My truck has 576k miles and 20 years on it, and may (or may not) be on its way out.

There is no vehicle that I lust after.  I'm out of touch with the automotive world, have been satisfied with my Cummins, and haven't kept up with what is available.

My brother tells me, "Why look for a used car?  You've already got a used car" - but new frightens me, the first scratch, the first windshield crack, and so forth.  Not to mention depreciation; used to be, you bought a new car and the value dropped by half once you had the title in your name and drove it around the block.  Don't know if that is still true?

He as a Nissan electric car and hates it - great acceleration, lousy range.  Calls it his "golf cart".  Don't know what prompted him (Mr. Pontiac 389) to buy such a thing, all that crap about no oil changes, no gas, no cooling system / belts / hoses, no spark plugs / cap/rotor/wires, no exhaust system to rot out - is all true but it is crap, I can't figure the real reason.

His wife, my SIL, has a Subaru Forrester.  She loves it, it is reliable, fast enough for her, gets 28 mpg, and so forth.  Maybe she is easy to please.

My wife has a Honda Element.  It is ok, some torque-steer, blind spots (but if it were mine I'd put better mirrors on it), I'm driving it while my truck is laid up and she is out of town...have to have a plan, she comes home next Thursday.

A couple people at the rifle club have some kind of little Honda that looks like an old-fashioned station wagon - seems like good visibility out, room for rifle cases, not so fancy-looking to get stolen, don't know what they are called or what they cost, can ask Sunday if I go to the match. (If I'm stupid enough to go lie in the Sun at 100º).

So what would you look for?  New or used?  Car or pickup?

Mission statement:

I work 3-1/2 more years until I'm 70 and they run me off.

 

Work is 46 miles each way, 5 days a week, and about 50 each way to the rifle club three Sundays a month, figure ~25-30k miles a year, maybe 75-100k total until retirement.

Old, stiff neck, have to be able to see out, no cars with view-slits, need plenty glass.

 

Nothing that sits too low.

 

Don't really need a pickup any more, but I had a "76 short bed 1/2 ton Chevy (350 / 3-speed) until I got my Dodge in '95, so I'm kind of used to pickups...

Very interested to read your thoughts...

My dad just got a 2015 F150 2.7 v6 ecoboost. Gets 20-21 mpg consistanly. Decent power but the engine is packed full

I couldn't imagine, my brother in law has a 2015 f150 3.5 eco-boost in Iowa city IA and I was driving it around there a couple weeks ago and at low around town speeds on the hills there it could barely pull itself around very much underpowered at low speed low rpms if the turbo isn't spooled, I couldn't even imagine it in those conditions with a load or trailer. totally helpless.

My truck has 576k miles and 20 years on it, and may (or may not) be on its way out.

There is no vehicle that I lust after.  I'm out of touch with the automotive world, have been satisfied with my Cummins, and haven't kept up with what is available.

My brother tells me, "Why look for a used car?  You've already got a used car" - but new frightens me, the first scratch, the first windshield crack, and so forth.  Not to mention depreciation; used to be, you bought a new car and the value dropped by half once you had the title in your name and drove it around the block.  Don't know if that is still true?

He as a Nissan electric car and hates it - great acceleration, lousy range.  Calls it his "golf cart".  Don't know what prompted him (Mr. Pontiac 389) to buy such a thing, all that crap about no oil changes, no gas, no cooling system / belts / hoses, no spark plugs / cap/rotor/wires, no exhaust system to rot out - is all true but it is crap, I can't figure the real reason.

His wife, my SIL, has a Subaru Forrester.  She loves it, it is reliable, fast enough for her, gets 28 mpg, and so forth.  Maybe she is easy to please.

My wife has a Honda Element.  It is ok, some torque-steer, blind spots (but if it were mine I'd put better mirrors on it), I'm driving it while my truck is laid up and she is out of town...have to have a plan, she comes home next Thursday.

A couple people at the rifle club have some kind of little Honda that looks like an old-fashioned station wagon - seems like good visibility out, room for rifle cases, not so fancy-looking to get stolen, don't know what they are called or what they cost, can ask Sunday if I go to the match. (If I'm stupid enough to go lie in the Sun at 100º).

