What makes more sense...driving a long paid for old truck, or making huge payments??

[ModMech]

Now...my GMC has always been 100% reliable and has never let me down in any way. It amazes me that GM now prices HALF TON models of my truck ($33,000 new) at a price of $75 grand. My selling dealer is long gone but they GM knows I have the truck so they send me email and snail mail all the time to trade in and trade up.

Makes me laugh...what would be the purpose of doing that? No thanks. I will stick with my Y2K model. I always wonder why so so many people just HAVE to HAVE something new that depreciates a third once you drive it home. NO THANKS.

I agree!

People mistakenly *think* that new(er) vehicles are "better" or less costly to operate (repairs etc). LOL!!!!

EVERY vehicle costs SOMETHING to drive: Gas, insurance, tires, brakes, payments - or - repairs. They purchase new vehicles with a warranty so they do not have to pay for repairs. Well the manufacturers have fooled them because you can fix a TON of stuff on an OLD vehicle for even low payments on a NEW vehicle under warranty of $250/month = $3000/year!!!!

 

[two_bit_score]

I agree!

People mistakenly *think* that new(er) vehicles are "better" or less costly to operate (repairs etc). LOL!!!!

EVERY vehicle costs SOMETHING to drive: Gas, insurance, tires, brakes, payments - or - repairs. They purchase new vehicles with a warranty so they do not have to pay for repairs. Well the manufacturers have fooled them because you can fix a TON of stuff on an OLD vehicle for even low payments on a NEW vehicle under warranty of $250/month = $3000/year!!!!

From a budgeting stand point most people should continue setting aside a portion of the payment once the vehicle is paid off into an account to pay for maintenance and repairs on the vehicle and to accumulate a down payment of, hopefully, a full payment to replace the vehicle when the time finally comes to replace it.


TBS

 

[Oaktree]

Personally I like the new features in cars. We often take trips in the country and being able to push a button and find out how much gas is and have it mapped out so I know just how far out of the way is nice. Never having to remove keys from my pocket to open a door (or dealing with frozen locks) or start a car is great. The power rear door on the Rav4 is great when you're pushing a full shopping cart and it's raining out. I never really cared much about them in the past, kind of thought they were just unneeded gimmicks but as I embrace change I actually find a number of them are very useful.

Meh. To me most of that stuff is either annoying, (like lane drift alarms, tire pressure monitors, etc) or just one more thing to break. Now you KNOW that power hatch is going to fail open. On a rainy day. When you're already late to something important.
Trouble is, it's all but impossible to buy a vehicle that isn't "loaded". It kind of frosts me that I'm forced to buy a bunch of gadgets or pseudo-safety features whether I want them or not.
I do appreciate power windows and a USB/SD slot in the radio so I can play my own music. I'm on the fence with ABS brakes. I could live quite nicely without the rest.
[/grumpy old man mode: off]

ISTM that cars are about as good as they can get as far as reliability, etc. go so manufacturers have to add all these bells and whistles to drive sales.

From a budgeting stand point most people should continue setting aside a portion of the payment once the vehicle is paid off into an account to pay for maintenance and repairs on the vehicle and to accumulate a down payment of, hopefully, a full payment to replace the vehicle when the time finally comes to replace it.

+1 on that. When I bought my first (and only) new car right out of school my parents suggested I do just that...set aside the amount of the car payment each month once it was paid off. Glad I listened, have been able to pay cash for every vehicle I've owned since.

 

[WilliamBos]

In your case, it is barely broke in. Would keep driving it. Unless you have an upgrade itch.

I put on 25,000 miles per year, so keeping something longer than 10 years is rare.

 

[sld]

I'm in the camp of liking the newer features. My Taurus has heated and COOLED front seats. Very nice feature.

Now my old 2007 truck has none of these current features and that's ok, I guess, since I plan to keep it for awhile. Not as much to have to mess with later if it goes bad. But if being responsible with our money was not an issue, I would be driving a brand new truck right now. They are cool!

 

[tcartwri]

+1 on that. When I bought my first (and only) new car right out of school my parents suggested I do just that...set aside the amount of the car payment each month once it was paid off. Glad I listened, have been able to pay cash for every vehicle I've owned since.

There's absolutely no point in doing this. Your money will be sitting in an account somewhere accumulating no interest. Paying cash will actually work against your bargaining position as they will kick in extra discounts if you finance with their preferred lender. Keep the cash in your pocket and use it for something else. Your cost of ownership will be exactly the same.

 

[crazyal]

Progress/change in certain areas appeals to me. I like the old (50's era) Dodge Power Wagons, but if I had to drive coast to coast on a schedule today, I know a modern truck would get me there more comfortably.

Added features are great, so long as they are working.

My issue with added complexity, is reduced reliability/functionality. 2 true stories:

Christmas eve, down at my friend's commercial shop. Lady had stopped in to the convenience store next door to grab a bag of milk. Left minivan running, with a kid strapped into a car seat in the back - van locked, line of sight to the cash. Comes out, keyfob doesn't work, no mechanical locks on exterior. Comes into the shop in a panic. While a couple of us started looking at the least invasive way to break into the van, another mechanic managed to tear her fob down and fix the switch/wire problem - not many people are going to be able to do this on the side of the road.

#2. Same shop, long term customer stops by to chat with the owner. He knew they had a new car, and asked how they liked it. After eyes rolled up, he was told..... just after they got it, the wife twangs the sideview mirror pulling into the garage at home. Hubby comes home to upset wife... he talks her down, says no big deal, well get that "buffed out" . Hubby goes to hop in the new car to go to work the next morning - No Start. It had to be towed to the dealer to have the mirror fixed and the Lane Departure system reset and calibrated.

