when we got rid of the Ranger; it served well when I was commuting across the Cascades for medical adventures. That’s my normal weekly go-to-town shopping vehicle. (I got the duty during Covidiocy, and $SPOUSE is happy to keep it that way. OTOH, she has to entertain our border collie when I’m gone. Fair trade.)
(Yes, you can get Subarus without a mandatory Democrat bumper sticker. They’re actually quite popular in the very conservative county we live in. They’re also pretty easy on 70+ year old bodies, at least the Forester. I tried an Impreza. Needed lots of effort to get back out. Nope.)
The nice thing about both Subies and the Honda is that it’s fairly easy to get our 70+ year old bodies in and out. Didn’t like the Outback, and the Impreza was more like an MG I had once.
Subies are GREAT cars! My only two beefs with them is iffy gas mileage and the damned head gaskets on the engines! Subies are NOTORIOUS for leaking oil past those decaying gaskets. Luckily though, they leak OUT of the engine and not INTO it. Subaru has known about this problem for DECADES but won’t do anything about it, even though aftermarket gaskets that address the issue are available. I think my dream daily driver would be a Subaru Outback with a TURBODIESEL!
For almost the past year, I’ve been driving a 2005 Miata. Difficult to get in and out of, for my 71-year-old frame, but SO much fun to drive. I found out yesterday I CAN carry three five gallon buckets of beans and rice if one of them lays down in the (mutter) “trunk.” My prior vehicle was a 1999 Suburban, but when some kid ran a red light and totalled it, I realized my carpool days were behind me, and I wanted to have some fun.
So, there you are.
When we lived in (rural) Columbia County OR, the locals were content to let the secondary roads fall into a range of disrepair such that higher-clearance vehicles with “real” suspensions could handle the potholes, chucko, and occasional washouts while screening out low-riders and Prius types. We only had 2 ambulances and they had 4×4.
Thing that still P’s me off the most is to see an SUV or other robust traction vehicle slow down to a crawl to traverse a speed bump. You’ve got the suspension – USE IT! If they post a low speed limit that’s one thing, but if the posted speed is 35 or 45 and there’s a yellow striped hump in the road, that’s a CHALLENGE – HIT it.
My daily driver now is a Ford Expedition – basically an F-150 Crew Cab with a permanently covered bed and extra seats. Previous to it I had a couple of Tauri and a couple of Jeep Grand Cherokees. Both of those types were OK drivers, wife still has the original Taurus. I also have an ancient 2001 Audi that I keep because of its 6-speed manual and no GPS, so fun to drive. But I don’t drive it much, and it’s needing some $$ repairs.
As to running over sleeping policemen at speed, my wife has that same idea but can’t understand why the Taurus and her former Explorer needed alignment all the time!
I just got back from Northern AZ where there were a lot of lifted pick ups and jeeps, but they are legitimately useful on the sketchy forest roads on the public lands out there.
All- Thanks, I see there are a few ‘older’ folks that agree on the ease of getting in/out. Pat, be careful! The idjits will run slap over you and not even SEE you! Tom, interesting that you mentioned Audi. Saw a first gen TT Quatro yesterday in red. The paint…sigh… But it wasn’t smoking and appeared to run pretty good (if the speed at which it disappeared down the road is any indicator).
Pickup, because I used to go out on ranch “roads” doing research, and high clearance as well as 4WD was necessary. Now it is the family stuff/lawnmower/won’t fit in anything else hauler.
My neighborhood is working pickups, minivan-esque SUVs, some older Suburbans and Broncos, and car-cars. And two tricked out, lifted, louded pickups who are the terror of kids and pedestrians. (The drivers try to do 0-45-0 every block. Idiots.)
My wife installed a hitch on her 2004 Suzuki XL-7 and pulls a Harbor Freight DIY trailer kit for extra hauling ability. When registering the trailer for Ag use, it costs much less. Will haul 15 bales of hay quite easily. As well as her 2 wheeled motorcycles wnen travel to mechanic is required.
