Been thinking about a new car

[B2]

That actually is the extended cab model. I have a 2000 F-150 4x4 with the extended cab and useful 6-1/2 foot narrow bed. Agree 100% about the 4 door trucks and 4'-5' beds. They're trucks in name only.

Maybe that stock web picture I posted is not very good. What you cannot see is that it has two little doors. It is not even obvious that they are there or that they open. I will attach a couple of actual photos just taken of my 2008 F150. One with the little door open. The cab is not long enough for even a child to be back there. It has 2 regular size doors, with up-down windows and two small doors with small fixed position windows. The regular sized door have hinges at the mirror, just like, almost, all cars. However, the 2 small doors where the storage is located has its hinges at the rear of the cab. Also, it has no obvious handle for opening these doors. One first opens the regular size door and then the handle for opening the small door is exposed just below the small door window. I don't think they ever called this an extended cab. You can see the small doors did not add much to the length as the hinge is right at the back of the cab. See photo.

The bed is a full 8'-1" long and the width between wheel humps is > 48" . So a full 4x8 sheet fits. I used to have a cloth cover that snapped on, but it got destroyed. With that cover on I could haul all sorts of stuff without worry that someone was going to see in and steal it. I tried to purchase new cover, but had difficulty finding one that would actually fit and keep the water out. I purchase the truck in 2011 with 20K on it. I don't use it much any more except for hauling a few things. It now has 45K on it. So I guess I put on 25K in 12 years!

Anyway, I have looked for a new model/brand with the same door and bed features several times without luck.

A new pickup truck is really just a minivan with a doorless trunk.

@pontiac428 I do not see this model in the pictures you put up.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

My wife and I have put 7k miles on our Honda Fit in the 3 years we've owned it. I got 99 problems, but car troubles ain't one of them. I make no payments, I don't even look at the price of gas... No Costco membership, a tiny freezer... guess I'm just unamerican. But hey, I'm in my forties and can retire whenever I want. Must be something to it.

You do not really need a big freezer if you have a rifle that can kill an elephant 2 counties over....

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Around these parts, if you're driving a Subaru, you're sending a message.

I have 4 cars. My newest one is 23 years old. My 2 oldest ones are both over 50. The other one turns 30 right about now. It's birthday was the first week of March, if I remember right.

I have a 67 F100 with a big block that shakes the foundation when it cranks on a cold morning, that is how I send my message which is; it's 5AM, I'm up, and its everyone else's problem.....

 

[David2011]

Maybe that stock web picture I posted is not very good. What you cannot see is that it has two little doors. It is not even obvious that they are there or that they open. I will attach a couple of actual photos just taken of my 2008 F150. One with the little door open. The cab is not long enough for even a child to be back there. It has 2 regular size doors, with up-down windows and two small doors with small fixed position windows. The regular sized door have hinges at the mirror, just like, almost, all cars. However, the 2 small doors where the storage is located has its hinges at the rear of the cab. Also, it has no obvious handle for opening these doors. One first opens the regular size door and then the handle for opening the small door is exposed just below the small door window. I don't think they ever called this an extended cab. You can see the small doors did not add much to the length as the hinge is right at the back of the cab. See photo.

The bed is a full 8'-1" long and the width between wheel humps is > 48" . So a full 4x8 sheet fits. I used to have a cloth cover that snapped on, but it got destroyed. With that cover on I could haul all sorts of stuff without worry that someone was going to see in and steal it. I tried to purchase new cover, but had difficulty finding one that would actually fit and keep the water out. I purchase the truck in 2011 with 20K on it. I don't use it much any more except for hauling a few things. It now has 45K on it. So I guess I put on 25K in 12 years!

Anyway, I have looked for a new model/brand with the same door and bed features several times without luck.


@pontiac428 I do not see this model in the pictures you put up.

As I said, I own a 2000 F-150 4x4 of the same body style. I’m very aware of the bak doors.

 

[Janderso]

We pulled the plug today.
The winner is............
2024 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Limited. AWD with all the bells and whistles she loves.
It's a nice car!! 37MPG with a tiny 1.6 turbo charger but it does get up and go if you ask it to nicely
My wife loves it. This is the first time in her life she was able to buy the vehicle she wanted with the options and colors she wanted.
I'm very happy for her. She deserves it.

