Old truck vs new truck

[wvu_traveler]

Maybe like many others - the thought of upgrading trucks comes with the dread dealing with all the new emission issues, or skipping diesel and go for a gasser. I have a 2005 Silverado 2500 LLY and have had it for a long time but only has 120k miles…however the last 10-15k miles have been expensive. Oil sender failed, cluster failed, transfer case seal failed, front hub/bearing failed…now I believe I have an FPR or some other fuel related issue creeping up on me with a slight pulse while in gear, near idle. Dealer wants 1-2 hrs to diagnose. While this is not my DD, if I trade it….whatever I end up with will be. We tow mostly April thru November about once per month. The thought of tossing more $ into this truck is starting to bother me due to its age….but I have to think even a 15 year old diesel still tows better than a modern gasser. So what say you – is it worth the money to upgrade to a modern truck with payment or just keep repairing what is paid for?

[larry_barnhart]

I had to deal with our 05 surging 2 winters ago in Az. Dealer and a local shop both said maybe 3 days to know the problem. In my mind I felt HPF regulator was the problem so the day I drove to the chev shop it was really surging and very soon I was told it is the HPF regulator. At this time I can't get over how sweet it runs.

chevman

[SidecarFlip]

Rwake901 wrote:
Personally I prefer the reliability of a newer truck. When traveling I don’t want to worry about what’s going to break down next on the road and ruin my vacation. I know payments suck but so does sitting alongside the high way broke down spending your vacation there instead of where you want to be. I guess ether way your paying someone the bank or the repair guy. lol

You need to distill that a bit to diesel or gas. New diesels may (or may not be) issue prone. Lots of lowest bidder hardware and software to break.

[Rwake901]

Personally I prefer the reliability of a newer truck. When traveling I don’t want to worry about what’s going to break down next on the road and ruin my vacation. I know payments suck but so does sitting alongside the high way broke down spending your vacation there instead of where you want to be. I guess ether way your paying someone the bank or the repair guy. lol

[fj12ryder]

wvu_traveler wrote:
I own a 2013 Keystone Cougar 5th wheel...loaded up we are slightly under 10k I believe. My current truck is a diesel so it tows fine, just getting old and costly. I see a lot of campers now running newer gas 3/4 ton that tow similar weight to me. I'm leaning towards a new to me gas 3/4 ton since it will be a daily driver...however I do drive a lot. 25k miles a year....so I have a lot of things to think about. The only thing is I live in the mountains, so very I do worry about performance while towing. With my current setup, I just get in and go. I don't worry about mountains, passing semis on the interstate, etc. With gas, seems there is more planning, thought, etc. Guess its all in what you are willing to pay for.

Do you need a 3/4 ton truck as a DD? If not, why not look into a car/SUV for a DD and keep/maintain your towing truck? You can probably buy a commuter car for less than a 3/4 ton truck will cost, and the insurance, taxes, fuel cost will all be lower too. Of course of you need a 3/4 ton truck for commuting, they that's a different story.

I drive a 2001 Dodge dually for our tow vehicle, and that's basically all it is used for. If I had to put $500/month in repairs into it, it would still take many years before I would spend what a new truck would cost. OTOH, I haven't done squat to it except maintenance in probably 10 years, and it's still running fine. $35,000 for a new truck is money that could be spent better elsewhere.

[SidecarFlip]

Should be 'Payment book' or no payment book.

[1jeep]

its a tough call with the old truck comes the not if but when something fails and needs repair. with a new truck comes the BIG $$$$ cost of buying it, not just limited to monthly payments but insurance, tax and reg fees.

Yes i like having a new truck every 5 or 6 years, i try to pay it off before trading in. i personally have not had emmission related issues yet with the new diesels and my prior 2011 diesel had over 120k miles.

This is the advice i gave my father regarding his 2007 GMC drw, he wanted to buy a new one last year since his is getting older and becoming problematic. I told him if it were mine(his has 37k miles) i would take what his monthly payment would be and buy parts, replace the worn items and stay with that truck for a while longer.

[wvu_traveler]

I own a 2013 Keystone Cougar 5th wheel...loaded up we are slightly under 10k I believe. My current truck is a diesel so it tows fine, just getting old and costly. I see a lot of campers now running newer gas 3/4 ton that tow similar weight to me. I'm leaning towards a new to me gas 3/4 ton since it will be a daily driver...however I do drive a lot. 25k miles a year....so I have a lot of things to think about. The only thing is I live in the mountains, so very I do worry about performance while towing. With my current setup, I just get in and go. I don't worry about mountains, passing semis on the interstate, etc. With gas, seems there is more planning, thought, etc. Guess its all in what you are willing to pay for.

[p220sigman]

It would help to know what you are towing, but I don't think there is much comparison between a gasser from 2005 and a modern one. They will tow worlds differently. I think if you give it an honest comparison, you would find a modern gasser (properly equipped of course) will tow as well or better than your current truck. A modern diesel will be an entirely different beast all together.

As far as it making sense to keep what you have or have a payment, you have to evaluate if you are spending as much a month on repairs/upkeep as you would on the payment. If so, it starts to point towards new or newer, but it is still not that simple. A newer truck might be more expensive to insure, register (don't know if your registration is age based or weight based), etc. You also have to think about what might be coming up as a major expense. For instance, we had a van that the AC compressor was going out in. Repair was going to be between 2700 and 3000 depending on which compressor we went with. The van was only work about 5000 and had a 190K miles on it. It just didn't make any economic sense to spend that much on the van knowing there were other major systems ripe for problems due to the mileage.

One option: if you are happy with your current truck, figure the cost of a new one and what the payment would be and start paying yourself that now. Then when you decide to buy something else down the road, you're already accounting for the payment and you have a nice down payment. You could use this as your repair/replace fund for the current truck.

[Lwiddis]

Whatever floats your boat IMO. I prefer new.