Car changes over the years

[ChrisF]

5 minutes ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Heres's a thought. Since we cant enlarge buildings, maybe we just re-demarcate all the parking bays? 

 

 

Couple of businesses share an outside parking lot in Durbanville ... Mica, Best Bikes, etc.

 

 

Landlord installed PV in the parking area.

 

Nice idea at first sight ....

 

Nightmare when parking ...

 

Mounting columns are concreted in every 3rd bay ... big upstand concrete colums .... exactly where you need to open your door.

 

 

Three micro cars or two bigger vehicles fits betwee the columns ....

 

 

And the already had a shortage of parking.

[OVERDRIVE]

18 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

 

Couple of businesses share an outside parking lot in Durbanville ... Mica, Best Bikes, etc.

 

 

Landlord installed PV in the parking area.

 

Nice idea at first sight ....

 

Nightmare when parking ...

 

Mounting columns are concreted in every 3rd bay ... big upstand concrete colums .... exactly where you need to open your door.

 

 

Three micro cars or two bigger vehicles fits betwee the columns ....

 

 

And the already had a shortage of parking.

Well there goes that idea...

[DieselnDust]

40 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Or start making smaller cars

You mean buy smaller cars 

I notice people need to justify why they bought a house on wheels to get the kids to school from their flat in Retreat.

I’ve never been a fan of SUVs and never be. I can see the convenience for some who Smaak the idea of driving through dunes and off the beaten track but I’ve never see the point of them in the school run and traffic. They were invented to get around environmental taxes in the first place now they’re the most heavily taxed vehicles on the road . Clearly people love paying the maximum tax

[Danger Dassie]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

You mean buy smaller cars 

I notice people need to justify why they bought a house on wheels to get the kids to school from their flat in Retreat.

I’ve never been a fan of SUVs and never be. I can see the convenience for some who Smaak the idea of driving through dunes and off the beaten track but I’ve never see the point of them in the school run and traffic. They were invented to get around environmental taxes in the first place now they’re the most heavily taxed vehicles on the road . Clearly people love paying the maximum tax

And ironically almost always single occupancy on commutes or to events even. 
Then complaining about fuel costs etc … 🤷‍♂️

[Mtree]

3 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

 

Couple of businesses share an outside parking lot in Durbanville ... Mica, Best Bikes, etc.

 

 

Landlord installed PV in the parking area.

 

Nice idea at first sight ....

 

Nightmare when parking ...

 

Mounting columns are concreted in every 3rd bay ... big upstand concrete colums .... exactly where you need to open your door.

 

 

Three micro cars or two bigger vehicles fits betwee the columns ....

 

 

And the already had a shortage of parking.

Trying to fit a micro/compact (Ford fiesta) between two well parked Ford Rangers, is like trying to fit a 750D wheel into a standard 29'er frame, possible, just takes some persuasion.

 

Side note, we are seeing more and more SUV's/Bakkies on the roads, and manufacturers such as Ford have almost all bit killed off their small car segment in SA. Fiesta has been discontinued permanently, Focus set to be discontinued in 2025. That leaves the Ecosport, but even that has been discontinued, leaving just the Ranger, Mustang and the Bus type vehicles in that range...
Is this a consumer orientated and justified play, or just Ford completely relying on bigger vehicles to make their sales margin and forcing it on the customer?
 

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Mtree

[PhilipV]

10 hours ago, Mtree said:

, leaving just the Ranger, Mustang and the Bus type vehicles in that range...
Is this a consumer orientated and justified play, or just Ford completely relying on bigger vehicles to make their sales margin and forcing it on the customer?
 

 

They sell what people are buying. The shift has been noticeable at my local ford dealer the last couple of years. A lot of people are buying SUV’s and double cabs over kombis, station wagons and sedans. 

13 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

I notice people need to justify why they bought a house on wheels to get the kids to school from their flat in Retreat.

 

Let’s be honest, it’s more of a status symbol than practicality. 

Justified with “all our holidays in the Tankwa (once a year at the burn,) and because our roads are so terrible (in the Western Cape) and to fit in all the kids sport stuff….”

16 hours ago, Eddy Gordo said:

I had a T6 ranger(2016), it did not fit in most parking bays, but then again some bays are just made smaller

I have a t7, same same. But somehow there is always parking or my favorite, a loading zone (very usefull with my trailers,) available if one just walk a 100m further. I’ve been able to park my bakkie and trailer in the waterfront, CBD and southern suburbs when needed. I just stay out of basements and drive around the block.

 It breaks my brain at gym when there is no parking near the entrance, but the back row is empty. 

