Re: Re: I'm pissed off...

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Sat Nov 07 2009 - 13:18:36 EST


Cord <cordcord@ispmonsters.com> wrote:
> Maybe it's time to build your own. There are many 60s-70's pickups out
> there with all or most of what you want. Buy one and consider upgrades
> like making payments. Perhaps a 440 with Dana 60 axles... :) Only takes
> time, space, cash. When I have one, I don't seem to have the others.

   I was going to post pretty much the same idea. :-) In going
through Tom's list, it immediately struck me that except for the "new"
part, and possibly the gas mileage, an old Power Wagon or a myriad of
other classic trucks met all of his requirements. The gas mileage
part could be mitigated to some extent via modernization and careful
selection of driveline components.

   There are a number of possibilities, from buying a completed truck
to a project to basically building from scratch.

   The benefits of an old truck can be many... Inexpensive to
purchase, generally pretty simple to work on, its different than every
other cookie cutter truck on the road, depending on how you use it,
you can get classic insurance for considerably less money.

   Really the only benefit of a new truck would be the peace of mind
factor of having 3/5/7/whatever years where you can dump it off at the
dealer to fix any problems which might arise. You pay dearly for this
benefit though in the form of depreciation. Plus, after the warranty
is up, when problems do occur, you're either back to fixing it
yourself or taking it to an independent shop, same as you would for an
older truck, however this time you're dealing with a significantly
more complicated system (computers, electronics, etc.), so similar
repairs are likely to be more expensive on a newer truck.

    Everyone has to assess their own situation of course, but if I
were in Tom's situation of wanting a no-frills truck but not being
happy with what is being made today, I'd probably go with an older
truck. The biggest drawback to this aspect though (for me anyway)
would be time. I am so insanely busy that I just wouldn't have time
to tackle such a project, so I'd either have to buy something already
done (in which case some compromises might have to be made because the
available vehicles might not be how I would have built them), or the
other option is to pay a reputable shop to build a truck for you.
Granted, this is going to cost much more money than doing it yourself,
BUT compare this to the cost of a new truck. It is not unheard of to
drop 40 grand on a new truck, especially a 3/4 or 1 ton. You are
paying for high UAW labor wages and that warranty I mentioned earlier.
(No warranty is really "free", its built into the cost of the truck.)
The labor rates charged by a shop are likely to be a lot lower than
those of the folks bolting together trucks in Detroit. You may be able
to pay a shop to put together the exact truck you want for
considerably less than buying a new one. Plus, if you needed to turn
around and sell it right away, assuming you were careful with your
expenses while building it, you are likely to get most, all, or maybe
even more money out of it than what you put in. Try doing that with a
new truck! Plus, from the moment the truck is done, it is likely to
continue to appreciate in value. That new truck would probably need
to sit in a time capsule for thirty years before it starts to see an
upswing on its blue book.

    You don't need to have a wad of cash to buy an old truck either -
financing is available as near as your local bank or online
(lendingtree, etc) so you can make payments if you need to go that
route. I have purchased three used vehicles that way, two from
dealerships and one from a private party, and in all three cases the
financing came from an independent bank, not the dealership or
individual selling the vehicle.

    As you know, spending other DMLer's money is one of the favorite
hobbies of those of us on this list :-) so definitely do your research
before jumping into something like this, but those are just the
thoughts that came to my mind, maybe they will be helpful or at least
give you something to ponder.

-- 
                                          -Jon-

.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -. | '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars | `-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'



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