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Comment by ewgoforth | Hacker News Reader

This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM explains why small pickup trucks can't really be sold in the USA anymore. This explains the drive to larger pickups, but I don't know what explains the drive from cars to trucks/SUVs.

We were considering a wagon when we bought our last vehicle, an SUV. The ability to occasionally carry more than five people was the deciding point. I believe crash standards prevent the selling of wagons with a "wayback" anymore.

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There aren't even wagons for sale in America anymore. There are a few crossover-wagon options, with lifted suspension and plastic cladding a la Subaru Outback; there are a few overlarge hatchbacks, e.g., the Honda Civic; but, look for a normal wagon with traditional four-pillar proportions and normal car handling and styling and the only option you'll find for sale here is the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo, which is not an affordable family vehicle. Gone are the days of the Volvo 240 or VW Golf wagons; long gone are the big old American wagons.

To me, the North American passenger car manufacturers' changeover from ladder-frame to unibody construction was the death knell for the kind of station wagon you've described, with four-pillar proportions and normal car handling and styling. With the 1970s fuel price crisis, those giant dinosaurs were terribly impractical, but a full sized mid-1970s ladder-framed station wagon could pull a large trailer without being twisted into a pretzel from the forces at play. Nowadays a full-sized pickup truck or SUV with proper towing ratings is needed for the same.

Station wagons in North America were hit with a stigma about carbon monoxide poisoning in the rear seats. The term ''Station Wagon Effect'' is still used in relation to industrial and residential ventilation systems as well as in boating and of course the automobile industry. When mini-vans surged in popularity starting in the 1980s they had better ventilation at the rear, and today any wagon would need to stringently protect against CO inhalation. Still, the stigma remains.

My family had at least one station wagon--Jeep Wagoneer, Ford Falcon, Ford Ranch Wagon--for most of the 1960s and 1970s. I don't remember ever hearing a concern about carbon monoxide. When did this start being talked about?

> Station Wagon Effect

Described in several links I just found here: https://search.brave.com/search?q=Station+Wagon+Effect

but I'm remembering that concerns about it started coming up in the 1960s when vehicle safety regulations were becoming a thing. Sorry, I don't have a historical reference at hand.

Volvo still sells the V60 PHEV if you want one.

Audi sells the A4 and A6 wagons (and the RS6), Mercedes has it's E class wagon last I looked.

Holy cow that explains at least some of what's going on. I'm still not sure why trucks are getting taller too; I saw a 1990ish Toyota Pickup next to a late model F-150 and the hood of the Ford was almost as high as the roof of the Toyota.

The Mercedes E450 wagon has the rear-facing 3rd row as standard equipment in the USA.

Because of course you wanted a wagon with a starting price of $75k without any options.

We legitimately considered it; there are no cars that seat 7 for under $40k new these days, so it's less-than-double the price of the cheapest option.

Totally off-topic, but I actually saw a E450 wagon AMG on the streets the other day. Had no clue they even made one of those. Will only set you back $177k

You could possibly grab a Metris for ~$40k on closeout, though it might be a bit too basic for you.

It's amazing for us.

> I actually saw a E450 wagon AMG on the streets the other day

Awesome. When I was growing up, my parents had a big orange wagon with the Oldsmobile Rocket 455 in it. Kind of like the predecessor to the AMG wagons :)

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