Truck Decision...Cheap Domestic vs Financed Import

[JeffreyJim]

50/50 chance that my 2007 Nissan Frontier is totaled. This gives me the opportunity to take a step back and really decide if I want to be making truck payments for the next 4 years.

Personally, I hate the idea of financing a depreciating asset (any vehicle) but I probably hate the idea of dumping tons of cash into fixing a worthless, money pit of a vehicle more. I do love how much potential my Frontier had offroad (had locker, still needed bumpers, small lift etc) and as a gear closet (topper with subfloor)

Anyway, I'm hearing rumors of auctions in Texas and Oklahoma from these liquidated oil and gas COs who are getting rid of trucks stupid cheap. Something like sub 5k for F-250 shortbed Diesel with under 100k. Yeah, I know, totally different truck than a Taco/Frontier but at the end of the day, it'll get me to the camping spot or to the trailhead and I'm way more into riding my bike, skiing or hiking than I am to DRIVING up some crazy mountain. I still love the idea of having a go anywhere/do anything vehicle like a Taco with lockers, a small lift, sliders, bumpers, winch, and all the expedition gear but at this time in my life, a 350/month truck payment kinda sucks.

Thoughts?

Edit: I need to reread before posting!
Double Edit: Any money I save on my truck goes to my Sled and/or SA Ski fund.

[jfost]

if you can finance it at 0% or something close, you're not really losing much... but it'd be hard to beat an auction price these days.

OTOH, I've been through a few cars too quickly because I didn't really take a step back and look at what I needed, just bought what I wanted at the time. So, if you know what it is that you like, want, and need right now - why buy something different just to save a few bucks!?!

[Danno]

I have been really happy with my Ford Ranger, FWIW. 15 years old, 150k miles, and running strong.

[Tuckerman]

I have a $2000 1988 F250HD I have been driving for about 3 years, and so far have only put in a water pump, some electric thing that sits under the distributor and oil changes. My wife will not ride in it she thinks its ugly but it gets me to where I want to go, and it starts when its super cold out so I can jump her newer fancy Subaru Forrester.

[54-46]

Mebbe get another Frontier. Be sure to take anything useful, and I do mean anything, from your old truck; you should be able to take the lockers, etc. For instance, my buddy had his Subaru totaled, but took it home en toto, bought another Subaru and over time cannibalized the parts.

[kidwoo]

With the 215k on my 99 tacoma and having changed nothing but oil, a wheel bearing and a timing belt, I'll be looking for 02-04 tacomas for the rest of my vehicle buying lifetime.

[JeffreyJim]

Why not the newer 05+ Tacos? I dig em...

[khakis]

I would like to hear more about these auction rumors...

good time to cut recurring expenses if you have the chance, but there are some pretty killer deals on new vehicles right now. Also, didn't you say you work out of your vehicle? I might want a warranty if that were my case.

[kidwoo]

Why not the newer 05+ Tacos? I dig em...

I need to get some pictures of the side panels on my buddy's 06 after he tried to follow me back to where we were building trails one day.

Clearance yo.


The older ones sacrificed compartment space for a high belly. I'm short so I'm into it.

[JeffreyJim]

Unless it's a stupid deal, going new is pretty much out of the question. If I DO finance, it's going to be a Toyota or Nissan and I'll probably go through a dealer and go used. (like last time) Ended up with an almost new truck for way less than "new" with a 100k warrantee and really low financing APR.

I'll let you all know as I find out more about the auction stuff. Just heard from an oil and gas buddy who goes to all the auctions that he saw the ridiculous Dodge with Allison Tranny and Duramax go for UNDER 5k. Yes, it ran and yes it had a 135k but still. That's a 50k truck new!

[RTR]

Why not the newer 05+ Tacos? I dig em...

This is my question, precisely. Is the newer taco just a scary buy because it isn't time-tested and true, yet?

edit: Buy domestic. Stimulate the economy. All hail Barry!

[GeezerSteve]

I have a 1998 F-150 4x4 X-cab with the 4.6 Triton small block. 114K miles and it doesn't burn a drop of oil (unlike my Toyota Highlander, which has always lost a quart every 2K). I'd highly recommend a late 90's F-150, if you can find one in good shape.

