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[-] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 39 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I drove pickup trucks for years. Most people probably don't realize is how much higher the operating cost is compared to smaller vehicles, even if they know that it's generally higher. The first hybrid I bought was a Prius about a decade ago and when I finally looked at the difference in the cost of fuel and maintenance, it was not insignificant.

There's plenty of legit reasons to need a pickup but outside of that, you're just throwing your money away. Nowadays our Sienna Hybrid minivan has a hitch receiver on it so I can hook the trailer up to it if I need to haul something big. I haven't needed a truck in a long time.

[-] OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world -5 points 3 months ago

I think you’re making up crap. Or at least you’re comparing an old vehicle to a new one.

My truck costs the exact same to maintain as all of the other vehicles I’ve owned. Gas usage is worse than a Prius, but pretty much inline with most SUV.

There’s really not anything that’s materially more expensive to maintain in a truck than any other car.

[-] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

The is no way your parts and materials for maintaince are the same cost as a smaller average car. The shocks are bigger, the brake parts are bigger, the tires are bigger, the engine has a higher oil capacity, the vehicle is probably more valuable so the insurance premium is probably higher.

[-] OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world -2 points 3 months ago

Oil change costs the same in my truck as every other vehicle.

None of the other parts are materially different in cost over the life of a vehicle. The size difference is trivial compared to the cost of manufacturing, distributing, and selling. If you’re paying for labor, the price difference is even proportionally smaller.

These are all items you change 2 or 3 times over the life of a vehicle. The truck part being 20% more expensive doesn’t add up to a drastic difference in overall cost of ownership.

You can think whatevever you want. A conventional gas job requires 2 to 3 oil changes to every 1 on a hybrid, depending on if you're changing it every 3k or 5k miles. Plugs and wires, brake pads, coolant, etc. also require more frequent replacement on conventional vehicles. I would know and I've got the financial records to back it up.

[-] OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world -2 points 3 months ago

I would also know. I’m driving a hybrid truck right now.

I truly think you’re comparing an old car to a modern one. None of the stuff you listed needed changing with any regularity, one any modern car.

Could changed happen every 9k miles, brake pads are entirely usage based (going 80k+ miles on original), coolants might get changed once in the 200k lifetime of the truck, etc, etc, etc.

[-] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

If you got a newer car, all those things would still last just as long but be cheaper to maintain and replace because the parts would usually be smaller and require less materials.

[-] OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago

Put the parts are within, like 10% of each other.

“Size” really isn’t a major factor in pricing of most products.

[-] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

As someone whos owned and worked on many cars and trucks, my wallet would disagree

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2024
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