Howdy folks. It's been awhile.

I sure could use some opinions to help me understand something, or help me debunk my own personal conspiracy theory.

Which do you prefer:
Regular cab?
Extended cab?
Crew cab?

I ask because last weekend my wife and went looking at new trucks. I just had a birthday, and my 2K4 - STX needs a break.

My taste is simple. I want a truck, not a spaceship. I just want basic options like, V8, power windows/locks, cruise, automatic transmission, 2WD, and most importantly, no carpet - rubber flooring.

We drove all over. From Georgetown, Pflugerville, Hutto, Round Rock, and some of Austin. Every single dealership we visited didn't have anything close to what I'm looking for. Every dealership we visited had ONLY crew cabs....and a hand full of extended cab, LWB trucks (city work trucks).
Could not for the life of me locate a new Regular cab SWB truck.... ANYWHERE. Frustrated, we called it quits about lunch time, grabbed a burger, and we went home.

Monday, on my way home there's a Dodge dealership that's easy in - easy out. I just wanted to talk to someone about where I can find what I'm looking for. The salesman was super helpful. I told him up front, I am not here to make a purchase, I just want some information. Dude was cool about it. My question was very simple.
"Why can I not find a brand new, SWB, regular cab truck"? His answer. "Well, we only stock what's in demand. Everyone wants Crew Cab trucks these days".

How do these people know that? If everyone only wants a crew cab truck, why do you have a lot completely full of trucks? Not everyone wants an SUV with a bed.

Here's my theory.
Dealerships only THINK the general public only wants a crew cab, because that is all that's available. It's not exactly "what people want"to, to me, it's what's being shoved down our throats. My buddy Drew is a perfect example. He looked for months for a new Ram 1500 regular cab. All he could find? Yep, crew cabs. So he bought a Crew cab. Only because it was his only option.
Now, I can always build and special order a truck, but there are all kinds of fees added to the sticker, and where is the convince in that?

I just find it pretty interesting that we have become so complacent and dependant on others to do our thinking for us, we can't even go out and purchase a vehicle of our choice.

Oops. I went on a mini rant, and that was not my intention. My apologies.

So, what is your preference? Is the "SUV with a bed" the new truck of today, or is it just an easier option? Is a good 'ol regular cab truck a thing of the past? Or am I on to something with my little "personal conspiracy theory"?

I need a smoke. If you've read this far down, thanks for staying awake.

 

Buy 100 shares of Ford stock, wait 6 months, get a X-plan PIN, and order what you want.

Or you can come up here. Our local dealer has the following in stock, all regular cab XL:

(2) 2017 with base 3.5 V6
(6) 2018 with base 3.3 V6
(3) 2018 with 2.7 Ecoboost and 10 speed

Go back to your local dealer and start talking about locator and dealer trade. They are obviously out there somewhere, but finding one with a V8 may be tough. Go drive a V6 before you rule it out.

 

you are missed on this site, your name and your famous refrigerator is stuff of legend!


I think for most people the 4 door or extra room makes more sense.


look at the lightning, they made 4000 to 5000 a year, then they offered it in a 4 door and sold 11 to 12k.

the extended cab and- 4 door truck is what blew the truck market up. you can now haul stuff and 5 people comfortably. the single cab is really a 2 person vehicle and 3 for a short trip.

I love the look of a single cab, 6'6 bed, but in today's world that is a small market.

You kept your last truck a long time, I would order it and get what you want. You will love the power and mpg of the new trucks.
I have a 2004 lightning with 23k miles, i love driving it but day to day the new truck is miles ahead on comfort, mpg and drive.

 

They did make them and they sat on the lot unsold. Look at the Tremor from 2014. Ford made the higher spec, regular cab short bed truck that forum geeks claim they want to buy. Those trucks sat on the lot till the grass grew around them and the tires had flat spots.

The crew cab is a lot more practical of vehicle for most people. One vehicle can pull the boat, haul the kids around and make a trip to Lowes to pick up a fridge. There's nothing else on the market that can do as much as a crew cab truck.

 

Most people use their trucks for cars.

 

Every F-150 I ever owned was a short box / regular cab 4x4. And every one of them had to be special ordered. Personally, I didn't care that I had to wait for the trucks. By ordering one, I got exactly what I wanted. (Not what some dealer wanted me to buy.)

 

Wow - a blast from the past! Who’s next - Lovettrucks.....???

To me, “truck” means a regular cab and a short box - everything else is for Dandy’s and Fancy Boys!

When I bought mine back in ‘05 they had a few on the lot but only with V6’s. Since I wanted the big (5.4) V8 I knew going in I would have to special order.

Actually, I usually order all of my vehicles - I want what I want and don’t mind waiting for it!

 

I had a hell of a time hunting down my 17. I wanted a vinyl floor, bench seat bottom of the line truck. Base engine. Base transmission. Air conditioning. It was damn near impossible to find.

