Should I consider selling or just keep driving?

[newbury]

To all,

As many of you know from prior postings, I have a 2009 GMC 2500 SLT with a Duramax engine.

I have always been a "Ford man" but took a step out and have been well-satisfied with my GMC. I originally bought the truck due to my hauling of a John Deere 4520 back and forth between two of our properties and due to the fact I drove a lot (25-35K miles per year). My parents who owned one of the properties noted, have recently downsized their land and I am likely also going to downsize from two tractors to one which will lower my hauling weight and duties substantially, though we are not there yet.

I was approached by a friend of mine yesterday inquiring about my truck. He recently bought a travel trailer and is looking for a used pickup to drive daily and tow his trailer and has expressed solid interest in my truck. Financially, he would prefer to spend less than what I would want out of a sale of my current truck, but he indicated he would "go up" to get a diesel of the type of mine. I believe him to be both serious and reliable.

My question is this:

my GMC just ticked over 92,000 miles and has been stone reliable. Aside from a power door lock that sticks and needs repair it runs great and has given me no trouble at all. I enjoy driving it still and would otherwise have no reason to be looking at another vehicle. I bought the truck using an equity line that I have had for years and paid for it cash sale at the time. I do owe my line a little back to zero it out but could easily pay it at any time, otherwise the truck is "mine". I am trying to decide about selling a truck that has given me good service and is approaching 100K miles to a buyer who essentially has sought me out (understanding his interest at this point seems serious but is preliminary). It has been my prior intent to continue driving my current truck and look at the GMC new offerings in a couple of years after the redesign. I am not excited about buying a new truck, but also know that given how much I drive I likely will be at 150K miles by the time this were to happen. My towing duties are lessening, so I foresee the possibility of looking more toward a 1/2 ton at that point and likely going gas, though I like diesel. My driving volume has diminished of late but I do not foresee driving less than 20K miles a year in the predictable future.

Do I tell my friend "keep looking, not interested in selling"; or giving him a price and seeing if he would be interested, with the knowledge this would mean going out earlier than intended and looking at something to replace what I currently have at a cost--trying to fit this in the context of my current mileage and knowing how reliable my current ride has been?

I should state that my current truck has been extremely well-maintained and though used for pulling has also been used for long driving. It is totally stock with no chips or mods and would likely be a truck from which one could get a lot of miles. I have little to no worry about the mechanicals of the truck but do have some slight concern about the development of other small buggaboos that could arise over 100K. I do not know if that concern is unfounded or not.

John M

(Had to break it up so I could read it)

It seems your friend may have picked up that you are thinking of "downsizing" in the future. And maybe he is trying to find a solution for both your needs.

We all know diesel is expensive to maintain, and unless you are towing or hauling it is often overkill. I recently have picked up several loads of pallet rack and all told I was probably getting close to my 11,500 lbs GVWR. I couldn't do that in an F150 gasser.

It's REAL tough to part with a good machine. Your GMC is just barely broken in for a diesel. However that being said my BIL has an older GMC dually with < 70k miles which he was going to sell me, but the truck has been a constant source of electrical problems, dying on him on long trips. I think he had the dealer replace the entire wiring harness once and went thru sseveral alternators.

If you are planning on buying a new 1/2 ton, and financing it anyways, this might be the time to do it. I'd wait until after Dec 21st, but end of year deals, hysterically low interest rates (my credit union, NFCU, is offering 1.99% for 6 years! that's only $550/month) it might be the time to buy.

Advise your friend of the quality of your truck, find the high price for your area and see if he still wants it, and ask for visiting privileges.

Personally though I'd keep the diesel, but then I think diesel is a man's perfume and Fabreze a man's deodorant.

 

[archerynut]

I have tried this three times. Once a $20, 000 car and twice a $5, 000 cars. All three got twice the mpg of my truck but in the end the math dud not work.

The truck still deprecated and the second vehicle's need upkeep, iinsurance, plates, ect. At best it was a wash.

The only positive was having a backup vehicle.

Chris

I second this. I tried it and had had the same result.

 

[megaboz]

Personally, I agree that it is really just getting broke in. As for fuel mileage between a 1/2 ton and the Duramax, I don't think you will see much of a difference. Very seriously doubt you will see much more than a 20% improvement in a gas truck when not towing, and then when you do tow, you will really be working the gas truck.

Also while diesels can cost a bit more to maintain, the diesel is generally more reliable when working them hard.

Since your truck is a 2009, I would guess you are about half way there at getting it paid off. So while you might be able to break even on selling it and buying a cheaper gas model, I would also tend to agree with what others say, don't sell to someone you know. This may not be a good thing down the road.

But if you are leaning towards selling it, suggest it on the high side and if he wants it, then he'll buy it. If he would look around, he probably can find a comparable truck around through a dealer network. A lot of people buy these trucks and do not use them for their intended purposes and often trade just to keep a new vehicle.

I also agree buying a car for better fuel mileage generally doesn't work out in the end unless you are buying it for a back up vehicle, and if it that is the case, I would probably go with a used one. There are multiple factors as to why this doesn't usually work, payments, insurances, taxes, maintenance, etc...

 

[kensnelling]

If I was in your position I would keep the current truck for now, even after you sell the 4520. You may find the 2320 tractor to be too small for your needs and have to step up to a larger tractor, not to mention if you use the same trailer to haul both I'm presuming that's a pretty heavy trailer.

