How'd it go today?
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Burnham
Woods walker
I prefer cribbing than jack stands. But it was chocked and stable. ive got 8x8 from the mill for cribbing.
Burnam. Ive done the math on newer vs older. Even if I charge myself it is cheaper. Just make sure you have more than one truck. I have 4 that can tow. Rent if I need to.
Too much stoopid shit goes wrong with computerized vehicles with tons of wiring.
I slap new motors and trannys in these and still cheaper.
Have to remember insurance, registration and taxes are high out here as well. Newer is above my pay grade. Already have a mortgage. These trucks do nothing but make me money and keep my brain working.
Besides, taking something to a mechanic is often at least an hour out. No mechanics in town can I trust. This time, two shops did something wrong with this truck. So I discovered anyway. Pay big money for idiots to fug it up.
Oh, I get it Stephen, I really do
. Carry on, good sir. You do well at the repairs and maintenance, no question. Good skills to have, I know as I share some of them.But to play devil's advocate...neither of my newer rigs have had issues with, as you put it "Too much stoopid shit goes wrong with computerized vehicles with tons of wiring". In my experience, just long term reliable performance with very low maintenance costs and zero breakdowns. One Toyota truck and one Subaru SUV.
The Jaguar doesn't really count, it's not supposed to be a daily driver/work rig
. It's still pretty reliable, but it does do stoopid shit with computers and lots of wiring . But what the hell...it's a Jaguar 
.
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As someone who loved running old stuff, the farther you go from your home base the less sense it makes. With me working hours from home it became no longer sustainable. It's a very risky proposition to go hours from help and tools in older vehicles that aren't in fully restored condition.
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CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Im too remote to trust vehicles I cant wrench on, nor can I afford them.
Might as well be made of unobtainium.
You cant even trust most dealerships within a 100 mile radius. People i know, that buy new in my neck of the woods soon regret it. Just a deer hit can ruin your day. Yall have gun with what ya got. You'll never sell me on something I cant wrench on.
Might as well be made of unobtainium.
You cant even trust most dealerships within a 100 mile radius. People i know, that buy new in my neck of the woods soon regret it. Just a deer hit can ruin your day. Yall have gun with what ya got. You'll never sell me on something I cant wrench on.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
It's a tough choice. When I started out, everything was new, and had a payment to go with it. I didn't have the business experience needed, so, about the time stuff needed to be traded in or needed repairs, I hadn't made plans for it, and then I crashed my motorcycle. Never recovered financially, so it's out of pocket for the last 17 years. I'd rather make money and make a payment. Instead, it's fix and cobble to get by, and the lost opportunity costs are astronomical. That's the reason I'm scrapping my outdoor wood boiler. I make way more cutging joinery than cutting firewood.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
You wanna talk about nickled and dimed to death?
Buy something new.
Buy something new.
Burnham
Woods walker
Not my experience. But we all go with what we have learned serves us best.
I don't trust any dealer, and i have a very different situation than you. My point was for me, who ran old stuff for years and fixed stuff as i went, i simply did not have enough hours in a day to do everything. I was working long hours very far from home, and what was a simple fix before became a huge problem on the road, and could cost me my job. So i bought a truck i researched heavily, and got a 100k bumper to bumper warranty. This is not cheap, but the money i was making made it the same as how everyone here looks at a mini payment, something that pays for itself. Now i could get dressed, fire up, and drive anywhere in the country without as much concern. I still have the old ones, although I'm thinning the herd some.
I'm not invincible, but i don't need all the tools because if it goes down ford is on the hook. If i bought an older truck, ignored the condition completely, tore it apart and just started fixing every little thing on it, it might be a different story. But i only have so much time, and honestly i kinda hate the work. I treated the older trucks as the cheapest way to achieve the goal, doing the proper maintenance and repairs, but never just rebuilding stuff to return to new condition and reliability. I have done that with some of my used equipment tho, most notably my welding machine. Arguably is the best way, because then you know every single bolt on it, and you can be anal enough to be better than new.
I'm not invincible, but i don't need all the tools because if it goes down ford is on the hook. If i bought an older truck, ignored the condition completely, tore it apart and just started fixing every little thing on it, it might be a different story. But i only have so much time, and honestly i kinda hate the work. I treated the older trucks as the cheapest way to achieve the goal, doing the proper maintenance and repairs, but never just rebuilding stuff to return to new condition and reliability. I have done that with some of my used equipment tho, most notably my welding machine. Arguably is the best way, because then you know every single bolt on it, and you can be anal enough to be better than new.
Mick!
TreeHouser
I always try to buy new or as new as possible. I don’t like fixing stuff and lease hire deals are very tax efficient.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Agree on the travel vehicle being newer. When Katy was commuting to work, she had the newer vehicle that ran like a top. Made our payments on it. But her work made her payments. When she had school. Same, granted, school does not make payments. But the peace of mind of her not being stranded was huge. That little van rarely had a thing go wrong with it. Until it stranded me out in a desert part way to Phoenix one night. No wrenching on that for me. That was quite a trip.
Mellow
BCMA
I like new stuff. My oldest work truck is a 2016 F-550. For personal vehicles, my wife and I have been leasing for the last decade or so. We're spoiled. It's nice to get a new car and truck every 3 years.
Mellow
BCMA
Raise your prices. Took me a long time to figure that one out. I was afraid I would lose jobs if my prices were too high. Turns out I just make more money with a higher caliber of customers and I'm not stressing over trying to get the job done and hurry to the next one. I still underbid now and then but since most jobs are very profitable, the occasional blunder is not a big deal any more.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Meanwhile, in the Ozarks of CA...
pantheraba
More biners!!!
..
Burnham
Woods walker
Honest question here...am I stupid, or am I smart?
