Heated and cooled seats....leather seats.....sun roofs........adaptive cruise control..........5.5 ft beds........low profile tires.........unnecessary high stance which makes using one for loading and unloading a pain.
WTF is wrong with 15" wheels with 75 series tires?????
$600- $1000 a month payments.....who is using these trucks, Trump's cabinet members?
IMHO if you need cameras to back up, then you shouldn't drive anything but a Nissan Frontier or a used Ranger.

 

The basic trucks are available. It's just nobody wants one outside of commercial use.

 

Mine has power windows/locks and 17" 70 series alloy wheels and chrome bumpers.....what more would someone need?

 

I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old my dad and one of my uncles talked my grandfather into buying a new pickup truck since his 1939 Ford truck finally quit running. This was about 1953 when we went to a dealership to look over the new trucks. My grandfather spotted the two (2) tail lights on one of the new trucks and ask the salesman why the truck had 2 tail lights. The salesman replied that the pickup had turn signals. My granddad commented that he didn't want to pay for any extras since his arm still worked as he went through the motions of showing the salesman all of the hand signals.

 

My parents were married in 1938. It was 1948 when my Dad bought his first vehicle, a brand new 48 chevy truck. I think the only option on it was a heater which was an option back in the very old days i think. When i started driving the family sedan in 1960, it was a 6cyl, manual trans 55 Chevy. It didn't have a radio. I hunted and hunted and found one from a junker. And I located some 56 Chevy wheel covers for it. I had to pay for the insurance and maintenance and take my Mom to visit her relatives on Sunday when she wanted to go for me to be able to drive it. Dad had his truck. Times, they have changed.

 

My first F150 was a 1995 XL Supercab with the bulletproof 4.9 I6 and an automatic tranny. Roll up windows and non power locks.....vinyl flooring and optional cloth seats. The color was a beautiful Fire Red metallic and had the optional alloy 15" wheels. Rolled over 250,000 miles with only minor repairs. Retail sticker price was $16,500. One other thing.... a real 8 ft bed to boot.

 

You can still get base model trucks. The general public doesn't want them.

I know when I look for my next truck it will be a SD PSD of some sort. Might even take whirl with a base model XL chassis cab and go with a custom bed.

Like my truck for example, the only people that would want my truck is a farmer/rancher, utility company, or a construction company. People see a regular cab, 8 ft bed, roll up windows, manual door locks, and a stick shift, and they immediately don't like it or think it's an unorthodox creation of sort.

Most want a SUV/Truck/Utility combo. Where they can haul 6 people, a boat, and a large flat screen TV all at once. Not to forget to have a center console for their Big Mac, supersize fries, and a supersize Coke. The American dream.

 

I believe that you'll find the pussafication of pickup trucks was preceded by the pussafication of pickup truck owners.

 

I like that...

It's like what came first? Chicken or the egg?

 

How True!

 

I climbed behind the wheel of the old 79 f150 the other day and kind of miss driving a truck that doesn't have so many bells and whistles. I still remember driving Dads' 72 f100 when I had my driver permit. 302 3 spd. on the tree and manual steering. I'd love to have it today!

 

i have never understood why someone cares how i spend my money, if it has zero effect on them.

ford does very little dealing on the raptor or the limited, they have no problem selling them. I see very few on repo lots so people pay for them.

I own a business so my truck is a write off.

if i want or need to get in touch with my blue collar roots, i drive my f250 XL single cab 8 ft bed and it reminds me real quick why i purchased the limited.

i have owned 70' , 80's, 90's , 00 and 20 teens, they just get better every year. don't forget all of the safty features we pay for now.

kind of like an old girlfriend, seems great to experience again, but you soon remember why you got rid of it and all the little things your learned to live with. I love driving my lightning, but the limited is a much better daily driver.

 

Yep, I have all those things you listed on my truck. I use my truck as a truck as well. In the 40K miles I have put on it, it has towed almost 4K miles. It was in 4Lo last week while I was a job site. Routinely in 4wd for work and play. The bed is Line-X'd and is dented, as it always has tools in it.

But this also serves as our Family vehicle. It is the go to vehicle for our family to travel on vacation, camping, or just running around town. Why should my wife have to sit on a vinyl seat, if we can afford the extras of leather and heaters. We can not afford another vehicle so we had to find one that met all the needs of the family.

So you may call it pussafication, I call it using our monetary resources wisely so that we can spend our money on other needs/wants for our family instead of having a truck just do truck duties.

just my two cents ...

 

It's always the same bunch Luddite clowns that start pissing and moaning every couple of months. Somehow they seem to think that it takes extra manhood to be able to operate a window crank. Meanwhile, my manhood stays nice and cool thanks to my cooled seats.

 

I've been driving for 57 years. It's amazing what you get used to and what options you decide that you have to have. I was 26 when i got my first car that had power steering. I put it on my have to have list. Later added power disc brakes and air conditioning. Now my old 2002 F150 has stuff like heated seats which are nice on a cold morning. It has power windows and door locks which are a have to have now. I love the power adjustable seat. My back ain't what it used to be. The door key pad is nice to have. I can do without the adjustable brake pedals but that is about it as far as options I wouldn't mind giving up. Definitely wouldn't want to give up the traction lock rear diff. My wife's Infiniti has lots of goodies that I can do without so far like being keyless, bluetooth, auto on headlights. She has had it almost 4 years now, the period of the full warranty and the two times I thought I would have to take it to the dealer for repair was only stuff that she had failed to learn how to operate! The closest dealer is 2 1/2 hours away.