Why do people constantly call SUVs and Crossovers "Trucks"?

[ibex333]

People use the term "truck", way, way too often.Am I the only one annoyed by this? I can see someone calling a Yukon Denali or a Suburban a "truck" because technically, it is one, sharing the same or very similar insides with trucks.

However, calling a Nissan Pathfinder or a Toyota Highlander "trucks" is just madness. These cars are not even SUVs really. Where's the "sports utility" in those? Where's the "sport"? Try taking one of these off-road. Like really off-road! See how long it takes for these pathetic excuses for an SUV to get stuck or fall apart. Want a real SUV? Well, the 90's Pathfinder "sort of" was one. So was the 4-Runner back then. Best example off course would be a Landcruiser or the older LX460-470s.

A Honda Pilot is NOT a truck. A Nissan Pathfinder is NOT a truck. Hell, it isn't even an SUV. More of a large crossover. Same goes for something like a Lexus RX. Just a crossover. Now, a Chevy Silverado is a truck. A Toyota Tacoma/Tundra is a truck as well.

Am I right, or do I not know what I am talking about?

 

[herm0016]

mostly agree, but it does not bother me. I drive a truck. its 20 feet long and weighs 6000 lbs.

 

[Gt403cyl]

To be fair my insurance company classes a 2013 Ford Edge a truck.

It’s likely due to legal reasons and gvwr (gross vehicle weight rating)....

 

[Insomniator]

People like to think they drive a 'truck' even though it might just be a corolla thats higher off the ground. Part of the whole annoying huge car culture in america, even if they aren't big people want to think they are.

 

[VirtualLarry]

To be fair my insurance company classes a 2013 Ford Edge a truck.

It’s likely due to legal reasons and gvwr (gross vehicle weight rating)....

This. The Registry in my state, considers them to be "Truck"s.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

This. The Registry in my state, considers them to be "Truck"s.

Most states - I think the definitions are set by the EPA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_truck

Interesting...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

Dammit, not I'm falling down a Wikipedia hole. See you in a week.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Holy crap I want a Ford Courier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Courier

 

[LTC8K6]

I call my 08 Grand Cherokee a Jeep, the county calls it a passenger vehicle, and the state lists it as "MP", Multi-Purpose.

 

[bfun_x1]

It's always annoyed me. Friend: "Dude, let's take my truck tonight." Me: "You mean your S-10 Blazer?"

 

[BurnItDwn]

Meh, anything body on frame suv that shares platform with a pickup more or less is a "truck." Especially if it has "truck suspension" like leaf springs with a solid rear axle.

 

[killster1]

the real question is where do you live? i have a feeling its somewhere posh that doesnt really have alot of trucks, here in my city everyone (except me now) has a truck. Some have 24" rims with small low profile tires, some have giant tires on lifted some just have stock but everyone has a truck and knows what trucks are and what arent maybe you are talking to soccer moms or the conversation wasnt important to classify. How often do you talk to people with all these diff SUV's and not only talk to them but talk about the suv's. sounds like exciting conversation.

 

[nakedfrog]

It bugs me too.
I think my Subaru SUV is classified as a wagon.

 

[ElFenix]

Holy crap I want a Ford Courier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Courier

there's a lot of scuttebutt that ford's bringing it or something like it to the US, assuming you mean the fwd fiesta/focus based model.

 

[PISTON1246]

A truck is a vehicle specifically designed for hauling heavy loads of cargo.

Some "half ton" pickups and setting aside what those weight designations meant originally have payloads that make one question if the vehicle is good for carrying a wide variety of cargo that can fill up an 8 foot bed like firewood for example. Some compact pickups count as half tons to me. Modern mid sizers are close to the dimensions of 1950s General Motors half tons and there you go with a 6 foot bed.

Traditional SUVs were and are made on light truck platforms and a Sububan or Yukon XL 2500 make good examples of trucks. I would say semi trucks because they have limited ability to haul much cargo without a trailer attached. They work with towing more than hauling.

A crossover or typical modern "SUV" like the Pathfinder is pretty much a tall station wagon. I like station wagons but not much a pretend SUV.

