11 Comments
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ROGER CONANT's avatar

You are truly a "car woman"! Anyone who can pull "lot rot" out of their vast car vocabulary, has got to be crowned a "car women"!

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Phoebe Wall Howard's avatar

Your note made me laugh out loud. I JUST learned that term.

Thank you for reading, Roger.

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Robert Leonard's avatar

Great reporting Phoebe! In the 1990's and early 2000's I owned a couple of Chevy pickup WT's. the history i am seeing isn't matching what I know--because I owned those trucks when sources say they didn't exist. They were fantastic. Always white with nothing fancy. Bare bones. Reasonably priced. Vinal floors. Old fashioned roll up windows. To me Ram trucks are gaudy and over-engineered, with enough metal to plate a battleship. Many of us need reasonably priced vehicles, and I don't see them--not that I look out for them. As you likely remember, my current Chevy pickup truck was made in 2000.

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Phoebe Wall Howard's avatar

I feel like the most low-tech vehicle imaginable would be a hot seller these days. Affordable and simple.

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Chris Siebrasse's avatar

IMHO, the Ford Maverick is an excellent answer to the question posed, "How big does a utility truck really need to be?" regarding payload and passenger accommodations. I don't see Stellantis offering a competitor. And, no, I don't even own a single truck.

Ms. Howard, thank you for writing an excellent column.

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Josiah Wearin's avatar

Bob, I hope your 2000 Chevy isn’t as rusty as mine! Maybe we could trade? You have a Silverado I bet….

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Robert Leonard's avatar

Josiah, as I sit here writing at my kitchen table, I have to tell you I don't know if it is a Silverado or not, but I don't feel like putting my shoes and coat on and walking out to look in the dark. I'll check in the morning. It has lots of dents, but mostly only the rear wheel wells are rusty. I'm lucky too--only 186k miles!

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Phoebe Wall Howard's avatar

It KILLS me that you don’t know if it’s a Silverado and need to check!

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Robert Leonard's avatar

I looked this morning! It says "Silverado" on the tailgate!

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Josiah Wearin's avatar

Ha Ha! Mine only has 136K miles, but it's been in too much mud and too many cow pastures. Maybe yours had the fancy undercoating!

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BH's avatar

Fantastic reporting.

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