I regularly haul 800 lbs of wood heating pellets in the back of my Subaru Baja. That’ll get me through somewhere between a week and half to almost three weeks of heating, depending on how cold the weather is. Wash, rinse, repeat all winter long.
Then there’s DYI work I’m doing on the house. I usually use my girlfriend’s Tacoma for that. Plywood, lumber, gravel, and cement mix. All of it needs to be hauled, and delivery is prohibitively expensive.
None of that is required for my desk job work.
I could give up hauling the 19’ sailboat, if need be, since that’s a luxury. It’ll make me an angry man come summer, though.
What’s your plan on addressing my needs, or are you happy to let me hang?
Neither. Not flexing, either. Hell, if I was, I wouldn’t be driving around a Baja. That model is the red-headed bastard child of the automotive world, catching grief from everyone.
Nah… just simple statements: I need to be able to get shit done outside of work, as reliably and inexpensively as I can. Find a way to sort out those folk who glam up their mall crawlers for whatever prestige is running through their empty heads and inflated egos, without hindering my ability to do what I need to do, and you’ll have the support of me and folk like me.
Basically, if you need a half or full ton truck for work? Cool, ask for the permit. Oh, is it just to drive to your office desk job? Get a smaller vehicle or ride the bus
How is that permit process going to allow me a permit to get the stuff done that I need to do, while weeding out all the folk driving around pavement princesses?
I’m not the guy who made the original comment but my plan would be, show me your business license. And as I said before anyone in need of hauling without a business can go down to Uhaul. As far as towing goes, that’s an engine/torque/frame issue. It doesn’t need to be a huge vehicle. There are minivans and crossovers with a 7,500 lb towing capacity.
To add, if you’re setup for towing then you can just use a trailer.
Brakes. You left out the important bit. My Baja will tow a lot more than it’ll stop.
Your plan would have me up the creek without a truck, especially if the Baja gets lumped into the truck category on account of it having a bed. Judging from the blank “apply for a permit” plan, it probably would.
I’ve gone down that “Just rent a truck from UHaul.” It stops being realistic when the local UHaul lot can’t handle current demand, much less whatever happens after y’all have taken trucks out of everyone else’s hands.
Take away my ability to keep my house heated, much less in good repair, and you’ll take away my ability to house myself, my family, my pets. They’re everything to me. Take everything away from a man, and see what happens. Then multiply that by every upstate, rural, blue collar man trying to get by… And see what happens to society. It ain’t gonna be pretty.
Your truck is not “everything”. You could easily haul that stuff with a trailer. And yes in a vehicle with competent brakes for it’s rated towing capacity. It’s not the government’s fault if you’re towing over capacity.
Also I highly doubt your home needs weekly DIY trips for years on end to remain functional. In fact, if that’s true you may want to look at hiring a general contractor instead of doing diy.
Edit to add - as an example a Subaru outback with trailer would work just as well as your truck depending on how heavy your boat and trailer are. But also there’s no reason a towing vehicle needs to be that large. Once the size is restricted you’ll be able to get 5,000 lb towing in cars, as it’s already a thing in Europe.
You’re right, in that my truck is not everything. It’s a significant point of failure to my ability to maintain my house and life. You can doubt all you want. Do the math: I’m burning 40-80 of wood pellets every day. That’s an 800 lbs load every 10 to 20 days.
Your answer is to replace my Baja & Tacoma with an Outback and trailer. With the cost of everything rising, you want me to sell off my existing vehicles (with their value dropping, as nobody without a work permit can operate them), and replace them… Or hire out a general contractor for all the work I’ve been doing myself.
FYI: That Baja of mine is tow rated for 2,400 lbs.
Man, I’d love to live in whatever world you’re dreaming up. It ain’t the real one, that’s for sure.
I don’t want you to sell off anything. Nobody said current owners would be required to sell. That’s unrealistic, unenforceable, and radical to the way similar legislation has been done in the past. Most likely when you went to buy a new vehicle you would be asked for your large vehicle permit. Then, without one you would be directed to tow capable smaller vehicles. And yeah the Baja is old. It’s not rated for much. But in Europe you have SEAT Leons towing 3500 pounds. That’s a hatchback if you don’t want to go look up the car.
Just because the car companies in the US aren’t offering it right now, does not mean it’s not possible. They want to make money, not give you the most efficient vehicle.
And yeah if you only need a vehicle temporarily for a DIY project, then rental is a good option. If your house is going to fall apart without sustained DIY stuff over years then you absolutely need a contractor to create a comprehensive project to solve that problem rather than patch the last band-aid fix.
Your arguments just don’t hold up and calling Europe a dream land isn’t very nice. They do actually exist.
Have you ever been to Upstate NY? Had a friend or family spend any time at all up here? I’m thinking you should. That might shine a big spotlight on the differences in living here vs the UK.
I regularly haul 800 lbs of wood heating pellets in the back of my Subaru Baja. That’ll get me through somewhere between a week and half to almost three weeks of heating, depending on how cold the weather is. Wash, rinse, repeat all winter long.