Wife #2 and I live in the middle of a 7 mile unmaintained county road. Besides the horses, her DD is her 2000-vintage Dodge Ram pickup. Mine is a (slightly) newer Jeep Grand Cherokee, my Zombie Truck/Zombie Outbreak Response Vehicle (a Jurassic Truck Corp. T-Rex kit on a 1984 Suburban chassis), my LMTV (google “LMTV War Pig”, first image). Other than her Dodge, all are diesels (cheaper than gasoline!).
Among the residents along the road, most vehicles are big SUVs or pickups. The few sedans will either carefully/slowly transit the road or will throw caution to the wind and bomb down the road (and get numerous flat tires).
I loved my old BMW E39 540i sedans, but no bueno out here…
I mentioned my FIL but neglected to mention that except for sports cars early on I’ve had an F-350 with no bed and a 390, an 94 F150, another F-150 I don’t remember the years of, a 2001 Ranger 2WD that I loved for years til it left me. Now a 2017 F-150 2WD, 2Dr, 8′ bed.
When I get in and out of the Taurus I keep reaching for the hand hold above the door that’s on the F-150.
I miss the Ranger.
My first vehicle was a Chevy Luv pickup. Been driving them ever since, with short forays into a BMW 528e, a Datsun 280-Z, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. My 2015 F-150 has nearly 106k miles on it and runs like new.
Spousal Unit, when he’s allowed to drive again, has a 2019 Jeep Wrangler, which was our toad behind the RV. I use it to haul musical instruments to/from band practices/performances, because it’s easier to load/unload (all instruments need to be inside the vehicle) than the F-150.
For now, when SU needs to go somewhere, I rented a 2024 Chrysler Pacifica wheelchair van. I kinda like the idea of a van if/when SU goes first and I move into independent living. The right one would be much easier for musical instruments carrying than the Jeep, as comfortable as the F-150, and probably better gas mileage than either. But that’s still in the future. I’ll keep driving my beloved F-150 until I absolutely have to give him up.
Three Toyota 4WD diesel tray-backs.
1992/95/98.
They are simple, functional and work.
The 92 model has over 660k on the clock, original engine and spends all summer set up as a firefighting rig..
This is a farm. I am the farmer. What do you expect?
Hey Old NFO;
Yeah, I am a truck guy, 3 F150’s, a 2021, the 2nd was a 1999 and the 1st one was a 1991, I had Tauruses, Mustang, Ranger, a bunch of Escorts, and Focuses(Focui?) Can you see a common theme?, LOL and my first car was an AMC Gremlin. All were good cars except the 1985 Tempo, I don’t count that one, LOL. I do miss the mustang though. I am planning on planning on buying the last year of the V8 convertible, just because I can, if the Xiden EPA follows through on their threat.
Be a shame is folks were to lose track of some masonry bits or scrap lumber on a corner.
A while back I saw a survey that was done on what vehicle was most popular amongst us military types. Hands down, the most popular was the Ford F-150… except for the Coast Guard. Us puddle pirates prefer the Jeep Wrangler… Damned if this CG retiree doesn’t own a ’97 Jeep Wrangler AND a Ford F-250…
As for not understanding the Jeeps, there’s a bumper sticker out there that says “It’s a Jeep thing. You wouldn’t understand.” This is truly the case. I bought my Jeep about seven years ago on a whim… at a YARD SALE, no less. Despite the Spartan nature of the REAL Jeep, its rattles, and rough ride, the thing just grows on you. It’s kinda like a horse that you don’t have to feed unless you use it. Real “Old West.” I’ll drive that thing until I can’t drive anymore, and then use it for “yard art!!!”
Heh! In my 70’s I agree 100% on the SUV being the better choice. Used to love station wagons, best for hauling kids, 4×8 anything and all in between. Sadly the 77 caprice was the last full size I owned with a V8. Uncle Sam as bastardized basically forced us all to go “economy” and (spit) “green”. My only recommendation is to try and stay away from: A) CVT or DSG in favor of a standard geared transmissions which come 5, 6 or 7 gear nowadays and B) try to find engines with timing chains and not rubber bands. I have managed A but not B and that “not B” costs me about 1200 bucks every 90K miles. I do keep cars to 250K or better but lately this has become a challenge. If I find a ’65 non rusted Chevrolet Impala wagon it will be coming home with me, regardless of wife admonitions.