Can anyone smarten me up about truck prices? I have been looking at 3/4 ton diesel trucks, primarily on Autotrader.com, but see the same thing on the car lots.
Diesel Fords lowest price is around $38,000, Chevies a little higher. " Well," thought me, "I might be able to get by with a gasser, let's look at prices for a new gas 350". Not that much cheaper. Lowest prices for a 350 gas started at $36,000 or so.
Then I looked at low mileage 3/4 ton trucks, and those prices were darn near new prices. As a matter of fact, it looked like by the time you considered the favorable financing on new, they might even be cheaper than used.
What an I missing here?

You're not missing a thing. It blows my mind too. Close friends here own a used truck lot(My brother also sells trucks there) and I laugh at what trucks sell for. I think they're high but I'm wrong because people fly in from pretty much all over the country to buy them.

I bought used because I sold a few horses and wanted to pay cash and no payment. It might have been better to buy new but I didn't feel we have room for another payment at this time.

I would expect to see a significant difference between the new prices for diesel trucks and gas trucks, and it doesn't seem to be there. Also, I would expect to see a signficant difference in price between new trucks and the same thing used, but that doesn't seem to be there either.

Top dollar is being demanded and people are paying.
Nobody like payments but with zero/VERY low percent financing being offered by many , in alot of cases buying new is more prudent than used.
However for those paying cash , sellers are able to fetch top dollar. Who don't want to save a few grand.

Nothing to miss. Simple economics.

That doesn't make me understand why people are willing to pay so close to new prices for 2 or 3 year old trucks. If these people can pay cash for a used truck they can certainly pay a little more for a new truck.
I did a search on autotrader for 2012 diesel pickups with less than 100,000 miles- The average price was $44,000- You can buy a new one for that price, and even substantially less. Please explain THAT with your understanding of simple economics.

You have to factor in trade value. Lots of people are upside down or close to even so the higher tag is just a number on paper. Bottom line is you can drive and drive out with your new to rig. Sheeples dig lazy ass easy. And Retailers of most anything supply it in droves (save for cable and phone companies )...

W

Better off to buy new and drive it at least 10 years, maybe 15. I've run the math numerous times. Take the price of a new truck and divide by 10,15, or how ever long you plan on keeping it to figure out the cost per year.

Look at used and do the same thing to figure out cost per year to drive it to the same age and it usually works out about the same and often in favor of new.

You can also do the same with mileage.

In addition to better financing a new truck will often get better fuel mileage. Only 1 or 2 mpg can add up to more than $2000 in 200,000 miles depending on fuel costs

Royce,
I too have seen the difference between gas and diesel isn't what I thought it would be. I think that with diesel running about 50 cents a gallon higher than gas and the cost to change oil on a diesel costing near twice that of gas that some folks are giving preference to gas trucks especially if they don't need the power of a diesel very often. That's just a guess on my part.

I've come to the same conclusion that it's cheaper to buy new than a 2-3 year old vehicle if you're talking popular models like diesel pickups or midsize cars. If you're buying a luxury car then you can save big bucks by purchasing 2-3 year old. I recently went looking for a 3-4 year old toyota camry to replace my commuter car and the average asking price for one with less than 40K miles was more than I could purchase a new 2014 for, it was incredible. I ended up buying new, it just didn't make sense to buy a several year old car out of warranty for essentially the same price as a new one. Same thing with diesel pickups, it seems like people think that their having their butt in the seat for three years increases the value.

Not sure how $44,000 is close to a new truck price. My 2013 Ford F250 King Ranch with 6.7 turbo diesel was $68,000.

They sticker in the mid to high 70,000 range too.

I just can't even fathom spending 70K on a pickup, unless I was independently wealthy. Heck, I'm doing pretty well, and could just write the check, but I still have a hard time convincing myself to pay more than 30K.

I agree Crow. I have a lot of friends that absolutely refuse to buy new. My last truck purchase was in 2007. I set out to buy a 2-3 yr old used truck, but after shopping around, it was clear that the new was a better deal in the long run considering cost, financing, fuel mileage, and safety features of the newer model.

