They just dropped of a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz for me to test drive and write about. The SC, in case you weren’t aware, is Hyundai’s answer to the Ford Maverick, which was – when it came out back in 2021 – the only compact-sized pick-up you could buy (new) in the United States and the only one offered in a long time with a base price of $19k and change.
The problem was it was very hard to buy one for the $19k asking price because dealers were marking them up (due to the high demand for an affordable small pickup) and because Ford didn’t really want to sell the Maverick for $19k-plus change to start. The $19k-plus change advertised starting price – back in 2022 – was what they call in the business a “teaser,” designed to generate “buzz” and thus, sales. More finely, traffic. The idea being to get people into showrooms – where they would be shown more expensive iterations of the Maverick. The hope was they’d pony up for, having gotten excited about the idea of owning a Maverick.
What happened was the demand – for the $19k iteration of the Maverick – was so fierce that Ford realized (apparently) that it was going to lose a lot of money selling a lot of $19k and change Mavericks.
So it stopped selling them.
The base price of the ’25 Maverick is $26,995 – which is less than the base price of the ’25 Santa Cruz ($28,750) but it’s still a lot more than $19k-plus change. It is a great deal more than the base price of the $13k and change Toyota Hi-Lux Champ pickup you’re not allowed to buy in the United States. To be precise it is twice as much – plus change – than the Hi-Lux Champ you’re not allowed to buy in the United States.
And the Champ actually is a truck.
The Maverick and Santa Cruz are pick-ups. There’s a difference there.
All three have beds. So did the pick-up made by VW out of the Rabbit back in the late ’70s. But it was not, strictly speaking, a truck. It was a car made to look like a truck designed and to have some of the attributes of a truck, principally the open bed in the back that could be used to throw stuff in. But it was not designed to pull very much, because cars generally aren’t designed to pull very much. Especially small unibody cars that do not have heavy steel frames to handle the load and do have front-wheel-drive-based powertrains and maybe offer AWD.
Trucks – properly speaking – are built on heavy steel frames that the body is bolted to. The frame is what whatever you’re pulling is attached to – so that the body isn’t bent as a result of pulling it. Trucks – properly speaking – typically have rear-drive-based powertrains (meaning the rear wheels are the primary drive wheels) and offer four-wheel-drive, which (usually) includes a two-speed transfer case and 4WD Low range gearing. The VW Rabbit-based pick-up of the late ’70s did not have that and neither do the Maverick or the Sante Fe. Both are likewise based on light-duty unibody (rather than body-on-frame) car platforms – in the case of the Maverick, the Escape (which is technically a crossover built on a light-duty, car-type platform).
Not that there is anything wrong with this. Both the Maverick and the Santa Cruz offer the pick-up-like versatility of the old Rabbit-based VW pickup. But they’re not really trucks. And they are expensive, especially when you compare what they cost vs. what a new truck such as the Hi-Lux Champ that you are not allowed to buy costs.
Especially when you come to understand how little the HiLux actually costs.
Just for fun, I decided to plug the $12k-and-change price – when it was new – of my 2002 Nissan Frontier truck into the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) inflation calculator to see what my ’02 Nissan would cost if it were available for sale new, today. Are you ready? The BLS calculator says that $12k in 2002 amounts to about $21k and change today. In other words, my ’02 Nissan – if it were available today as a new truck – would cost about $8k more than the Hi-Lux Champ truck we’re not allowed to buy today.
And if the $13k (today) Hi-Lux had been available back in 2002, it would have been available for about $7k and change.
Are you angry yet?
If you aren’t, you have not yet come to terms with the extent to which we have been gypped – and are being enserfed – by a tag-team of compliance costs and monetary devaluation.
The actual cost of a small, basic truck such as the Hilux has more than doubled since 2002 – and that assumes you’re free to buy a small truck like the Hi-Lux, which of course you aren’t. What you’re allowed to buy are either of two car-based pickups that look like trucks that cost just shy of $30k.
