When do you buy a new tow vehicle
#3
Senior Member
$$$ and Technology.
Generally like to hang on to my vehicles as long as possible. But if technology has improved them so much then ...
We jumped to the Ecoboost and 6sp Tranny with tow/haul as soon as it came available. Had been waiting for a small, affordable diesel pickup but that'll probably never happen.
Maybe in 5-10 years there'll be another technological shift that makes an upgrade reasonable.
Generally like to hang on to my vehicles as long as possible. But if technology has improved them so much then ...
We jumped to the Ecoboost and 6sp Tranny with tow/haul as soon as it came available. Had been waiting for a small, affordable diesel pickup but that'll probably never happen.
Maybe in 5-10 years there'll be another technological shift that makes an upgrade reasonable.
#4
Senior Member
This go around my decision was made for me. I usually trade every 2-3 years. Decided to keep the last truck since it only had 65,000 miles on it when I got it payed for after six years of payments. That bit me in the butt HARD. Fast forward to late July when the engine let go with 99,735 miles on the odometer. She was nine years old when that happened. Ordered new truck in early August and still waiting.
That's how I decided.
Buck
That's how I decided.
Buck
#5
How handy are you and how much rust in the vehicle? When you got spring shackles coming off the frame it is perty bad or when the box is loosen its sides. All can be fixed but? If you got a good sized shed with a lot of equipment pulling the cab/body, doing a restoration, installing a new/Rebuilt motor/trans/axles and your good to go for another 100k or more maybe. My luck was always, they got hit. A daily driver is always, risky?
Last edited by papa tiger; 09-19-2012 at 11:05 AM.
#6
HOPEFUL
iTrader: (1)
I have a 96 S10 with over 200k miles on it. it still runs pretty decent most of the time, but it has its temperamental moments. I also have a small, very basic pop-up camper. we usually use my wife's jeep wrangler to tow the pop-up.
last fall during a camping trip the wife and I started discussing buying a bigger camper but then the topic came up we are limited by the tow capacity of the jeep which is 2000lbs. not much in the world of campers.
we also discussed putting money into my S10, set it up to be better at towing have our available tow capacity jump from 2k lbs, up to approx 5000lbs. but in the end we decided that our vacations would then be resting squarely on the shoulders of a 17 year old truck with over 200k miles, and we would be adding A LOT of strain to an already tired truck. daily driving a 200k truck is one thing, but towing for hundreds of miles at a time is a whole other.
that is when the gears really started turning in my head that it was time to get a new truck.
last fall during a camping trip the wife and I started discussing buying a bigger camper but then the topic came up we are limited by the tow capacity of the jeep which is 2000lbs. not much in the world of campers.
we also discussed putting money into my S10, set it up to be better at towing have our available tow capacity jump from 2k lbs, up to approx 5000lbs. but in the end we decided that our vacations would then be resting squarely on the shoulders of a 17 year old truck with over 200k miles, and we would be adding A LOT of strain to an already tired truck. daily driving a 200k truck is one thing, but towing for hundreds of miles at a time is a whole other.
that is when the gears really started turning in my head that it was time to get a new truck.
#7
Keepin' the lights on!
I was offered a pretty good amount for my last truck. It was one of those deals that would never happen again so I took it. The truck had 138k miles so it was about time anyway. I too wanted a diesel but decided on the EB instead. I will see at about 75k how this truck is doing before buying the next one.
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#8
Grumpy Old Man
Sorta like Pete, I look ahead to the next long trip. If I have confidence my pickup will make that trip without breaking down 2000 miles from home, and the truck will still meet my needs, then there's no reason to trade. But breaking down a long ways from home can be very expensive, either to fix the old truck or to buy a new one in a hurry. So I get antsy when my truck begins to get "old". For a diesel. "old" is around 10 years. For a gasser, about 7 or 8 years.
My previous truck was a '99.5 Ford diesel I bought new. When it was 11 years old with 197,000 miles, I sold it. It's still running good way up in Idaho now, but after about 10 years I began to have concerns that the truck had done its duty and needed to be retired from long-distance RV trips.
Right after I sold the diesel, my brother died and left his handicapped widow a 2003 F-150 4.6L Lariat SuperCrew. Beautiful truck, looked like new except for the body style. Sis could not get in or out of the truck, and she owed more on it than it was worth, so she couldn't sell it or trade it without digging into her meager store of cash. I hadn't ordered my new truck yet, and I needed a pickup, so I bought it from her and paid off her loan. But it soon proved to be inadequate for my needs. It had a tow rating of only about 5,000 pounds, and my cargo trailer grossed about 7,000 pounds. I pulled that trailer one trip from Midland to Phoenix and back, and determined I had to have a more powerful truck. So I ordered the truck in my sig.
The new truck is not a diesel, so it may not last 11 years and 197,000 miles. But since my heaviest trailer now has a GVWR of 7,000 pounds and the pickup has a tow rating of 8,400 pounds, it will probably do the job for the next several years.
My previous truck was a '99.5 Ford diesel I bought new. When it was 11 years old with 197,000 miles, I sold it. It's still running good way up in Idaho now, but after about 10 years I began to have concerns that the truck had done its duty and needed to be retired from long-distance RV trips.
Right after I sold the diesel, my brother died and left his handicapped widow a 2003 F-150 4.6L Lariat SuperCrew. Beautiful truck, looked like new except for the body style. Sis could not get in or out of the truck, and she owed more on it than it was worth, so she couldn't sell it or trade it without digging into her meager store of cash. I hadn't ordered my new truck yet, and I needed a pickup, so I bought it from her and paid off her loan. But it soon proved to be inadequate for my needs. It had a tow rating of only about 5,000 pounds, and my cargo trailer grossed about 7,000 pounds. I pulled that trailer one trip from Midland to Phoenix and back, and determined I had to have a more powerful truck. So I ordered the truck in my sig.
The new truck is not a diesel, so it may not last 11 years and 197,000 miles. But since my heaviest trailer now has a GVWR of 7,000 pounds and the pickup has a tow rating of 8,400 pounds, it will probably do the job for the next several years.
#9
Batteries Not Included
Depending on what condition your vehicle is in, I look at it this way. If the repair bills are becoming frequent, maybe the money is better spent on new vehicle payments over limping a vehicle along. If the vehicle is paid for and trouble free, sometimes it makes sense to save the money and keep it.
#10
ColdWar Vet-USN Shellback
Usually when the ash tray gets full...I don't smoke but that is where the change goes. '05 Superduty had an ash tray but the new Ecoboost doesn't so I guess now I can't use that excuse.
Agree with above...7-8 years and mileage no more than 135K...unless I am having trouble with it or it starts showing signs of body rust.
Agree with above...7-8 years and mileage no more than 135K...unless I am having trouble with it or it starts showing signs of body rust.