[OVERDRIVE]

2 hours ago, PhilipV said:

They sell what people are buying. The shift has been noticeable at my local ford dealer the last couple of years. A lot of people are buying SUV’s and double cabs over kombis, station wagons and sedans. 

Let’s be honest, it’s more of a status symbol than practicality. 

Justified with “all our holidays in the Tankwa (once a year at the burn,) and because our roads are so terrible (in the Western Cape) and to fit in all the kids sport stuff….”

I have a t7, same same. But somehow there is always parking or my favorite, a loading zone (very usefull with my trailers,) available if one just walk a 100m further. I’ve been able to park my bakkie and trailer in the waterfront, CBD and southern suburbs when needed. I just stay out of basements and drive around the block.

 It breaks my brain at gym when there is no parking near the entrance, but the back row is empty. 

 It breaks my brain at gym when there is no parking near the entrance, but the back row is empty. 

This line alone needs a whole discussion. I've never understood it, ever. We're here to excercise, will the few 50m kill a hamstring? 

[Hairy]

43 minutes ago, OVERDRIVE said:

 It breaks my brain at gym when there is no parking near the entrance, but the back row is empty. 

This line alone needs a whole discussion. I've never understood it, ever. We're here to excercise, will the few 50m kill a hamstring? 

maybe they are planning to go large and do not think (Or more accurately, do not trust their legs to carry them) they will be able to walk that extra 50m back to their cars again ................ JOKES ......... everybody skips leg days, so it must be something else then.

[PhilipV]

2 minutes ago, Hairy said:

maybe they are planning to go large and do not think (Or more accurately, do not trust their legs to carry them) they will be able to walk that extra 50m back to their cars again ................ JOKES ......... everybody skips leg days, so it must be something else then.

Not gonna lie, I’ve walked out of there like a newborn baby giraffe before. But even then that walk to the last row of parking is good for blood flow.  
 

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

 It breaks my brain at gym when there is no parking near the entrance, but the back row is empty. 

This line alone needs a whole discussion. I've never understood it, ever. We're here to excercise, will the few 50m kill a hamstring? 

I’ve seen people pull a muscle just getting out of the car…!!!

[Dexter-morgan]

On 8/26/2023 at 9:27 AM, ChrisF said:

Have a look at the dimensions of the new Ford Rangers with all the plastic clip-ons .....  It no longer fits in a parking bay, both in terms of width and height.

I bought a new house in a complex and the ranger 2015 model does not fit in a Std. double garage.

[OVERDRIVE]

2 hours ago, Dexter-morgan said:

I bought a new house in a complex and the ranger 2015 model does not fit in a Std. double garage.

I made sure hail damage was covered on my Amarok, and make triple sure they know it’s not in the garage overnight. Insurance will try anything to screw you over 

[Hairy]

16 hours ago, Dexter-morgan said:

I bought a new house in a complex and the ranger 2015 model does not fit in a Std. double garage.

On average the std depth of a garage should be 6m, so it is strange that your 5110mm length Ranger does not fit.

The standard South African parking bay though is 5mx2.5m, so your Ranger is too long for a standard bay.

 

[Dexter-morgan]

4 minutes ago, Hairy said:

On average the std depth of a garage should be 6m, so it is strange that your 5110mm length Ranger does not fit.

The standard South African parking bay though is 5mx2.5m, so your Ranger is too long for a standard bay.

 

You have a TOWBAR sticking out plus there is a strengthening plate on the sectional door, believe me is does not fit. I also have not measured the actual size of the double garage.

[Shebeen]

got a new vehicle for a staff member the other day, was looking at the polo type size passenger range.

Was quite surprised to find out that Toyota no longer make small cars - all done by suzuki (and others) now. For years they would have been vying with VW in the tazz vs golf, yaris v polo sales.

 

Also there are a lot of tiny cars out there, kwid + go + spresso + vitz

 

(speaking as one of those city drivers who has a double cab that gets used for its intended purpose 2% of the time)

 

[Hairy]

40 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

got a new vehicle for a staff member the other day, was looking at the polo type size passenger range.

Was quite surprised to find out that Toyota no longer make small cars - all done by suzuki (and others) now. For years they would have been vying with VW in the tazz vs golf, yaris v polo sales.

 

Also there are a lot of tiny cars out there, kwid + go + spresso + vitz

 

(speaking as one of those city drivers who has a double cab that gets used for its intended purpose 2% of the time)

 

Suzuki are doing really good work, when Toyota piggyback their models though, they do improve a bit on the styling vs the Suzuki options.

Back in the day before our friend covid came around, I would cycle to work and back daily, and then to meetings. If a meeting was too far away I would jump into an Uber. The Suzuki and Honda Ubers were always the best feeling and built cars in the high mileage range you expect an Uber to be in.