Who can afford a new truck anymore?

TomSeller · Jul 31, 2015

ultrarunner said:
It's not just the arid southwest... Northern California has plenty too.

The SF Bay Area has a lot of old, rust free iron... cars are sent to the crusher/wrecking yards for two reasons... cost to pass strict emission requirements is prohibitive or "Voluntary" retirement where the vehicle is sold through the State program that can put $1500 or more in your pocket for "Volunteering" to send your vehicle to the crusher...

I don't think anywhere on the West Coast has a rust problem. Sure would be nice.

sd455dan · Jul 31, 2015

KennyG said:
Just saw an article that the average selling price of F-150's is $44,000 and the factories are running at capacity. So apparently a lot of people can afford a new truck.

And yet 1st time home ownership is the lowest it's been in over 25 years... and now home rentals are increasing but some of these same people are still buying a new truck on payments.

ultrarunner · Jul 31, 2015

sd455dan said:
And yet 1st time home ownership is the lowest it's been in over 25 years... and now home rentals are increasing but some of these same people are still buying a new truck on payments.

^^^ I'm seeing the same things...

I need a place to live and I need a way to get around... given the choice... home ownership wins as long as I have dependable wheels.

I don't fault people for buying trucks... it sure is good for the economy and America still builds a lot of them...

Gale Hawkins · Jul 31, 2015

Pick up trucks with more than two doors are expensive in KY. In Feb we picked up a 2007 Dodge Dakota Club Cab with 62K miles that is very clean for the daughter to drive to college next year. It was at the Chevy dealer and they were about ready to take it to the auction and got it for $8500 plus fee to do business with them. The Chrysler sales manager that I know said he would have gotten $10K for it on his lot.

Last month it was the other twin's turn. He picked out his own (as the daughter did) but it was from a guy that lived about 18 miles from us that bought it 6 years earlier when it had 34K miles on it and basically just drove it so it then had 110K miles on it. It is a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Plus quad cab so it has leather and full power that listed for $31K back in late 2001 when it was purchased.

The body was straight, paint was good, motor sounded good and the transmission shifted well and was HUGE compared to my 1986.5 Nissan Hard Body.

It had some codes and the airbag light was on but the son wanted it really bad. The guy came down to $5700 cash so we shook on the deal expecting to get an education on big old PU trucks.

After about a month and $2000 later it is looking sharp with 2002 Dodge OE 20" rims and a new set of tires off a 2015 Ram 1500 that the owner traded in with 130 miles on them for Michelin tires at my local tire dealer. A new grill and set of loaded headlights came to $150 that helped freshen up it 14 year old appearance. Went with a high end set of shocks and new front end under it since it had some wear and all of the rubber boots were coming off or already off. Actually the four new control arms, outer tie rod ends plus stabilizer bushing and end links all a grade above OE quality was not that bad. It now handles like a new truck.

Not sure if the 2002 with 110K miles is worth the $7700 but the son, his mother and sister are very happy as well as me. I rubbed it out by hand and did a lot of other detailing because he was out for the last month between church and scouting events. I wanted to know I did all I could to make the truck as safe as possible before I passed it to him plus I had a lot of fun working on it for a month.

The Dodge dealer told me a 2015 equipped like his runs about $50K today so we will see how it goes.

I love both the Dodge Dakota and the 1500 Ram but the Ram is a bit long and wide to be handy to drive with my physical limitations including no head rotation. I finally decided I would like a newer Nissan at some point and a 2005 up quad cab Nissan Frontier would be nice but a nice one with only 120K miles runs in the $10K-$15K range based on listings online I noticed. Thankfully we have a 2000 Town Car with only 170K miles in good shape as well as the high mileage 2002 Blazer as well as the old Nissan so I am set for a long time wheels wide.

The funny part when looking on line a very low mileage 2009 is running about only $10K less than a new 2015 in many types of four door PU trucks. Any used 10 year old/120K mile truck is going to need some work/tires/etc. I expect if I had the money I would still not buy new.

I guess PU's much be the rage with teenagers or at least with our two.

tman1020 · Jul 31, 2015

Here is a very interesting article that a friend sent me. Although sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who cares about this sort of thing.

8 'Most American' Trucks for 2014

I like the way it has a rating for where the profits of the company go.

sdef · Jul 31, 2015

tman1020 said:
Here is a very interesting article that a friend sent me. Although sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who cares about this sort of thing.

8 'Most American' Trucks for 2014

I like the way it has a rating for where the profits of the company go.

Had I seen this when looking for a HD 1/2 ton early this year, I would have paid the extra $2000 at that time and purchased the F150 instead of waiting for possible OEM rebates later in the year for GM and Ford. Fortunately I waited and my wants/needs/desires culminated into a Ram 3/4 ton diesel.

My wife and I always look for American made goods but seldom find any. So now I look for things made in the West but usually have to purchase Chinese. Without getting into a political debate on this thread, we are fueling the demise of this once great nation with the outflow of our dollars to a nation that does not like us and that is doing their best to replace us militarily and economically. We are pretty short-sighted.

Gale Hawkins · Jul 31, 2015

While we buy used because of the $$$ supply thing at our house I do think it helps circulate $$$ locally. We bought the 2002 Ram then that guy went an bought a newer used vehicle for his daily driver. We both paid new taxes at the courthouse. The $2K I spent on it went to vendors and shops.

Just a simple $5700 purchase had a positive ripple effect $$$ wise on several in the region and beyond. Buying used vehicles does more for the local economy than buying new perhaps. Even if buy a used import the same applies for the most part. The Ram was built in St. Louis I think.

For teenage drivers I just do not see buying new because of insurance alone. We do have full coverage with $500 deductible for the son's 2002 Dodge Ram. It added $32 a month to our home/farm/vehicle coverage which is over $5K. I am thankful for our rural coverage rates because one friend in town has to pay much more for their teenager.

TomSeller · Aug 1, 2015

Gale Hawkins said:
While we buy used because of the $$$ supply thing at our house I do think it helps circulate $$$ locally. We bought the 2002 Ram then that guy went an bought a newer used vehicle for his daily driver. We both paid new taxes at the courthouse. The $2K I spent on it went to vendors and shops.

Just a simple $5700 purchase had a positive ripple effect $$$ wise on several in the region and beyond. Buying used vehicles does more for the local economy than buying new perhaps. Even if buy a used import the same applies for the most part. The Ram was built in St. Louis I think.

For teenage drivers I just do not see buying new because of insurance alone. We do have full coverage with $500 deductible for the son's 2002 Dodge Ram. It added $32 a month to our home/farm/vehicle coverage which is over $5K. I am thankful for our rural coverage rates because one friend in town has to pay much more for their teenager.

I like to buy used as well. I've only bought new twice in my life and still have both of those vehicles. In regards to young drivers, the safety features on newer vehicles is important.

KiwiBro · Aug 1, 2015

sdef said:
So now I look for things made in the West but usually have to purchase Chinese. Without getting into a political debate on this thread, we are fueling the demise of this once great nation with the outflow of our dollars to a nation that does not like us and that is doing their best to replace us militarily and economically. We are pretty short-sighted.

Good onya. Wise call not to get into discussions about the farcical state of local manufacturing and the fecklessness of $30b or more monthly trade deficits. I tried and it didn't end well.