If you can afford to buy them.
President Trump says he wants to make America Great Again. He could start by allowing Americans to buy a small, basic truck like the Hi-Lux Champ again.
Even though it costs a lot more now than it would have back in 2002.
. . .
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I Bought a 2019 Nissan Frontier, 2×4, stripped, work model with crank down windows, I paid cash, $17,400 out the door. Then nissan did a revamp and didnt make frontiers in 2020 i believe, when they brought the frontier back the base model, what we would consider a work truck, was literally twice what i paid the year before. Thats not inflation thats lack of common sense. The same happened with full size trucks, all the manufacturers pretty much dropped the work truck except for fleet deals. A pool cleaner or pressure washer cant afford a suburban gucci truck at$60k to use for a business. Its insane now especially since most manufacturers dumped V-8s and good luck getting a long bed like my 2017 Ram single cab work truck. I bought a 2024 Ram right before they dropped the Hemi, thank God. A full size truck with a V-6, turbo or not unless its an inline six cylinders which no one will touch anymore due to emissions. Trump, you seeing this??? Inlines got good gas mileage and layed down tons of torque. My jeep 4.0L inlines rocked, my Ford F150 with a 4.9L inline six with a five speed rocked, my 1972 240 Z with a 2.4L inline six rocked, that car would do 150+ mph.
Amen, Bob –
My college buddy – who lives down the road from me – bought an F-150 stripper just like you mention, with an inline six and manual 4WD back in ’89 for – as I recall – about $7,500. His son drives it now.
The price of the original Maverick compact [179″] was $1995 in 69-70.
The price of the Maverick not compact [200″ or the size of a Dodge Charger] pick up was $19,995.
Ten times the price of it’s namesake.
And still no one’s angry, they didn’t even catch the massive troll Ford was doing to them with the low ball price and call out to the original Maverick’s under $2000 pricing.
My Ranger as equipped was $29k out the door in 2020 and the same configured Ranger today goes for…$41k. And not only is the new facelift ugly but you can no longer get the 6-foot bed as they dropped the supercab configuration entirely. The only way to get a single or even supercab now is in the F150 which starts at $37k.
Luckily though they convinced everybody to “buy today worry tomorrow” because of the tariffs so the sheep are still convinced they’re getting a great deal.
Kinda the same deal with the new Colorado No six foot bed WTF
You guys, talking about 6′ beds? Psft. …A real pickup has an 8′ bed. I feel like I’m seeing baby-momma’s whenever I see a 2x4x8′ sticking out the end of a city-bed-pickup.
…Grosses me out to see a 4×8 sheet of plywood hanging out the end of a pansy-add double cab pickup, like.,,
… oh shoot, just stop right there, ain’t no sense in sayin more, ‘Merica, has done gone Loco, lost it’s mind. Just get yer duffus shotz & get it over with.
‘Mind Blowing CV19 Bioweapon Vax Still on Market – Dr. Sherri Tenpenny’
https://usawatchdog.com/mind-blowing-cv19-bioweapon-vax-still-on-market-dr-sherri-tenpenny/
I completely agree, Helot.
Checking on that Toyota Hilux Champ, the short wheelbase version appears to be 7.5′, while the long wheelbase version is about 8.8′ (!) if I do my math right. Again, without the 3-foot sidewalls, AND you can put the bed walls down for easy loading and unloading. Why-oh-why can’t we have this here?
https://www.overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/tvs-asia-one-make-championship-all-set-for-kick-off-in-thailand/
Also, as I said below, it has a load capacity of 2,200 lbs, and can tow 5,500 lbs. That’s goddamned amazing for a truck of that price.
In my opinion, if I’m going to be driving in something with 4-doors and transporting people, that’s not a job for a truck. I want a sedan, low to the ground, and getting better gas mileage. And hell, if you could get one of THOSE for $13k, which should be the case without all the onerous BS, then one could have both for $26, which is still less than many of these useless, gargantuan abominations passing as trucks these days.
