Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire When do you decided to get a new truck

I see all the threads on new trucks and I drive through the car lots and nothing produced interests me.
I have a couple of pick ups but my most used and loved one is my 1996 Chevy K3500, single rear wheel, crew cab, long bed, 454, 5 speed, looks like hell, and I love it, it does what I need, the fuel mileage is in double digits, and it pulls like a mule, my biggest complaint is the gear ratio, the 4.56 rear puts the truck at 3500 RPM at 70 mph, nothing produced can compare to this pickup.

Buying a new pickup is a personal thing. If you are pulling trailers over lots of miles and at weird times of the day or night and don't like getting caught out in the middle of no where broke down then it might be time to upgrade. Or if you have money burning a hole in your pocket. Then there is the image thing trying to impress the neighbors. if you really like that PU change the gear ratios and keep driving it.

Keep the old one and not unlike a pet, you'll know when the time is right to bring a new one home. Be prepared for a shock to the senses when you do.

Going through the same decision process for a new SUV.

New ring and pinion and think about your next truck for a couple more years.

New? As in brand new?

Never. Let someone else take the depreciation in the pants.

Used or lease return? When ever your old one cant do the job.

Even with that 454 burning all the gas it does, it wont compare to the cost of all that fancy insurance, registration, interest, and depreciation.

Folks also talk about being nickled and dimed to death with repairs.

Ha! Nothing like the nickles and dimes a dealership or a bank will charge!

$630 today for brakes, rotors, bearings, air filter, and misc small items on my 99 Dodge. Before that, no payments for the last few years. Makes repairs more practical if you think about the money that goes out every single month with a new truck.

As long as I have faith that it won't stick me 100+ miles from town with a break down, I'll keep driving it. An 04 crew cab 4-wheel drive manual 6-speed 350 diesel.

When my son couldn't find one used for the money he had to spend. He got mine and I got new. 2003 Chevy Duramax. Great truck. Bone stock the 12 years I ran it. Not so much now. He loves it and I like my new Chevy.

My old 454

My newer 2003 6.0

If you can write them off as a business expense, then your tax man will tell you.

at about 350,000miles

Spend $600 or $700 bucks and retool...

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Beats hell out of dropping what they want today on an new truck, unless you can write it off.

And if you've got to have it both ways, Gear Vendors here use to have an aux gear box for 1 ton trucks with 3 and 4 speed auto trans, though that would set you back about another $2,800.

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Phil

You spent probably a payment to a payment and a half. You can almost always come out financially fixing up an old vehicle as opposed to getting a new one. You have to engage in some serious rationalization and self delusion as to why you "need" a new one.

Trucks are for hauling and pulling crap. That's it. Anyone who has one that works would be kinda crazy to let it go. The new ones get better mileage but you will never come out on that....see Jim Conrad's post.

Looking at the cost of new trucks?

Never.

You can write off anything: UNtil the AUDIT< Then you'll have some "SPAINING to do !!!

I had a 98 GMC with 454 and a 5 speed that I dearly loved. Still looked pretty good, ran great and gas mileage was better than average. I had 217,000 miles on it and going strong. The 5 speed lost the seal between it and the transfer case and slung its oil out. It cost a total of $3800 to replace it with a rebuilt 5 speed. 32 days latter, the rebuilt 5 speed shelled out on me, the shop had put the wrong oil in it. It took them 3 weeks to get another rebuilt. No charge to me. That 5 speed last 13 months, just out of warranty. I couldn’t see putting another $4000 dollars in it, so I sold it as is, and bought my F250 SD with the 6.7L. Still miss that old truck, but the 6.7 pulls better than the 454 did with less fuel so I'm pleased.

That depreciation thing doesn't seem to work with the Dealers around these parts. The price difference between New and 2 years old is so close, you might as well go New. Especially if you can take advantage of a sweet finance deal.

I agree, don't know how they are even selling trucks a couple years old for what they're asking and the incentives and 0% on new trucks.

I've got a like new '07 2500 Cummins in my garage that only gets used to haul the boat or camper (paid for).

Otherwise I drive a 16 year old jeep that is in excellent condition and have a beater hunting/fishing truck that is starting to see the end of it's years.

Been debating about selling the jeep and beater and getting a 1/2 ton, but can't stand the thought of a payment. Don't know how people can fathom the idea of paying 600, 800, even a 1000.00 a month vehicle payment.

I got my last 2 after I retired. Only had 1 in my life before that and it was before I got married.

I got a Toyota Tacoma on the first one and really liked it, but then got a camper and needed a bigger truck to pull it, so got a Tundra. Between the trade in and the paid price, I got the new one for about what I had figured in my head before going to the dealer. I did research online about prices, and asked here and other places, so had an idea about what to look for. I am retired and could afford a new one now, when I could never make it work out in my mind before. I am taking a lot of long trips (to me) and did not want any breakdowns. miles