They have nothing in common with an estate car - they can carry 2.25 times the weight and are built on a separate chassis that seems to be made out of girders with a load compartment that's entirely separate from the passenger compartment. They are designed to carry heavy, awkward or hazardous loads on all terrain and most importantly are designed to get and run wet. They are an ideal, totally fit for purpose vehicle with mine costing £380 fully comp and road tax set at £225. It's my fourth and easily my best ever work vehicle.
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A double cab pickup may have a good payload, but in relation to the size of the vehicle, it has a very small load bay indeed. I do agree with you that they have nothing in common with an estate car, BUT, unless you happen to need the extra ground clearance and 4wd, i would agree with nameless drudge, that they are totally unsuitable for wfp window cleaning (unless you simply want the pose value!?). Even if you need 5 seats, you would be much better off with a crewcab van. I also have some very rural properties which i manage to reach just fine with my transit connect!. I am also a little curious as to why you think the most important aspect of a pickup is that it is "designed to get and run wet"?!. My transit connect also runs quite fine in the rain, it will even go through puddles!.
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I briefly used a large estate car, a Citroen XM, which is huge and probably one of the best designed purpose built load carriers ever. It carries around half a tonne and with the hyrdopneumatic suspension always compensates to allow for the same level ride, handling and comfort irrespective of being loaded or empty. It struggled ! Even with a 400 litre tank it was dangerously close to it's maximum weight capacity and although it drove ok it was putting considerable stress on the clutch, tyres and drivetrain to be used continuously at it's limit. It doesn't have any springs but a conventionally set up estate car would take a real hammering if you asked it to carry that much everyday. The pickup (Ranger in my case) can carry around 1,200 kg so at 500 kg isn't really stressed at all. This means that mechanical components, which seem to be rather over engineered, tend to be long lasting. The issue of operating wet is a very simple concept that refers to not having to worry about waterproofing anything. The pickup is designed to be open to the elements and any water collected in the tub simply runs out - try that in an estate car and any escaping water or indeed condensation means that the inside of the car resembles a greenhouse, the carpets stay damp and rot the floor from the inside out and it gets into the electrics. Add an additional safety point that the passengers are protected by two separate steel bulkheads and I know what I'd rather drive.
