Is it worth is to ever buy a new truck again vs maintaining your current one?

[z987k]

I can only imagine the quality of a unibody ford vehicle with a sales price in the low to mid 20’s. I’ve got nothing to base my skepticism on, they might be great, but given all of the supply chain and vehicle pricing issues out there it would surprise me that ford would knock it out of the park at this time.

It's the same body as the small SUV thing they have that's been out awhile.

It's the perfect "truck" for the vast majority of people that own trucks. Basically if you don't haul or tow anything, or use 4wd and/or have a short bed it's the truck for you, which is 80% of the truck market. You can buy a new Ranchero for 20k and get 40mpg, and say you have a truck.
It's so popular I don't even think you can order a 2023, book is filled. I think the earliest you can get one is 2024 at this point.

 

[jimh406]

It's the perfect "truck" for the vast majority of people that own trucks. Basically if you don't haul or tow anything, …
It's so popular I don't even think you can order a 2023, book is filled. I think the earliest you can get one is 2024 at this point.

First, how do you know what people are doing with their trucks? Most people who don’t haul or tow don’t have trucks as far as I know. But, if they are buying them just to drive big vehicles, the Maverick or even the Ranger doesn’t fill that need.

If they are sold out, maybe it’s they underestimated how many people would want an imaginary truck because they had no idea how high fuel prices would go. It may not be because it’s great. Maybe they will be great, but most people wouldn’t judge longterm reliability based on a year.

 

[displacedtexan]

Yep and they put diesel in boards in 60s model Buicks and make gaskets out cardboard...do they run sure...are they reliable...nope...

Hasn't everyone made gaskets out of cardboard?

 

[z987k]

First, how do you know what people are doing with their trucks? Most people who don’t haul or tow don’t have trucks as far as I know. But, if they are buying them just to drive big vehicles, the Maverick or even the Ranger doesn’t fill that need.

If they are sold out, maybe it’s they underestimated how many people would want an imaginary truck because they had no idea how high fuel prices would go. It may not be because it’s great. Maybe they will be great, but most people wouldn’t judge longterm reliability based on a year.

Because the best selling trucks are barely trucks.
How people build them is the super short bed, ulta mega cab, no 4x4 and no tow package.
Not really a truck at that point. They've SUV's with a tiny bed. They're at the point that the "long" bed is now what a short bed used to be. The short bed is a useless 4.5-5ft.

 

[Clarkdale17]

Buy yourself a beater car for a few thousand and drive that truck into the ground. When something inevitable goes wrong and needs to get fixed on the truck you can drive the beater to work.

I just can’t justify the cost of a new vehicle to myself and the only reason I would do it was if I was always worried about reliability. That being said I’ve got a buddy that just had to drop a new transmission into his 2019 truck out of the blue so you just never know when something’s gonna go wrong even on a new truck.

My old man told me if you’re gonna drive old shit you’d bettered have a few pieces of old shit to drive

 

[jimh406]

Because the best selling trucks are barely trucks.
How people build them is the super short bed, ulta mega cab, no 4x4 and no tow package.
Not really a truck at that point. They've SUV's with a tiny bed. They're at the point that the "long" bed is now what a short bed used to be. The short bed is a useless 4.5-5ft.

I’d say most people don’t build them. They buy what is on the lot.

Seems like you are guessing at what’s useful. If you aren’t, feel free to post links to your data. Fwiw, I have a F450 CC Long Bed diesel. But, even a short bed has capability that a SUV can’t match. Have you ever put a bloody animal in the back of a SUV, for instance? How about bales of straw, firewood, mulch, or lumber?

 

[displacedtexan]

I’d say most people don’t build them. They buy what is on the lot.

Seems like you are guessing at what’s useful. If you aren’t, feel free to post links to your data. Fwiw, I have a F450 CC Long Bed diesel. But, even a short bed has capability that a SUV can’t match. Have you ever put a bloody animal in the back of a SUV, for instance? How about bales of straw, firewood, mulch, or lumber?

I've put all of those in my wife's SUV... Even one of those half ton trucks I dislike would have been way better and required way less cleaning after.

 

[Silveroddo]

It's the same body as the small SUV thing they have that's been out awhile.

It's the perfect "truck" for the vast majority of people that own trucks. Basically if you don't haul or tow anything, or use 4wd and/or have a short bed it's the truck for you, which is 80% of the truck market. You can buy a new Ranchero for 20k and get 40mpg, and say you have a truck.
It's so popular I don't even think you can order a 2023, book is filled. I think the earliest you can get one is 2024 at this point.

I understand the concept and I agree with most of your points, but after shopping for a mid size suv for my wife I came to the conclusion they’re all junk, but we settled on an awd Ford Edge w/ a standard v-6. I looked into the Maverick when my buddy told me about them and judging by the drivetrain options they seem like lower on the pecking order than an escape. I could be wrong but they look like a 100k mile shit box to me, and maybe that’s fine, atleast they’re not charging like it’s a ridge line or something.

 

[Clarkdale17]

This would be my motivation to buy new over used or "keeping her".

Yes, of course its cheaper to fix what you got and keep running it.

Reliability comes into question when hunting season involves 8-12+ hours of driving to the hunt. If you're hunting local and it breaks down, no big deal. Run it to your mechanic/preferred guy/your garage. Call one of your buddies to help drag it there. You can be back in action pretty fast, fairly cheap.