Then there’s DYI work I’m doing on the house. I usually use my girlfriend’s Tacoma for that. Plywood, lumber, gravel, and cement mix. All of it needs to be hauled, and delivery is prohibitively expensive.
None of that is required for my desk job work.
I could give up hauling the 19’ sailboat, if need be, since that’s a luxury. It’ll make me an angry man come summer, though.
What’s your plan on addressing my needs, or are you happy to let me hang?
Are you intentionally defending lifted trucks that never hop a curb, or is that just an accidental consequence of your flex?
Neither. Not flexing, either. Hell, if I was, I wouldn’t be driving around a Baja. That model is the red-headed bastard child of the automotive world, catching grief from everyone.
Nah… just simple statements: I need to be able to get shit done outside of work, as reliably and inexpensively as I can. Find a way to sort out those folk who glam up their mall crawlers for whatever prestige is running through their empty heads and inflated egos, without hindering my ability to do what I need to do, and you’ll have the support of me and folk like me.
This.
Basically, if you need a half or full ton truck for work? Cool, ask for the permit. Oh, is it just to drive to your office desk job? Get a smaller vehicle or ride the bus
How is that permit process going to allow me a permit to get the stuff done that I need to do, while weeding out all the folk driving around pavement princesses?
The plan is file for a permit.
If you get denied there’s pickup trucks at the Uhaul store.
So you have no plan to differentiate on who gets a permit, and who doesn’t? That leads to one of three situations:
Good luck with that.
I’m not the guy who made the original comment but my plan would be, show me your business license. And as I said before anyone in need of hauling without a business can go down to Uhaul. As far as towing goes, that’s an engine/torque/frame issue. It doesn’t need to be a huge vehicle. There are minivans and crossovers with a 7,500 lb towing capacity.
To add, if you’re setup for towing then you can just use a trailer.
Brakes. You left out the important bit. My Baja will tow a lot more than it’ll stop.
Your plan would have me up the creek without a truck, especially if the Baja gets lumped into the truck category on account of it having a bed. Judging from the blank “apply for a permit” plan, it probably would.
I’ve gone down that “Just rent a truck from UHaul.” It stops being realistic when the local UHaul lot can’t handle current demand, much less whatever happens after y’all have taken trucks out of everyone else’s hands.
Take away my ability to keep my house heated, much less in good repair, and you’ll take away my ability to house myself, my family, my pets. They’re everything to me. Take everything away from a man, and see what happens. Then multiply that by every upstate, rural, blue collar man trying to get by… And see what happens to society. It ain’t gonna be pretty.
Your truck is not “everything”. You could easily haul that stuff with a trailer. And yes in a vehicle with competent brakes for it’s rated towing capacity. It’s not the government’s fault if you’re towing over capacity.
Also I highly doubt your home needs weekly DIY trips for years on end to remain functional. In fact, if that’s true you may want to look at hiring a general contractor instead of doing diy.
Edit to add - as an example a Subaru outback with trailer would work just as well as your truck depending on how heavy your boat and trailer are. But also there’s no reason a towing vehicle needs to be that large. Once the size is restricted you’ll be able to get 5,000 lb towing in cars, as it’s already a thing in Europe.
You’re right, in that my truck is not everything. It’s a significant point of failure to my ability to maintain my house and life. You can doubt all you want. Do the math: I’m burning 40-80 of wood pellets every day. That’s an 800 lbs load every 10 to 20 days.
Your answer is to replace my Baja & Tacoma with an Outback and trailer. With the cost of everything rising, you want me to sell off my existing vehicles (with their value dropping, as nobody without a work permit can operate them), and replace them… Or hire out a general contractor for all the work I’ve been doing myself.
FYI: That Baja of mine is tow rated for 2,400 lbs.
Man, I’d love to live in whatever world you’re dreaming up. It ain’t the real one, that’s for sure.
I don’t want you to sell off anything. Nobody said current owners would be required to sell. That’s unrealistic, unenforceable, and radical to the way similar legislation has been done in the past. Most likely when you went to buy a new vehicle you would be asked for your large vehicle permit. Then, without one you would be directed to tow capable smaller vehicles. And yeah the Baja is old. It’s not rated for much. But in Europe you have SEAT Leons towing 3500 pounds. That’s a hatchback if you don’t want to go look up the car.
Just because the car companies in the US aren’t offering it right now, does not mean it’s not possible. They want to make money, not give you the most efficient vehicle.
And yeah if you only need a vehicle temporarily for a DIY project, then rental is a good option. If your house is going to fall apart without sustained DIY stuff over years then you absolutely need a contractor to create a comprehensive project to solve that problem rather than patch the last band-aid fix.
Your arguments just don’t hold up and calling Europe a dream land isn’t very nice. They do actually exist.
Have you ever been to Upstate NY? Had a friend or family spend any time at all up here? I’m thinking you should. That might shine a big spotlight on the differences in living here vs the UK.