The older F-150's with the classic 300 cube straight 6 are nice too.

[EEC]

My family owns a construction company with 01? diesel F-250 and an 05 diesel F-350. We just replaced the transmission in the 250 at about 260,000 miles, but other than that the trucks have been reliable....with the exception of the front ends. IMO the front ends aren't built strong enough for the heavy diesel motors, so the front ends are fine in the trucks with a gas motor, but fail under the diesel. That being said, replacing ball joints and tie rods (the parts that fail) isn't too hard to do yourself and there are stronger afermarket parts available.

[FattyCBR]

My company has a fleet of Ford F-250 (9 right now). If you're looking at Ford don't buy the 5.4 if you plan to tow heavy items or for long distances. They don't last. Also the newer 6.4l power stroke sucks for gas mileage 13.5-14.5 mpg 10/90 city/hwy. The older 6.0 is about 16-18.

[sethschmautz]

Auctions are a gamble, in my opinion. Some people have great luck with them, and others pay $5k for a vehicle with 135k really hard miles. Maybe I'm getting old and just really like the idea of having a vehicle that you can depend on, but I decided just recently to go with something local at a dealership for a couple of reasons. I hit a deer with my T100 and was really only looking at two trucks - Tacomas and Tundras - because my T100 was so bomber. After driving quite a few, I went with a 2006 Tundra because it had a normal size bed (important to me. I didn't want the shorty 4' beds that were so prevalent in the Tacos) and 4 doors. My T100 got 17 mpg. My V8 4.7L Tundra gets between 15-16 mpg (mixed driving), so I'm really not sacrificing much in terms of fuel efficiency for the ability to haul way more stuff and people more comfortably.

Ebay, Craig's List, etc. had a lot of great trucks for good prices, but they were all a long way away. If something goes wrong and I bought it from Denver, or SLC, I was sort of up a creek. The advantage of being able to look at the truck, drive it, and haggle with the sales guys on price, options was a bonus for me. I also know that if I have problems with the Truck, I bought it local and these guys are going to be more likely to want to make it right. The icing on the cake was the ability to put money back into the local economy.

In a best case scenario sort of world, the auction is a great deal. In a worst case scenario sort of world, you're just out the money and/or the truck turns into a money pit. If you go the auction route, I hope it goes well for you. Most times, you get what you pay for, but I've been blessed with some great deals in the past. Good luck,

Seth

[corn dog]

I now have a '99 Ford Exhibition, AWD/4wd ( not sure what the different options do). Got it with 50k miles on it. Only had it 2.5 years but I've done nothing to it but change fluids. Had a '95 T100 before that, it had more miles on it but the Ford is tighter. Anyways, I'm not as afraid of domestics as I was

[bern43]

I had an 87 ford ranger for a long time and it was relatively trouble free. I now have an explorer and its also served me well.

[htek]

Before you get too sold on buying a cheap diesel at auction, keep in mind that most (not all) company trucks are likely going to be beat to crap compared to a truck that was owned privately - especially the drivetrain. I'm sure this is something that you have considered, but I figured I would just state the obvious.

Also - these are other things to consider before buying a diesel truck compared to a mid-size:

• Maintenance is critical (more so than gas vehicles), and NOT cheap. Expect to pay $80 to change your oil. My truck takes 3.5 GALLONS of oil... plus an expensive filter. Plus religiously changing expensive fuel filters... plus the cost of bigger tires... the list goes on. Your maintenance budget will likely be twice that of what it is for a mid-size truck.
• Lots of people claim amazing fuel economy from their diesel truck... sadly, this is usually not the case for most people. Diesel if cheap(ish) right now... don't forget that only a short time ago is was near $5.00 a gallon...
• Repairs can be expensive - turbo's, injectors, fuel pumps, etc are retardedly expensive. Not to mention you can typically expect to rebuild an auto-trans at least once during the lifetime of the vehicle. If you are buying a truck at 100 - 150K, you may be nearing the life expectancy of the tranny.