We paid $35K OTD with her trade. I'm very happy about the deal. I was prepared to part with $50K. Whew!!

 

[Janderso]

My daily driver is a Tundra. It has one of those short beds so when I need to get longer things, I just hook up the 14' trailer.

My son was raised a Ford pickup man. He drives a Toyota Tundra. It's a nice truck.

 

[PNW_Guy]

They kind of have a point.

Most of these Kei trucks have a 6 foot bed which is longer than a lot of pickup trucks these days which run 5-5-1/2 feet, with 6-6-1/2 feet being "long beds".

I wanted an 8 foot for lumber but can live with the 6-1/2' bed on my truck. 8 foot sheet goods mean I have to drop the tail gate, but at least it is fully within the tailgate, and I can put narrow 8 foot goods (2x4s etc) diagonally and close the tailgate.

I've drive a Kei truck. The truck part is fine, but the cab is a complete joke if you're over 5' 6". You can't recline the seat at all if it's all the way back. As a tall guy, the only way for me to fit it to have the seatback completely vertical. It's the same for the Sprinter cab & chassis.

I'm a single cab longbed kind of guy. My daily is a 1 ton SRW 4x4 - single cab, 8' bed. It was hard to find, very hard.

When I lived in a city and had less space to park, I had a single cab F150 with a 6' 8" bed - and it had a little suicide door in the back . There were no seats, but there was room for a camping gear, a tool box, or whatever. They only made them a few years and most people don't believe they existed.

 

[B2]

Hi @David2011

As I said, I own a 2000 F-150 4x4 of the same body style. I’m very aware of the bak doors.

I did not mean to offend you in any way!

You said, describing the picture of my F150, ... "That actually is the extended cab model. I have a 2000 F-150 4x4 with the extended cab and useful 6-1/2 foot narrow bed. Agree 100% about the 4 door trucks and 4'-5' beds. They're trucks in name only. " I guess I do not understand the definition of an "extended" cab. I thought that word was used to describe the trucks that you could load up 5 or 6 men in! I have never thought of my truck as an "extended" cab because no one could get it that storage area via the small doors of my truck. So if it is not "extended" what do they call the cabs on those 5-6 passenger vehicles. Anyway, since you have the same cab style as my F150 do you know of any other model/brand that is currently available on the market and is any thing like my "very short extended cab" but with the 8 foot bed?

I know one can get a 5-6 passenger truck with an 8 foot bed, but it is too long to be useful to me.

I have thought about a shorter truck to haul a long trailer more than once, but there is no real place to park it at my home. If I cannot find one then since I drive the truck so seldom maybe the "desirable" solution is one of @FOMOGO proposed vintage Shelbys .... only with the trailer hitch!!!

 

[slow-poke]

I didn't read the entire thread, but one more data point. My wife had an outback, worst car for reliability we have ever had. Engine failed while under warranty, the replacement needed a valve job at < 100,000 km. After that sensors and finally a connecting rod started knocking. We did all scheduled maintenance this thing was a complete POS. It was great in the snow (when it wasn't being fixed).

We have had six Toyota's every one near flawless, all six combined had less problems over their entire lifetime than the outback had in its first three years. My current daily driver 05 ES330 has not had a single repair, just routine maintenance. I will never buy another Subaru, and after the success we have had with Toyota don't want to buy anything else, they have earned my loyalty.

 

[woodchucker]

I didn't read the entire thread, but one more data point. My wife had an outback, worst car for reliability we have ever had. Engine failed while under warranty, the replacement needed a valve job at < 100,000 km. After that sensors and finally a connecting rod started knocking. We did all scheduled maintenance this thing was a complete POS.

We have had six Toyota's every one near flawless, all six combined had less problems over their entire lifetime than the outback had in its first three years. My current daily driver 05 ES330 has not had a single repair, just routine maintenance. I will never buy another Subaru, and after the success we have had with Toyota don't want to buy anything else, they have earned my loyalty.

The toys have been good, up until the 2017 .. I hate their electronics. glitchy.