Hi Rob,
Yup. My ’02 Frontier has a six foot bed – a longer bed than the five foot beds many new full-size trucks come with.
‘The actual cost of a small, basic truck such as the Hilux has more than doubled since 2002.’ — eric
… with the standard caveat that the truck’s price didn’t really change — the currency got devalued.
Cheap trucks were and are key to Asia’s advance to middle-income living standards in a single generation. In Japan, kei trucks are ideal for suppliers to make multiple daily parts deliveries to big companies such as Toyota and Honda, who keep their inventory (and thus working capital and physical space needs) light.
None of this translates to the US. Even in new auto manufacturing hubs across the southeast US, suppliers might be located dozens or hundreds of miles, so parts get delivered in semi trailer loads. But most fundamentally, cheap spartan trucks aren’t available because they aren’t allowed by FMVSS.
It’s almost like the US fedgov WANTS the living standards of American workers frozen. *sigh* Might as well clap on another fentanyl patch …
This is such an important point:
“… with the standard caveat that the truck’s price didn’t really change — the currency got devalued.”
I still have the window sticker from my 4WD 1996 Tacoma, bought brand new from Rodland Toyota in Everett, WA.
The sticker price is $23,933 as delivered. In 2025 money that’s $48,741. I paid $800 less than sticker, so in 2025 money that’s $47,151.
This is an XtraCab, V6, 5 speed, SR5. Base MSRP was $19,418 but was optioned with alloy wheels (+$995) and LX package (+$2,130 for A/C, chrome bumpers, cassette, sliding rear window) and CO package (+$670 for tilt steering, cruise, intermittent wipers, tach and dash clock).
Obviously the first thing is even that late in the game you could still decide to save money by not getting air conditioning and cruise control. Not being able to get a true base trim vehicle is part of the reason new cars cost so much.
But that aside, the 2025 Tacoma that closest matches is $41,390 for the SR5 and that’s including the $475 option for Sonic Red (my truck is Sunfire Red Pearl). In some ways it’s a better truck having power windows. So my beef isn’t so much with the car companies as it’s with the FED and government inflating the value of our money away.
With the Chevron ruling it would be nice if Toyota just started offering the Hi-Lux here and see what happens. Sell just one and it goes to court. Test Chevron. You don’t know until you try.
It’s better to try and fail than give up without a fight.
The Toyota dealers in the US would never put a $16k truck on their floorplan except as part of a fleet deal, and even then only for a very large, loyal customer.
The fleet sales holding yard at my local Ford dealer was the only place I ever saw a $19,990 sticker on a Maverick. It was 6-ish AM in a Saturday, and we were poking around the lot waiting for the service department to open. I think Bigfoot sightings ate more common.
The problem is simply a government living beyond its means. Notice no comment so far even mentions that And if they are asked why,,, they respond ” because everyone knows that!” The newly printed dollars steal purchasing power from the other dollars floating around. It’s now to the point where food prices,,, home prices,,,rents,,,insurance,,,utilities,,, etc are out of control.
The fix? print more money! I read the wildest baloney from the other day from Helena. She states inflation isn’t caused by printing more dollars,,, it’s from spending more. Where does that extra money to spend come from? Printing more dollars! A classic case of which comes first,,, the chicken or the egg. So why do you suppose people no longer ‘save’ for the proverbial retirement? Because 50 years later the money they saved is now worth maybe 10 – 20% of original. So it follows it will require 5 to 10 times the savings rate to get 100% out of your ‘saved’ dollar (s). Where did the extra $ come from? I would suggest the bank we don’t need, or the government that uses it like a piggy bank. Even Trump wants to rid the FRB chair when eliminating the entire bank is what’s required.
Ten years from now Eric will be talking about a cheap $100,000.00 pickup.
I am.kind of exited to see the new Slate motors pickup that is being shown on April 24th, its supposedly $25,000 apliance, but its a regular cab which i prefer.
