Honestly this is absurd. These death machines shouldn’t be legal in europe. That thing doesn’t even fit in the parking space, even though the parking lot has the biggest spaces in the whole city. The Golf Polo is so small in comparison, it could even hide in front of the engine hood of the truck.
EDIT: It’s a Polo and not a Golf, I don’t know my cars, sorry for that!
I think the most absurd is, that even former basic cars like the Polo get bigger and bigger. Modern Polos seem to take up more space than a gen. 1, 2, or even 3 Golf - but with barely more space inside.
Effects are, they take up more public space when curb parking, perversely hindering their brothers to get through. Some just barely fit single garages built in the 50ies, totally inconveniencing the driver trying to get out. One’d thing people buying these would see these self created problems, but apparently not.
They don’t see their big car being the issue. They complain about parking spaces so small these days that they “have to” use up multiple/park halfway on the curb/block the biking lane.
Yeah basically all modern cars have tiny interior volumes, even tho externally they are huge.
As a comparison, my 2014 Nissan Note can maximally carry 2012 liters. The 2023 Renault Espace - a label whose name literally means spacious - can only carry 1818 liters. And that’s while it’s 50cm taller, wider and longer than the Nissan while weighing a whopping 50% more.
I don’t know about interior volume, but the only modern cars that I’ve been in that I actually considered spacious on the insides are those newer Civic models. Like from 2015 or so. My friend has one of them, they’re decently compact from the outside, but my god the only time I’ve had that much legspace and headroom in a car was in vans.
Now, admittedly, you’re not gonna be hauling sofas and fridges with one, but as a people mover and grocery getter? Really damn good.
I hate how not mini the Mini is now.
I mean, the Mini Cooper S is really only 7” longer and 200lbs more than it was a decade ago, and the rest of the dimensions are pretty much the same. There are loud of other models they make which I do agree aren’t very small lol
a decade ago
That wasn’t a MINI either. The last really small MINI was produced 23 years ago. See also here: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mini-cooper-1990-3-door-hatchback-vs-mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback/
Polo but yeah. The size difference is crazy. Who actually needs such a vehicle?
I understand not liking unnecessary large trucks with giant wheels that have never seen dirt in their lives. The same guys that like to rev their engine anytime they leave. But this just looks like a standard work truck. Maybe the back is full of tools? Maybe he’s going camping. Camping is dope.
It’s in germany and parked at a train station with no company logos on the vehicle. I only see it on workdays so it’s sadly most likely a commuter.
Also standard work trucks in Germany are Vans, most people get a Mercedes Sprinter (or similar vans) for that. Plus you can customise your Sprinter to have a truck bed. Neat!
You might be right about the passengers, but from a relatives point of view, only the pickup works for his line of work. I won’t go into details, but it involves transporting machines from site to site and using them there. His pickup is only used for work, he has a Volvo V60 as daily driver.
I see no problem with large cars as long as there is justifications for that specific vehicle.
You can get smaller pick-ups with the same size bed that can easily haul the machines he needs. These giant monstrosities are just useless overkill.
Can you link a smaller one that supports 1,500lbs in the bed and 10,000lbs towing?
Where this photo was taken:
- you need a special license to tow more than 750kg (1,650lbs), unless the total weight of car + trailer is lower than 3,500kg (7,700 lbs). This includes the weight of fuel, driver and passengers.
- even the special license doesn’t allow you to tow anything more than 3,500kg (7,700 lbs again).
- if you want to tow even more, you need a truck license (truck as in lorry, not pick-up truck) which has to be renewed every 5 years with an accompanying medical report
How many people do you think are willing to spend this much time, effort and money to do any of that, unless it’s for a job?
@SwedishFool@lemmy.world literally said the relative uses their truck for work, so…
And they’re from Sweden, this picture is from Germany. Ya know, a country with significantly less rural terrain. In addition, this car has no company markings and one of those covers over the bed no one needing to haul large machinery needs.
