Terrible Trucks

[Jayco-noslide]

No doubt I'll get lots of disagreement on this. Just wondering how many young people on a budget are buying those nice trucks at $40000 and up; way up for a 1 ton diesel. And financing them for as many years as a home. Economically a bad choice. For starters the purchase price is up there with amazing luxury and sport vehicles and 2 to 3 times many really nice vehicles.. Brutal depreciation follows. Secondly, about half as far on each gallon as a compact car or even a small SUV. So the overall cost of ownership must be huge. Yes, sometimes we need a truck, such as for a 5th wheel or heavy trailer. I've done that but then my (used) truck was my only vehicle. I guess I don't have a point here except I worry for those that don't really know what's it's costing them. Also, lighter, vehicles with small lightweight engines are way greener if you care about that sort of thing. OK. I'm not perfect with my 30 ft. V-10 MH towing a Ford Focus.

[dodge_guy]

I never buy new. You can save almost half by buying 3-5 years old. You do have to look harder for a well taken care of vehicle but it can be done.

[JAC1982]

Crowe wrote:
And sure, we would have even more disposable income if we didn't have all the payments on the vehicles and camper, but what would we spend it on? I guess we could put more in retirement, but again, we are trying to enjoy life now, responsibly, instead of not living for the next 30 years.

IMHO a very wise decision. My husband's father died at the age of 52. My mom died at the age of 55. I could go on and on but you get my point. Living in the here and now vs. "tomorrow" is very important. And before you Negative Nellie's get on here and say "what if you live until 90?" please note the one key word JAC1982 used: RESPONSIBLY.

Yup, my dad died when he was 52. His dad died when he was around that age too. He and my mom had always talked about getting an RV and traveling the country after they retired, but he never made it to retirement. So I know all too well how life can be very short.

And yes, responsibly is the key word. If you're 35 and make 50k a year, it's probably not a great idea to buy a 70k truck and a 50k camper. But for us, it works.

[Crowe]

And sure, we would have even more disposable income if we didn't have all the payments on the vehicles and camper, but what would we spend it on? I guess we could put more in retirement, but again, we are trying to enjoy life now, responsibly, instead of not living for the next 30 years.

IMHO a very wise decision. My husband's father died at the age of 52. My mom died at the age of 55. I could go on and on but you get my point. Living in the here and now vs. "tomorrow" is very important. And before you Negative Nellie's get on here and say "what if you live until 90?" please note the one key word JAC1982 used: RESPONSIBLY.

[JAC1982]

We are those "young people" you are probably referring to. Mid-30s. 3 newer vehicles, nice 5th wheel toyhauler, RZR (own that free and clear), and we also go to about 25 NHL games a year and a handful of music concerts/festivals and other pro sporting events.

How do we do it? Well yes, we have some debt. But my husband is in IT consulting, I work in software. We have a really good combined income. We also have no kids and no plans to have any, just dogs. We have no consumer debt other than the vehicles and camper, and I have a student loan, my husband's is paid off. We save for retirement and our home is worth $300k more than we paid for it a little over 4 years ago. We bought it only using his income because we weren't married yet. We also own land in WY that we are planning on building a small house on in the next few years and my husband owns land in AZ with his dad, so if things went to hell, we could sell our house and have somewhere to go that's free and clear.

But, our reality is, my husband has an auto-immune disease. He very well may not live to a very old age, so we decide to do some living now instead of saving saving saving so we can maybe do it in retirement in 30 years.

Things we don't do that a lot of people in our age range do: Go to Starbucks every day. Eat out for multiple meals. I cook 6-7 nights a week and eat leftovers for lunches. We don't buy expensive clothing. We don't take many expensive vacations that don't involve our camper. Most travel we do outside of camping is to go to weddings and even then we use airline miles and stay in AirBnBs to save money.

And sure, we would have even more disposable income if we didn't have all the payments on the vehicles and camper, but what would we spend it on? I guess we could put more in retirement, but again, we are trying to enjoy life now, responsibly, instead of not living for the next 30 years.

