small compact car's and other drivers

Hehehe..... down here soccermoms drive stationwagons with "AWD" stamped on them - "All Wheel Drive" being mistaken for true Four Wheel Drive, which it ain't. "FWD" has always been 'Front Wheel Drive' down here, just as "RWD" is Rear Wheel Drive. The rednecks and bubbas have "4X4" on their rigs. Just a different culture I guess. Been like this for my five decades.
Those little Samurais are highly sought after down here. Hard to find for sale - the owners won't give them up! Great little hunting trucks!
Some company would make big sales if they could build an affordable simple Samurai-type truck. Leave off all the frippery - carpet, power-everything, killer stereos, etc. Just give us the basics.

 

friend of mine bought a f250 that was modified to take CNG (compressed natural gas) as well as the original gas....I am so jealous I can spit! Here in Utah we have over 100 stations that offer cng and if you are traveling out of the area you can just run the vehicle on regular gas. I drove to work with him (20 miles thru mountains each way) for a week and offered to fill his tank on the 5th day. I filled the tank and bought us each a coffee and it was $12 and change...couldn't believe it. I heard it is about $2000 to convert a vehicle so we are thinking about it. He also got a bunch of money back on his taxes because of an alternative energy incentive.

 

I agree that a small car is just as good for getting from point A to B. However if you regularly have to haul a large family or drive through rough/bad roads, a larger car is going to be more cost effective.

 

I drive a '94 F-150. Maybe its just the area but here Size Does Matter. Soccer moms drive SUVs or better & try to run yer arse over. My gas mileage ain't great but its worth it for Comfort & Safety & Power. As for insurance, its the lowest in my LIFE!!! A mere $550 A Year!! The truck old enough it was made back when Trucks were metal & bumpers were Steel. Its survived 120,000 miles of me since I bought it used. While I don't dog my truck, I don't baby it either. For me a vehicle has to EARN its keep. No useless 2 person transporters desired here.

 

We use Japanese mini trucks at work to run alleys and check lines. They're both 4x4 and drive like champs, and we use about 8-10 gallons a month per truck. If they were street legal here I'd have one in a heartbeat. I def need a 4x4 to get to work in the winter or I'd be driving something smaller and a whole lot faster.

 

I bought this back in Oct.F150 4x4 w/5.0 engine....
I no longer drive it since my wifey has taken it away from me and she now drives it...
You know..a good wife will do that to ya....ccc...









Oh..Forgot to add...I now call her ''Bubbett''

 

oooooo one the NEW 5.0s. My truck is one teh Old 5.0s!!

 

Yep...One of the new ones...I get 20.2/20.3 Highway MPG....and i drive like crap sometimes...Heavy foot...This truck rides better at 80 than 60...Or so my wifey tells me....ccc

 

I guess I don't believe the SMART is big enough.

I used to drive a diesel rabbit and my dad had a rabbit pickup. It got great mileage (65mpg) and had a 6 ft bed, but only had the power to carry 6-800 lbs.

That vehicle was extremely useful and of course ran on farm diesel or straight veggi oil most of the time. More of a rural SMART pickup.

 

Laugh all you want but smart is going to be bringing out a small pickup truck style vehicle here in the next year or so .but it is a very small sized truck with a few add on to the vehicle and you have a perfect little rural vehicle to drive when the gas prices go off the wall again like they did in Ca

Put a daystar 2.inch lift kit and some 17.inch sized all weather tire & rims for better handling in the rural road set up bigger and it the perfect vehicle for us socalled single country gentlemen farmer types that needs to haul a few thing's home from the store .

But it has grow on me in the idea that i can maybe up grade in a few year's time frame to a small pickup truck that i can take to and from the house as i need for supply runs .

i can fit into the smart with just me about a month and half of food from the store with me in car only

Here is some pictures of the socalled smart pickup truck that they are bringing out here in the next few years.the added pictures are of a daystar outfitted smart and it owner who live's in Az and has a place up in Snowflake area and he drive's it up in the mountains area all the time

 

Not trying to be a smart a$$ or disrespectful. The Smart Car just does not fit the bill for what I need. The only way I would consider driving a smaller car is when I do not have to worry about hitting a much larger mass in accident. Heck, my car makes me nervous at times much less something smaller.

 

I would not be opposed to buying one for commuting, if everybody was driving something similiar in size.

 

In defensive driving courses they make you move Suburbans with Geo Metros....it doesnt matter what you have as long as you know its capabilities and limitations. Outside of that it all comes down to the driver.

My wife and I have two cars and they suit us well...

2004 Ford Escapse with AWD and 3500lb towing package

and

2011 Mazda 2 touring. Handles like a champion, gets good gas mileage and has quick in traffic. Great for getting in and out of small spaces...which could save lives if you are in the city (like we are) and are trying to squeeze through small spaces to get out.

As I believe in any survival situation or even finance and investment. Diversification is key.

 

I know it not for everyone who drive's a vehicle as the one person said i know how to drive it from living in La area with it traffic problems and driver's who seam to think they are race car driver's in the traffic there .

It fits my driving style and it work's for me because of beening single and not having to haul anything but me & my weekly supply runs to the cabin

The other day when i filled the car up at the QT gas station in Surprise on the way home from work .there was a guy filling up his personal truck and it came out to just over a $100.oo dollars just to fill it up and that add's up over a month if you filling that thing up once a week .

My gas bill was just over $16.oo dollars for the fill up total at $3.29.a gallon here in the area i'm at and up home in ShowLow it about $3.38.a gallon .

So i'm paying out about $20.oo dollars every two weeks to fill up the tank for two weeks of driving for work and some personal things .