No one person needs a truck and 99% of campanies needing to haul large machinery just use a Mercedes Sprinter or similar.
I’m from the US, living in a major city, and regularly use both Pickup Trucks and Trailers, so …
Also, congrats on saying “dude in Sweden’s friend may need a truck, but really no-one needs a truck”. These things don’t exist because no-one needs them, and crew-cabs can allow for car-pooling, but I get it; Blindly hating that they exist at all is super important.
Would you believe they got so big because of EPA mpg requirements(also, airbags & crunch zones)? I can link you an article if so. Otherwise I’m not wasting my time.
Firstly, this comment is 3 weeks old - how did you even find it?
Secondly, approximately 99% of what a pickup is able to do can be achieved by a van, with better fuel economy, significantly better views and therefore a reduced child-killing rate and more capacity than a bed mounted way too high in the air. Nobody living in a city needs a truck. And car pooling? Yeah, I’m sure this happens all the time. How often are you participating in it?
And about the EPA requirements: I’m sure you’re campaigning to have them adjusted, right? Clearly trucks don’t need to be thrice as large as cars from the 60’s. Also: Why should cars protect the inside more than the outside? Pedestrian impacts happen all the time due to bad drivers and large, heavy cars significantly worsen injuries. Don’t they deserve protections too?
I fully agree with you. These kind of vehicles can be quite practical for quite a lot of usecases!
The one in question from the picture however, seems much more like what we germans call “Stadtpanzer” (City Tank) - a utility vehicle made for transporting heavy loads in uneven terrain being used for commuting in a City, whichs is in my point of view very much not justified.
Both of them are used to transport mostly a single person at a time. Even the small one is too big.
Get the Ordnungsamt involved, it’s illegal to park like that. It’s too heavy and big to try to park like a car.
Lol good luck with that. At least where I am the Ordnungsamt is beyond useless.
I also started to see more of these in urban areas of europe. Not a huge amount but still recognizable. I dont get why one would buy something like this. You wont even be able to find a proper parking spot for these.
100% they are buying these to “protest” the “green agenda” or some bullshit like that.
That’s not very strong in EU, it’s mostly for ego, people buy cars that they think look like the image they want to display.
That’s not very strong in EU
??? Thats just wrong lol
But you forgot that the truck can be used to haul 4 pieces of lumber twice a year!
How do Europeans get stuff for their house around? Like do appliances just get delivered as part of buying them? Or are there other companies that specialize in that sort of thing? Genuinely curious.
Most household appliances I have ever bought fit in a Polo or similar sized cars, if you wrap the back seat bench.
For > 1.8 m and < 50 kg stuff I use a rack.
To be fair – the older generations of Polo were on the smaller side of compact cars. I’ve used VW Polo Variant, Mitsubishi Wagon R, Mercedes A, Hyundai I 10 and modern Polo myself.
If my car is too small, I ask family/friends/neighbors or rent a van.
Most shops that sell big appliances offer a delivery service as well.
I think they are called hatchbacks in english(Kombi meine ich). You can fit most appliances into there when you fold the seats. That’s how my parents always transported large things. For even larger things we just got a trailer.
Since I don’t have a car I usually just get things delivered. And the guys who deliver it just drive vans.
I hate that you’re being downvoted for asking a genuine question about cultural differences. Do better, Lemmy.
I’m not from there. I’m curious how it works. There are many places in the US that are remote. Hauling stuff around is far more common.
Why haul it yourself when you could let professionals do it for you? Faster, better, cheaper, more convenient
In most of the EU, you’ll get a hefty fine for parking on the pavement. Take a picture wirh the license number and report anonymously.
In my part of the world cops have written warning to those who report these people because “taking a photo of their license plate is a violation of their privacy”.
![[image] Both cars fit the same amount of people](https://feddit.de/pictrs/image/e42dc262-7043-4d72-b919-e2e83f8729d9.jpeg){kind=link}