I have not purchased a personal use vehicle on borrowed money in more that 40 years. Cash purchase only...which always twists the dealer salesfolk into crazy knots. Also as I have learned, does not provide me with as much leverage on price negotiations as I used to think it would...sorta a duh moment...I'm taking any profit available in loaned money off the table. Do not expect the corporate bitches to appreciate that you are saving yourself thousands while costing them the same .
I drive them for 15 to 20 years, save my money for the inevitable replacement, and pay cash for the new one. And I mean new off the dealer lot...with the exception of the collectible 2000 Jaguar, I have not bought a used vehicle since 1977.
Now I know as well as any of y'all that the moment that zero miles odometer rig leaves the dealer's lot, I lost significant dollars to instant depreciation. But that's not much of a big deal, if one plans to drive that new rig 15 or 20 years, at least in my estimation.
I'd like to hear what others think, and have done on this front.
I have not purchased a personal use vehicle on borrowed money in more that 40 years. Cash purchase only...which always twists the dealer salesfolk into crazy knots
. Also as I have learned, does not provide me with as much leverage on price negotiations as I used to think it would...sorta a duh moment...I'm taking any profit available in loaned money off the table. Do not expect the corporate bitches to appreciate that you are saving yourself thousands while costing them the same .I drive them for 15 to 20 years, save my money for the inevitable replacement, and pay cash for the new one. And I mean new off the dealer lot...with the exception of the collectible 2000 Jaguar, I have not bought a used vehicle since 1977.
Now I know as well as any of y'all that the moment that zero miles odometer rig leaves the dealer's lot, I lost significant dollars to instant depreciation. But that's not much of a big deal, if one plans to drive that new rig 15 or 20 years, at least in my estimation.
I'd like to hear what others think, and have done on this front.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
An enviable position to be in.
No that's a very good way to go B, but not everyone is the same. They say the dumbest thing you can ever do is buy a new car, because you lose thousands the second you sign because it's no longer new. But then again a brand new vehicle is a clean slate, without anyone else's f ups. I would have loved to pay cash, but my truck cost more than my house and I'm not doing that well . Then i think of the opportunity cost of spending that much cash upfront, which to me is a bunch. Intended use matters too because a business is different than a personal use, one's an asset while one's a liability.
. Then i think of the opportunity cost of spending that much cash upfront, which to me is a bunch. Intended use matters too because a business is different than a personal use, one's an asset while one's a liability.
stikine
Treehouser
You know B I think it's a variable deal depending on where you live a bit. My experience here is that after 10 years here your vehicle frame begins to experience significant corrosion and you start to get into the how long should i keep it deal.
I'm tired of buying used with no warrantee even if you are losing right off the dealership floor. I just have so few service options here if things go bad.
I guess I agree but up here it needs to be on a more frequent purchase cycle than 15-20 years.
Mick!
TreeHouser
pigwot
M's, Juniper's, Lowen’s, and Inge’s Grandpa
Always bought used for many years. Even off the back of the lot. Dealers take trade-ins that are rough or foreign and just put them in the back of the lot and wholesale them out. I got to know several who would take a $100 over what they might get from the wholesaler. And if the cats were foreign there was an anti-non-US attitude that I could play on to get those cars even cheaper. That’s how I bought my ‘62 Jag XKE, several work trucks, a Fiat with a cracked block which I was able to weld up and rebuild, a Ford Fiesta, a Datsun 410, - over all I saved thousands. The GMC 3/4 ton pickup I cut in half and added the Dodge dually rear end to in order to make a 3/4 length dump cost me $100 for the pickup and $100 for the back half of the Dodge!
My business ’financed’ a used F450 stake bed dump, but that was purchased for cash from a firm that ‘repossessed’ vehicles that were recovered from those who had loans they weren’t paying. They sold for a few thousand over what the banks needed to wrap up the loan. They turned over trucks quickly, making their money on volume. Took a while but a clean one that didn’t owe much came along. I paid cash, but my father loaned me the money, interest-free, as it was some financially tight times. When I shut down the tree business I sold that truck and a chipper for more than I paid for them to A Del Construction, a local road building company. My favorite was a barely-used 1987 Mitsubishi Mity Max. When it was 21 years old in 2008 the economy was bottomed out and I bought my current Ranger new. First and only new vehicle in the 49 years since getting my driver’s license. It was a 5 yr, 0% loan. Talked the price down too.
Same with Karen - always used until the Prius came out. No one was buying them. Dealer was telling me they were odd little cars with no idea if the suitcase batteries would last. Talked them down from $21,9k to $17,9k, 5 yr, 100k mile bumper-bumper, and 5yr, 0% interest. Only new car she has ever owned. It has 269k miles on it now and going strong!
My business ’financed’ a used F450 stake bed dump, but that was purchased for cash from a firm that ‘repossessed’ vehicles that were recovered from those who had loans they weren’t paying. They sold for a few thousand over what the banks needed to wrap up the loan. They turned over trucks quickly, making their money on volume. Took a while but a clean one that didn’t owe much came along. I paid cash, but my father loaned me the money, interest-free, as it was some financially tight times. When I shut down the tree business I sold that truck and a chipper for more than I paid for them to A Del Construction, a local road building company. My favorite was a barely-used 1987 Mitsubishi Mity Max. When it was 21 years old in 2008 the economy was bottomed out and I bought my current Ranger new. First and only new vehicle in the 49 years since getting my driver’s license. It was a 5 yr, 0% loan. Talked the price down too.
Same with Karen - always used until the Prius came out. No one was buying them. Dealer was telling me they were odd little cars with no idea if the suitcase batteries would last. Talked them down from $21,9k to $17,9k, 5 yr, 100k mile bumper-bumper, and 5yr, 0% interest. Only new car she has ever owned. It has 269k miles on it now and going strong!
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