If idiot car journalists maybe didn't test regular, everyday non SUV cars on test tracks and then criticize them for not stiff enough suspension, not precise enough steering, not supportive enough seats etc, maybe SUVs wouldn't be the best selling vehicles. Regular people want comfy cars for everyday use and non SUV cars are increasingly not that. Also non SUV cars are significantly lower than 10, 20 or 30 years ago so much so that clearing a curb is problem. I have an Opel hatchback (Astra), out of 10 times approximately 3-4 times I scrape a curb because the car is too low. GTFO
I had an older (4 generations older) Astra, almost never scraped a curb. Also it was much comfier.
I've watched the car reviewers and they demand sooooo much. Much be sport! Must be powerful! Must have crazy acceleration! Must take 6 people linebackers and luggage! Geez how about talking for normal people.
I just want someone to make a bare bones light pickup with a single cab and a extended bed like an old ranger or S10 or something that I can haul furniture/tools/materials around on the highway with. I hate how all the pickup tracks out now are huge but they also have a short bed and tons of electronic BS I don't need...
This is more than you're asking for, but check out JDM (Japanese Domestic
ic Market) kei trucks. They typically have low miles and were pretty well maintained vehicles. Some have dump and lift capabilities too.
Oh and they get excellent mileage.
I'm still buying the old rangers and S-10s whenever I need a vehicle. I will continue to necromance those damn trucks back to life until someone starts making the damn things again. Until a couple years ago my daily driver was a 91 Mazda B-Series (literally just a ranger with a Mazda logo). Now I'm onto a far newer 2000 GMC Sonoma (Identical to an S-10). I don't care how many trucks I need to weld together to get one that works; the auto industry can pry light trucks from my cold dead hands!
When the transmission in my s10 died I traded it in for a civic (which I still have and love) because i had no use for a truck at the time. If I had known they were going to stop making the damn things I would have gotten another one.