Really wish we could get stuff like this in the US but like the article said the lane keeping, emergency braking, stability control, etc makes it blow up in costs and Americans are too obsessed with 8ft tall massive pickups and SUVs the size of school busses.
Basically all I have in life is making sure my S10 is serviceable as my hearse. I keep telling my next of kin “Don’t you rent no fuckin’ flatbed Cadillac when I’ve got a perfectly serviceable Chevrolet. It carried me everywhere while I was alive, it can carry me one more time.” Which for most of my adult life has meant keeping the thing in roadworthy condition, but now that I think about it probably also means I’m going to have to build an S10 compatible casket. I’m a slightly short and stocky guy, so you could build me a crate that’ll fit between the bulkhead and the tailgate, but I bet all the ones down at the local funeral home are built for a 6 foot tall man, and that ain’t gonna work.
I like my little truck, is what I’m trying to say.
Step side or no? I had 2 s10s in the late 90s and early 00’s since a dear took one from me. Loved those little trucks tho, both were that like copper/bronze/gold color. One stick and one automatic
Smooth side, V6, 4 speed automatic, pewter metallic paint with chrome trim, charcoal interior. She’s got 240,000 miles on the clock, I figure about 60,000 more and I’ll have her properly broken in. She’s my 16th birthday present and the only thing I’ve ever touched that didn’t turn to pus.
Those features cost almost nothing to implement at this point, and wouldn’t add more than $1000 to the end price, if that.
Really, the main issues is that it likely is an absolute deathtrap in terms of impact safety, doubly so with our Truckasauruses everywhere. Not only that, but the reality is that, no matter how much people claim they want these barebones $10k cars, literally no one actually buys them.
Americans don’t look at MSRP, they look at payments, and that makes ultra cheap cars extremely uncompetitive for both the consumer and the lender.
They might only be willing to finance that $10k car for 3 years, and that’s a $300/mo payment, and they only make about $800 over the life of that loan. However, you move up to the $22.5k Corolla, they’ll gladly finance it for 6 years, and for only $50/mo more you get a much nicer car and they make 6x as much in interest at $3500.
Are those numbers actually correct? finance 10k for 4 years but 2.25x as much for 6? Final payments are 14’400 and 25’200 as per your numbers. So 4’400 vs. 2’700 profit plus much higher CAPEX for the lower profit?
Really wish we could get stuff like this in the US but like the article said the lane keeping, emergency braking, stability control, etc makes it blow up in costs and Americans are too obsessed with 8ft tall massive pickups and SUVs the size of school busses.
American cinsumer here, I hate large trucks, especially qhen 99.8% of them I see on the road aren’t hauling a damn thing.
I’d buy 2 hilux if I could.
Basically all I have in life is making sure my S10 is serviceable as my hearse. I keep telling my next of kin “Don’t you rent no fuckin’ flatbed Cadillac when I’ve got a perfectly serviceable Chevrolet. It carried me everywhere while I was alive, it can carry me one more time.” Which for most of my adult life has meant keeping the thing in roadworthy condition, but now that I think about it probably also means I’m going to have to build an S10 compatible casket. I’m a slightly short and stocky guy, so you could build me a crate that’ll fit between the bulkhead and the tailgate, but I bet all the ones down at the local funeral home are built for a 6 foot tall man, and that ain’t gonna work.
I like my little truck, is what I’m trying to say.
Step side or no? I had 2 s10s in the late 90s and early 00’s since a dear took one from me. Loved those little trucks tho, both were that like copper/bronze/gold color. One stick and one automatic
Smooth side, V6, 4 speed automatic, pewter metallic paint with chrome trim, charcoal interior. She’s got 240,000 miles on the clock, I figure about 60,000 more and I’ll have her properly broken in. She’s my 16th birthday present and the only thing I’ve ever touched that didn’t turn to pus.
Nice, both of mine were over 200k when I bought them almost 20 years ago. Amazing yours just passed 200k now. Hope it lasts for ya, great vehicle.
For years I commuted by motorcycle, and I’ve got a Buick I’m using up instead of my pickup at the moment.
American here, if someone made a cheap, small truck with no frills I’d buy one this afternoon.
Those features cost almost nothing to implement at this point, and wouldn’t add more than $1000 to the end price, if that.
Really, the main issues is that it likely is an absolute deathtrap in terms of impact safety, doubly so with our Truckasauruses everywhere. Not only that, but the reality is that, no matter how much people claim they want these barebones $10k cars, literally no one actually buys them.
Americans don’t look at MSRP, they look at payments, and that makes ultra cheap cars extremely uncompetitive for both the consumer and the lender.
They might only be willing to finance that $10k car for 3 years, and that’s a $300/mo payment, and they only make about $800 over the life of that loan. However, you move up to the $22.5k Corolla, they’ll gladly finance it for 6 years, and for only $50/mo more you get a much nicer car and they make 6x as much in interest at $3500.
Are those numbers actually correct? finance 10k for 4 years but 2.25x as much for 6? Final payments are 14’400 and 25’200 as per your numbers. So 4’400 vs. 2’700 profit plus much higher CAPEX for the lower profit?
Sorry, that’s a mistype on my part, it’s supposed to be 3 years, not 4.