Point?

If owning you at very encounter makes me a puppet, then color me guilty.

 

freakin' 10 character minimum
Ahem.

 

Dood, I've been a ford man for to many years. Prolly longer than You've been driving.
My trucks actually work for a living. If You really think that there are only two options for my 'Bashing' You're sorely mistaken. It's a necessity for Me to own trucks. Not like most posers/owners, without a scratch in the bed.

It's a matter of social economics that all 1/2 ton pickups should be downsized.
For people to continue on this path is going to be the down fall of more than just the pickup market. It is in part why the USDM companies are in the shape their in right now. This country NEEDS a fuel efficient 1/2TON pickup.
Not the over bloated trucks, that step all over the SD boundries that are out there right now.

All of these posers, soccer Moms, commuters, driving pickups that get 15 MPG city are consuming like greedy pigs. Typical US mindset.
ME, ME, ME, it's all about ME! Look at ME! I don't NEED this $45K/15 MPG truck, but LOOK AT ME! I Can afford it, SO LOOK AT ME!!!

It's time to come out of the caveman days, and do something socially responsible. And it all starts with the market. Ford should step up and do the right thing NOW! Waiting it out, and hoping the pickup market comes back is a downright stupid strategy, IMO.

If You seriously think that the price of crude will stay @ $45/barrel, Your living in a fantasy world.

 

I will be using my 09 to tow my trailer day in day out and as long as it's not to much different at working than the 08 then i don't see the problem with them. If you don't want a lux truck, don't buy one and buy a lower end model. Like someone said there's even the ranger. Sure I see my fair share of people about who really don't need a high end truck to be driving about. But to be honest 90% of the time I see a flash truck pull up it pulls into a disabled spot and a guy about 60+ gets out of it. I my mind i guess he has been driving trucks all his life working hard and he decides that he wants a lux truck to get about in. No problem with that. But I have maybe seen 10 women in 12 months driving trucks. Most of them around here drive suv's and calling someone a poser because they want a nice truck would give the impression of you being a green eyed monster. They maybe heavy and big, but They seem to be doing the job they was designed for better than ever. But it's hard to move on when your used to what you have. Change is hard.

 

What does it matter if someone wants to drive a pickup that gets 15mpg in the city? The great thing is that we are free to do that. You are free to drive something that gets better mileage. Fact of the matter is that the only person you can change is yourself.

 

The facts are we are in unprecedented times, the Big 3 are asking for a bailout from Gov't to avoid bankruptcy and it doesn't look like they will get it. What happens if they go bust? It's entirely likely they will be restructured and the companies will live on but it's gonna require a complete rebuild of the company from the ground up and that means fewer models for 1 thing. They will want to build profitable vehicles of course and 1/2 ton trucks have been hughly profitable for a least a decade or more now, but as we saw last year when gas starts to close in on $5 a gallon people suddenly realize they dont really need a V8 to get around in. It's impossible to say with certainty but I bet in 5 years the automotive indusrty in North America will look very different than it is now.

 

That's the point. This country is going into the toilet with the overconsumption 'choices' peeps make.

I fully agree that Peeps have the right to own, drive anything they wish. But the days of overconsumption need to end. Do You really think that WE can continue down the path that has guided us here, today?
If the Big Three get 34 BILLION of our money. Don't You think that they need to think a little more about the overall good of the country, rather than the overall good of their personal bank accounts? That would include guiding the market into a more fuel efficient lineup, across the board.

My 93 F150, bought new off the lot, is getting worn out, and needs replacing. I will not buy into this crap their selling now. I NEED to improve my MPG. Not lower it. Not just for my bottom line, but also for the thought of my 8/11 YO kids. I hope they have the choices that we have. This whole society of overconsumption effects more than just Us today.
I don't need another F250. I need a FUEL EFFICIENT 1/2 TON TRUCK! If they brought one to the market. I KNOW I, and most other contractors out there would buy it.
Think of putting 4 trucks on the road, with 4 employees driving them. Most of the mileage is work related. Some personal/weekend use. A jump of 5 MPG over the life of the trucks is over $20K saved over a 200K life of the 4 vehicles. Just like getting a free truck every 3-6 years.

This stock answer about buying a Ranger doesn't fly, either. I work My Ford trucks, and have a B2000 for tooling around in. Wifes in a Subaru Outback wagon.

