Are tolls higher for dual-cab utes?
Are toll road operators the unspoken winners of the carsales Best Dual-cab 4WD Ute of 2019?The Ford Ranger is the winner of carsales Best Dual-cab 4WD Ute of 2019, beating nine other 4x4 dual-cab ute contenders to emerge as the best of the best.
In a year that already sees passenger car sales on the decline (around 14%) against a growth (of around 4%) in 4x4 utility vehicles, it’s clear that consumers are changing the way they think about the role of the dual-cab ute and its growing role as the family car.
In 2019 for the first time a prestige vehicle brand showed its hand in the Mercedes-Benz X-Class. Add to this the fact that in 2018 five dual-cab utes featured in Australia’s top 20 selling vehicles and it’s seems a shift is upon us - whether we like it or not.
However the burning question may well be whether toll road operators are the real winners of this adoption of dual-cabs?
Let me explain. Driving your Mazda6 from Melbourne CBD to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport on an everyday account pass will cost you around $9.30 in tolls. Jump in the 2019 Ford Ranger and it’ll cost you $14.88 for that very same trip.
What!
Why?
Dual-cab utes’ size, weight and configuration pushes them into a light commercial vehicle according to Linkt classifications – Any two axle rigid vehicle with a cab chassis construction, with a gross vehicle mass that is greater than 1.5 tonnes but less than 4.5 tonnes.
A car on the other hand is deemed to be ‘any motor vehicle including if towing a trailer or caravan, that is not a: Motorcycle, Light Commercial Vehicle or Heavy Commercial Vehicle’.
In contrast, if you live in Sydney, you can breathe a little easier.
Sydney’s Linkt classifications lump dual-cab utes in with passenger cars and motorcycles, leaving the heavy commercial vehicles in a league of their own.
For comparison sake, a short trip on the Sydney cross city tunnel in a car or 4x4 ute will set you back $2.71, compared to $5.42 in a truck or bus.
Meanwhile, buyers of the Ford Everest, Toyota Fortuner, Holden Trailblazer and other ute-based SUVs need not panic as these vehicles remain in the passenger car realm.
Go figure…
While you mull that over check out the Best Dual-Cab 4WD Ute of 2019
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