So what would you look for?  New or used?  Car or pickup?

Mission statement:

I work 3-1/2 more years until I'm 70 and they run me off.

 

Work is 46 miles each way, 5 days a week, and about 50 each way to the rifle club three Sundays a month, figure ~25-30k miles a year, maybe 75-100k total until retirement.

Old, stiff neck, have to be able to see out, no cars with view-slits, need plenty glass.

 

Nothing that sits too low.

 

Don't really need a pickup any more, but I had a "76 short bed 1/2 ton Chevy (350 / 3-speed) until I got my Dodge in '95, so I'm kind of used to pickups...

Very interested to read your thoughts...

 

I see you have a Honda Element too.  Great cars!  I have 3 Elements, a 2007 SC manual shift, a 2007 EX AWD, and a 2009 SC.  Please allow me to point out an important factor.  If ANY vehicle you buy has an engine that uses a timing belt.......the cost of replacing timing belts will FAR exceed ANY amount of money you save in fuel or other expenses.  The Honda Element engine uses the Honda K series engine which employ a timing chain that does NOT need to be replaced or adjusted.  The 2007 Element SC has about 150,000 miles on it and still runs like a top, the 2007 EX AWD I recently bought and had to spend some money on parts, fluids and motor mounts but with over 230,000 miles on it......I think it deserved some love.    It too runs like a top.  The 2009 Element SC has about 65,000 miles on it and also runs like a top. 

 

These are fantastic cars/SUV's and Honda should be slapped for discontinuing them in 2011.  They are VERY utilitarian and can carry a LOT of stuff.  I HIGHLY recommend one if you can find one for sale at a reasonable price.  Now that Honda discontinued production, there are a lot of knuckle heads out there that think they are sitting on a pot of gold and asking FAR too much for them.  A good alternate but not as good as the Honda Element is the Honda CR-V.  The CR-V has an updated Element drivetrain nearly identical to it.  Same engine and all.  Just used Genuine Honda fluids and parts as well as the scheduled maintenance and they will last a LONG time. 

 

For a truck, I have pretty much written off every buying a new Dodge Ram again.  There is just NO WAY to justify spending 60K+ for a personal pickup truck.  I would keep any eye out for a 1998.5 in good condition ( will be VERY difficult to find and pricey) or a 2002 24V that has been vetted for any potential 53 block, injector pump, or transmission issues.  You might have to put 10 - 15K into it to get a really nice and reliable truck in near new mechanical condition with a total of not more than 25 - 30k invested depending upon what you start with.  In the end, you will have a great truck that is very reliable and utilitarian at half or less the price of a new truck. 

Thanks!

My wife's Element is a 2004 and it only has about 85k miles on it - she uses her '92 Toyota 4x4 on the farm and runs the Honda only on the public roads, and does not go anywhere except the grocery store, Vet, and maybe the dentist.  She loves that car and does not plan on giving it up.

The Toyota V6 has a timing belt, I changed it years ago and it is probably due again, not based on mileage but based on time.  Miles don't accrue very fast in low range but hours do.

I've been looking - actually, educating myself on what is out there since I've gotten so out of touch - and have to admit I keep looking at old Dodge/Cummins pickups, newer / less miles than mine.  She says I'm crazy, 3/4 the people who own a vehicle do not maintain them properly and if you buy one that has not been maintained, it will be junk.  She says "buy new and run it 'til it drops, just like the Dodge" and in many ways I think she is right.

There is a website - measuringworth.com - where you can plug in a dollar value, a starting year, and an ending year.  It says the $4500 I piad for my '76 Chevy half-ton is equal to ~$18k now, and $25k in 1995 is like $38k now.  Can't get used to it, but coffee is no longer a dime...

To make things even more unclear my truck has been behaving perfectly since the oil cooler incident.  I met a guy when the water pump failed last spring, who has a towing service / body shop, and I have his number in my phone.  In 20 years that is the only time my truck went home on the hook (actually, on a flat-bed wrecker).  So in a way I'm covered if something breaks between home and work.

Still looking / thinking, thanks for the good info on the Element!

Andrew