Replacing truck, need opinions

Jeff Oslick

Jeff Oslick

Final Approach
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Fullerton, CA
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Display name:
Jeff Oslick
Ok folks, I'm going to the braintrust to help me think this through.

My truck, 2019 Chevy Colorado, diesel, long bed, 4x4 Z71, got in an accident a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, the frame got bent a bit, and the insurance company is talking about totalling it, though it is a really marginal case where it probably could be repaired, but the salvage value is too high, so they probably won't fix it. Yeah, it'll probably end up fixed on the cheap and driving in Mexico in a few weeks. I'm SOL.

So, insurance co. will need to write me a big check. I need a truck, and I'm really partial to the Chevy/GMC mid size twins. Suburban life makes driving a full size a chore. I'm a GM guy. Changing that isn't happening. I know their faults well, which usually keeps me ahead of problems. Getting a new $50k truck isn't happening. I might be tempted if there was free money (0% loans) floating around, but those days are gone for now.

First. Convince me I really don't need the diesel again. It was cool. It was fun. It was (very) slow. It hauled loads really well, but at most I tow a 5,000# trailer a few times per year (but it is in the mountains), though I do carry close to a max payload weight fairly often. They're hard to find too, so it would limit my choices. I never ended up putting the miles on it I planned to, mostly because of COVID, so it was 57,000 miles in 4 years. Diesel got more expensive, and still is. I know all the rational reasons not to get the diesel. Tell me again...

Needs to be 4x4. Not optional. There are a few times per year I'd be stuck without it, and even driving in heavy rain in SoCal, 4x4 is very helpful in an unloaded pickup.

Do I get something older (~2019)/higher miles (50-70K) for low to mid 30k's range, or something a bit newer (2021) with <20K miles (and better warranty), for upper 30k's? There are some features that make me not want to go older than 2019. Is it worth around $5K savings for the higher mileage/older vehicle? My fear going with an older one is that I know GM products tend to go through a few more expensive (but readily fixable) problems once they get to 80-100K miles. An extra 40K+ miles wear and tear on truck suspension isn't insignificant either. I'm leaning towards newer...does that make sense (given all the other limitations I've put on this...)?
 
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Jeff Oslick said:
or something a bit newer (2021) with <20K miles (and better warranty), for upper 30k's
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:yeahthat:

I aim to buy my vehicles used at around 2 years old with some warranty left. The big depreciation hit is gone, and the vehicle still has many years of life. If there's some unseen problem, I'm covered by the warranty.

That approach has worked well for me for a long time
 
Half Fast said:
:yeahthat:

I aim to buy my vehicles used at around 2 years old with some warranty left. The big depreciation hit is gone, and the vehicle still has many years of life. If there's some unseen problem, I'm covered by the warranty.

That approach has worked well for me for a long time
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That depreciation thing doesn't work on trucks so much. My dad's was totaled from a car/deer accident and the insurance wrote him a check for more than he paid for it. My brother leased a truck for 2 years, went WAY over on the mileage, and they bought him out of it early and gave him an extra $4k so they could resell it. Mine is 3.5 years old, and I could sell it for close to what I paid for it.
 
Being in Kalifornia, you probably want to move away from a diesel with all the stuff they are forcing down your throat.
 
EdFred said:
That depreciation thing doesn't work on trucks so much. My dad's was totaled from a car/deer accident and the insurance wrote him a check for more than he paid for it. My brother leased a truck for 2 years, went WAY over on the mileage, and they bought him out of it early and gave him an extra $4k so they could resell it. Mine is 3.5 years old, and I could sell it for close to what I paid for it.
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Hmm, then there's the next one I plan to buy. Brand new: Upper 60s to mid 70K range. 2021 with less than 30K miles: Mid 50s average, with some under 50. I'll let someone else take that first $15-20K and shake out and manufacturing issues, thanks.
 
Half Fast said:
:yeahthat:

I aim to buy my vehicles used at around 2 years old with some warranty left. The big depreciation hit is gone, and the vehicle still has many years of life. If there's some unseen problem, I'm covered by the warranty.
That approach has worked well for me for a long time
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I'm not sure that works for any cars right now. Two years ago was a time of diminished production. In 2016 and 2018 I bought two small crossovers for my daughters, and saved some money. Looking at prices now, the savings just aren't there any more.
 
I guess the silver lining here is after they write me a check, even including financing costs, my truck only cost me about $200/month, including sales tax, maintenance/tires, since it depreciated so little in just over 4 years.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
my truck only cost me about $200/month, including sales tax, maintenance/tires, since it depreciated so little in just over 4 years.
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We traded a three year old car towards the end of the pandemic and got almost all of it back. I drove a new car for three years for $2000, $56/mo. A once in a lifetime deal I believe.
 
