The price of new trucks is beyond comprehension!

[BobsYourUncle]

It was 42 years ago today, seems so long ago, yet still a strong memory in my head, a milestone I reached in my humble beginnings into the home renovation industry building solariums and such.

Yes, it was on this day, October ten, nineteen seventy eight when I had been only 4 years into my lifetime career when I worked my way to being able to purchase my first brand new truck!

Yup, 10-10-78 I drove off the lot of Phillips Chev - Olds in Penticton BC driving my nice shiny new 78 Chev 3/4 Ton Camper Special.

As I pulled out of the lot and turned left on to Westminster Ave and headed east towards home, I though I had lost my marbles, that I am a total idiot.

Who in their right mind would pay $7714. For a new truck. All taxes, fees, dealer prep and all the rest of the junk in came to $8,109.70 out the door...... Bob, you are out of your mind! I kept saying to myself. Financed it on the never never plan I did. How will I ever pay for it? I was barely 24 years old.

It was a great truck, I had it for 26 years and about 527,000K on the odometer when I retired it, still in decent shape.

Hmmmmm......

42 years later, my 2007 truck in sig is getting worn out. 408,800K on the clock and I am eyeing the shiny new trucks on the lot.

92 grand $$$$$$$ for something similar with a few more bells and whistles.

No, just no! That's what, about a dozen times the price I paid back then?
Gosh how can they justify that?

Wow! Just wow. Amazing how expensive pickups have become. All these fancy gizzmobops they have, someone has to pay for all that I guess..

Guess I'll just keep fixing what I have. It was $1423.77 yesterday for a water pump and a U-joint. Expensive!

Oh well, that's life! 🙂

My story of the day.

[Floridastorm]

gbopp wrote:

A1ARealtorRick wrote:

Floridastorm wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
Flyer, 1965 GTO was the best of the series...I had a LeMans.

1965 to 1967 GTOs. Best cars ever built IMO. 1967 had fuel injection where 1965/66 had Tri Power 4 bbl carburetors. Had a 1967 in 1967 and it was like a fighter plane.

I'm sure you meant tri-power OR 4 bbl carbs, as the tri-power was a 3 2bbl setup.

I don't remember a Pontiac GTO with fuel injection in the 60's?

You are correct. the 1965/66 had 3 2bbl carburetors while the 1967 had 1 4 bbl carburetor with Ram Air an entirely new concept. I thought that it had fuel injection. My mistake.

[gbopp]

A1ARealtorRick wrote:

Floridastorm wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
Flyer, 1965 GTO was the best of the series...I had a LeMans.

1965 to 1967 GTOs. Best cars ever built IMO. 1967 had fuel injection where 1965/66 had Tri Power 4 bbl carburetors. Had a 1967 in 1967 and it was like a fighter plane.

I'm sure you meant tri-power OR 4 bbl carbs, as the tri-power was a 3 2bbl setup.

I don't remember a Pontiac GTO with fuel injection in the 60's?

[NJRVer]

BobsYourUncle wrote:

NJRVer wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
It was 42.....snip

You must have bought the "Silverado" trim to pay that much.
Our family bought stripped down 1978 C10 "Big 10" model for about $5000 out the door.

Nope! It was the Scottsdsle model. Plain Jane, no real extras at all.
350 with a 4 stick, power steering and brakes. That was it. Armstrong windows and door locks, standard heater, no AC. It did have bucket seats and a console though.
Sticker was $7714. I wasn't smart enough to dicker with them and beat them down on the price. I did, however, get them to swap out the stock little mirrors for the 2 way camper mirrors.
This was a 3/4 ton camper special.
A C10 is a basic half ton, thus the lower price.

We had the "Big 10" which was a heavy duty half ton. back then the emission exemption was based on weight rating and GM made this Big 10 so it was above the half ton model with all the emission stuff.
The tail pipe even had a blocking screen in the end of it so a sniffer could not be inserted in the exhaust.

[RetiredRealtorR]

Floridastorm wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
Flyer, 1965 GTO was the best of the series...I had a LeMans.

1965 to 1967 GTOs. Best cars ever built IMO. 1967 had fuel injection where 1965/66 had Tri Power 4 bbl carburetors. Had a 1967 in 1967 and it was like a fighter plane.

I'm sure you meant tri-power OR 4 bbl carbs, as the tri-power was a 3 2bbl setup.

[BobsYourUncle]

And to think I paid $38,500. for my first house...
More than double that now for a new truck!

[free_radical]

GDS-3950BH wrote:
We had to walk 11 miles to school, in 4 feet of snow, uphill both ways, with no shoes.

Could be worse 🙂

https://youtu.be/5HXXJg4vDF8

[noteven]

An on line inflation calculator suggests $8000.00 in 1978 = $35,000.00 in 2020.

So if you account for safety equipment and other standard equipment such as ABS and electronic power train management that was not available in 1978...

Plus factor in the power vs fuel economy vs emissions

Are basic 2wd standard cab new trucks comparable to Bob's 1978 that expensive?

