Pickup Philosophy Question

[ShenandoahJoe]

How many times per month do you have to need a pickup, before it makes sense to buy one?

 

[MotorSeven]

Hard to say...I've been driving one for 30+ years.....just don't care for cars much.

There are some really good deals out there on decent used trucks....shop around.

 

[TripleR]

If the only people who owned trucks were those who really "needed" a truck, probably half as many would be sold. My 90 year old mother drives a pickup and has for years, she just prefers them over cars. I tried living without a truck a couple of times, but like MotorSeven I don't care much for cars. We own farms, so I haul or pull stuff pretty often so I actually need one.

As mentioned there are a lot of good, lightly used pickups out there you could pick up if you only "need" one occasionally.

 

[jomar215]

Every time I owned a vehicle that was not a pickup it didn't last too long because I used it like a pickup. Any pickup I ever owned just lasted because I was using it as it was meant to be used.

 

[LD1]

You are thinking about it backwards. Its not having something to haul and in need of a truck.

Rather its having a truck and in need of something to haul

You will find all sorts of uses for a truck. (at least I do). And would never be without one.

Need a sheet of plywood and a few 2x4's......forget it without a truck.
Need to seed some grass and need a few bales of straw.....
towing a trailer....
Firewood....

And how in the heck are you supposed to go tailgating withtout a truck??

 

[Ed of all trades]

How many times per month do you have to need a pickup, before it makes sense to buy one?

Part of the question is "how many times" for a new truck, for a lightly used truck, for a rusty trusty truck? Different for each truck. My truck is 11 years old and worth around 1500 bucks. looks good drives good. I can't see me buying a new truck. Not for my needs

 

[wedge40]

I'm lucky cause I can afford two vehicles, ones a truck and the other is car that gets 50mpg. If I had to give one up it'd probably be the car. I hate having to borrow someones truck. I also hate having to plan when I need to do something. I'm not saying I couldn't get by without the truck, but life would be much harders without a truck. Even a wanna-be would be better then nothing.

Wedge

 

[randy41]

what do you do if you need one but don't have one? do you rent one?

 

[s219]

I have always wanted a pickup, and have come close to buying one many times. If I had the budget and room for multiple vehicles, I'd buy a truck in a heartbeat. But for a single vehicle, I just haven't been able to justify it -- an SUV and a trailer just works better for me. The SUV covers 90% of my needs very well, and the trailer takes care of the other 10%. Sometimes it's a hassle to go hitch up the trailer for stuff that could have just been thrown in the back of a pickup, but I guess that's a small price to pay.

 

[CBW1999]

If it were up to me, makes perfect sense to have one around....looks tough......manly......
Of course when the wife has her input-

I would tend to say that all it takes is one time of needing it to justify it (at that particular moment)..

I guess in reality though, more considerations. Does it also need to be a daily driver or are you able to have it as a second (or third) vehicle? In my circumstances, it would need to be a daily driver and be able to carry at least 4 of us. Being a daily driver, fuel economy is a big consideration based on what you expect to do with it.

Even if i didn't need it as a daily driver and, could afford it as a third vehicle- it would still need to carry 4 of us.

I hate to "overbuy" or "underbuy" what I need. A half ton is affordable to some extent but its capacity would be maxed out most of the time. A 3/4 ton is more suitable but increased expense across the board.

As jomar215 stated- using other vehicles to accomplish the same doesn't work out. I currently have a mini van and even though I have not exceeded any of the load ratings, I need to rebuild the transmission. It just isn't designed for daily use to haul stuff. either cargo or towing.

Not trying to side track, just sharing some of the continual head banging I experience everyday!

 

[k0ua]

I don't need a pickup truck.. but I will never be without one. My 2010 Silverado has less than 4000 miles on it. I would still have my 2000 Silverado with 38000 miles on it but a lady decided to blow thru a stop light and T-boned my truck driven by my wife. I would rather drive a nice pickup truck than any other vehicle. I drive a company car,( a dodge minivan) and the wife has her car. So it is just a weekend driver for me, but I sure enjoy owning one.