Blahhh. More EV shite.
Another Billionaire (Bezos) trying to capture some of those fake carbon credit scams Elon stole. Sorry Jeff,,, to late to the show.
Go buy a 1965 Ford Ranchero for 15 grand, you’ll be happy.
A restored Ranchero 1965 is 25,000 dollars.
One good thing about Good Friday, the markets are closed.
If the markets were open, Jesus would go postal.
Those godless Jews would regret it. har
JEW$ are celebrating today…the murder of Jesus Christ is the JEW$’ greatest accomplishment that launched one of the greatest advances in human history.
They chanted, “GIVE US BARABBAS!!” loud and clear.
To quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ fer’ ya’?”
Unfortunately, the honest answer would have to be ‘pretty damned well,’ as their loyal helper Orange Bejeezus seeks to strip Harvard of its non-profit status. NYT today:
‘After Harvard took its stand against Trump this week, a vocal critic and alumnus, Shabbos [sic] Kestenbaum, expressed disappointment in his alma mater.
“Harvard’s fighting Trump harder than it’s ever fought antisemitism.”
Oy vey — the sheer horror of what young Shabbos had to endure behind those ivy-covered walls! He is scarred for life. And it’s our fault. 🙁
Was very happy to see Harvard tell Trumpenstein to go pound sand, now he’s having a snit fit because nobody ever tells Donnie Fubar “no”, a word he needs to hear loud and often.
I find the whole Harvard thing kind of enlightening. Could see myself possibly on either side depending on how its framed. Yet at the end of the day I have to ask, WTH. is a public, for profit university doing with billions of taxpayer funded dollars. They must all be cut off.
Constant wars, round-ups, pogroms, a holocaust(so we’re told), reviled everywhere you go and a mind filled with paranoia, fear, hubris and conceit.
Hardly what I’d call a success.
“The Chinese manufacture everything except for courage. Gazans manufacture courage.” – Anthony Bourdain
Abu Hamam received a Darwin Award.
Don’t aim a pistol at your head and pull the trigger, bad things happen, like death.
15,000 Israeli Defense Forces have been killed by Gaza’s fighters, desertion is a problem along with refusal to fight. Walking wounded, who knows?
Why tell the truth when you can lie all of the time?
Everybody loses, really.
The first car-based pickups, the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino, were far closer to trucks than the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz are because the Ranchero and El Camino were rear wheel drive, body/cab on frame construction—just like the Ford F-series and Chevy C/K series trucks, not to mention the Ford 9000 series and Chevy Bison. And they were far more useful in that regard.
“President Trump says he wants to make America Great Again.”
ROTFL
🤣
If a politician’s lips are moving, he’s lying.
Goddamn lies by Ford.
Also, to be fair, your Frontier is an extra cab and the Hi-Lux Champ is not. That’s got to account for some difference in price after factoring in inflation.
Yup. Toyota dropped regular cab configurations on the Tacoma in 2016 because so few people opted for them. I had a regular cab 1984 Toyota that I later sold for a used 1990 XtraCab. I don’t think most American could fit in a Hilux or Hilux Champ. In my 1984 I had to squeeze the seat back while pushing the seat to get the one extra click on the slide to be comfortable with 6’1″ frame. I really don’t think the Champ would sell in the U.S.
Hi Ralph,
I disagree – here’s why: When small/regular car pickups were available, they sold in the hundreds of thousands. I used to own a ’98 regular cab Frontier. This was the “hardbody” truck that Nissan sold for many years – and that sold much better than the current super-sized Frontier. The Ford Ranger was also a big seller before it was redesigned. It isn’t, anymore.
I’m 6ft 3 by the way and there’s ample room for me in both the ’98 and my current ’02 Frontier.
How many people would buy a $13k Hi Lux if they could? Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out… ?