What I've found from working as a fleet manager is that trucks are made to dealer demand. So if the dealer thinks they will sell a lot of short box crew cab 4x4's, thats what they order and thats what the factory makes.

And sadly that's what the public is buying. They want the image or the towing capacity. Heaven forbid you buy a truck and work it... /sarcasm

 

No kids, so no real need for the crew... Plus, I like the look of the extended or "SuperCab" better anyway..

If I do have to carry an extra passenger or two, they can still fit in the back..

I also like having the 6.5 bed and only 145" WB.

And also, it fits in my garage! A CC and 6.5 would not fit... Deal breaker right there.

Back in the day, this is what we had as a family of 4.. We all would squeeze in the cab when the camper was not on the back. We went camping and all over the place in this old truck.. We are too spoiled these days and my Dad still owns this truck to this day..

1971 F250 "Custom" and it's a "Camper Special" too! It's still got the vinyl seats and rubber floor!

Mitch

 

pickups are replacing minivans for city dwellers, so of course the minivan sized trucks are the most popular...

 

"SUV with a bed" interesting notion, you can get a nicely appointed XLt 301 or 302 for low 40s, and can't get w base model Tahoe or Expedition for less than mid 50s


I've always liked the look and functionality of a Screw, I did briefly look at Scab in 2014, but the back door rattle, and lower safety with the lack of B pillar is tough to overlook

 

Went for and got the whole Enchilada this time!! Needed the dually to pull our camper. I just have to put up with the size for daily driving. Not that bad out in the country where I live. Hard to find the DRW's in stock down here because the farmer's and hot shot truckers scoop them up quickly. A lot pull 5th wheel campers with them also. Most F-150's around here are XLT's and up Screw cabs. The long bed regular or Super cabs are mostly XL trim and used for work trucks.

 

I like the extended cab and the extra room that goes with it.

I currently as a daily driver have a Dodge. They doe not make an extended cab but a shorter rear door 4 door truck called a quad cab then the the next size up is the crew cab.

I still have a regular cab ford 150 as well as my on going restoration of 54 and 56 fat fender f100.s

 

Or Dzervit

I agree.
Of course it's all personal preference, but I just needed to hear some opinions. To each his /her own.

I just think a 4 door "truck" ... isn't a truck. It's an SUV with a bed, or I also call them, "a soccer dad car". Yeah, I know it's still a truck, but 4 doors throws out the old, "who's the real cowboy" saying. In a regular cab truck, it's the guy in the middle. He ain't gotta drive, and he ain't got to get out and open the gate.
Same goes for these but ugly 4 door Jeeps. Talk about destroying an American classic. Putting 4 doors on a Jeep is like putting an elevator in an out house....it just doesn't belong. Grosses me out Everytime I see one. Isn't that what the Cherokee and Liberty is for?
When did we, as a society, decide it's a great idea to have so many people in one vehicle, that we have to add extra doors? When did stretched limos become the "cool thing". Maybe we're having too many kids, and need the extra room, I don't know, but what I do know is that we're making our automobiles look really ugly. I tell ya, it's these millennials, and the liberalism that's......

Oops, Im getting a little off topic.

Anywho, thanks for the feedback folks. I've been trying to work this out in my head since I traveled most of Central Texas looking at a bunch of modified minivans trying to find a truck.

I guess I will just have to get my hands on a 5.0 Coyote, and just rebuild the 2K4-STX. She doesn't need any work done to her, I'm just on the verge of s midlife crisis, and sport cars aren't for me.
Maybe a Ram 1500 Night, or Sport...

 

Hi All, Newbie here. I can sympathize with jamzwayne as I went through this same scenario for my '03 F-250. It was very difficult finding what I wanted (Lariet,Gas engine, 2WD, Manual trans. Crew Cab),everything 250/350 was Diesel, 4WD, loaded Lariet/King Ranch/more special than yours outfitted. I have stories of what dealers told me about ordering, but, I'll spare you. IMO the dealers sell them that way because of the markup on the extras. When most people (in this area) get a new vehicle they lease instead of buy, so the added extras don't add a whole lot to the monthly lease price and when traded in the dealers can sell a vehicle with more options in it than a stripped down model. Plus more stuff in a vehicle means there is more to maintain/fix/gouge customers for the extras they got used to having.
That being said I'm not aware of special extra pricing on custom ordering of trucks and vehicles maybe that has changed. I also seem to recall a number of years ago CAFE standards judge a vehicle weight by how many passengers it can hold. Ex. More people per vehicle = lower penalization for large vehicle that gets bad mileage as opposed to accessing a gas guzzler tax. So if you make a short truck with a lot of seats the overall CAFE requirements drops.
Prior to '03 I had an '88 F-150 SuperCab LB (carpenter by trade, I like the long bed) great truck. If I was to get a new truck today (Not likely, no manny trannies anymore) I would go back to an extra cab. If for no other reason just to have a place to put stuff out of your way rather than on the front seat. And I admire you for wanting 2WD.