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Half Fast said:
:yeahthat:

I aim to buy my vehicles used at around 2 years old with some warranty left. The big depreciation hit is gone, and the vehicle still has many years of life. If there's some unseen problem, I'm covered by the warranty.

That approach has worked well for me for a long time
Click to expand...

I used to do just that, except for the last time when I bought my current truck in 2020/post COVID. With incentives I was able to get a new truck less than a 3-4 year old truck would cost. Prices have kept going up enough that even now my 2 year old truck still books out for about what I paid for it. The world is upside down and backwards.
 
On the full size trucks the diesel is a 10k option. The Colorado looks like around a 5k option with a 6 speed vs the 8 speed in the gasser. Can buy more truck because of that upcharge.

I've never understood the love for a diesel if you're not towing something. Just fueling it up is a stinky mess.
 
Racerx said:
On the full size trucks the diesel is a 10k option. The Colorado looks like around a 5k option with a 6 speed vs the 8 speed in the gasser. Can buy more truck because of that upcharge.

I've never understood the love for a diesel if you're not towing something. Just fueling it up is a stinky mess.
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I always ran renewable diesel, so it had little smell and ran very clean.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Prices have kept going up enough that even now my 2 year old truck still books out for about what I paid for it. The world is upside down and backwards.
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That's kind of where I'm at now, it feels like a 2 year old truck costs what a new truck should cost.
 
November of last year I had a 2016 VW Jetta totaled…low mileage car at 30k miles and received just over 19 K and within $200.00 of what I paid for it…hit while stopped at a light by an uninsured foreign national so worked with my insurance company in the process…
 
Stupid question maybe, but what about a short bed full size vs a mid-size? I say that owning an SUV built in a mid-size pickup now, and loving it, but I'm not sure that the same things you're used to in a full size Chevy will exist quite the same way in a mid-size Chevy. Like for instance having an accident and probably just walking away with a bent frame.
I say that because I had a near head-on with a VW rabbit while driving an 88 FS Bronco in the early 90's. I drove home. VW guy that ran a stop sign to hit me was luckily unhurt, but they had to drag what was left of his car onto a flatbed with a chain.
 
Tom- I am looking for a mid-size only. The problem with full size trucks in my area is a lot of parking lots aren't built for the width of modern full-size pickups, so parking routinely becomes a major hassle. I had a 2004 Sierra and it was a great truck, but they've only gotten wider since then.
 
I absolutely understand that. And respect the choice of Chevy, too. My made in Mississippi Nissan has been great for me since 2014, knock on wood. In part I based my decision on a couple of friends who had Frontiers that they were happy with. For whatever reason there weren't a lot of midsize US trucks then, Ford cancelled the Ranger, and the Nissan seemed to fill that gap pretty well.
 
My RAM will back itself into parking spaces, but I find it unnerving and rarely use the feature.
 
I didn't know the Colorado was available with a Diesel. That seems like a perfect combination of vehicle and engine.

I see lots of them available on the used car market, so I would look for a replacement.

[Spoken by a guy with three Diesel cars in his driveway]
 
The new colorado/canyon is NOT available with a diesel.
 
You know you want to.
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I have a 2016 Frontier SV with the V6 and stick shift and it has been trouble free. It's a very dated design with hard plastic interior and cloth seats, but its a truck, so thats ok.

They updated the Frontier in 2022. Dropped the manual transmission option but it looks a little bit less dated. I dont think its much wider, just about 5in longer for some reason. Haven't had a chance to drive one yet. They tend to be a bit less new than a comparable Tacoma.
 
I wish I still had my '95 Ram 2500. It was fun to drive, with the five speed, and got 25 mpg on the freeway empty but with a hardshell. Beat that with a modern extended cab full size truck. And it could pull anything I needed to pull, which wasn't much more than car trailers.

Our work trucks in Vietnam are Ford Rangers with 4 cyl diesel engines. The Other Person had a Colorado but the 5 cyl engine grenaded after not even 80K, and it was a known issue. No Colorados here anymore. The current truck is a Taco with the 4 cyl. It's pretty bulletproof.
 
Do you need a four door pickup? You can get a full size single cab, which would be about the size of a mid size four door, and be able to carry more with the tailgate closed. Of course you'll probably have to order a new one, but would probably cost less than the four door of any size used.
My Daughter just bought a 2014 four door four wheel drive with 40k miles. Cost her a bit over $65k.
 
