I, too, agree with this philosophy. Use my TV for towing only, and am thinking about replacing with a diesel...not new but one of the older 7.3 PSD rigs...hard to find still, but good deals out there. And I can see myself on a scooter...25 miles from town with two 6-8% grades in between...and 4 ft of snow in winter. Some Burb people are scooter people (I guess). Most, I would venture to say, are not. On the other hand, a little Honda 250.......
Engineer9860 wrote: My only regret is the fact that I can't afford to take advantage of others ignorance.
With $30,000.00 trucks selling right now for about $15,000.00~$20,000.00, I only wish I were in a position to take advantage of these "deals."
Agree with O.P. I have weighed the #s myself, and even if one doesn't change their driving habits at all, after considering depreciation on your old rig, trading to a more fuel efficient vehicle just doesn't compute.
Also there is a mentality that some fall into after trading for a smaller vehicle. Because it now costs $60.00 to fill their tank, instead of $120.00 they unconsciously convince themselves that they can drive more, and are right back to where they started as far as total gas purchased, in addition to the fact that they are paying for a more expensive newer vehicle.
Me too.
05 Super Duty XLT CC 5.4/3.73 5 sp auto Torqshift
06 Keystone Hornet 29 RLS/(The"Cracker Cabana")
Reese HP Dual Cam
By this same logic I concluded a while ago that even $6/gallon diesel was not that big an issue for us. Then again, I concluded that when diesel was selling for $2.75/gallon and crept to $3.00... Then in the blink of an eye it went to $5.00 My logic still holds... but $6.00/gallon is a LOT closer and higher is not impossible.
Maybe I won't be retiring quite so soon after all... but I'm not planning to sell the truck and we pick up a new RV next week.
Tammy, Dave, Mark and Kirsten
04 Dodge 2500 4x4 SLT Quad Cab/Short Bed
HO-CTD/48RE - Graphite: Raptor SS nerfs, Tekonsha Prodigy, Reese 16K Kwik-slide, BD X-Monitor, PML Trans pan, PML Diff cover, DiPricol fpg
04 Jayco Eagle 305 BHS
I got an old junker car to drive to work and back. It gets a little better fuel mileage, but honestly the savings will come when I pay off the truck and DON"T HAVE TO BUY A NEW ONE! Cutting the mileage from 20K a year to 5K of towing and weekend runs to town and back will save the wear and tear and keep my truck around for many more years of towing life. The car cost 600, I spent 200 in parts to get it road worthy, 100 in TTL and I figure another 100 in nick nacks to keep it going now. If it lasts 18 months I will call it good. $650 truck payments end in 3 years and if I can run a car for basically one payment a year I will be happy later. Not only that, but I really like the truck and want to be in it many years from now and not driving a wreck of a truck. I don't mind the junker car to commute, but when I travel long distances and tow the trailer I want to be confident. Just my take on the whole car/truck/ fuel issue. By the way- we still go to the lake and will until we go flat broke, then I'll sell something else to keep going- it's kind of a war against giving up what I love because of the devil and his fuel prices.
Mat
'05 Dodge 3500 SRW 4x4 QC LB SLT- CTD 325HP/610TQ w/ 6 speed manual
'06 Coachmen SOA526RLS 28' 5th wheel Loaded PLUS
Bearing Buddies, Kingpin Stab., Slide Out Stab., Roof Vent & Tire Covers, 15K BTU ducted A/C+ 13.5K in BR, 100W Halogen back up lights
I've just bought a conversion van from a guy for a real good price because he wanted to downsize to an economy car. The van did not have a scratch or spot anywhere and was as good as any new car.
I figure that what I paid for it versus what I would have had to pay for a fuel efficient car will buy me a lot of gasoline with the difference. And, it's a lot more comfortable to drive than the wife's minivan.
My Dodge CTD sits waiting for me to run it once a month.
Zig your consensus is right on the money. Too many knee jerk reactions and chicken littles along with the gloom and doomers make the economy look much worse than it really is.
If you have a good truck keep it, if you don't and want one, now is the time to grab a real bargain.
F350 PSD CC DRW Tow Boss
Heartland Bighorn 3600RE
Airsafe Revolution
I picked up a cheap commuter car and have not driven the truck for three months. The savings on fuel are only part of the savings. Oil changes and tires are cheaper too.
I sold my second PSD Excursion last fall for $24,500 when diesel was about $3.15 because we needed an extended 1 ton passenger van with seating for 12. I purchased the van in March after prices dropped and it is perfect for our needs for trips to our Florida timeshares like this week and next. If we still had the Excursion we would have to keep it since prices since last fall have dropped almost in half.
I have a 10 year old Superduty 89K on it ( early 99 ) Been payed for a long time. I tow with it and thats all its used for. I drive a old beater to work that gets 26 mpg. I spend two weeks in Montana every year ,but seperate weeks. This year I will spend two weeks in a row saving a 800 mile round trip, but mostly because the rivers are still running high ,and still a couple weeks from fishing well. I will go up later in July when the rivers have calmed down. I can save about 400.00 in fuel which can buy me another new fly reel. See how well these higher fuel costs can benefit a guy.
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