I remember when Ford discontinued the original compact Ranger in 2011, their marketing determined they could just move shoppers slightly upmarket and sell them a low trim XL, V6 F-150 instead.
Hey Mr. Consumer, just stretch that budget a LITTLE more and reward yourself with a full sizer!
Bigger profit margins for Ford on the F series.
That sales strategy clearly worked, and here we are now with no budget trucks.
‘a ’98 regular cab Frontier. This was the “hardbody” truck’ — eric
Mixed metaphors? The Hardbody ended in 1997, followed by the first-gen Frontier in 1998. Very few common parts between them.
https://tinyurl.com/3wbu5dmf
After getting the seats reupholstered in my ’98 Frontier, it lost an inch of legroom. My 6′-1″ frame just barely fits with the drivers seat all the way back. Right knee scrapes the under-dash umbrella handbrake, which I’d like to replace with a center console pull lever.
It isn’t necessary to make a club or crew cab to have a roomy pickup. Simply stretching the regular cab a little is plenty. Square body Chevys from the 80s are quite comfortable. The reason myself and many others run a crew cab is to have a place to secure a bunch of tools and cargo inside a lock and out of the weather.
The little extra room is exactly what the first Toyota XtraCab was in 1984. It had a few inches extra room, enough for a tool box and to recline the seat slightly. Not enough to even fit a dog in the back. The 1989 XtraCab was the first where you had rear jump seats and enough room to put the seat backs fully flat.
Eric, I don’t mean to suggest our benevolent leaders should dictate what is or isn’t sold here. I wish I could buy a real, plain Jane Hilux (not a Champ) if I wished. I’ve driven regular cab newer Hilux overseas and I would still opt for the XtraCab if given the choice.
Maybe Nissan’s cabs are different, I don’t know. But the traditionally high floor Toyota uses is still built into the Hilux (the Tacoma adopted a dropped floor with a sill in 2005, more typical of a domestic U.S. truck). So for whatever reason that’s their design decisions. I prefer the higher floor of the older trucks, but it does tend to be uncomfortable for me over long distances in regular cabs (older ones anyway) being just slightly cramped in my legs. I have plenty of head room, just anyone with an inseam more than about 33″ will push the clutch pedal completely to the floor before your knee is straight. It needed a couple more inches to be comfortable, which was the 1984 XtraCab benefit. That’s the perfect “regular” cab, at least for me.
But the main point I’d make is Toyota -did- sell regular cabs and long beds and the market didn’t support them. They dropped a 7 foot bed in 1993 due to low sales and they did the same with regular cab in 2016. Toyota isn’t in the business of losing money, they build what sells. In the latest Tacoma, from 2024 on, they don’t even sell an XtraCab/Access Cab anymore. Neither does Ford in the Ranger. If you want a new 2025 small/midsize truck with less than 4 doors you have to get a Nissan, that’s the only option.
It’s not just Nissan. You can still get an XtraCab Tacoma new. Toyota eliminated the Access Cab, the one with the half rear doors that opened backwards. They went back to the extended cab that you have to step over the flipped forward front seats. I like the idea of rear doors on the Access Cab but I can understand the logic now that Double Cabs with 4 doors are an option if you want easier access to the back. I’m considering what to do about my 1996 XtraCab, which has already been relegated to secondary status for hunting and the kid to drive. He’ll graduate next month from high school so I might gift it to him and sell the Hyundai I drive daily now. Who knows how much longer real body-on-frame trucks will exist and I expect if I get a new Tacoma I might never be buying another truck in my lifetime since I’ll be in my 70s if this one lasts 25+ years like the last one.
On the contrary, Ralph, I think ANY new, functional vehicle would sell in droves for $12-13k here. Of course, the Hilux Champ isn’t only functional, it excels in certain ways.
The Champ is said to be able to tow 5,500 lbs and (this is killer), it can haul 2,200 lbs in the bed. These abilities far exceed those of the truck shaped cars called Maverick and Santa Cruz, or many other trucks for that matter.