Depending upon what trailer you'll use to haul your 2320 and what implements, even with a standard duty 16'-18' dual axle trailer you'll still be pulling 3500#+. Easily within the range of a 1500 pickup, but the heavier duty suspension and larger brakes will make an easier and safer tow using the 2500 pickup.

I was in the automotive business for over 35 years, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen people under evaluate their truck needs and purchase a vehicle that wasn't suited to their needs.

Ken

 

[KYDan]

The LBZ is the best light truck diesel engine that GM every used, I bought an early 2006 with it and it's still going strong. It consistently achieves 17-18 mpg unloaded and will tow anything that I have with ease, including a 6 ton dump trailer fully loaded. It's been a great truck and I intend to use it until/unless it literally until it completely craps out.

 

[crashz]

If it were me, I'd stay with the truck you have. I have a feeling that you'll get into a new 1/2 ton, like it for what it is, but wish you kept your old truck.

I too am considering the beater car approach. I love my 2500HD, but I put 30K miles a year on my vehicles. Half or more of those miles are for work, which I get paid mileage. At 15mpgs (my truck is gas), 51 cents per mile is barely covering the cost of fuel, maintenance and added insurance (insurance adds a premium for using your personal vehicle for work). With a cheap car (Ford Focus, Saturn, Chevy Cobalt) I could get 35 mpgs and make up quite a bit of that difference and avoid piling up the miles on my baby.

I've done the math and do see a net positive result of a beater car, but thats for my particular situation.

 

[coobie]

Keep the truck and the friend. The two don't mix well.

+ 1 NEVER sell to friends & family.coobie

 

[Rustyiron]

It doesn't sound like you really want to sell it anyway. I think that there are a lot of folks out there that would love to find that era diesel far off into the future years (pre tier 4? emissions) and especially if your use is declining, keeping your milage down some. I think that if you weigh it out (dollar wise) you will not get hurt keeping it, and personally I'd rather not support the new taxpayer subsidised GM on a new vehicle.

 

[jcmseven]

Thanks for all the insightful responses. I have been working nights for the past few days and am just now able to respond back. I have given this some thought, and am likely going to keep my current truck. There were several reasons for this thought process, and the on line help here has helped me concrete my decision. A few reasons and general thoughts that parallel some of the feedback:

1. I like the truck I am driving. Though I think everyone would like the chance to get something new, my desire for trading every 2-3 years has diminished with this truck. It has been that good.
2. I have no concern about selling this vehicle to my friend for the reason it might give him trouble. I know it is a good truck and he is a small retail business owner, so he knows well how selling both new and used things rolls. I have sold and bought innumerable fairly pricey new and used items with him and have no concern here. My MAIN concern on this potential sale was that this truck, for me to sell it at all, was out of his budget by a few thousand dollars. He likely would have fished and gotten the dollars needed to buy because he wants a truck like mine but this may not have been the right thing. Therefore, I would have felt obligated to give him a "better deal" to help him out possibly compromising how much I made. I already have 3-4 people who have expressed an interest in the truck for over $30K (including the salesman at my dealership) so I did not see that this person could have bettered that--nor would I have felt good about asking him to do so.
3. "Needing a diesel". I probably no longer need a diesel truck for my regular work and towing duties, but every now and then I pull a 10K load and it is nice to have. I also drive a lot. I like diesels and the power they have, especially this one. Totally stock, but running full synthetic lubricants and high-quality filters, it has more power and runs better than my 6.4L Ford or my prior fully hopped up 7.3L--by a lot. Given how much I drive I figure having a diesel with heavy duty components helps me even without heavy loads all the time as the engine and components likely handle this wear better as well. I also note that resale on the 6.6L Duramax pre-urea (as mine is, it has the DPF) flattens out from 75K and on. Therefore, I suspect my resale would be very similar with 110-120K on the truck as to the current mileage. I could get by pretty easily on the more-capable gas engined trucks now and likely with a 1/2 ton, but having the extra capability is nice when the need arises.
4. I ran the numbers on getting a used or cheap car for everyday driving. I, in fact, have done this several years ago with another truck. It simply never worked out financially. The price on the car had to be so low and the mileage difference so great that it would put me in a little box that I would likely hate driving the 100 miles or so of commute I have per work day. My truck gets 20-22 MPG all day on the highway and 17-18.5 in mountainous combination driving, so I know of no truck, even 1/2 ton, that would beat that by much-if at all. Even with the high price of diesel right now, it still is less expensive to drive per week on fuel than my wife's Acura V6 MDX for example per unit driving. I also have essentially paid the truck off (buying it in part with a floating line that I maintain and which offers at least for now some tax advantages for me) and I likely will close that out by year's end.

Finally, and perhaps most important, I too am someone who gets attached to equipment I like and wants nothing to do with equipment I don't. My wife "accuses" me of wanting to try everything out there that is motorized but she even admits if I find something I like I am unlikely to let it go. When I went into the garage and looked at the truck I thought "this thing may die tomorrow, but it likely won't and if it does I can deal with having it at that time." I am likely going to start looking at around 125-150K hopefully just because I want to but right now there is nothing I can see I would rather have. Government bailout nothwithstanding (I really do not like this either) this has been an excellent truck so far. When I look again, I will do my due-diligence by looking at each brand but right now I think I will just keep what I have. Thank you to all for the opinions.

John M

 

[meburdick]

+1

Things that you'll tolerate and don't even notice, he may not. Never a wise choice to sell something to a friend or a relative that you like.