REO Trucks I4 4WD Pickup Truck Starts at $21,500

Would be nice to see actual pics instead of silly silhouettes. I am in the market for exactly this kind of truck (especially a manual) but this doesn’t inspire me to want to buy it.

> Physical Controls Levers, rockers, and real analog gauges. One small screen for diagnostics and CarPlay — nothing more. No subscriptions. No feature locks. Ever.

> Right to Repair Every panel off in under five minutes with common tools. Plain-English diagnostics on a $30 scanner. A 20-year public parts catalog at fair prices. No parts-pairing — in writing.

I'm very excited about this and pray it is successful.

My first reaction after seeing a website with vibecoded aesthetics was to wonder if this is even real, but apparently, it is - at least to the extent of getting some press coverage:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/usa/startup-wants-build-sma...

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71667299/reo-industries-r...

It's weird to see a new vehicle announced like this that's not an EV. I wonder what it's like launching a gas truck when new battery-powered trucks are looming in the distance (or already here).

Much like how I'd be reserving a Slate right now if 4WD was an option, I'd be reserving an REO right now if electric was an option. Kinda frustrating how this new slate (pun half-intended) of non-behemoth pickup trucks manages to be devoid of an option that's all of affordable, reasonably-sized, 4WD, and electric.

I love the concept here. The site and preannounce feels a little gimmicky. It’s definitely of the time but kind of hard to commit to without more detail. Like $25 isn’t a lot of money to reserve a real truck but seems like a lot for a maybe we’ll bring a real product to market.

Do I want to own one of these? No. I want my mechanic to be bored when I show up and need service…I guess that makes me a market laggard.

But I do love the pressure this (and Slate) puts on Toyota to restore some sanity to truck prices. There is a market of people who want reliable transportation without spending $40k++.

I await real details, currently this is just a promise with nothing to back it up. Would love competition in this space for light trucks, pressuring companies to build better vehicles that last, but this is atleast 3 years away

No dealer sales is such an enormous perk. We need this everywhere but of course there's too much incumbent vested interest to keep the status quo.

I’ll save my money for the 2030 Speedwagon.

Impressive that HN has already found 80 ways to complain about this, even though it's exactly what everyone claims to want: physical buttons, analogue controls, and no-nonsense CarPlay support.

The same CarPlay everyone says is a must-have deal-breaker, yet every major manufacturer is slowly eliminating or putting behind a paywall.

At some point, the leadership team had a conversation that went something like this:

CEO: “We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars designing, developing, and tooling up to bring a new truck to market at a competitive price. We’ve worked out the entire manufacturing supply chain and have contracts in place with numerous vendors. We’ve placed orders for the thousands of parts, and hired highly skilled labor, and have extensively planned to have the man, machines, and materials all in the same place at the same time to actually pull this off. We have the working capital loans in place to let us run these operations. All that remains is the marketing outreach.”

CMO: “Okay, got it boss. Let’s start with one of the most highly visible parts of the marketing plan that literally every customer will interact with because of our sales model. Our contract marketing agency says they can develop a fantastic site for $200k - they have a great portfolio that shows they can make exactly what we need.”

CFO: “Fuck that, I just asked Claude to vibe code a marketing landing page. Looks great. Ship it.”

The website is black on black, not easy for me to see at all.

At this point the killer feature would be: privacy, control of your own vehicle, and repair ability.

Does it offer this? Wish someone would make that product.

Makes sense to me... the Toyota mini trucks of the 80s/90s were super useful and Tacomas are basically full-sized and not as efficient.

Is there anything special in making a $21k gas truck in 2026? I’m guessing you could get a second hand gas truck for this price?

the site almost sells you on a ford maverick

"Wow, the same style engine, a reputable dealership network, a hybrid system with battery, and a turbo charger for only another 7 grand?"

can they pull this off - maybe - IDK the team - but this is possible.

cause of concern?

- i4 gas engine instead of using 4 electric motors - then using smaller engine to act as generator. plenty of Chinese have done this - quickest way to start a car company. otherwise they're gonna find out real soon - why other auto manufacturers went out of business or why reliability is a cause of concern even for big manufacturers. engines and powertrains can be complex.

electric motors are simpler.

It'd be great if they could come up with a photo of the truck. But an alternative to the oversized absurdities we have on the roads these days can't come soon enough.

What have the Dodo, a Fisker and that in common?

Well, you all know the answer.

I need to know if Ransom Olds is involved or not.

Do that not have any pictures of it?

The comparison table is laughable.

"Best value": Over how many miles? A hybrid often has a lower TCO.

"Gas I4, proven": Maybe it's a skill issue, but I can't figure out which I4 they're using or if they DIY. Meanwhile, the "unproven" Ford hybrid system is pushing trucks to 200k miles on a regular basis. (of course, your mileage may vary but it seems like they did a great job with this)

There's other issues as well.

The website is all hype with very little substance, as well as the taint of AI slop. If they aren't willing to share details, I'm not interested.

As a benchmark, I would use Slate, who have so far done an excellent job providing information and updates on their truck.

Looks like a Lada

Yes, let me throw money at this vibe-coded vaporware.

Um, if you're going to market a vehicle, you really, really, really, need to have pictures or at least detailed renderings.

Atm, this is a DoA product.

>Why Gas?

Because we hate you, and need to make some money off it

Incredibly disappointed to see it will be using a gasoline combustion engine.

fiction

It's another kickstarter/"pre-order"/vaporware car. Like Slate. "If all runs smoothly, first customer deliveries will take place in late 2028 or 2029." Expect price creep and delivery date slippage.

In the end, it's basically a Toyota Hilux.

My question is: why select a name that for most people, if they recognize the name at all, is a band from the 70s-80s? How many people other than old farts like me even know how to properly pronounce the name? (Because they'll think it's pronounced like the band name.)

It's one thing to ride on nostalgia, but how much nostalgia is there for a company whos heyday was 100 years ago, and went out of business (well, merged) 60 years ago? The only nostalgia this old guy has is remembering my grandfather talking about the Speedwagon he had back in the day.