James K0UA

 

[TripleR]

I have always wanted a pickup, and have come close to buying one many times. If I had the budget and room for multiple vehicles, I'd buy a truck in a heartbeat. But for a single vehicle, I just haven't been able to justify it -- an SUV and a trailer just works better for me. The SUV covers 90% of my needs very well, and the trailer takes care of the other 10%. Sometimes it's a hassle to go hitch up the trailer for stuff that could have just been thrown in the back of a pickup, but I guess that's a small price to pay.

Makes sense to me, when I was young raising a family, my "pickup" was a VW pulling a trailer.

 

[case245]

i own a chevy 3500hd a use it every day its my work truck daily driver i say buy a used light duty like Triple R has stated the 1 tons throw you around alot

 

[nybirdman]

I have owned may-be 20 pick-ups over the years.I used to trade every 1-1/2 to 2 years.A couple times I traded for SUV's.Nice but a mistake,always have had a car also.I personlay can't be without a pick-up;does'nt get driven every day but when needed is available.I always buy one half ton extended cap four wheel drive and install a cap.I haul feed weekly for my birds(pheasant) tow my boat,can put canoes/kayaks on the rack,our camping trips and haul building supplies when needed.

 

[dmccarty]

TBN scares me sometimes...

The last couple of days I have been looking at truck and car prices...

My F350 will be 11 in a few more months and is getting close to 170,000 miles. Best vehicle I have ever had and I have no intention of getting rid of it anytime soon.

So why look at cars and trucks? The crazy drivers have been busy over the last couple of weeks and I got to wondering what I would buy if I had an accident and had to replace the truck. If the truck was totaled, I would not have much time to look for a new vehicle so I figured it would be better to go shopping now and hope I don't need to buy anytime soon. The F350 is a diesel and with the high price of fuel and the higher price of diesel I was curious if MPG had improved on the gassers.

My truck gets a consistent 21.x MPG. Usually around 21.7 and once or twice I managed to squeeze 22mpg out of a tank of fuel. :thumbsup: At the moment diesel fuel in my area is about 22 cents more per gallon than regular gas which cost an extra $7 to fill up. Not really a big deal given how much it costs to fill up in the first place. Maybe 5-7% extra. If I bought a new truck that the EPA says gets 20 MPG it looks to be a wash money wise on the price of fuel. The cost of a diesel engine is another discussion.

Looking at the MPG difference between a truck in a car it looks like at best I could cut the monthly fuel bill in half. MAYBE. So what do I get by saving $100 at most per month. Well, I loose the ability to haul stuff, better situational awareness, comfort, 4x4, and safety.

Course the MPG is a trifle compared to the cost of a new truck. We need a crew cab. When I bought the F350 the only way to get a crew cab was to buy a F250/350 but now you can get a four door in a F150. My quick look at prices was shocking. I was seeing F150s with CC, smaller engine, and mid range packages going for 35K-45K. I saw some over 50K! :shocked: Trying to replace the current truck with another F350 was 45K-60+K! :shocked::shocked::shocked: I saw one SUV that was around 50K and the month payment was a bit over $1,000. It did have a very high interest rate but $1,000 is a house payment.

An advantage in the car vs truck decision is the much cheaper price of a car. The mpg difference is nice but for the difference in utility between car and truck I would pick truck. For the price of the car or truck, it sure seems the car wins. But a mid size car is not all that much cheaper compared to a F150. Is a 5K cost savings and maybe a 25% improvement in MPG worth it over a truck? Danged if I know. :laughing: Some quick guestimates says that the F150 would cost an extra $100 a month to own over six years. Not chump change but it gets down to how much utility does one get out of the truck?

Course trucks are just flat out cooler than a mid size car so that is worth something. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I still don't know what I would do, but a car or a truck?

