Yeah, for sure trucks do not own pulling trailers, and they are fairly bad for cargo also. Truck fans will hate it, but a minivan can take care of both of those probably just as well, if not potentially better. The one use case is oversized cargo, which is almost never hauled by anyone. In the off chance you need that you can rent a truck or uhaul.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm in the market for a truck and actually drew this same conclusion. Trucks are terrible in fuel efficiency and would likely not be my daily driver.

The main reason I want to buy (vs renting a truck or uhaul) is primarily availability. When I'm doing a weekend project, on more than one occasion I could not rent a truck because everyone else had the same idea.

Over the past year, I've rented the Home Depot truck four times, totaling about $400 which includes fuel and late fees. The main difference between renting a Home Depot truck vs a uhaul is that you don't pay mileage. Renting the Uhaul once is about $200 with mileage and gas.

Uhuals can be reserved, but at that price point it's not worth it.

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

If you're a new homeowner and either have a lot to fix or a lot of projects in mind, a pickup is great. Daily driving it is useful for when you have to grab materials after work. I opted for an older $2000 Ranger 4cyl 2wd earlier this year for that so I'm not killed by fuel economy. It gets 20mpg on my commute but I do also split that with a 50mpg motorcycle. It's also great for when you see random bulky things on the side of the road you want. I did start with a 4x8 trailer but it's not as convenient. I admit, part of that was because my wife s car was the only one with a functional hitch.

But I'm talking a Ranger. Like an F-050. 115hp. This little guy has hauled so much already. The only thing it can't technically do is tow a car and I don't have the capital left to buy a nonrunning project car. I've been eyeing the new Maverick in hybrid form. But maybe by time I have the cash for such a new vehicle I won't be doing reno projects anymore