What vehicle to buy for home improvement?

re: the folding...

For a while I'd fold mine up and roll it into my garage. (Yes the deck was split like yours.)

I put hooks in the ceiling so I could store the sides above the garage door.

The added feature that came along with the folding was that the trailer could be tilted when attached to a vehicle. All I had to do was pull the pin that allowed the tongue to fold and the whole bed tilted down. Didn't use it too often, but on occasional it came in handy.

You can laugh at my Forester but I think most American motor vehicles are overdone for their usage. I'll bet 90% of all SUV's never get any more off road use than the shopping center parking lot. Numbers probably also high for pickup trucks. My neighbor spends more time repairing his than he does using it. OP is asking for occassional use.

Sounds like a Tundra, F150, or Silverado. I'm sure smaller trucks will haul a good-size load for many home projects, although 4x8 sheets may not lay flat. The 2-wheel drive is lighter than the 4-wheel drive. I used to rent a truck a couple times a year (well worth the $100) when I only had a small car.

All my Chryler LeBaron convertibles would hold 4'x8' sheets of plywood. On the floor of the back seat, leaning back at maybe 45 degrees.

But they wouldn't do drywall because drywall doesn't bend.

Oh, you have to put the top down.

A beater minivan, and pull the seats out of the back. Need long wheel base version to get 4x8 in with the hatch shut. Or if you live south of the salt line, an old full-size station wagon (all the ones up north are long gone). But really, an old baby pickup truck (from when they were still small, not the recent bloated jacked up ones that look like sandbox toys) is hard to beat for a regular DIYer. Old Toyota pickups are hard to kill and last forever, and the stretch cab ones do okay as daily drivers. (again, if you live south of salt line.)

And for hauling drywall in a convertible, just buy 2 sheets of plywood (or bring them from home), and put the drywall between them. Same way I used to haul queen mattresses on car roofs without them flapping in the wind, back when everyone I knew moved every 18 months. And rope and bungee cords, of course. Lots of rope and bungee cords.

-- aem sends...