REO Industries, planning a Texas manufacturing facility.
Somewhat modeled after the Jap "kei" trucks, Toyota Hilux?
Manual transmission, roll-up windows..
https://reotrucks.com/

I'm very interested in seeing these. Reading through the description kinda made me think of Australian utes. Function only, no bells and whistles.

Would love to see a small turbo diesel paired with that manual transmission.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Feels unrealistic. The math isn't working out for me considering mandated safety requirements. But I'll keep an eye out. It's a neat idea if they can pull it off. I think a lot of people are going to lose 25 bucks though.

Why not just get a Maverick XL?

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Because every time you go to the dealership to look for one that's listed online, they "just sold it" and hadn't had a chance to take it down. Trust me, we tried looking for a couple for service business trucks and they're hard to come by unless you're buying a lot of them.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Feels unrealistic. The math isn't working out for me considering mandated safety requirements. But I'll keep an eye out. It's a neat idea if they can pull it off. I think a lot of people are going to lose 25 bucks though.

Why not just get a Maverick XL?

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it is actually refundable at any point but most folks will likely forget and not go to the trouble

BrazosDog02 said:

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Feels unrealistic. The math isn't working out for me considering mandated safety requirements. But I'll keep an eye out. It's a neat idea if they can pull it off. I think a lot of people are going to lose 25 bucks though.

Why not just get a Maverick XL?

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Seems achievable for me. Slate is selling an EV truck for $25k.

Needs 4 more cylinders.

Corps_Ag12 said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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Feels unrealistic. The math isn't working out for me considering mandated safety requirements. But I'll keep an eye out. It's a neat idea if they can pull it off. I think a lot of people are going to lose 25 bucks though.

Why not just get a Maverick XL?

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Because every time you go to the dealership to look for one that's listed online, they "just sold it" and hadn't had a chance to take it down. Trust me, we tried looking for a couple for service business trucks and they're hard to come by unless you're buying a lot of them.

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The "We clobber big city prices" place in Hempstead got clobbered out of business.

I loved that commercial.

LAWRENCE MARSHALL!! I think ray Childress ended up ok though.

Reminiscent of Elio motors or the V-Vehicle Co aka Next Autoworks. Promised affordable cutting edge vehicles, then takes the $ and suddenly vanishes overnight. Not even a rendering on their website. People have short memories I guess. Hard pass for this ol boy.

EMY92 said:

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There's no way I'm buying a vehicle from a new company. For every Tesla, there are several Fiskar types that pop up and quickly disappear.

I see that Rivian and Lucid recently had layoffs. There is doubt as to either company surviving. I want to know that if I need a part or service a year from now that the company will be around to provide it.

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But if they stick to their thesis much of their drivetrain will be off the shelf availability. No ECU parts pairing means you just need a bolt pattern to match. They hint at a piece when they talk about full self drive, they say they'll consider it when it's widespread, readily available, and cheap. I'd have to think that thesis extends across their current basic offerings. Currently available here, on any shelf, today. Actually they do say that, with a completely open book parts catalog.

I think the bigger issue if they don't survive launch would be collision repair over powertrain.

So are they basically doing like AR15 builders and buying crap off the shelf and sticking together like a lego kit or are they actually developing, R&D, tooling, etc?

BrazosDog02 said:

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So are they basically doing like AR15 builders and buying crap off the shelf and sticking together like a lego kit or are they actually developing, R&D, tooling, etc?

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I think it's more along the line of no proprietary parts..open sourcing. No doubt they are promising a lot. From their site:

"The Runabout is designed to be repaired and modified by the person who owns it. Every control is a physical switch or lever, and the only screen in the cabin is a small display for diagnostics and Apple CarPlay. There is no parts-pairing, which means no component is ever software-locked to your VIN, and the diagnostics read out in plain English on a $30 scanner. The parts catalog is public, fairly priced, and backed for twenty years, and the bumpers, door cards, headliner, and trim all come off in under five minutes with common tools. There are no subscriptions and no feature locks.

And then we go somewhere no automaker has gone: the truck itself is fully open source. Anyone can build a part for it, because nothing on the vehicle checks where a part came from. On top of that, we run an authorized maker program. Makers who pass our quality verification get the factory mounting patterns and a spot on our online marketplace, where they sell directly to owners at fees lower than eBay, RockAuto, and Amazon. Verified makers competing on the same shelf means the customer wins twice prices come down and quality goes up"

Why Apple carplay only.? You'd think with their model they'd be open to android too.

I'm intrigued. I work with a non-profit in Zambia and the Toyota Hilux they were able to buy for $32K US will do everything I need a truck to do.

And I own one that's in line to be restored.

tamc91 said:

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Why Apple carplay only.? You'd think with their model they'd be open to android too.

I'm intrigued. I work with a non-profit in Zambia and the Toyota Hilux they were able to buy for $32K US will do everything I need a truck to do.

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My first thought is the founder is an Apple guy and that's just what he knows. For launch I could really see this as being a system where they're willing to just take a stock head unit from a major aftermarket manufacturer and factory install it.

I have an Alpine unit in my 2014 F150 XLT. In 2014 that trim level was still shipping with just a 4 inch screen for the radio, CD player, XM, and backup camera. I could Bluetooth my phone for calls or plug in with an Aux cord, but I still didn't have nav on the screen.

I upgraded to an 8 inch double din Alpine. So it has Android Auto, CarPlay, and it is tied to the OBD2 so there is a screen for diagnostics. I can actually read the plain text of an engine code on the screen.

Speaking of the Maverick, anyone had one? I'm looking for a daily driver. I do need a full sized truck for that and thought a Maverick might be a nice compromise.

If they made a maverick in manual transmission with fewer things run off the screen, they would eliminate the need for these guys.

Or if Toyota followed through with the Stout.

Or if Chevy brought back the S-10, or Dodge brought back the Dakota, or the B series for Mazda, or the Raider for Mitsubishi ,or if Hyundai took unnecessary tech out of the Santa Fe and made it look normal, same with the Ridgeline and Honda.

These kinds of truck used to be popular until they were litigated to oblivion.

Now, some of y'all have gotten so used to the luxurious modern truck that you are no longer in this market. That's fine, you aren't their target audience. People like me are. We can both exist.

The T4X would fill my desire to find a Suzuki Samurai and put a flat bed on it.

Very similar to a bare bones EV truck a start up company is trying to bring to the market. Starter base truck at 25k and you can add up to 200 accessories

https://www.slate.auto/en

The 200 mile range is a draw back for me. It needs 300.

I'm thinking they are the perfect first vehicle. Teaches a kid to actually drive without all of the crazy sensors and traction control and bs in vehicles today.

I could see a world where we would run these on our farm and have a service truck for when heavy stuff has to happen.