Trying to make a difficult decision

[clemsonfor]

8K home owners loan

sell truck

buy $1000 1994 4x2 F150 weekend use only liability only

buy $7 used 2000 ish DD... 4 cylinder Honda civic...accord, etc STick to something reliable... honda, toyota... My BMWs have been great. :thumbsup:

still have a truck and an inexpensive DD. pay 400 a month on your own loan

BasicaLLY what i and others agree, but i do have to argue with your prices, i have never seen a 1K$ 1994 f-150 or a $6K civic. For a $1K around here you would have to buy a 25-30 year old beat to $h17 f-150.

 

[Milton Burro]

Perhaps the biggest contributers to the bills we have vs. other families at our stage is the hobby farm - small herd of Galloway cattle, tractor and the rural lifestyle in general. But we are not willing to give that up as it is a way of life.

Adding up the records showed that we are spending a whopping amount of cash in vehicles and fuel. I have a 2009 Ford F-150 which I absolutely adore but it is costing me $875 per month in financing. My wife's van is paid for and has a lot of life left in it. I also work 50 km away (cost of rural living) so that is 100km trip to work. My F-150 is good on gas for a 1/2 ton truck but it still adds up to $600 per month in gas. So I am spending about $1500 in my vehicle alone not including maintenance etc.

It seems to be the only place we can realistically cut to balance the budget so to speak.

There is very little I need a truck for around here but when I do it is indispensable. Although I thought I would, I do not find my self hauling back stuff from auctions. The truck comes in handy when I need to make a trip to the dump for something. It was handy for me to take my bucket in to get a quick attach plate welded on and to pick up a heavy insulated dog house that a buddy built for me. A neighbor gave away 15 square bales because they were a year too old for her horses. Probably 1/2 a dozen times a year - you get the idea.

Other than that, it is my daily driver to work and a heck of a nice daily driver it is. A pleasure to drive on country roads in inclement weather. We do get some weather up here in the Toronto are and sometimes some not so well plowed roads.

I've done some research and found that I could sell the truck for about what I owe on it. Realistically, I don't see myself driving a little Honda Fit to work so I will step down to a small SUV like a Subaru Forester or so - about 50% more fuel efficient. It would cut down on what I pay a month by about $300. I could buy a used one about as old as my truck and get it paid off in about as much time as there is left to pay off my truck.

At the end of the day I estimate I would save about $500 a month.

Of course, I am going to be mighty dissapointed on those days when a truck could be very useful! I have found that I could rent a pick up for $110 for the weekend taxes in so that is always an option. I have pondered purchasing a used old pickup for the farm but I worry it won't get used much and will just decline in the weather. I find vehicles don't do well when they sit around and don't get used.

What do you guys think?

My .02, decide between what it is you need, and what it is you want.

You need dependable transportation, maybe back off on the auctions. Hobby farms are a money pit and it's hard to pass up an auction when they have something you "need" for the farm. Since you've stated the farm you are keeping, perhaps you could look closer at what you spend on it beyond the necessities.

Renting a truck when needed seems like an expensive option. Maybe pay a buddy to use his might be a lesser cost (i.e.: full tank of fuel) with a 12 pack thrown in. You would have to pay for fuel in the rental anyway.

I know for me, I could shave hundreds off my monthly expenses by cutting out the "wants".

Good luck.

 

[schmism]

BasicaLLY what i and others agree, but i do have to argue with your prices, i have never seen a 1K$ 1994 f-150 or a $6K civic. For a $1K around here you would have to buy a 25-30 year old beat to $h17 f-150.

ok $1500 for an early 90's f150...easy to do in my area... quick check of CL in my area lists like 20-30 decent options. another 50+ that could be had for less than half that but "need work"

CL lists 40+ decent "honda" between 6-7K in my area. both private party and sealerships. most years are early 2000. "toyota" lists another 40+ cars including a handfull of trucks.. which would satisfy both options if pick one with a 4cyl.

needless to say my numbers are very reasonable for private party sales of decent used cars.

 

[mjncad]

I have a friend who lives in Toronto, and she pays $2,500 a year in auto insurance for a Nissan Versa. The price of living in the city. On the other hand, we have a 10-year old full size pickup, a 5-year old CRV, and a 15-year old Accord and pay about $1,400 a year to insure them. all the vehicles are paid for. Even though the OP lives outside Toronto, he may be paying exorbitant rates due to where in Canada he lives.

