1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close

[Jolly]

A pickup is more handy than an extra shirt pocket. There's a reason it has a bed and a reason it has a tow hitch.

I look at pickups in three categories:

1. Small half-tons, 2WD or 4WD. The Toyota Tacoma with the four-banger may be the best if the breed. Ride quality and capability may suffer - you don't want to hitch up a 18 foot trailer with a four thousand pound tractor - but gas mileage and handling are good.

2. Regular half -tons, 2WD or 4WD. F150, Tundra, Sierra, etc. The four door ones replace the family car for a lot of people down here, although bed capacity suffers. Never seen any sense in buying a bed so short, all you can haul is your lunchbox. Anyway, the trucks ride well, have good towing capacity if set up well and can haul a good bit.

3. 3/4 and 1-tons, 2WD or 4WD. These are the bigger work trucks. Big V8's or diesels. Might even be duallies. These are hauling goosenecks of hay, heavy equipment, large travel trailers or doing hot shot work.

I priced some pickups last week, just for shits and grins. A basic 2020 Ram Quadcab with a 4.7L V8 was the cheapest, coming in at around $33k. Larry is right, though...You start spec'ing one up and you better reach for your wallet...

[kluurs]

George and I live pretty close to the city in older suburbs. While streets are 2-way, with parked cars, there's often a game of chicken to sort out who goes when. It's like the streets were designed for cars that were the size of the old VW Beetle. I've got a Subaru Forester and it feels too wide. A full size pick-up isn't that practical for everyday driving. Go further out from the city - and things are a bit more open with wider streets and less congestion - easier to consider a full-size truck.

[Larry]

This is a picture of a prototype that Lincoln is considering (I'm told) releasing as a new Mark 9 Series next year or the year after. I will be getting one just as soon as I can get my hands on one if they do.

[Mik]

Do a long, long test drive first, Larry. I test drove their smaller SUV and just hated it. Worst designed vehicle ever. Ugly, very, very uncomfortable if you are over 5'7" and do not have birdlegs. They MKZ sedans the car services are using now suck too.

[Larry]

@Mik said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

Do a long, long test drive first, Larry. I test drove their smaller SUV and just hated it. Worst designed vehicle ever. Ugly, very, very uncomfortable if you are over 5'7" and do not have birdlegs. They MKZ sedans the car services are using now suck too.

Yes. That's why I've hung on to the Town Car. They haven't built a car since 2011 that's worth a damn except for the new Continental, and i didnt like that one enough to pay the price they want for one.

If the Mark 9 ends up a disappointment, I may just get a foreign car or some sort. George convinced me the Audis are nice, but I think if I go with a foreign car I want to turn it into a "shopping adventure" lol .. by then I won't have anything else to do... I've only owned one foreign car in my life.. it was a Volkswagen Scrirrocco back in 1982. Fast little bugger, but nothing I'd want now.

[Copper]

I bought one foreign car - the Isuzu Impulse
I bought it for the look of the dashboard, kind of futuristic for the 1980s


[George K]

[Jolly]

SIL just bought one of these:

https://www.acura.com/mdx

Not overly big. Nice vehicle.

[Rainman]

What I like about the half-ton, is the smoother ride. The 3/4 ton and up ride like a wheelbarrow. Very stiff suspension, so I wouldn't want one. But then again, I'm thinking of the difference maybe even decades ago. With all the emphasis over the years on suspension and drivetrains, my perspective might be outdated. My Audi has several drive options, I would expect the new pickups to have the same.

My concern would be reliability. I had a T-Bird that spent most of its time in the shop. Under warranty, but was just a royal pain as one thing after another would go on the fritz.

I really dig the style of the Caddy and the Lincoln (sort of). The Chrysler 300 is nice looking, but has a reputation as being junk, like my T-Bird.

I'd love a big pickup, maybe. I've got a Ford conversion van that has been rock solid in terms of reliability. Just don't have much use for it, haven't towed a trailer and gone camping in years and with my back issues, never will again. But I enjoy having it, paying insurance for it, and hardly ever driving it. Since they don't make conversion vans, I have had several people drop by out of the blue and ask if I'd sell it.

