Who makes a work truck with creature comforts?

[buck12]

Plus one on the weather tech mats. The carpet in my 09 F150 still looks new and the truck has been used as a truck. There was a time one could order a truck liked you wanted. I ordered my 93 with all the creature comforts the day with a rubber floor. I still have that truck. Today it’s basically a rolling shop loaded with tools, chain saw, and everything thing else I need at our rural property. When I went to buy in 09 I asked if I could prefer a “nice” truck with a rubber mat I was told no. Progress.

 

[gsganzer]

I used to prefer a bare bones truck in regards to comfort options, but liked many of the mechanical options such as tow capacities, skid plates, alternator etc. As I've gotten older, I'm starting to like more comfort. Part of that might be because I have longer drives, like going to my deer lease 4.5 hours away or driving further for work. Heated/cooled seats and climate control are a must. Having a memory button for all your seat settings is also nice. I also like folding/retracting mirrors, especially if you park in a tight space, go through a drive through or stop at the mailbox. A rear camera is nice when you're hooking up a gooseneck or bumper pull by yourself.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Looking after a neighbors 15, F150 Lariat. Took it for a little drive on Friday around the property. I don't think a Gimmick has been put into a pickup that this thing doesn't have. With my more practical values, I found it just a little obscene. Not enough to have tilt steering, it has to be motorized. Sound system is awesome though!

 

[Redlands Okie]

Did not know motorized tilt steering even existed.

 

[buck12]

Did not know motorized tilt steering even existed.

Yep my wife’s Expedition has it.

 

[ruffdog]

My WT has a rubber floor, manual locks and windows, manual shift t-case, and manual seat. It does have a cd player though! :cool2:

 

[strantor]

Some people suggest you should follow the 1/10 rule and only spend 1/10th your annual income on a vehicle. I wonder how close people follow that?

If there was ever a time when this was financial advice that any responsible person could & should follow, I wish I had been born then. Today it sounds like a joke, or a borderline insult, depending on context. Basically the equivalent of "learn to code."

For grins I googled U.S. median income for 1970 ($9,870) and the price of a Ford truck in 1970 ($2,675). An F-100 was 27% of median American household income. You would "only" need to make double the median to buy that truck and be in the ballpark of a 1/10th thumb rule. 2020 median household salary is $78,500 and an F-150 can't be had for under $29,000 (37%). So if you're a neurosurgeon or a cardiologist making 300k/yr (3.7x the median) you're allowed a base model single cab truck. But more likely you're a 25-34 y/o hopeful initiate to the ranks of the vanishing middle class, married with a couple of kids and a single cab truck won't work for you. You and your spouse both work full time trying to match what your father was able to earn as a single breadwinner, and failing. More likely you were already saddled with debt before entering the game, just to get a piece of paper that's a new requirement to begin adulthood, so what's a little more? Not like saving up and buying something cash is even possible anyway, given your hemorrhaging bank account from mortgage payments for that house you just bought at 4x you and your spouse's combined annual salary (that same house that would have only cost your father about 2.5x his annual salary).

In summary, this ain't 1970. Nobody is following any 1/10th thumbrule unless they're filthy stinkin rich or drive a go cart to work.

 

[ruffdog]

It's harder now for the majority of workers to get ahead. How much can they save?

Why Americans are some of the world’s worst savers - MarketWatch

 

[oosik]

You are right - strantor. I just can not imagine being saddled with the costs involved in a college education and then taking on a home mortgage. Top it all off by deciding the job you finally hooked deserves a BMW, Mercedes or the like. When I finished college - I had no loan to pay off. I worked HARD during the summers so that I could pay cash as I went thru college.

Young folks, today, simply have a completely different reality.

I'm retired. I retired early ( at age 42 ) because financially I could. I have no financial encumbrances other than normal monthly bills. No loans, no mortgages.

The wife and I scrimped and went thru H*ll during our working years so that retirement would be this way.

It's very sad to see the country going the way that it is.

My parents & my wife's parents, both went thru the depression. We were both well taught on the value of a dollar and to save for retirement.

 

[Oaktree]

You are right - strantor. I just can not imagine being saddled with the costs involved in a college education and then taking on a home mortgage. Top it all off by deciding the job you finally hooked deserves a BMW, Mercedes or the like. When I finished college - I had no loan to pay off. I worked HARD during the summers so that I could pay cash as I went thru college.

Young folks, today, simply have a completely different reality.

I'm retired. I retired early ( at age 42 ) because financially I could. I have no financial encumbrances other than normal monthly bills. No loans, no mortgages.

The wife and I scrimped and went thru H*ll during our working years so that retirement would be this way.

It's very sad to see the country going the way that it is.

My parents & my wife's parents, both went thru the depression. We were both well taught on the value of a dollar and to save for retirement.

I don't know what you did for a living that allowed you to retire at 42. I don't think that if I saved every penny I earned from when I was a teenager until I was 42 I could have retired on it, and I've always been very thrifty myself.

Fact is, as someone else noted, it's not 1970 anymore. The cost of an education has risen exponentially. Vehicles, housing, all take a much bigger chunk out of a paycheck than they did 50 years ago. I wouldn't want to be a young person trying to make it today.