Peeps seriously need to get over their 'ME' syndrome, in order for this country to ever improve.

 

Thinking about the well being of the country as a basis of business decisions or personal decisions such as whether or not to buy a pickup truck doesn't work. The free market is just that, free. If we let the markets work they will straighten stuff out. However, bailouts or making auto manufacturers produce vehicles that one group deems to be "better" for the country (even though the consumers don't want it) only mucks up the process. Feel free to make your own decisions and I will make my own. In the end, I am responsible for what happens to me, nobody else is. I am not going to shoot myself in the foot in order for the country to supposedly improve.

Edit: Do you agree with the statement "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"?

 

People realized that of their own free will in response to current conditions rather than someone trying to tell them that they don't need a V8 to tool around in. Consumers obviously want power in their trucks otherwise they wouldn't sell as well as they do.

 

How can You say that buying a more fuel effcient 1/2 ton is 'Shooting Yourself in the foot?' When it puts You in a better economic situation.

Huh, You don't think that a fuel efficient 1/2 ton truck would make a profit? I know It'd sell better than what is offered today.

If WE bailout the Big 3, and when Obama/Dems get into control of the Government. Ask Yourself this. Will They have anything to say about the automotive companies 'business decisions'? If You think the answer is no, then You don't know much about Democrats.

It's time to build the right truck. Not the same old Mine is bigger/badder than Yours truck. Gen X'ers are just getting old enough to get out of their Ricers, Buying houses, raising kids, camping,boating, ect. Contractors are feeling the crunch everywhere, trying to get more efficient anywhere they can.

You, and Ford need to get Your heads into the fresh air, and see where the market is going.

 

Is that more fuel efficient 1/2 ton truck going to be every bit as capable as the current truck? Is it going to last as long being loaded to the gills?

If the truck will not last as long or you are continually having to fix things that wear out any savings goes right out the window in repair costs and the cost of downtime.

A bailout is a load of crap but that is an argument for a different thread.

The company that I work for is feeling the pain of high fuel prices with out 1/2 ton trucks, but with what we use them for a lighter duty truck will just not cut it. We've tried the smaller trucks but it just doesn't work. There is a cost to doing business and that includes paying the price for the right equipment for the job.

YOUR wants/needs are not the same as the general public. Don't kid yourself. Not everybody wants a smaller, lighter pickup.

 

No to sound abrasive, but the whole "they need to do what's right for the COUNTRY" thing is a load of crap.

We are in a capitalistic economy. Businesses makes stuff, we buy stuff. We buy the stuff that we want, and don't spend our hard earned dollars on stuff we don't. This way, the stuff that people want is the stuff that business spend their time making.

If people want full size 1/2 tons, that will tow lots, haul lots, and get stuff done, they will buy them...which they have for the past 40 years. They have NOT bought into the 28 MPG ranger nearly as enthusiastically as they have the -150.

The automakers NEED to build stuff that will SELL to stay in BUSINESS. Which is what brought about the latest generation 1/2 ton pickups...and none of them can get 25 MPGs, but they ALL are capable workhorses, which is what people want. Don't get me wrong, this can change over time, but to imply that the automakers are responsible for "screwing" people into buying these "overpriced" or "overweight" trucks is dead wrong.

 

Well put Tom, very well put.

 

I understand what fonefiddy is talking about. I drive an '89 chevy 1500 (we won't go into that right now) and my daughter drives an '89 F150. They are virtually the same size.

My wife drives an '06 F150 SCrew. Park one of my other two trucks next to the '06 and the size difference is amazing. Parked my truck next to a Tundra the other day and the same thing is true. My Chevy with a 5.7L gets about 17 MPG on the highway, same as my '06 with the 4.6L engine

When I was looking at trucks this past summer before buying the chevy, I looked at a '90 Chevy 2500. When I researched the capabiliites i realized that it is rated to tow and haul less than my '06 F150. IMHO this is insane.

If the companies would go back to the half ton truck of the size of the late 80's and with the technology available today they would probably get nearly 25 MPG.

 

The hell of it is, They don't even offer a fuel efficient 1/2 ton truck. It sounds like half of You need to get out of a F150, and into a F250. That way they can build a truck that LOTSA people WANT to buy.

As I said before, the f150 is stepping all over the SD's territory, leaving gaping hole where the F150 USED to be.