Here's a Sunday morning debate for you guys.

I just read a thread where someone called the MDX a truck and it reminded me of a debate between my freshmen year roommate and I. I want to see what other people think about this.

Is a SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) considered a truck? What defines a truck? Is the category of a truck more general than an SUV so that's why you can call an SUV a truck? Or is a truck an SUV? I have always separated the two categories as being different. A truck has a open back bed, while an SUV is a large sportier van.

What do you people think?

 

An SUV is a truck if it is based on a truck chasis or its own original chasis. Like the Suburban, Escalade, Expedition, 4Runner, etc. The Ford Escape is not a truck.

At least that's how I always "classified" them.

 

Poll Added

I voted no. A truck is a pickup. A SUV in my mind is a 4x4 minivan (for soccer mom's).

MrSteve makes a valid point about the chassis being the distinction that separates the two, but I'm still sticking with a truck being a pickup...

I'll even go farther to say that the Chevy SSR and Ford Sporttrac aren't trucks even tho they have a bed, since the bed is just about useless.

With a "real" truck, you can put 4x8 sheets or a quad runner in the bed and still shut the tailgate

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. What really pisses me off is that Nissan advertises the Titan as full size.

 

But the manufacturers still call them "TRUCKS" so they don't have to adhere to the more stringent safety requirements of passenger cars.

 

i used to seperate the two catagories, but i have to argue this subject soo much with my friends thinking everything is a truck... but yea, if it's based on a truck platform like the tahoe, expidition, and what not i'll mostly call it a SUV, sometimes a truck.... if it's based on a car platform, like the toyota highlander (shares same platform as camry) and the volvo "SUV," i call that a station wagon with a lift kit.....

 

a truck is bigger and heavier than a car and can have a higher payload than cars.

so an SUV is more closely related to trucks than cars

 

Saw an older suburban today and on the rear tailgate it said GMC Truck

 

It depends. For instance, I would not call an X3 a truck. But I will call an MDX a truck. It depends on how big the vehicle is, how it sits, things like that. I will call the Mercedes ML a truck, yet some ML owners would never want to think of what they bought as a "truck". The terms are very exchangeable for a number of vehicles. I think chassis is important too, for some reason I have some trouble thinking of the Murano and FX as "trucks"... just based on their chassis. It really depends imo - it's not a one-all, be-all situation.

 

I think the platform has lots to do with it. For instance, the UPS "delivery vehicles" are trucks in my book, vehicle intended for heavier duty in addition to passenger carrying. I'd say the Expedition is a truck, the Explorer is a truck, the Freestyle to me is more of a car. It irritates me when SUV owners say stuff like "we can take my car" or "it's in my car" when plainly they drive a truck. True, the crossovers like Murano Freestyle, Highlander all muddy the waters.

 

this is how i see it too, so the MDX wouldn't be a truck, but the one's meantioned above would be. They share most of the same components as the truck. A "pick-up" truck is different from a truck.

 

No. A Truck is a Truck..... An SUV is an oversized stationwagon! Do you see any stationwagons on the road anymore? SUV's are for middle-aged grocery-getter mothers--WITH CLASS!

 

Actually I am starting to see more "Station wagons" as of late.

 

My denfination....Any SUV that has a 4x4 High & 4x4 low range is a truck.

 

depends on size

any suv big enough to have a third row seat = Truck

im more of a jeep guy than an acura. been through about 5 leases all on Jeep GC's. i would never call it a truck. my dad calls it a truck sometimes and it gets on my nerves.

just like mentioned before, an Escape is not a damn truck. a Suburban is def more of a truck than an suv

 

im not suprised that a majority of acura heads think than an SUV is a truck. most of you guys are used to lower cars, such as the CL. and any time you pass by an Eplorer Jeep or Escalade they are all towered over you. so in your mind you think of all the big boys as a truck.

my perspective is based on the size of my jeep, although i do have a CL.
anyways, therefore anything bigger than the jeep is considered a truck to me, and same sized (explorer, older pathinders, highlanders, etc) are SUVs to me

 

I'm with the chassis guys. If it's a body-on-frame construction, a truck chassis, then it's a truck, no matter what the heck it looks like. I consider those GMC Safari cargo vans as trucks. That's what they are in essence. It could look like penis for all I care but it's still a truck.

Of course, if unibody construction does not equal truck, then the Ridgeline isn't a truck...I've just confused myself...

 

my 04' runner is body on frame and carries alot of cargo so IMO it's a truck.

unibody trucks like the ridgeline are uber ghey.

 

On a similar note, everytime I buy parts online for my 2000 Quest, it's classified as a 'Datsun/Nissan Truck'.

 

Minivans are somehow classified as "light trucks"