Hell, at least the Champ HAS a proper bed, without 3-foot side walls. The Santa Cruz is obviously just a crossover with the back hatch portion removed and sealed. Also, the Champ’s bed features those fold-down walls: an innovation many years past its time.
A sub $20k Hilux would sell in the US. Take a look at used Maverick prices even now.
In order to stay below $20k new, however, Toyota would have to flood the market with product to sate the demand from wealthy people buying the vehicle as a kid car or weekend toy and willing to pay $10k over sticker to a dealer insider to jump the order line.
OT but some wild allegations against Tesla:
Tesla speeds up odometers to avoid warranty repairs, U.S. lawsuit claims
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/18/tesla-speeds-up-odometers-to-avoid-warranty-repairs-us-lawsuit-claims.html
From link:
The plaintiff Nyree Hinton alleged that Tesla odometer readings reflect energy consumption, driver behavior and “predictive algorithms” rather than actual mileage driven.
He said the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock ran at least 15% fast, based on his other vehicles and driving history, and for a while said he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.
—-
The knives are out for DOGE dude but if this is true it really hammers home anothet potential danger of all this tech in cars that’s discussed here regularly.
A guy I know bought a high mileage Nissan Rogue that had the same issue, speedometer was accurate but the odometer ran on the high side. He didn’t care as he got it cheap.
The auto industry and finance companies don’t want cheap/entry level vehicles. But here’s the thing, buyers don’t either.
Today’s US consumer demands instant gratification. And auto makers are delighted to fulfill their needs and desires. Without conspicuous consumption, many have no identity, no purpose, and no reason to exist.
That’s the beauty of living in a fast-fading empire with a broken fiat currency, and an economy based on infinite debt creation. YOLO!
As much as we, the readers of this column- and fellow auto enthusiasts who in reality make up probably 5% (10% tops) of the auto buying market- would love to see available and purchase entry level/basic trim levels and models, it’s never happening.
Just as we see with the airport cattle chutes at TSA checkpoints and the willingness of almost all to maintain 6ft apart and mask up, democracy has spoken. And it says, “give me debt or give me death.”
Hi Flip.
While we as you point out are currently living in a “give me debt or give me death.” situation I believe this is only due to easy access to credit. In a depression or deep recession I could see more people buying plain, entry level vehicles if they decided not to buy used cars. Our badly built new cars at least come with a real warranty that 5 year old used car wouldn’t and repair costs are going through the roof due to a shortage of qualified mechanics (proper diagnostic ability) and substandard parts from China and Mexico.
The car care nut guy on YouTube has a video of a customer that drove 700 miles to his shop to get his Lexus repaired (auto headlights were causing multiple warning lights to come on) because the local Lexus dealer in Philadelphia couldn’t repair or properly diagnose the problem.
Stealerships are awful. Maybe equal to the instant oil change place.
Those are the bottom of the auto repair hierarchy in terms of quality of tech IMO.
There’s decent techs at some of the Firestone/Goodyears, but the best repair shops are still the independents – like TCCN Auto.
Here’s the problem I see with this elusive “affordable” vehicle.
When (not if) the economy ultimately takes a dump, it won’t happen in a vacuum.
These existing auto companies dependent on financing either vaporize or (the more likely scenario) is that they become hyper-nationalized. Just like the bailouts of GM and Chrysler/Dept of Energy Fed backed loans that Ford took from the TARP/2008 nonsense – but on steroids.
They’ll all be merged under the central planning umbrella of FedGov.
To me, either way, the death of the dollar causes the death of the free market along with it.
Which is why democracy is such an awful, horrifying thing. The majority is always in favor of a comfortable serfdom, especially if their uppity neighbor is brought down by it. Can’t afford a new car without a 10 year mortgage? That’s OK if your neighbor can’t or won’t get one at all. Spiritual wickedness is a thing, and greed and envy are prominent deadly sins for very good reason.