Parked my old Mustang next to a new crew cab and it looked like a toy

I went through the same wake-up call a couple years back. I had a 2003 Corolla for the longest time and never thought twice about it until my wife's cousin let me borrow his Tahoe for a weekend when mine was in the shop. Pulling into my usual spot at the grocery store, I had maybe a foot on either side of the mirror. I genuinely did not know where the corners of the thing were for the first two days. Backing into my own driveway felt like docking a boat.

The weird part is how normal it feels after a week. By day three I was complaining about parking lots being too tight, like the car was fine and the world was the problem. That is the part I find funny about myself now.

When the Corolla finally died I ended up with a RAV4, which is already bigger than what I was used to, and I catch myself doing the same thing, feeling like it is compact. The hood sits high enough now that I can barely see the curb when parking, and I have to lean over to check. In the old Corolla I could see all four corners without moving.

One thing I did notice from the driver's seat of that Tahoe: visibility for the driver is fine, but for everyone else around it is worse. Kids and small cars just disappear from those side windows. My coupe years spoiled me and I did not even realize it until they were gone.

Funny thing is I'm on the other side of this and I still agree with you. I run a landscaping outfit and drive a 2012 Silverado 2500 for work. It's a big truck, but it's a work truck, and even I feel dwarfed by the new ones. Last month I parked next to a late-model F-250 at a job site and the hood on that thing was higher than my roof line. Mine has a real use case, towing a trailer full of mowers, and even I think the new ones are over the top. What gets me is the hoods. My old man had an F-150 from the late 90s that hauled just as much firewood or gravel as anything on the lot today, and you could see the ground a few feet ahead of the bumper. Try that in a new crew cab and you're staring at sheet metal for ten feet. There's a whole generation of drivers who've never seen the front of their own vehicle from the driver's seat. I notice it in my own driveway too. Backing out, I'm relying on the camera because the view over the tailgate is basicly gone. My wife drives a Camry and she flat out refuses to back out of our driveway when my truck is parked on the street, says she can't see past it. Can't blame her.

I weigh cars for a living at a scrap yard, so I get the numbers on this daily. My Miata came across the scale at 2,310 lbs. A buddy's new F-150 rolled on right after it and read 5,580. That is not two vehicles, that is a vehicle and a half stacked into one. When something that heavy hits something this light, physics does not care how good your reflexes are. Funniest part is the F-150 guy asked me if his truck was underweight, like he was worried he bought the small one.