• @NarrativeBear
    link
    English
    1697 months ago

    This video here explains one of the issues one minute in. Definitely worth a watch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=55

    The way car companies are working around this legislation is why it’s so hard to find and buy smaller sized cars (like smart cars) even if there is demand. It also makes our community less safe for pedestrian traffic.

    • @telllos
      link
      English
      727 months ago

      The sad part is that Europe is seeing a lot of SUVs too. Not as big as whzt we see in the US. But they are there. We also start seeing american style pick up trucks. Luckily, people pay more taxes for these kind of cars.

      • Dariusmiles2123
        link
        fedilink
        English
        267 months ago

        In Switzerland there was apparently some kind of loophole in the tax system which allowed you to register your pickup truck as a company vehicle (and pay less) even when you don’t have any company or if you are just working as a hairdresser…

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          157 months ago

          I fucking hate these piece of shit cars. I will never not think that they all have to compensate for something.

          • @wmassingham
            link
            English
            67 months ago

            Pickup trucks are fine. It’s the huge ones with giant cabs and useless beds that are just a fashion accessory.

            “But muh work tools”, yeah just get a sprinter van like normal people. You can fit more, and you can close and lock it so your shit doesn’t get stolen out of the bed.

            • Nfamwap
              link
              English
              17 months ago

              Sometimes it’s down to more than what the vehicle can carry, but what the vehicle can tow. A pickup with a 3.5 tonne towing capacity might be a far more useful vehicle than a van that can only pull 1 tonne for example.

              • @wmassingham
                link
                English
                97 months ago

                Maybe, but the same “work pickups” you see everywhere also aren’t towing anything.

                But the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van has a towing capacity of 5000-7500 pounds, or 2.5-3.75 tons, depending on configuration. That’s the same range as most medium pickups.

                • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
                  link
                  fedilink
                  27 months ago

                  Large vans are often made on the same chassis as trucks, so they have the same transmission and maybe a slightly reduced towing capacity

                • Nfamwap
                  link
                  English
                  17 months ago

                  I’m not decrying the abilities of a big van, I drive a 3.5 tonne Transit for work and love it. But we are comparing apples with oranges. I have a friend who owns a Nissan Navara. During the week it is onsite, dragging machinery around building sites. At the weekend it is a family car, taking the kids out etc.

                  I do admit though, not all pickups are used in this way and my mate is probably in the minority where he has a genuine need for a vehicle that can handle the extremes of work life and home life.

                  • @wmassingham
                    link
                    English
                    27 months ago

                    Yeah, and if you’re going to use one vehicle for both, that makes sense. Personally I wouldn’t use my personal vehicle for work like that, because if it gets wrecked somehow, my insurance won’t cover it, and I’d be out of a car until I fight the company’s insurance enough to get something out of them. But that might be a US thing.

          • @afraid_of_zombies
            link
            English
            27 months ago

            100%, you drive a vehicle like that and you are just screaming to the void “don’t look at my small penis and/or small paycheck”.

        • @br3d
          link
          English
          97 months ago

          Same in the UK. Very curious how all over the world, governments created exactly the same tax loophole. I can’t think which highly resourced industry might have been involved in “advising” them

          • Dariusmiles2123
            link
            fedilink
            English
            57 months ago

            At least in Switzerland, people were really using them for work until a few days ago.

            It was only farmers, carpenters or builders until it became a trend.

            I guess the law was okay before but they never thought that someone would want to have such a huge vehicle just to get groceries 😅

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        10
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        They’re so fucking stupid. Worse in every way compared to normal cars, but they make idiots feel important, and car makers seem to prefer them.

        Ford fucking discontinued the C-Max, a great car in my opinion, and replaced it with… Nothing? The Puma? It’s way smaller, while the Kuga is more expensive.

        Oh and by the way, most of these SUVs are 2WD so they ridiculous in any kind of non-optimal road, let alone off the road.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          67 months ago

          The margins are why car makers prefer them. Crossovers are cheap to make, have fewer emission regulations, and they conveniently sell for higher prices.

    • @scarabic
      link
      English
      7
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      I can’t stand those idiot trucks that have a chopped-in-half rear bed so they can cram in an undersized back seat.

      A truck is for moving shit. If you can’t fit a sheet of plywood in the back of your truck, your truck is a candy ass piece of crap powered by 100% small dick energy.