That mirror was twanged on a modern Subaru. While I'm usually impressed by the drivetrain Fuji puts in those products, what I do find ironic about it happening to this brand is the lifestyle marketing Subaru runs with. Canada has plenty of remote areas to put canoes and kayaks in the water - many of those have pretty tight spots to park your vehicle into - imagine jockeying that vehicle into a tight cove and tweaking said mirror on a tree ? We're talking about places where even today you could be walking a very long time to get cell reception.

Modcons are great so long as the keep working, or at least don't disable a critical function when faulty.

One function I would like to see on modern cars/trucks is low oil shutdown. Why can I buy a $300 generator that has it, but not a $90k truck ? Today, I don't buy the A faulty Sensor Might Leave Somebody Stranded argument. Vehicles already have critical sensors on-board that will take an engine down when they fault, and as most vehicles have in-dash screens already, it would be trivial to program an Override Low Oil Sensor Now command.

Rgds, D.

Most brands have already thought of the problems you mention. For example the wife's Rav4 has a key in the FOB for the driver's door. Others are like the Rav4's start button. The FOB has a RFID chip inside that doesn't need power. As long as you get it close to the door handle or start button you can open the door/ start the vehicle just like a badge. But it requires the owner to read the manual. As for the lane departure, did you try turning it off? On a friend's Legacy it comes on when you turn on the engine on but then you can just turn it off. However vehicles shutting down due to a bad sensor is not something new. I had to fix a 2000 Santa Fe that had a bad crank position sensor. It would drive about 3 miles then go into limp mode. I have a 77 International that's sat for months now because the pickup in the distributor is weak and needs replacing. It's the third time it's needed replacing over the last 10 years. The problem is that it's not made anymore and the best fix is to try and find parts from a Ford and convert it. That means going through a junkyard looking for a specific part and lots of work.

I would take anything electronic made today over something made 10 years ago or older.

 

[crazyal]

Meh. To me most of that stuff is either annoying, (like lane drift alarms, tire pressure monitors, etc) or just one more thing to break. Now you KNOW that power hatch is going to fail open. On a rainy day. When you're already late to something important.
Trouble is, it's all but impossible to buy a vehicle that isn't "loaded". It kind of frosts me that I'm forced to buy a bunch of gadgets or pseudo-safety features whether I want them or not.
I do appreciate power windows and a USB/SD slot in the radio so I can play my own music. I'm on the fence with ABS brakes. I could live quite nicely without the rest.
[/grumpy old man mode: off]

ISTM that cars are about as good as they can get as far as reliability, etc. go so manufacturers have to add all these bells and whistles to drive sales.



+1 on that. When I bought my first (and only) new car right out of school my parents suggested I do just that...set aside the amount of the car payment each month once it was paid off. Glad I listened, have been able to pay cash for every vehicle I've owned since.

Maybe it'll break but my sister had an older Senna mini-van with over 200k miles on it and it worked just fine on it. The only thing that broke was the side door when one of her kids decided to see how many times he could force the door open while it was trying to close. So, no, I don't expect it to fail anytime soon. In fact I would never buy another SUV without it. I get that they are not for you and it would be nice if they offered both. But most people want these features. We no longer have radios with a needle manually connect to a button you had to push in to moves back and forth to get to a preset station. Sure they were pretty reliable but not very user friendly. I grew up with those radios, I like what we have now much better.

As for reliability, our Rav4 goes 10k miles on an oil change. It's been a number of years since that's been the case. My 2000 Tundra doesn't. I haven't read anything saying that doing so has caused an increased number of engine failures. The automatic transmission never needs to have fluid added. It comes sealed with the correct level and type installed. People easily go 200k miles with this transmission without failure. Ford is switching to aluminum and I can see a day in the near future where composites will take over. Cars rusting out could be a thing of the past. I would say cars are still improving in reliability.

 

[two_bit_score]

There's absolutely no point in doing this. Your money will be sitting in an account somewhere accumulating no interest. Paying cash will actually work against your bargaining position as they will kick in extra discounts if you finance with their preferred lender. Keep the cash in your pocket and use it for something else. Your cost of ownership will be exactly the same.

If one thinks inside the box you my be correct, technically. But one reason for doing this is a lot of people will not have the money when the need comes unless they follow a schedule and set it aside each month.

I made a large down payment on my last new truck and got the financing discount, low interest, commercial package w/ GM toolbox, running boards, and bed liner free. Even had an extra $2,000 incentive from my GM card. Then after about 6 months I paid it off. I could do it over again easily because I've earmarked money for transportation expense on a regular basis. But my 2011 3/4 Ton only has 40,000 miles.

TBS

 

[tcartwri]

If one thinks inside the box you my be correct, technically. But one reason for doing this is a lot of people will not have the money when the need comes unless they follow a schedule and set it aside each month.

I made a large down payment on my last new truck and got the financing discount, low interest, commercial package w/ GM toolbox, running boards, and bed liner free. Even had an extra $2,000 incentive from my GM card. Then after about 6 months I paid it off. I could do it over again easily because I've earmarked money for transportation expense on a regular basis. But my 2011 3/4 Ton only has 40,000 miles.

TBS

That's great, but what did it benefit you. What else could you have done over that period with the accelerated payments you made on that loan.