Living with a Crew Cab Truck as a Daily?

[MrBig]

I’ve had my Passat for coming up to 3 years now and it’s been an ideal daily driver. Comfortable, relaxing to drive and has a big boot, but it’s just dropped another large bill and I’m wondering if it’s time to start thinking about a change.

I’ve been offered a 2020 Ranger and I’m wondering if it’s a practical daily. I mean it would be great for transporting bikes and towing track cars. Quotes to put a towbar on the pasty are about £600, on the ranger it’s looking like a fairly easy DIY job, plus I wouldn’t need to buy an expensive roof mounted bike carrier and roof bars.

My concerns though are things like long journey comfort and refinement, my wife suffers with sciatica, and the back seats look a bit bench like for the kids.

How secure are the truckman covers for the bed? I quite often have car parts and other stuff for work in the boot of my car so that is a concern too.

Also, are they a magnet for theft? I’ve the pleasure of some nice chaps trying to take one of my cars previously, I would rather not go through that experience again.

Anything else I should consider? Does the reduced speed limit on A roads get tedious? Are they a handful in the wet/snow?

Interested to hear thoughts from folks who have experience.

[anonymous-user]

The lower limits are a bit of a pain, they don’t handle like a car because they are set up to carry load unlike a car, unless you’re using it for work it’s worse than a decent 4x4 in every way.

I daily drove a Defender crew cab for years, i loved it. However i rarely if ever dove on the motorway and it was used on the farm and for towing a lot.

If you want something for bikes etc a van is usually a far better option. But your still stuck with the speed limits. Trust me cruising along a decent a road at 50 or a dual carriage way at 60 gets very boring.

[egor110]

We've got a ranger twin cab as a parts van and i'll normally opt to use my own car and claim the mileage rather than have the lower speed limits .

The view from the cab is pretty good but everything feels vague , the steering the auto box it all works but kind of works at the speed the truck wants it to work .

[Glenn63]

I thought pickups where classed as dual purpose and had same limits as cars?

[normalbloke]

Glenn63 said:

I thought pickups where classed as dual purpose and had same limits as cars?

They are,sort of. However there is an upper weight limit for it to be dual purpose. The newer Rangers/Amarok etc just exceed that, so technically they’re commercial. Chances of prosecution are pretty slim unless you’ve really got your head above the parapet.

[Slow]

normalbloke said:

Glenn63 said:

I thought pickups where classed as dual purpose and had same limits as cars?

They are,sort of. However there is an upper weight limit for it to be dual purpose. The newer Rangers/Amarok etc just exceed that, so technically they’re commercial. Chances of prosecution are pretty slim unless you’ve really got your head above the parapet.

Or weirdly go for an American and it has car limits even though its massively over.

Edit: Mum has a 2018 Ranger which is driven at normal car limits absolutely everywhere and never been pulled despite seeing plenty of police and camera vans/average cameras which never have done anything.

Think you have to be unlucky to get done.

Edited by Slow on Wednesday 26th April 22:24

[HustleRussell]

Will feel agricultural coming from a Passat. Been a while since I’ve been in one but I saw one without the bed on recently and the chassis technology would be instantly recognisable to a time traveller from the 50s. The rear seats used to be pretty thinly padded and with a very upright seat back.

[Macron]

Why wouldn't you have a double cab? Just bc you've been offered a specific vehicle?

Rangers are known for rust. Lots of threads on lots of variations, just search.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[egor110]

Thing is sometimes there useful .

We sell tractor/farming equipment and monday we had to take a 2 massive boxes of plough spares to a farm , with the pickup we could just fork lift it onto the bed push it forwards a bit and off we go rather than ass around towing a trailer .

Anything smaller though and they'd be straight in the boot of the car.

[Nickbrapp]

Load covers are crap, my friend runs a x class as a work vehicle and the load bed is full of water from where the cover leaks.

Awful to drive, somehow worse than a van, god knows why anyone would want to run one instead of a car, they where popular with people for a while as certain ones had the tonne load bed so could be classed as a commercial and only be £500 BIK, but long superseded by petrol for that market.

I don’t know anyone who would have one by choice

The engine in the ranger is very rough and with the awful power shift gearbox you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back 20 years if your car is DSG.

Don’t forget awful MPG too

[Speed addicted]

normalbloke said:

Glenn63 said:

I thought pickups where classed as dual purpose and had same limits as cars?

They are,sort of. However there is an upper weight limit for it to be dual purpose. The newer Rangers/Amarok etc just exceed that, so technically they’re commercial. Chances of prosecution are pretty slim unless you’ve really got your head above the parapet.

The Japanese trucks tend to be under the weight limit for the lower speed limits, so you can drive at car speeds.
I’ve heard of a few people getting done for speeding in pickups, and more in vans but I live in Scotland where they can be a bit stricter.

