mountainkowboy wrote:
Red was 15K in 1990 and is a "maxed out" truck for its day, in todays money it should be 29K for the same truck. Funny now they want 80K for a 30K truck, I won't be buying any new electronic wonders...maybe the last years for the 7.3.
That's a nice story, but the old trucks were as expensive as new ones for the time and what you get.
First a "maxed out" 1990 Dually cc4x4 Msrp was $22k not 15. So that's almost $40k in today's money.
Half way there.
That would all oat get you an XL cc 4x4 dually if they found a way to put the base V6 out of the F150 and a 4sp trans in it. Same options basically except the new truck would still have more HP and options and be more capable.
Now working from that powerhouse 460 with 245 raging hp up to a new Powerstroke. Almost double the hp and over double the torque and last twice as long. What s that worth? Since you had to build a pulling truck motor to get that power in 1990, lets just say it's a $10k upcharge. Not quite, but fuel mileage makes up the rest and then some.
So we're up over $50 k.
Trans, let's just say its $5k more. Again, not quite, but apples to apples the 6R whatever will pull 2x as much for 2-3x as long. You'll drive the new one through 1-2 rebuilds of the E4OD. So at least $5k worth.
Other drivetrain tech and upgrades, another $5k. I spent a lot of hours working on those 80s/90s trucks. They shelled out parts twice as fast as a new one, at least. Same heavy use.
That's 60.
Interior/tech/comfort/NVh improvements. Another $10k at least and I'm being conservative here. You couldn't make a 2018 truck in 1990 if you had $100k to spend.
That's $70k or more easy comparison. The rest?
Trucks are more popular every year. Profit margin and the current economy make up the rest.
Now, new "$80k" diesels are absurd in some markets. First , that's a $65-70k truck at the end of the day. Second, some local economies don't support these prices. I get it.
Anyone with a good job in Seattle could pull a car payment like that off with some careful planning. Same job in a depressed part of the country would pay half or less.