Later,
Dan

 

[heviduty]

My wife and I both have daily drivers so I, like James, don't need a truck. That said, I use mine maybe a couple of times a month just because I like driving it and she likes riding in it. Actual trucking of stuff occurs maybe 10 times a year. Most of the time it sits in the garage, in the dark ('09 with 16K on it). It's good to know that when I need ...er, want it, it's there with a full tank of gas.

 

[Jstpssng]

You are thinking about it backwards. Its not having something to haul and in need of a truck.

Rather its having a truck and in need of something to haul

You will find all sorts of uses for a truck. (at least I do). And would never be without one.

Need a sheet of plywood and a few 2x4's......forget it without a truck.
Need to seed some grass and need a few bales of straw.....
towing a trailer....
Firewood....
And how in the heck are you supposed to go tailgating withtout a truck??

Ah but that's where you're mistaken. We've all seen the classic "going down the road with a piece of clothesline run through the windows of the minivan... Both driver and passenger holding on to their side of the plywood or mattress. Other motorists doing their best to get past so that they aren't the ones in the way when things come flying off..."
I made the above comment on another site I once belonged to and several people said "what's wrong with that, I've dome it"
Ever seen an Accord leaving the lawn and garden center pulling one of those little trailers that's so small I wouldn't even buy one to go behind my ATV? Once again way overloaded.I remember dumping a yard of loam into one once, then watching them fill it with trees. It had on at least twice what the trailer was rated for.

I have never been without a pickup, and I doubt I ever will. Not only are they handy and necessary, but also much easier to get in and out of when joints are aching, but I find them more comfortable to ride in.

 

[heviduty]

Ah but that's where you're mistaken. We've all seen the classic "going down the road with a piece of clothesline run through the windows of the minivan... Both driver and passenger holding on to their side of the plywood or mattress. Other motorists doing their best to get past so that they aren't the ones in the way when things come flying off..."
I made the above comment on another site I once belonged to and several people said "what's wrong with that, I've dome it"
Ever seen an Accord leaving the lawn and garden center pulling one of those little trailers that's so small I wouldn't even buy one to go behind my ATV? Once again way overloaded.I remember dumping a yard of loam into one once, then watching them fill it with trees. It had on at least twice what the trailer was rated for.

I have never been without a pickup, and I doubt I ever will. Not only are they handy and necessary, but also much easier to get in and out of when joints are aching, but I find them more comfortable to ride in.

One of my sons has been a homeowner for a couple of years now. He has borrowed my truck several times, and recently wanted to get a small trailer to pull behind his wife's car ...a Honda Fit. They actually make a hitch for those! Being the supportive dad, and knowing he lives in a subdivision and has little room outside to park a trailer, I suggested one of those folding trailers from HF. My truck is still used for larger hauls, but they think their trailer is the greatest thing since sliced bread since it gives them the independence of hauling homeowner needful things without having to schedule a truck borrowing event. I have to say it fills the bill for what it was intended for, and when not in use it gets folded up and pushed against a wall in the garage.

 

[creekbend]

Just a thought. If and when you decide on whether or not to purchase a Pickup Truck, rest assured that people and friends that you know, that don't own a Pickup, will ask to borrow yours. The chances are even greater that they will ask you to help them also. The scenario is somewhat like winning the Lottery. Everyone wants a piece of the action.

 

[forgeblast]

My truck was traded in during the last days of cash for clunkers I was glad it made it to the dealership. We had to get a safer car for my wife, since that day i have missed it. I have to plan my purchases of lumber, rebar, mortar, or stone around my buddys schedual or pay extra for shipping. In two more years with no more daycare and my wifes car paid off ill be looking for a truck. I hope by that time they come out with a smaller diesel truck, or vw opens their plant and they bring their diesel truck into the market with out the chicken tax.
forgot that there is the saying once you own a truck your never with out friends (who need help moving etc...lol).