[monkey44]

Paid $43K for my 2500HD 4x4 Xcab in 2015 ... got 56K miles on it now, mostly all camping and hauling TC on cross-country camping trips. Runs like a champ, and we hope keeping maintenance up and caring for our truck, it will out-last our camping days, thinking at least another 150K miles like the last one - traded in at 214K miles. If we ever need another truck, we'll probably give it up, buy something smaller, and go back to tents or vans for the price of a new truck, even tho affording it is not the issue ... it's the outrageous price - dang near a house.

Maybe working guys - probably wife and hubby both employed - can afford it, and enjoy it, and make it last. Retired tho, with our dollar value shrinking annually, not quite as easy.

[FishOnOne]

I think I'm going to run by 6.7 PSD Super Duty another couple of years and by then the new Super Duty's should be out with the new interiors like the 2021 F150. At that point it will be 10 years old and have ~250k miles.

Historically I typically trade my trucks in at 7 years but since I decided to purchased a more expensive truck with my '12 my decision was to run it a bit longer.

I will say that this Super Duty with the Lariat package is an absolute joy to drive and I absolutely love this truck compared to my previous truck that was an XLT. I would much prefer to pay a littler more to have a nice equipped truck and keep it longer than a stripped down truck.

[BobsYourUncle]

NJRVer wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
It was 42.....snip

You must have bought the "Silverado" trim to pay that much.
Our family bought stripped down 1978 C10 "Big 10" model for about $5000 out the door.

Nope! It was the Scottsdsle model. Plain Jane, no real extras at all.
350 with a 4 stick, power steering and brakes. That was it. Armstrong windows and door locks, standard heater, no AC. It did have bucket seats and a console though.
Sticker was $7714. I wasn't smart enough to dicker with them and beat them down on the price. I did, however, get them to swap out the stock little mirrors for the 2 way camper mirrors.
This was a 3/4 ton camper special.
A C10 is a basic half ton, thus the lower price.

[valhalla360]

rexlion wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
Sure, prices have gone up but so has our wages.

If only! I picked the wrong line of work for income growth; my income is lower now than it was 20 years ago. Good thing we got the mortgage paid off, or we'd be hurting. Oh well, it's work I enjoy, so I just keep telling myself it's about quality of life and not money.

I agree, you picked the wrong line of work if your income is lower compared to 20yr ago.

Mine is over 4 times higher compared to my first full time professional position.

[valhalla360]

ktosv wrote:
I have often thought the OEM’s should offer a version of their vehicles that don’t contain all of the advancements and safety features of the last 40 years.

They probably could sell them at a much reduced price for those that don’t like car prices of today. Of course the consumer would need to sign a waiver stating they won’t sue when they are injured or more likely killed when in an accident.

If you park a 35-40 year vehicle next to a new vehicle the differences are astounding.

Go look at the Mahindra Roxer...it's literally a 50yr old jeep (they bought the manufacturing rights to the original design). Only major difference is they put in a small diesel.

I believe the Roxer starts at about $14k. A new Jeep starts at about $25k. Makes a great case study of how much you pay for the new and modern.

Problem is they aren't street legal. How much of that is govt vs manufacturers pushing...who knows.

[wilber1]

I won't need another truck, It has 93,000 KM and at this rate I will be 85 by the time it hits 200K.

[blt2ski]

ShinerBock wrote:
$8,109.70 in 1978 is equivalent to $32,329.10 today with inflation which is not too far off from what you can buy a similarly equipped single cab pickup truck today. When I mean similarly equipped, I mean the exact same features, not trim packages. Most trucks were single cab back in those days.

According to GM website, you can get a regular cab 1500 4wd with a 355hp/385lb-ft 5.3L V8 for $32,590 and I bet it has all the same features as the high end trims back in those days. I bet that it also tows more and gets better fuel economy than those trucks did too. So the problem is not that the same trucks apples to apples are more expensive, it is that people want more in their trucks like crew cabs, fancy tech, and power engine options that can tow way more than what trucks can tow back then. Heck, you would have to get a class 6 or 7 truck back then to tow what class 2b and 3 trucks tow today.

A 2500 with a 6l auto trans is closer to 35000 for an equal truck. Yes that 1500 will to more, but still carry half of a reg cab class 2b truck.

[blt2ski]

A year out of HS, new GMC Sierra Grande 8700 off the lot. 2000 base was $16000 plus licence and taxes. Today, similar base 2500 35,000. So doubling ever 20 years or so. If only salary had done the same.
In mean time, &86 s10, 5995 add special, 88 ext cab 4x 16500, 96 CC diesel sw 26000, 05 CC DW dmax 28500.......
Looking at 1500 dual can GMs with 100k, dealers want 20-25,000..... For 14-18 models. Sold for that cost new with warranty.....
Might have to make 2000 with 148000 miles last a bit more. 1000 and my labor for new seat cushion and cover is looking good.
Marty