Since the OP wants to maintain a rural lifestyle, that means he needs a pickup of some sort. My guess is he needs to find a way to make his hobby farm earn some or all of its keep, or cut back on the non-essentials of the farm until finances get better, even if that means not farming; but living on a quiet piece of property whose sole purpose is to provide privacy.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I you want to get out from under that $800 / month truck payment, but still must have a newer truck (instead of a trailer to pull with your van) check out something like this on a 2011 Sierra / reg cab / 2wd.

Purchase Financing Payment
$122 Bi-weekly
84 months
$0 Down Payment
$1,450 Freight

Even adding tax etc you're still probably under $4K per year compared to $9,600 with the current truck. May not be as fancy BUT.............

Ford / Dodge may have something similar.

 

[clemsonfor]

I hear all this talk about selling the newer F-150 and getting an old truck and an old daily driver. If the older replacement pickup is going to be on the road at all, it's another plate to purchase and another vehicle to insure. Is that really going to be that much of a step in the right direction? Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to have an old clunker as a long distance daily driver. The other aspect of high insurance rates is paying for a high annual mileage commute. When I retired, my mileage went down to less than 4K miles a year, and the insurance rates looked real nice after that.

You missed many of our points. The older say 1995 truck is to sit at the house for hay trips lumber trips pulling garbage trailer pulling stumps hauling stuff in general for his farm. The second car is what he would drive on the road to work 30 miles each way. Look at my sig line. I have all those vehicles tagged and insured. The K10 is a farm use truck as thats its primary duty. All 3 of the vehicles besides the toy do not add up to the cost of the annual tax and tag of the toy (yes im talking annual tax and tags on all three). In this state an 09 f150 will cost you at least $300/yr esp if its a loaded one like he has.

You will now say yes but those clunkers require maintence, i do it all and what i dont or cant do i have done when i can afford it, after all i have extras. I dont put into all these 4 vehicles a year even 2 of his payments a year.

I also said the cheapest solution would be to buy a honda civic or accord and a small trailer to haul the stinky garbage water bags of trash. That would be the cheapst solution. And i would get a civic or accord from the late 90's with 150K on it so its fully depreciated

 

[RayCo]

I also vote for selling the truck. If nothing else, having a car payment sucks, as a new vehicle is the worst investment you can make. I once bought a 3 year old vehicle on a five year loan. After the novelty of the vehicle wore off, it sucked to pay for, and I don't think I'll do that again.

So, I'll add another vote for selling the truck and getting an SUV and a trailer. Unfortunately, a 1/2 ton SUV won't help with your gas bill much, so I guess you wouldn't want to get that. My wife has an 02 GMC Envoy, and the gas mileage in that is noticeably better than a 1/2 ton truck. (Although the tank is also noticeably smaller!) I also think that it would be capable of towing 98% of the stuff that I'd want to tow. For the other 2%, I'd hire a rollback.

Spending money every month on buying something that depreciates as quickly as a vehicle really sucks. Hard.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

So, I'll add another vote for selling the truck and getting an SUV and a trailer. Unfortunately, a 1/2 ton SUV won't help with your gas bill much, so I guess you wouldn't want to get that.

Wife has a VAN - paid for - don't think he needs a SUV to tow a small trailer and certainly not as a commuter vehicle. A small utility trailer that holds as much as a 1/2 ton is relatively inexpensive (even new) and less used. Most current vans are capable of towing say 1,500 lbs.

 

[Soundguy]

I hear all this talk about selling the newer F-150 and getting an old truck and an old daily driver. If the older replacement pickup is going to be on the road at all, it's another plate to purchase and another vehicle to insure. Is that really going to be that much of a step in the right direction? Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to have an old clunker as a long distance daily driver. The other aspect of high insurance rates is paying for a high annual mileage commute. When I retired, my mileage went down to less than 4K miles a year, and the insurance rates looked real nice after that.

I read it as a single old er vehicle.. which means he could xfer the plate and the insurance.. thus a net savings..

soundguy

 

[clemsonfor]

Wife has a VAN - paid for - don't think he needs a SUV to tow a small trailer and certainly not as a commuter vehicle. A small utility trailer that holds as much as a 1/2 ton is relatively inexpensive (even new) and less used. Most current vans are capable of towing say 1,500 lbs.

Snauz makes a good point that i forgot. His wife owns a mini van. Yea its not cool to roll up to lowes in a van to load your 4x8 triler up, but that 4x8 will haul more than a ranger or s10 behind that van and easily haul equal to a 1/2 ton bed capacity. So i would get a CL trailer to tow behind the van and get a late 90's honda civic. And if a year you cant take not having a truck, buy you a $3K one get an older 1/2 ton 2wd or a ranger and laugh at all the others.