[Airdaile]

All this complaining about frivolous spending is de riguere. Seems that anyone spending their own hard-earned money is a capitalist pig and the Starbucks crowd will have nothing to do with that kind. Excuse me, I wanted goat milk in my $7 latte.

[Terryallan]

Bert Ackerman wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

Bert Ackerman wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

ScottG wrote:

gbopp wrote:

ScottG wrote:
A luxury vehicle that costs $75k weighs what? 5000#?
A new truck that costs $75K weighs 8000#+.

So you get more for your money with a truck. 😉

Can we assume you sell trucks for a living :@

Ohh no! I've never been good at selling anything.
Here's the scary thing.. I bought my truck new in Oct. 2002 for $36K (sticker $42K). Now a similar truck is about 60K.

And in 2002 the median household income was $40,125, today it is over $60,000. So the increase in the price of trucks is almost in lockstep with the increase in household income. Sure wish healthcare and college education costs behaved as reasonably.

And a loaf of bread that was $1.19 in 2002, is now $1.89. When mom sent me to get it I didn't have a $75K truck. I had to walk there 4 miles in the snow, with no shoes, uphill both ways.

where you getting your bread. a loaf here is $2.59.

Walmart...the generic cheap white stuff that plugs up your colon and probably contains sawdust..........You must be buying that al la en-vogue artisan craftwork foofoo bread lol. If that's the case, grow a set and eat mans bread. Save the $1 a loaf and in about 65000 weeks you can buy a new terrible truck.

Nope. It is just Sara Lee White Bread. and it is cheaper than Sunbeam, or Wonder Bread.

[mich800]

teejaywhy wrote:

Jayco-noslide wrote:

...I guess I don't have a point here except I worry for those that don't really know what's it's costing them...

We shouldn't worry about the blissfully ignorant, but there are a lot of them out there!

It actually borders on arrogant when you assume you know more about others financial decisions and understanding of the transaction than they do.

[teejaywhy]

Jayco-noslide wrote:

...I guess I don't have a point here except I worry for those that don't really know what's it's costing them...

We shouldn't worry about the blissfully ignorant, but there are a lot of them out there!

[Jim-Linda]

Another version... In 1996 when we retired, we bought the last truck we would need.. 1996 Freightliner FL-60 extended cab with hauler flatbed. Truck was $53,000. Now, 23 years later, still driving same truck, pulling 38'HH, FULL TIME. Truck still runs good, looks good, few less bells and such on new trucks but been paid for 21 years. Back story, back in the day, we tried two pickups and a UD Nissan until the heavy trailers took its toll. YMMV

Jim

[ScottG]

Grit dog wrote:

ScottG wrote:
A luxury vehicle that costs $75k weighs what? 5000#?
A new truck that costs $75K weighs 8000#+.

So you get more for your money with a truck. 😉

Less dollars per pound! It's like the big trucks are on sale! I like it!
Scott how ya been? Hope summer been good for you

Hey there GD!
Summer has been great! Lots of trips to Wenatchee and around the state. Hope you've been able to enjoy all the sun as well.

Scott

[nickthehunter]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
No doubt I'll get lots of disagreement on this. Just wondering how many young people on a budget are buying those nice trucks at $40000 and up;...

"on a budget" means you identify and plan for all sources of income and spending (including, savings, retirement, emergencies, contingencies, etc.). Sounds to me like these two young people are doing it right and know exactly what they are doing.

[rhagfo]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
No doubt I'll get lots of disagreement on this. Just wondering how many young people on a budget are buying those nice trucks at $40000 and up; way up for a 1 ton diesel. And financing them for as many years as a home. Economically a bad choice. For starters the purchase price is up there with amazing luxury and sport vehicles and 2 to 3 times many really nice vehicles.. Brutal depreciation follows. Secondly, about half as far on each gallon as a compact car or even a small SUV. So the overall cost of ownership must be huge. Yes, sometimes we need a truck, such as for a 5th wheel or heavy trailer. I've done that but then my (used) truck was my only vehicle. I guess I don't have a point here except I worry for those that don't really know what's it's costing them. Also, lighter, vehicles with small lightweight engines are way greener if you care about that sort of thing. OK. I'm not perfect with my 30 ft. V-10 MH towing a Ford Focus.

