One of the first decisions a truck buyer has to make is what type of cabin may want. There are numerous different features that every cabin offers; however it all boils down to three basic options. The regular cab, extended cab, and crew cab. Each of these options has unique benefits and drawbacks which need to be considered.
Regular Cabin
The most basic cabin is the regular cab. It usually consists of two or three seats in a single row. In most cases, there will be no rear seating and no rear doors. As a result, the Windows come right behind the seats. On the plus side, the regular cab style is consistently the least expense of the three. At the same time, it can cause issues in terms of practicality. If you ever plan on driving multiple people around a regular cabin will quickly feel cramped. People who buy pickup trucks as their daily vehicle will often want the larger cabins just in case they need to transport a number of passengers. On the other hand, a regular cab is ideal for commercial shoppers or people who want to own a truck for weekend use.
Crew Cabin
Anyone who is looking for a pickup truck for family and friends will bypass the regular cabin and look at either a crew cab or extended cab. To make this decision, the first consideration is how big you actually want the truck to be. A majority of trucks with crew cabins will not come with huge bed. This is because of the truck has both a crew cab and a full-size bed the truck itself will be extremely long and difficult to maneuver. On the other hand, crew cabins are often considered to be the best choice for toting around multiple people on a regular basis. Additionally, crew cabin trucks are often a few thousand dollars more expensive than extended cabs. A subtle benefit of the crew cab is there are often full full-size doors.
Extended Cabin
An extended cab is ideal for people who will occasionally have passengers but primarily want to use the additional space for storage. Extended cabin pickup trucks have a second row of seating but the rear seats may be configured in different ways based upon the brand. Additionally, the seating is more compact and is rarely accessible through full-size doors. At best, a door will be provided. Since the space is smaller there will also be limited legroom which makes them a poor choice for long trips.
What about the Other Options?
A common misconception about first-time pickup truck buyers is that there are a variety of additional cabin options. For example, a typical crew cab may have four full-size doors into four rows of seating. Toyota will refer to this as a double cab or a CrewMax. While there will be a number of different variations, and even different names, the basic choice still boils down to a regular cabin, crew cabin, or extended cabin. Keep in mind that when you are selecting a cabin size it will affect the length of your pickup truck bed. Depending upon how the truck will be used this will be an important consideration as well as buyers will often have to sacrifice either truck bed length or cabin size.