That being said... I have an F250 with a powerstroke and love it. Just some food for thought based on my experience and research.

edit: Buy domestic. Stimulate the economy. All hail Barry!

Toyota, as well as several other "foreign" brands have plants in the US employing American workers. If domestic auto makers had put some effort into making vehicles that had close to the same quality as Honda and Toyota, they wouldn't be in this pickle. With the exception of full-size trucks, the big three have been doing nothing but playing catch-up the past several years to keep pace with the others. Alas... a different topic. But since I am already on the topic, I might as well voice my displeasure that my tax dollars are keeping private industry (GM) afloat. We are being told that it is an investment in our future... Every time I make an investment, it is with the understanding that I will likely get a return on that investment. Unfortunately, I won't see a return on this particular investment.

ok - rant off.

[XXX-er]

Toyota, as well as several other "foreign" brands have plants in the US employing American workers. If domestic auto makers had put some effort into making vehicles that had close to the same quality as Honda and Toyota, they wouldn't be in this pickle.

and whats worse is the japanese were schooled by an american ,W E Deming who helped them rebuild postwar japan ,then North American businesses wouldnt listen to Deming ...so its like North America was shot with its own gun

Up here diesal averages 40-50 cents an american gal cheaper ,Last time I was down south diesal was more expensive ,I run a little diesal VW but it wouldnt be worth it if fuel was more expensive like it is stateside

A big diesal truck is expensive ,if you don't actualy need the pulling power you are paying alot for what you don't need

[squatch]

...ridiculous Dodge with Allison Tranny and Duramax go for UNDER 5k.

There is a high chance that your buddy does not know what he's talking about...usually Dodges don't have chevy stuff in them.

I have a friend like that...whenever he said "it'll cost this much or so" I multiplied it by 2.5 or so.

[JeffreyJim]

Thanks for the information. You are right about the Diesel being something expensive I don't necessarily need but being a sled purchase may be in my future, it wouldn't be all together bad.

Also, I doubt I'll end up with a diesel to begin with. I'll probably end up with a 1/2 ton standard gasoline truck

Regardless, it's still a crapshoot as to whether or not my truck is even totaled. I got a call this morning saying it's totaled, saying my frame is bent/crumpled, now I get a call saying it's a repair. Being I was hit two separate times is really muddling things up. Separately, each claim doesn't equal a total but together it does. If they treat these as totally different events, then I wont be getting a new truck, just paying 18k+ to fix this truck.

Oh, and the above post is right, clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to diesel/tough trannies etc. Dodge is Cummins right? Chevy is Duramax?

[htek]

Oh, and the above post is right, clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to diesel/tough trannies etc. Dodge is Cummins right? Chevy is Duramax?

Dodge - Cummins

Chevy - Duramax (and Allison Transmissions)

Ford - Powerstroke

[dk_alaskan]

Just a little tidbit of info on the auction deals from someone who has worked in the oil business off and on for a few years. Many trucks (especially diesel) with "low miles" on them typically will have high to VERY high engine hours on them. They have been sitting idling most of their lives waiting around the job site to be driven. Make sure if you go to auction you can check the maintenance records and/or the engine hours, otherwise, you may be buying a low miles high maintenance rig...

[BFD]

My son just got done answering the same question. We are in AK so we had less choice and probably paid more for our used vehicle. He wanted the extended cab Toyota or Frontier. They were hard to find and all the ones we did look at had high miles and were expensive. He ended up buying an F150 STX that had half the miles and costs thousands less than the Toyotas and Nissans we looked at. Not an extended cab but has additional doors to access the area behind the seat and room enough for his ski boots. Seemed like all the extended cabs had V6 engines so the mileage with his small V8 is not that much more.

[Bring On The Snow]

I have been really happy with my Ford Ranger, FWIW. 15 years old, 150k miles, and running strong.

Ya.. But he said he wanted to put a small lift in if he got a compact. Its retarded expensive to lift a newer Ranger (like 4k to do it the cheap way).
I love my 06 ranger but wish I had researched the price of lifting it before i bought it.

They are dirt cheap to buy one thats a couple years old though.