I moved to dallas from the east coast, i was quite surprised at how many people view having a pickup truck as some kind of status symbol (southern culture). Nothing like seeing a lifted pickup hurling towards you at 75 mph in your rear view mirror everyday.
Yeah, it's really weird. I've always noticed that the top 3 best seller of vehilcles in the US were pick up trucks. and articles talk about them like their somehow aspirational. I've always thought of them as big, ugly and dorky: about as far away as cool gets.
Unless they're actually using it for its intended purpose it is almost certainly cheaper to own a small efficient vehicle and simply rent something else if you need it.
That's at least not wasting money on fuel efficiency, but it's not like leaving the truck in the garage all the time is a good application of the money used to buy it either.
It depends on where you live in Texas, but you only have to hit a deer once to understand the utility of those ugly brushguards.
My son ran into a deer with our beater Aerostar minivan awhile back it totaled it. Airbag went off and everything.
Meanwhile I hit a deer with my Ram diesel pickup with a Ranchhand guard last week and no damage. So they do have some utility. ;)
I do agree these trucks are ridiculous; if I didn't have a farm and the need to haul a large trailer I probably wouldn't have it. As it is we mostly drive my wife's Subaru when we actually need to go somewhere unladened.
