←back to thread

1336 points kwindla | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.411s | source
Show context
PaulHoule ◴[] No.43794437[source]
I like it. My wife runs a riding academy and we use a Honda Fit the way some people would use a pickup truck: we can fit 10 bales of wood shavings in the back. [1] We’re dreading when it fails because they don’t make the fit anymore and compact hatchbacks seem to be on the way out. Recent experiences have made me a bit of a Buick enthusiast and I can see driving a 2005-ish sedan except that I won’t get those sawdust bales into the trunk. We are also thinking of fitting in EV into the fleet, so far the used Nissan Leaf has been the main contender but this is a pickup truck I could get into.

[1] We were profitable from day one because we didn’t buy a $80,000 pickup on day one the way everybody else does.

replies(13): >>43794468 #>>43794571 #>>43794725 #>>43794897 #>>43795057 #>>43795358 #>>43795359 #>>43796169 #>>43796223 #>>43797732 #>>43797754 #>>43800070 #>>43800923 #
rozap ◴[] No.43794897[source]
I also love this design and I'm happy that someone is doing it. I think it's unlike anything else on the market.

But, they won't necessarily be competing against other new things on the market. My wife also rides horses and we got a $5000 20 year old F250 which is very basic but has been bulletproof, and it can tow. I imagine old, basic trucks, either cheap domestic ones or kei trucks will be what this thing competes against.

I hope it does well. This is the kind of design thinking that the auto industry needs.

Also I'm increasingly convinced that the Honda fit is what peak performance looks like. But when it dies you do have options - maybe a Ford Transit Connect or a Metris.

replies(4): >>43795125 #>>43795461 #>>43797114 #>>43803517 #
PaulHoule ◴[] No.43795125[source]
To be fair, a lot of farms need a big-ass pickup truck because they are always towing horses to go to shows or trailheads. We have 70 beautiful acres and a network of trails my wife built that were inspired by Het Vondelpark in Amsterdam. [1] If everything goes right we trailer in a horse once and never have to trailer it out although some horses don't fit in or have to go to the vet.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vondelpark

The Fit, however, is really genius. It's got the utility of an SUV in the body of a compact. I can't believe Honda's excuse that it wasn't selling -- in my area it is a running gag that if you have a blue Fit somebody will park another blue Fit next to you at the supermarket or that it makes a great getaway car, if somebody catches you doing donuts in their lawn you can say it musta been somebody elese.

replies(2): >>43796290 #>>43796459 #
542354234235 ◴[] No.43796459[source]
If the grocery store parking lot is any indication, farming is the number one profession in America. All farmers can have their big trucks and still regulate out the other 99% of the 22-foot monsters used to commute to offices.
replies(3): >>43796608 #>>43796717 #>>43797417 #
1. PaulHoule ◴[] No.43796717[source]
If you're towing a horse trailer you really want the biggest truck you can get or a GMC Suburban or something like that.

On the other hand in the suburbs of some New England towns that I'm sure are full of white collar workers you see nothing but trucks in the driveway and I laugh when I see a Ford F350 with a lift kit and commercial plates idling and see, a few minutes later, a few pencilneck geeks come out of a frat house and climb into it.

replies(1): >>43798005 #
2. parpfish ◴[] No.43798005[source]
depending on the rurality of that part of new england, they might have a legitimate claim to need the ground clearance and 4wd in the winter.

sometimes backroads aren't plowed well. or they. are plowed well and you need to scale a giant snowbank to get into your driveway.

(although my personal preference would be for the industry to make more rally-inspired high-clearance AWD sedans/wagons to fit this niche)