Why Are There So Many Pick Up Trucks In Southern California? : Love car New truck pick up car 2008

Why Are There So Many Pick Up Trucks In Southern California?
by Mike Rosania
When I moved to San Diego I was expecting to chicks cruising around in convertibles. Apparently they love their pick ups more.
San Diego is home to picturesque beaches, beautiful babes and an absurd amount of pick up trucks. Given the climate one would expect to convertibles, but guess again. I have lived in Northeast for twenty two years and I have never seen so many trucks until now.
I have really tried to understand this phenomenom and have come up with a few ideas.
1. SoCal is for surfers. What better place to hang ten than in the comfortable waters off the California coast. Unless you’re living the dream and own a house on the beach, you’re like most of us and have to drive to the beach, usually taking a highway. Surfboards aren’t exactly an easy item to transport. They are big, fragile, and unforgiving. So I can see owning a pick up truck being helpful with transporting your board to and fro the beach. Plus, you don’t need to worry about getting your interior all sandy. This seems like a justifiable reason for purchasing a pickup, but why not just throw a board rack on your car?
2. The gas mileage isn’t that bad. Sure you’re truck’s gas mileage may not be that bad, but it’s far from being good. And last time I checked gas prices were skyrocketing. I think gas is currently going for over $3.50 a gallon. Prices on the east coast are at least 50 cents cheaper per gallon. One would think that California drivers would be trying take any measures they could to conserve gas. Why not consider a hybrid? Sure they may not be as cool, spacious, or masculine as truck, but at least you won’t spend your whole pay check on gas.
3. I’m in construction. Ok this is a good reason for having a pick up truck. I still think people should still consider buying a cheap car that gets good gas mileage. This way they could have their daily driver for running errands and what not and have the truck purely for work purposes.
4. Trucks are for big dogs. It seems like people out here treat trucks almost as a luxury vehicle. In the northeast, people spring for luxury vehicles â€" BMW, Mercedes, Lexus etc. I really haven’t seen that many luxury cars around in San Diego. I have seen a lot of big trucks that are decked out with lift kits, rims, exhausts. I work for an automotive company so I know just how expensive these aftermarket parts really are. All of these items can easily total up to a few grand â€" very easily. But what is strange is that most of these items are purely for cosmetic purposes. Trucks only need lift kits if they are going to be used for off-roading, which requires a good amount of clearance. Unfortunately, most of the trucks I’ve seen are, for lack of a better term, too pretty to be taken off-roading or mudding. So my conclusion is that people dump thousands of dollars into transforming their truck into a swamp monster, but the harshest conditions that most of these trucks see is the 8.
But when it comes down to it, people love their trucks. They are die hard fans and simply won’t give them up. They will sacrifice their hard earned money and pay more for gas. They will try and jam them into tight parking spaces. They will pay top dollar for them. Oh well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.