I like my brothers old Chevrolet Caprice station wagon andI do not think a car made in the 1990s is an old car. I think cars that are older than I am are old.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Meh, anything body on frame suv that shares platform with a pickup more or less is a "truck." Especially if it has "truck suspension" like leaf springs with a solid rear axle.

i think this is the most likely answer. weren't a lot of the SUVs based on truck frames, at least to start with?

 

[mindless1]

Not only that, it annoys me what they're calling cars these days. I swear they shoved a tablet in a big cross trainer shoe and put wheels on it, then there's a little mouse in the toe that farts to make it move.

Don't even get me started about pizza.

 

[JulesMaximus]

The Toyota 4Runner (and the Lexus GX) are body on frame chassis and could technically be called a truck (even though it is classified as an SUV).

It is one of the few midsize SUVs that are still built on a truck chassis, nearly all midsize and compact SUVs and crossovers are built on uni-body car chassis.

 

[PingSpike]

People like to think they drive a 'truck' even though it might just be a corolla thats higher off the ground. Part of the whole annoying huge car culture in america, even if they aren't big people want to think they are.

The problem is what most people really want is a big station wagon. But those are for boring old people! So marketing invented a new name for the station wagon so that boring old people can buy what they wanted while remaining in denial.

Some of the bigger ones like the Honda Pilot always seemed like a minivan to me. But minivan has an even worse reputation than station wagon. I remember a guy at work ragging endlessly on his wife's suggestion of getting a minivan and he finally "won" by getting a Honda Pilot instead.

It makes sense to me why everyone wants a station wagon or a minivan though. Cars cost a lot these days, and there's a bunch of fixed costs like insurance and hassles like maintenance for each one you have. So you want as few cars as you can get away with, which means they need to fit all your needs. So you'll get a big one most likely because even though they suck to park, aren't cool and usually get kind of bad gas mileage they're still cheaper and less of a hassle than getting *another* car.

 

[HarryLui]

Because American is afraid to be associated the term "Minivan".

 

[KeithP]

Why do people constantly call SUVs and Crossovers "Trucks"?

I am guessing that since what they call them doesn't matter, they don't give it much thought. Maybe the next time you experience this phenomena, you can explain to them why they are wrong and why it is important to get vehicle classifications correct.

-KeithP

 

[BonzaiDuck]

People use the term "truck", way, way too often.Am I the only one annoyed by this? I can see someone calling a Yukon Denali or a Suburban a "truck" because technically, it is one, sharing the same or very similar insides with trucks.

However, calling a Nissan Pathfinder or a Toyota Highlander "trucks" is just madness. These cars are not even SUVs really. Where's the "sports utility" in those? Where's the "sport"? Try taking one of these off-road. Like really off-road! See how long it takes for these pathetic excuses for an SUV to get stuck or fall apart. Want a real SUV? Well, the 90's Pathfinder "sort of" was one. So was the 4-Runner back then. Best example off course would be a Landcruiser or the older LX460-470s.

A Honda Pilot is NOT a truck. A Nissan Pathfinder is NOT a truck. Hell, it isn't even an SUV. More of a large crossover. Same goes for something like a Lexus RX. Just a crossover. Now, a Chevy Silverado is a truck. A Toyota Tacoma/Tundra is a truck as well.

Am I right, or do I not know what I am talking about?

I think the designation was a matter of construction. A truck doesn't have a uni-body design. And a true SUV -- such as you try to describe -- is otherwise built like a real truck. I haven't looked into the Highlander, but I've had advice that the 4Runner is a modern replacement for my 95 Trooper.

We have a Nissan King Cab (95) pickup truck. It really came in handy this last fall when I took matters into my own hands to clean out "me old Moms'" garage in my discovery of four decades or more of absurd hoarding. I took two truckloads of crap to the city dump in the Nissan, and still had some eight to ten 32-gallon garbage cans of crap for the garbage truck to pick up at our curbside.

Even if I could've made the hauls to the landfill with my Trooper, it would've been three or four loads worth instead of two, and I would not have done it for the possible damage to the cush interior. But at least those 'Suzus grew out of their first generation in the 1980s -- which were true SUVs and good for 4-wheelin'.

