Newer Truck vs. Low Mileage Old Truck

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
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A manual is fun in a little Toyota or a sports car. Not in a one-ton truck. No thanks.

Not to mention, the 7.3 is gutless by today's standards, and the old trucks don't have the exhaust brake like the new ones.
I hate automatic transmissions, and I love the 6 speed in my F-350. It's funny with people....I've had many folks not give the truck a second look......until they see that it's a manual. And then they want to be added to my growing list that want it if I ever sell it. But ya, the 7.3 is a different animal than what's out there these days.
 
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Just as general rule. I occasionally wonder if I should just get a gasser truck.. Not even play with the idea of 3/4- 1ton VS 1/2 ....

My buddy drove and towed his 8K# camper behind his 7.3(gas) 3/4 ton Ford. F- That truck average 6mpg.. I about guarantee my truck would have been double the mileage. I don't wanna think about what that would have done to a F150....
 

robby denning

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used every time for me.

Last 3 trucks, not counting normal tires/batt/brakes:

1991 F250 460 gas, bought in 2012 with 90K miles for $4,000, put less than $1,000 in it over 6 years and 120K miles (was not my daily driver). A guy ran a light and totaled it....

1996 F250 460 gas, bought in 2018 with 130K for $4500. This one needed more repairs (was my daily driver) and hit about $4,000 over 4 years. Sold it for $5K with 179K

2015 F250 6.2 Gas bought in 2022 with 72K for $26,000. Is my daily driver and I've put $300 for a power steering pump repair over 2 years and 92K miles.

So much value in used trucks if you can buy them right and don't mind a few repairs. I've saved so much $ over new...so far
 
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svivian

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What I'm saying is I can afford $80k, but I would never even pay $30k for any vehicle. I think $30k is not out of line for a new 4x4 extended cab truck. that now cost $40-$50k. I'm not willing to enslave myself to that kind of debt for something I don't actually need. I'm not a contractor and anything I can put in a pickup, I can put on my $1k utility trailer.
I dont mean to pick on you but these two statements dont go together
 

Yoder

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I dont mean to pick on you but these two statements dont go together
How? I could have zero extra money and own an $80k truck. I could make the payments, but I wouldn't be able to do anything I love. That's being a slave to your debt.
 

svivian

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How? I could have zero extra money and own an $80k truck. I could make the payments, but I wouldn't be able to do anything I love. That's being a slave to your debt.
and that is the problem with these truck prices.... People thinking thats what affording something means.

The oh i can make the payment thing has got to stop if we want truck prices to come down.
 
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The oh i can make the payment thing has got to stop if we want truck prices to come down.
I think we all know what the odds of that are. It’s their money, their debt, their choice.

We still buy frugally and keep everything to four year loans. Loans aren’t a bad thing if you are able to invest at a higher rate than the loan rate.
 
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What I'm saying is I can afford $80k, but I would never even pay $30k for any vehicle. I think $30k is not out of line for a new 4x4 extended cab truck. that now cost $40-$50k. I'm not willing to enslave myself to that kind of debt for something I don't actually need. I'm not a contractor and anything I can put in a pickup, I can put on my $1k utility trailer.
Very contradictory post. Start saying you can afford an $80k truck, then say you would be enslaving yourself to “that kind of debt”.

I think this describes our society as a whole. We think we can afford anything because being in debt is the norm. I know guys that get a new truck the day their loan is paid off on the last one. They bitch about being broke.

I for one cannot afford an $80k truck, happy to admit that.
 
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What people think they can afford is a touchy subject. I just bought a brand new pickup and in talking with the salesman, 1- 20 pay cash for a new vehicle. He also told me, in his opinion 5-10 out of 20 trucks he sells, he feels the buyer will struggle to keep. Eye opening for sure.
 

Yoder

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Very contradictory post. Start saying you can afford an $80k truck, then say you would be enslaving yourself to “that kind of debt”.

I think this describes our society as a whole. We think we can afford anything because being in debt is the norm. I know guys that get a new truck the day their loan is paid off on the last one. They bitch about being broke.

I for one cannot afford an $80k truck, happy to admit that.
I understand what you are saying, and I think you are exactly right. Being able to make a payment and being able to afford something should be two different things. Looking at it that way, I couldn't afford it either. To put things in perspective, I'm going to look at a "new" SUV this week. It's a 2011 Rav4 with 132k miles for $8k. It's a third vehicle for us so I figure it will last at least 5 years. I just don't care about what's new and awesome. I would rather have financial stability and freedom.
 
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I make a $150/mo truck payment to myself and have since highschool. When it comes time to buy a truck whatever that equals plus the sale price of my current truck plus $5,000 dictates my budget for my new ride.

5k being what would be my downpayment if I were to go finance one.

The folks talking about not having a pickup or 4x is a bit foreign to me. 90% of the time I'm driving my truck I have a trailer behind it (boat, horse, quad) or I'm hunting. If I'm driving the kids around we have 10 year old all wheel drive CRV base model as an extra car. Lot cheaper to replace that than my truck so its been worth the extra insurance to keep the miles off my pickup.
 

Winnie

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One thing I have noticed in the older vs new argument is that 100K miles was once the line in the sand for a truck to be towards the end of its useful life. Now it seems to be about 200K. I cannot wrap my head around the prices on trucks that have 150K miles or more on the odometer! Many people now talk about a 100K mile truck as having LOW miles. That says something about the reliability of newer trucks compared to older trucks.
 
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One thing I have noticed in the older vs new argument is that 100K miles was once the line in the sand for a truck to be towards the end of its useful life. Now it seems to be about 200K. I cannot wrap my head around the prices on trucks that have 150K miles or more on the odometer! Many people now talk about a 100K mile truck as having LOW miles. That says something about the reliability of newer trucks compared to older trucks.
Depends on gas vs diesel as well. 250-300k is nothing engine wise for a maintained diesel where most gas engines will need a rebuild by then. The truck is another question with that many miles on the drivetrain and everything else.
 
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I think we all know what the odds of that are. It’s their money, their debt, their choice.

We still buy frugally and keep everything to four year loans. Loans aren’t a bad thing if you are able to invest at a higher rate than the loan rate.

I don't disagree with your math here regarding vehicle loan rates versus investment returns, but I don't think it applies to most people. I do have extremely frugal friends who have bought and taken a loan on a $20k used car when they could have easily paid cash for a $100k car but avoided withdrawing investments. You might be in this camp and kudos to you if you are!

The problem is that very few Americans would actually be paying the current vehicle prices and buying the specific vehicles they are if they had to pay for them upfront. If you actually had to lay out cash for your cars, we would see a lot more $10k used vehicles on the roads than all these new SUV's and trucks, and people's finances would be a lot better off.

I am in the same camp of you as "their money, their debt, their choice", but I feel bad for these people as they don't realize how much freedom and financial health their vehicle purchases are costing them.
 
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