Now the same situation 12 hours from home is a completely different deal. Maybe you can do the work yourself and you packed some tools with you - great. If its something simple like a water pump, belt, u-joint, alternator, etc you could get it fixed in the parts house parking lot IF you can make it there. If its something deeper you're looking at quite a bill just to get yourself home... and then your hunt is likely ruined. Not mentioning the fact that there are a lot of parts right now that are backordered... if you need one of those, you're really screwed.

Something tells me the "repair and keep it" guys would change their tune after a fiasco like that. Nothing sucks worse than being stranded 12 hours from home... and hope it doesn't happen 30 miles into the woods!

Been there a few times for sure. Had to hitch hike off the top of a mountain an hour and a half each way into town to try and get a part to get me back on the road once. I’m sure it happens to older trucks more frequently but it happens to new trucks too.

It certainly sucks being stranded but having a vehicle payment would suck even more when it drains your cash flow each month.

 

[Gutshot007]

If your concerned about reliability consider renting a truck for long trips. Usually new is more reliable ,but I had a friend that had had a new dodge rebel that would periodically not start. Towed multiple times. Dealership techs had to call manufacturer to try to figure out computer issues. Problem after problem. Finally got rid of it. For that kind of money you should not have issues even if it's under warranty

 

[AK Troutbum]

I have a 2014 F150 with 120k miles on it. I bought it new and paid it off a long time ago. Out of curiosity, I was looking at what a new modern truck would cost me with the same packages and I'm up to 70k ish.

It seems to me that prices have become so outrageous that I would have to spend 5k a year plus on my current truck to equal buying a new one. Im tempted to just do that...one year replace the engine, one year the whole suspension, and after a few years Id have a "new truck" for a fraction of the price.

What am I missing here?

Side note: Fords website also has a price at the top of the page as you build your truck that only shows you the monthly payment and its based off of an 8 YEAR LOAN. They don't want you to consider the price you are paying. If it becomes more commonplace for people to do longer loans on cars, all that does is allow Ford to raise the price because people's monthly payment threshold would stay the same.

You’re not missing a damn thing. I have a 2003 Dodge, 4x4, 1 ton diesel, daily driver, with almost 300,000 miles on it. I bought it new almost 20 years ago, and I average about $1k/year on maintenance. I’ll go several years without putting a dime into it (other than oil change, fuel filter, etc., than it’ll need about $3k into the frontend, or a $3500 transmission, or whatever, but either way it end’s up costing me about $1000/year, not counting insurance. I got a ‘92 Land Cruiser for when my truck is in the shop, and both are highly capable of towing boats, getting me to and from work in a snow storm, or just otherwise taking care of the daily chores of living. I don’t think I’ll ever own another brand new truck because I don’t need the latest/greatest that just gets me from one point to another, and I definitely don’t want to spend upwards of $1,000/month on vehicle payments and insurance.


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[Luked]

I havw a 2012 F150 that I bought 2 years ago to replace my 2008 Silvarado 1500 that had 280k on it. The old Chev was just getting tired. I beat the hell out of it drove it 11 years and had 38k on it when I bought it and was only 2 years old. So I got my money's worth out of it.
The F150 I havw now had 160k on it when I bought it almost 2 years ago and I already have 200k on it and it runs perfect.
Biggest benefit I have is I can do most of my own work and also worked in a dealership for over 10 years so I learned a lot and still have good friends there if I can't figure something out.
I looked at buying a new truck when I bought thr F150 and for a 1/2 ton truck I was looking at almost 70k. I can put a lot of repairs in my F150 for 70k. Just how I look at it

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[Silveroddo]

Just food for thought, I’m a big proponent of having a decent truck around and using it for truck stuff and having a reliable 8 year old car that gets mid to upper 20’s and using that for everything I can. I’ve probably put over 300k on cars and nursed an old Chevy along for 12 years + and only put 85k on it over that time and while that truck is in semi retirement it’s still good enough I’m thinking about using it this fall to save miles on my camper puller, trucks are the most expensive thing there is to daily drive between fuel and replacement. We all need a truck, but most of us don’t need to daily a crew cab diesel.

 

[keystone112]

At a certain point, we will all be keeping what we have and maintaining it. That is unless you plan on driving an electric vehicle.

 

[Gseith]

I am a fan of fix it as long as you can if you feel it’s reliable.
I live in the rust belt and all vehicles used daily around me get to a point that they are to far gone to keep fixing.
I have been using fluid film the last few years on my new cars and I hope to have them last.

 

[Boarmaster]

I like a new truck ever 4/5 years or 60-75k on miles. I am single and keep one vehicle. I need to be moble for work. I have found it is cheaper for me to buy new with the special depreciation tax break
i get all things considered. I work hard and want be in a nice vehicle and not worried about driving long distances. I once kept a truck for 10 years. That last half of that was a PIA. I at that 4/5 year point right now with my current truck. I love this truck and honestly I am having a bit of a hard time trading out with the current state of the truck market here. Hard to shell out another 35k for a new truck when you like the one your driving. But things get used up and less reliable. At my age I don't need to be broke down.
And just to add I am not very handy as a mechanic. Dad always said “ If aint broke, my boy can fix it”.