The first time I saw a vehicle like that was back in 1972 when a college friend traded in his Alfa-Romeo for a Toyota Scout. Looking at these new stylish "SUVs", "hybrids" and "crossovers" -- well -- the words seem to describe what they are. They're sort of merging of SUV and station-wagon.

They have your LED headlights designed to look like cats' eyes, and the body design seems unnecessary or meant to appeal to urban drivers. Even the Range Rover seems unnecessarily too luxurious or designed for style rather than function.

So what do you think? Does the Range Rover fit your definition of SUV?

 

[IronWing]

My FJ Cruiser is body on frame. My old Olds Custom Cruiser was body on frame. My even older Suburban was body on frame. The state says they are all are station wagons. I'm okay with that as I like wagons.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My FJ Cruiser is body on frame. My old Olds Custom Cruiser was body on frame. My even older Suburban was body on frame. The state says they are all are station wagons. I'm okay with that as I like wagons.

And . . . a "truck" is "body on frame".

Personally, I just think that mid-size SUVs are now designed with an eye to suburban drivers who will never think of negotiating up Goler Wash from the west side of the Panamints to see Barker Ranch, where Charlie Manson told the police that he "flew" an old school bus there with his followers.

Right now, I'm having an ecstasy fit of OCD satisfaction over the current status of my 24-year-old Trooper LS. Even that SUV was designed to be cushy -- a two-tone paint job, extensive anti-theft system and other features. It has chrome wheels, but you don't need chrome wheels for an SUV put to use in ways they were designed for. Oh, s***! Why not boast-post the picture?



The picture doesn't even show the LS submodel, but it's the same paint, although no chrome wheels. And it still "looks" like an SUV (in my opinion) should look . . .

I had to repair the tail-light lens on the driver side as shown with an O'Reilly's $10 repair kit and superglue. I found the tail-light lens last week at an Orlando FL junkyard, and it should arrive soon. I really should have just kept the one with the superglued plastic patches. My paint looks as good as that depicted. Now, a fourth mechanic has told me the engine -- with 185,000 miles -- is good to maybe 300,000. A-a-a-nnnd! I have the Smitty-Built chrome running boards.

I lust for every shopping errand, just so I can drive that sucker!

 

[bradly1101]

People use the term "truck", way, way too often.Am I the only one annoyed by this? I can see someone calling a Yukon Denali or a Suburban a "truck" because technically, it is one, sharing the same or very similar insides with trucks.

However, calling a Nissan Pathfinder or a Toyota Highlander "trucks" is just madness. These cars are not even SUVs really. Where's the "sports utility" in those? Where's the "sport"? Try taking one of these off-road. Like really off-road! See how long it takes for these pathetic excuses for an SUV to get stuck or fall apart. Want a real SUV? Well, the 90's Pathfinder "sort of" was one. So was the 4-Runner back then. Best example off course would be a Landcruiser or the older LX460-470s.

A Honda Pilot is NOT a truck. A Nissan Pathfinder is NOT a truck. Hell, it isn't even an SUV. More of a large crossover. Same goes for something like a Lexus RX. Just a crossover. Now, a Chevy Silverado is a truck. A Toyota Tacoma/Tundra is a truck as well.

Am I right, or do I not know what I am talking about?

Yeah, and sometimes sedans are called something else too, and the object that used to be known as 'bumper' (my old van had a real one that worked well) is gone altogether in favor of style up front.

I was checkin' out the new 4Runners when I got my van. Very nice, and I'd have confidence off road knowing the mechanicals and reputation except for one thing; it's apparently impossible to get a nice one without a moon-roof. They are aggressive off road vehicles more likely to roll than most given what they're capable of. If it's onto a big rock or tree stump..... I don't want glass up there.

But for really serious off-roading, the's an AWD version of this:

 

[IronWing]

But for really serious off-roading, the's an AWD version of this:

View attachment 3249

I organized a group hike last weekend. I stated clearly that we needed 4WD, high clearance vehicles to get to the trailhead. People who offered to drive, saying "no problem, got it covered" showed up in 1) Ford Edge, 2) Highlander, 3) Jeep Compass. The only one to bring a 4WD truck capable of getting to where we were going "didn't want to scratch his paint." I ended up shuttling people.