- Yes, still have two teenagers and haul them and their friends regularly, 4 doors is a requirement.

There are some design features of the Ranger I don't like (such as, the rear seat doesn't fold flat). I don't do hard-core off-roading, and what I do is more likely to be high clearance and smaller rock-crawling, so I don't need the capabilities of the Raptor or ZR2. I might end up with a Canyon AT4, but I really don't even need the extra 2" lift either if I've got skid plates.

I've seen a couple diesels around, but they are higher mileage (near 60k) for the price of a newer gasser with 40k fewer miles, so the math just doesn't work.
 
Half Fast said:
:yeahthat:

I aim to buy my vehicles used at around 2 years old with some warranty left. The big depreciation hit is gone, and the vehicle still has many years of life. If there's some unseen problem, I'm covered by the warranty.

That approach has worked well for me for a long time
Click to expand...
With all due respect, that paradigm doesn’t work currently. After hashing this out for a very long time I came to the realization that it’s better just to buy new. Used trucks are currently so horrendously over priced. With using the XPlan pricing that you get from EAA buying new became more attractive Currently trucks with 60,000 miles and a couple of years on the clock are going for $5K below new price. For that difference, I’ll just go buy new. Which is what I did. My two cents.
 
Yeah, around here I've always bought 4x4 trucks new. Because people generally run them into the ground, and with part time 4x4 they treat them like crap for lack of knowledge or laziness. Every time I've sold a truck with 130k+ miles on it I'm asked "does the 4wd work?" and when I reply 'yes' they're surprised to the point of disbelief.
 
I’ve been looking at hard at the current year Tacoma’s. It just boggles my mind at the prices they ask for them now. As a side note, it makes me wonder how dealerships can even stay afloat these days with empty lots. I’ve noticed their websites have more ‘in-transit’ vehicles than actual inventory.
 
Albany Tom said:
Yeah, around here I've always bought 4x4 trucks new. Because people generally run them into the ground, and with part time 4x4 they treat them like crap for lack of knowledge or laziness. Every time I've sold a truck with 130k+ miles on it I'm asked "does the 4wd work?" and when I reply 'yes' they're surprised to the point of disbelief.
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Yes, and that’s also why I wouldn’t buy a lot of used vehicles of certain makes and models. People are incredibly hard on stuff and then offload it to the next individual. My GTI had worn rings and glazed cylinders at only 80k miles. I can’t say for sure, but I’m inclined to believe the original owner gave it hell for the first 32k miles of its life before I got a hold of it, based on some other things that were discovered.
 
RyanB said:
I’ve been looking at hard at the current year Tacoma’s. It just boggles my mind at the prices they ask for them now. As a side note, it makes me wonder how dealerships can even stay afloat these days with empty lots. I’ve noticed their websites have more ‘in-transit’ vehicles than actual inventory.
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The vehicles are sold before they even arrive on the lot. We had to do that with April's vehicle. JIT manufacturing exists, so does JIT car sales now.
 
EdFred said:
The vehicles are sold before they even arrive on the lot. We had to do that with April's vehicle. JIT manufacturing exists, so does JIT car sales now.
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The dealer I ordered my truck from said about the half of the sales are custom orders. Whereas before the pandemic it was an oddball thing for people who wanted something specific. Which, is apparently the way Ford and the dealers want to go. Which that’s how I remember my parents buying a new vehicle. You go in, test drive a demonstrator. And then order your car.
 
GMC Sierra 3500
If only my garage was a real size garage :D
 
eman1200 said:
The new colorado/canyon is NOT available with a diesel.
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Yes. I have the 2016 Diesel and I'm quite happy with it. Good mileage, good power and most importantly I can pump my own fuel in Oregon.
I would not recommend it for any city/stop and go driving, all indicators point to the new Diesel emissions systems really preferring long drives at constant speeds. I've had it complain once about needing a DPF regen and it was a day I spent in the city, usually it just does its thing without whining.
 
chartbundle said:
Yes. I have the 2016 Diesel and I'm quite happy with it. Good mileage, good power and most importantly I can pump my own fuel in Oregon.
I would not recommend it for any city/stop and go driving, all indicators point to the new Diesel emissions systems really preferring long drives at constant speeds. I've had it complain once about needing a DPF regen and it was a day I spent in the city, usually it just does its thing without whining.
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for the record, I wasn't really saying anything good or bad about the diesel option, just saying it was not an option on the new colorado/canyon. but I appreciate the feedback on the engine.
 
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