As others have said pickups generally tend to be a bit vague and bouncy to drive, steering tends to have quite a few turns etc.
Obviously some are nicer than others but the reality of something that can carry a tonne in the back, tow 3.5 tonnes and work off-road generally means that they’re not the most dynamic of vehicles. Once you get used to the way they drive it isn’t an issue until you drive something else.

I’ve had a Navara previously and currently have an L200 that I’ve had for nearly three years, for my needs they work. I’ve been renovating our house so the ability to cart heavy things about and tow a big trailer has been extremely useful.
4x4 is also something I cant fo without due to where we live and the roads that lead to it.
I’ve done decently long journeys in both pickups and while they’re not as refined as cars they’re comfortable enough, I wouldn’t be worried about driving it all day.

Truck man tops are about as secure as leaving something on the back seat, one smashed window and they’re in.
Mines currently in the shed as a fabric cover is easier to remove for large items and I don’t need to leave stuff in the truck. The ideal for me is probably a roller cover.

Fuel economy is a bit crap, the L200 gets high 20s normally, low 30s on a run. The Navara was much the same.

Something else to consider is the size of them, the L200 is one of the more compact pickups. It’s still 5.2m long so supermarket spaces etc can be a bit tight.

If I was buying a vehicle tomorrow it would probably be a pickup or large 4x4. If I went for the 4x4 I’d need to use a trailer a lot more often.

Edited by Speed addicted on Wednesday 26th April 22:46

[fttm]

Nickbrapp said:

Load covers are crap, my friend runs a x class as a work vehicle and the load bed is full of water from where the cover leaks.

Awful to drive, somehow worse than a van, god knows why anyone would want to run one instead of a car, they where popular with people for a while as certain ones had the tonne load bed so could be classed as a commercial and only be £500 BIK, but long superseded by petrol for that market.

I don’t know anyone who would have one by choice

The engine in the ranger is very rough and with the awful power shift gearbox you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back 20 years if your car is DSG.

Don’t forget awful MPG too

Hello , driven crew cabs for years and can't beat them as a daily , big as a house inside with all the creature comforts and 300 plus bhp, all V8s and couldn't give a monkeys about fuel mileage . Tell your friend to by a new weather strip for his bed cover = problem solved .

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

I've got a Hilux Invincible X as a company vehicle and echo most of the comments above. Mine is too heavy to fall under the car speed limits so you do have to be a bit mindful of that with regard to automatic speed cameras etc. It's not bad to drive and being the top model it's got all of the toys and creature comforts.

It can be a pain to park, it's also not the easiest to climb in and out of, but that's horses for courses. If you think you'll get bikes in the tub then you might be mistaken. I've seen a lot of people with one wheel overhanging the tailgate as the tub isn't as long as you think. I've got a canopy top on mine and although it's 95% watertight it's not fully waterproof.

Fuel economy is about 30mpg, tyres will be expensive but that is not my concern fortunately. They are not a bad vehicle, obviously have load practicality and will go across ground that cars wouldn't. I swapped from a van to the crew cab pickup and wouldn't want to swap back.

[vikingaero]

I'm insured on my brothers company Navara. Lots of nods to most of the comments above. noisier, more agricultural, but as you say £500 BIK was the primary reason. On the Navara you can get a "basic" waterproofing kit or an "advanced" one that just lets in a little less water. If it was keeper/personal car, we'd lift the hard top and properly tape and sealant it.

[Jamescrs]

Had one at work for a while to trial as an alternative to the van we have, it was an L200.
It was a pain to be honest when the novelty wore off of it, it felt slower than the Transit van we have and handled worse with less load carrying capacity.
It quickly got left in the back of the garage until it was collected and taken away again.

[Whataguy]

I know someone that used to have one, he got fed up with not being able to do tip runs to the most local tip as they classed him as a commercial vehicle so sent him to another one.

Also may be worth checking re the special ulez charges for commercial vehicles if this applies too.

[makmanuk]

I've spent the last couple of years driving around in a Toyota Proace Crew Cab, so not a pick up but in the same field. I'm fine with going from A to B in it but as it became the default family car when the S-Max died and my family hate it.

Regarding speed limits, er, I didn't even realise it was restricted 🙈 but have never been pulled over in 2 years.

[ChevronB19]

Used to drive one for work occasionally on site visits.

Was good on rough ground (I did contaminated land investigations), but as a daily? Absolutely no way.

[Nickbrapp]

fttm said:

Hello , driven crew cabs for years and can't beat them as a daily , big as a house inside with all the creature comforts and 300 plus bhp, all V8s and couldn't give a monkeys about fuel mileage . Tell your friend to by a new weather strip for his bed cover = problem solved .

Please tell me what pick ups are RHD, and v8 in the Uk?

[HustleRussell]

I know it's unfashionable to care about such things on PH but I couldn't overcome the image problem either.