Why do think many young people are on a budget?
Two working members of a "young" with tech jobs, or even working a union construction trade can easily earn between $100,000 to $200,000 or more as a couple.
If one is willing to work in the right profession the rewards can be great. How they choose to manage it is their business.

[rvshrinker]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
No doubt I'll get lots of disagreement on this. Just wondering how many young people on a budget are buying those nice trucks at $40000 and up; way up for a 1 ton diesel. And financing them for as many years as a home. Economically a bad choice. For starters the purchase price is up there with amazing luxury and sport vehicles and 2 to 3 times many really nice vehicles.. Brutal depreciation follows. Secondly, about half as far on each gallon as a compact car or even a small SUV. So the overall cost of ownership must be huge. Yes, sometimes we need a truck, such as for a 5th wheel or heavy trailer. I've done that but then my (used) truck was my only vehicle. I guess I don't have a point here except I worry for those that don't really know what's it's costing them. Also, lighter, vehicles with small lightweight engines are way greener if you care about that sort of thing. OK. I'm not perfect with my 30 ft. V-10 MH towing a Ford Focus.

No terrible depreciation at all. These big trucks keep their value amazingly well. Why I didn’t buy used.

No Tesla or Audi is going to pull my trailer. What’s the point in even making that comparison?

[westernrvparkow]

sayoung wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

sayoung wrote:
We have a couple we run around with, the wife has allways traded her car in for a new one at 30,000 miles no matter and has had a payment for over 40 years. She believes she will allways have a car payment. He gets a new truck every 3 years period. Just as my DW & I don't understand the logic, they don't understand us driving cars/trucks for 10to 15 years & just paying cash/trade for a new one .and have found some deals on a 2/3 year old vehicle at times.
It's not that goods & services are too expensive, it's your money is worthless. We never should have quit backing our money with gold & silver.

Did I miss something? Are your friends on welfare or eating dog food while you are enjoying a steak dinner? If not, it sounds like they are enjoying things that are important to them using that "worthless" money. What does the being off the gold standard have to do with anything? And why do you consider US currency "worthless"? You can use it to obtain almost anything your heart desires, including gold and silver. It has been my experience that the people who complain that US currency is worthless are people that don't have any.

My point of my friends spending vs mine is just different views people have about transportation and other areas.They don't mind being indebt in their mid sixtys and keep saying they can't retire. I prefer being retired, no debt, & yes we have a few bucks stashed but what we have may seem like we are paupers and to another we are uber rich. Do you understand now ?

No I don't understand. You posted that US currency is "worthless". I am asking why you feel that way. Apparently that "worthless" currency is allowing you to be retired. If it is so "worthless" why have any stashed? Do you stash other things that are "worthless"? If so, you should send your information to the producers of those "hoarder" shows. They always like to make fun of people who store vast amounts of things that are worthless.

[Bert_Ackerman]

Terryallan wrote:

Bert Ackerman wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

ScottG wrote:

gbopp wrote:

ScottG wrote:
A luxury vehicle that costs $75k weighs what? 5000#?
A new truck that costs $75K weighs 8000#+.

So you get more for your money with a truck. 😉

Can we assume you sell trucks for a living :@

Ohh no! I've never been good at selling anything.
Here's the scary thing.. I bought my truck new in Oct. 2002 for $36K (sticker $42K). Now a similar truck is about 60K.

And in 2002 the median household income was $40,125, today it is over $60,000. So the increase in the price of trucks is almost in lockstep with the increase in household income. Sure wish healthcare and college education costs behaved as reasonably.

And a loaf of bread that was $1.19 in 2002, is now $1.89. When mom sent me to get it I didn't have a $75K truck. I had to walk there 4 miles in the snow, with no shoes, uphill both ways.

where you getting your bread. a loaf here is $2.59.

Walmart...the generic cheap white stuff that plugs up your colon and probably contains sawdust..........You must be buying that al la en-vogue artisan craftwork foofoo bread lol. If that's the case, grow a set and eat mans bread. Save the $1 a loaf and in about 65000 weeks you can buy a new terrible truck.