My wife's minivan (Honda Odyssey) we bought in 2012 was the same situation, only magnified. At the time, a 2010 Odyssey was selling for only $3,000 less than a new 2012 with the same features package....and the new model gets 2-3 mpg better, had a backup camera ( very big deal for the wife) and had 0.9% finance for 4 yrs. The 2009 models with 70K+ miles were selling for $5,000 less than new.... Go figure.

I'm buying a new truck tomorrow and only financing $20K and still about to have a stroke.

I just bought a 14 Chevy duramax and traded in an 08. I got a great deal on the new truck since they are closing them out. My old truck had 60 k miles and they gave me $30k trade so it was not hard for me to make the deal. 5 years to retirement and I have a 6 year newer truck.

I bought a new truck in 1998 under the GM employee buyer's program and I still drive it and I'm still happy with it.

I dread the thought of having to deal with buying something to replace it so I'm going keep fixing things for the next ten years.

That's my plan anyway.

Sticker price on my 2012 F-250 Supercab King Ranch 4x4 was $63K

Of course, I didn't pay that. Test drove a new 2014 Ford Raptor on Saturday.
Fully loaded sticker price was $56K. Sure wished I hadn't went and drove it

Which Make / model did you decide to go with?

Sounds like things haven't changed much since I bought my truck in '06, other than prices going higher. I was able to get the last base model 2500 ram quad cab 4X4 diesel on the lot for $32k, sticker was as I recall $40k. Used trucks with over 100k on the odo were going for over $20k.

I'm going to use my better judgement and get what I need instead of want. A 2014 Tundra crewmax. I still want a 6.7 though.

I bet you'll like the Tundra. Best friend and a fellow Rancher that I grew up with just got a new Tundra. He absolutely loves it. Only thing that pisses him off is that my 6.7 Diesel gets better fuel mileage than his Tundra.
But, of course, he reminds me that he spent a hell of a lot less money than I did, and he's proud of it. He's Definately got a good point, too.
Anyhow, congrats on your new truck! I bet you will like it.

I hope so. My dad's had one for 7 years and has loved it. I've worked a pretty good deal so I feel pretty good about it.

I like my 2011 Tundra better every day, but am kind of needing a bigger truck for towing/hauling stuff.

It should get it done for me. I just couldn't justify the added cost.

Traded in my 04 2500hd last year and was amazed at the price I got. Dealer had people waiting for an older diesel.

For your Tundra, and I am speaking from experience, don't get a full cold air intake. All they do is make more noise. If you want to change anything switch to the drop in air filter from either AFE or AEM. I don't remember which. You will get a better filter that is dry, it flows better and it is quieter. A hyper tech will get your 7-8 rwhp. the only thing that really works is a supercharger for power or long tube headers and a full exhaust. The bullydog is a waste of money until they release some programing that actually works. Hopefully some day...

Thanks.

I recently bought a new Chevy (2014) for work (state). It is a 1/2 ton gas 4x4 crew. Window sticker was around $43k. We paid $27k, so I know they still have a ton of markup in them.

I'll be sticking with my 05 Dodge Cummins for a while. it's got 90k trouble free miles on it.

Funny thing though. Truck prices have sky rocketed in the past 7-8 years. However, we bought my wife a new 4Runner in '05 and the sticker was $38k (not what we paid). Looked at one last week ('14 model) and for the same options as hers (except that her's is a V8) a comparable new one was $40k. Very surprised to see that the prices were not far off what they were 9 years ago.

When I bought my '04 F150, getting 25% off list was no problem, especially since I was on their X plan (Ford supplier's deep discount plan)

Maybe because the economy is good here, it was a tough battle getting anything close to a discount on my 2014 Ecoboost 4x4. My research said I got an excellent deal, but % wise it was a lot less of a discount than the 04. And I saw the current X plan (which I don't qualify for any longer) and it's no better.

I'm surprised at how many folks trade their vehicle in to a dealer instead of selling it usually costs you 10 - 20% of what you can get selling it yourself. Daughter bought her first new car last month and got $4100 from a private party in 4 days vs $2700 trade in offer from the dealer. I can wait 4 days to make an extra $1400 pretty much every time. Dealer prices varied $1500 on a Subaru Impreza so about $3k savings selling it herself and shopping around - but it took an extra week of waiting.

With 6-7% sales tax in Georgia, your trade amount reduces your tax liability on your purchase, so unless you can sell your vehicle privately for more than 7% of your trade offer, you're not gaining anything.