[Larry]

My truck is a half ton, and it rides great. One thing though is that it came with 20" wheels, and while it's not one of those "jacked up" things, it does sit high enough that you can't get in and out of it without using the running boards - something that could end up a problem later on.

[Larry]

This thread is giving me car fever.....

[Jolly]

@Larry said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

My truck is a half ton, and it rides great. One thing though is that it came with 20" wheels, and while it's not one of those "jacked up" things, it does sit high enough that you can't get in and out of it without using the running boards - something that could end up a problem later on.

That's why I bought mine with 17" wheels. It's still tall, but three inches is a lot at my age...

[Mik]

Yeah, I don't care for the high ones either. It's a lot easier to get in when you can just put your foot in rather than step up and turn.

[brenda]

What are you boys talking about?!?

I'm only 5'2", and I hop into the cab of my 3/4 ton Chevy truck easy as pie. It sits high with the 4WD and all, but that's not a problem. Yes, it has running boards that go all the way back to the rear wheels. I can still crawl in and out of the bed of the truck , too. Gotta do that to get the mulch out from behind the cab and push it down to the tailgate. If I had a dollar for everytime I've climbed up and down from the bed of that truck, I could buy another ... truck.

[Rainman]

I like higher, like SUV higher. Getting into my wife's A3 is like trying to sit on the ground. It's not the "down" that's the problem, it's the getting out ("up") without having someone decide to run get a forklift.

[Mik]

@brenda said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

What are you boys talking about?!?

I'm only 5'2", and I hop into the cab of my 3/4 ton Chevy truck easy as pie. It sits high with the 4WD and all, but that's not a problem. Yes, it has running boards that go all the way back to the rear wheels. I can still crawl in and out of the bed of the truck , too. Gotta do that to get the mulch out from behind the cab and push it down to the tailgate. If I had a dollar for everytime I've climbed up and down from the bed of that truck, I could buy another ... truck.

U r bluffing. Srsly.

[Jolly]

@Mik said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

@brenda said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

What are you boys talking about?!?

I'm only 5'2", and I hop into the cab of my 3/4 ton Chevy truck easy as pie. It sits high with the 4WD and all, but that's not a problem. Yes, it has running boards that go all the way back to the rear wheels. I can still crawl in and out of the bed of the truck , too. Gotta do that to get the mulch out from behind the cab and push it down to the tailgate. If I had a dollar for everytime I've climbed up and down from the bed of that truck, I could buy another ... truck.

U r bluffing. Srsly.

Reminds me if my 4'11" SIL. Her husband had a jacked Chevy for serious mud daubing. Only way she could get in the cab, was open the door, get a running start and jump into the cab.

[Larry]

@brenda said in 1/6 Cadillac Dealers to Close:

What are you boys talking about?!?

I'm only 5'2", and I hop into the cab of my 3/4 ton Chevy truck easy as pie. It sits high with the 4WD and all, but that's not a problem. Yes, it has running boards that go all the way back to the rear wheels. I can still crawl in and out of the bed of the truck , too. Gotta do that to get the mulch out from behind the cab and push it down to the tailgate. If I had a dollar for everytime I've climbed up and down from the bed of that truck, I could buy another ... truck.

Have you ever parked your truck beside a new Ram 4 door with 20" tires?

[brenda]

@Mik
Nope. Not a bluff in sight. Been doing that hop up into the driver's seat since 1991.

When I was campaigning, I would haul my signs and rebar in the truck bed. When I could have access, I would back the truck up to the sign location, drop the tailgate, use the running board to get into the truck bed, and stand on the tailgate to pound the rebar into the ground. It was very handy for this short gal to put up the bigger signs that way. That rebar had to be at least4 feet above ground and 2 to 3 feet underground. Do the math. That tailgate was a perfect height

People thought it was worth a honk and a wave!