Yes, you right about V8. They also do tend to have greater displacement than engines with fewer cylinders.

I can't say I value the engine note that much. Certainly not enough to outweigh a difference in efficiency, power, or price. I'd be perfectly happy with something like a Subaru boxer engine.

Gotcha - I think you're not the sort of person driving this trend in the pickup market then haha. my most spendy car purchase was a new Mazda 3 that I still drive a decade later and plan to drive for a few more years, so I'm not responsible for the trend either.

you are using pickups in a way that makes more sense to me, though i.e. as a tool that does a job.

I can see owning a pickup truck in that scenario, though to me it would be a 'necessary evil' or last resort because my preference would be to continue having a smaller/cheaper car if I can somehow avoid having to buy a pickup truck.

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>We worked out the math for this, and with the added hassle of renting, and very minimal price differences, it didn’t seem worth it for us personally.

^I'm lucky in this regard because the closest car/truck rentals are about as close to me as the closest grocery stores(~1 mile down a collector road) so it's not a big inconvenience.

>Can’t beat trucks because the box is open. If your Jetta had an open bed instead of truck/back seats it would be legit even with its small size.

What are your thoughts on the Hyundai Santa Cruz?

>Where I live delivery is not an option, if I ever want to buy any furniture I kinda have to have a truck.

Would you be open to renting a truck or van the 1 day per year you need to fit something large?

I've personally driven compact cars my enter life and then just rent or borrow a truck whenever I need one, which isn't very often. Compact cars are crazy cheap to operate compared to a pickup which more than makes up for the cost of renting a truck.

my next car will be a larger sedan so that I have room in the back seat for passengers/kids. Maybe something like a Volvo V90 CrossCountry or a VW Arteon.

The fact that I can get a fully spec'd 300HP full-size upscale hatchback(the Arteon) for almost $10,000 cheaper than the cheapest bare bones full-cab F150 makes me think people have absolutely lost their minds to be choosing modern pickup trucks as their commuter/grocery getter.

The marketing departments at the truck companies have been doing a bang-up job tapping into emotion and aspiration in order to get people to spend so much money

why do you care about a V8? if power and torque are sufficient, why does engine volume matter?

I was telling my fiance yesterday how much I dislike modern pickup trucks after reading the Axios article yesterday and she was kinda rolling her eyes because I normally deep-dive into useless topics...but then I showed her that visualization and she immediately got it. "They're not even trucks anymore"

then I showed her the stacked bar chart showing how people use use their pickup truck mostly just for their daily commute and as a grocery getter. She had the same 'wtf? just get a crossover/hatchback/stationwagon/minivan' reaction I did.

very cool, Axios. very cool