60 replies to this topic

[ntsqd]

Don't tell anyone, but they get gipped a lot. I know several guys with Automotive Attention Deficit Syndrome and rarely do they report the true purchase price of the vehicle. If KA is going to stick their grubby mitts in there where they don't belong they should expect to draw back a stub once in a while. I'm far from being an "Abolish all taxes" person, but KA is well beyond over the top.

[Riverrunner]

I usually buy used as well although sometimes there isn't much of a price difference depending on the rig, so I've bought new also.  I try to keep rigs as long as possible but as life changes, so do the vehicles.

 

My truck is 16 years old and it's a tool for sure.  More tool than I need now but it's paid for and has been for 10 years.  My first thoughts were I'd keep it forever.  I try to upgrade things when needed vs just putting the stock stuff back on.  I service it when needed and do most of that myself.  My rig is fairly modified and it's just how I want it.  As it ages repairs become more costly.  Seems like when it needs to go into the shop, it's at least $1800.  Thankfully it isn't often and I'm at the point most of the major maintenance items (wearable parts) are replaced so I should be good for a while other than the tranny which is still original.  

 

However, as technology gets "better", or products are improved, I find myself lusting for something newer.  The newer rigs are quieter, ride better, have more power without needing a "chip", and for my uses, the newer tranny's are really attractive.  I've looked and 3 to 4 year old rigs, priced out new one's but can't pull the trigger when I see the price.  Just not worth it when I consider it does the job for the most part.  When the tranny goes I'll just pour money into it so it's "bulletproofed" and probably drive it forever unless I win the lotto.  

[DannyB1954]

I think it is human nature to always wonder if something different might not be better. When I was living on a boat we had a cartoon posted at the head of the pier. It was a view down the dock with each boat owner looking lustfully at the next larger boat. The guy on the very end was using binoculars to view with lust the smallest boat. Bigger is more expensive, more problems. 

So there are advantages and disadvantages to most everything.  New vehicles is high cost, high registration, high insurance, and it still can spend a lot of time in the shop under warranty repairs. 

 

On diesels, the last time I shopped, the warranty is no better than on gas engines. If they really did run forever, why are manufacturers afraid of longer warranty? If they break down after the warranty expires, it can cost a fortune to repair.  

 

When I think,  if I just had this or that then I would be happy, I have to ask myself am I refusing to be happy until I get what I want? Like the song said, Don't worry, be happy. 

[ntsqd]

Re: diesels, the rest of the truck is the same, only the engine changed. Warranty covers the whole truck. Our Cummins 6BT has over 300k on it. It will out-live the body for sure.

 

Want what you have.

[Squatch]

Want what you have.

 

This is the best advice!

[Mickey Bitsko]

 X2 ^^    I have always built what I want, cause , what I want isn't factory made. Seems cheaper to maintain what you want in the long run , says someone on a "fixed income"

Technology is getting better, but most people I know [ mostly geezers ] can't afford 50-60k, 

 My Grandmother , back in the eighties, wanted a new Cadillac with manual windows, Dealer said no way, so she bought a  new four door Mercedes  with manual windows, God bless her...

 

Mickey

Edited by Mickey Bitsko, 10 June 2016 - 05:50 PM.

[MuleHawk]

If Toyota came out with a 3/4 or 1 ton SRW Tundra tomorrow I would break my piggy bank to get one. Until then I can't imagine getting rid of my current Tundra. I love it.

I was a life long American truck homer until I test drove the Tundra. I'm a Toyota guy now for good unless the big 3 really put out something great.


www.mulehawk.com

[Foy]

Being just a few generations removed from Scottish savages, I am simply too frugal (cheap) to buy new vehicles routinely.  Come September, the wife and I will have been married for 38 years and in that time we raised two sons and now have two grandchildren.  We have purchased 16 vehicles since 1978 and only 4 were new:  Two 4WD pickups for my professional exploration geologist work, a 1989 Isuzu Trooper which was an impulse purchase after a myriad of problems with a '77 Wagoneer (and the Trooper was one of the finest vehicles I've ever owned), and a 2010 Chevy Equinox purchased as a DD for my wife after the Federal Gummint decided our 1990 Suburban K1500 with 193,000 miles, bald tires, body damage, rust, and running on 6 to 7 cylinders was worth $4,500 under the Cash for Clunkers program. Two of the purchases left the fleet with our sons, now 33 and 29 years of age, and 3 were totalled (we're not bad drivers--older vehicles "total" quite easily given the costs of repairs vs the value, and 2 of the 3 were lost to Bambi collisions, one less than 2 years ago).  The 3rd total was when a VW bug turned left into the path of my fairly new '79 IH Terra pickup, so even that one wasn't my fault.

 

So, we generally buy vehicles 2 to 4 years old and have had pretty good luck.  One of my almost unbreakable rules is to have communication with the original owner, even when purchased from a dealer.  Doing that allowed me to learn that my present Wanderer had never towed anything larger than a small utility trailer, had never hauled a load which could not be hauled by a Tacoma, and had never so much as had passengers in the back seat (F350 Crew Cab diesel used by an oilfield service rep who put 750 to 1,500 miles a week on it).

 

I think the principal problems I've had with used trucks has been caused by rough use by yours truly, and mostly by towing heavy boats.  Half-ton Suburban automatic transmissions don't like to tow boats back and forth across North Carolina and Virginia in the summertime. Who knew?  Seems to me that there are often a host of small to large problems with new trucks, and even when under warranty, taking a truck to and from the shop regularly is a PITA. 

 

My old Ford does pretty much everything I want it to do:  Decent fuel mileage, simple maintenance, tows heavy when required to, rides good, and is easily the most reliable truck I've had since driving only trucks or SUVs since 1973. I'm now on a mission to select at least 2 new leaf springs (front), possibly all 4, 4 new shocks, and new rubber.  All of the above will run at least $2,000, but now that it's only a weekend warrior getting 7,000 to 10,000 miles per year, I expect the upcoming "investment" to last until I reach my late 60s in a few years.  By that time, I may want/need to find another lightly used one-ton diesel, as before I turn 70 I will have had the Ford for 20 years and it'll have over 300,000 miles on the clock. My DD for the last 3.5 years is a 2001 Mazda B3000 (read: a Ford Ranger), 2WD, 5-speed, 3.0 V6, 183,000 miles.  I purchased it for $3,300 and have had to spend some $$ on ball joints but that's about it.  Wrote a check to buy it.

 

As has been said above, I don't think there are any correct or incorrect answers--just an opportunity to look at what works for each individual truck user.

 

Foy

[cwdtmmrs]

MuleHawk, American truck? Good luck with that. Everything is made in Canada or Mexico. I wouldn't trade my 1986 Toyota Extra Cab turbo 4x4 for a new Tacoma. Weighs 4700 with a loaded wet FWC with all the extras.

 

cwd

[PaulT]

Our Tundras are apparently as much American sourced as the F150.
http://www.edmunds.c...s-for-2015.html

Paul