Ted doesn't like white trucks...

denverpilot

denverpilot

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DenverPilot
... so if you have any this good, I'll take them. :)

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This is why I don't buy new cars.

Typical MSRP price for the options on this truck was over $38,000 when new in 2004.

(By the way, government inflation numbers say the same truck today should be $43,000. MSRP is actually $48,000 on an identical truck. Take that for whatever it's worth. Just find it entertaining.)

First owner paid, let's be generous and call it $34,000 because they were a good negotiator. Even so, they probably only got back about $12,000 for a net of $22,000 paid ... since I found it at a Ford dealership who had eight Yukons they needed to get off their lot.

Their capital / depreciation cost: $0.55/mile.

I've put an additional 110,000 miles on it. I bought it at 40,000 miles in 2008 for $17,000 in pristine condition.

My capital / depreciation cost: $0.065/mile

Repairs so far:
- Water pump ($150)
- Fuel pump ($350)
- Dash cluster servos and lights ($100)
- Climate control control panel ($70)
- 4WD center differential position sensor ($240)
- Various light bulbs (replaced with LED) ($15)

- Normal wear items and fluids (brakes, spark plugs, serpentine belt, tires all normal stuff) ($whatever)

And... I haven't done it yet but... it needs a new driver's seat cover. ($250)

The only time it has ever left me stranded was the fuel pump. Ever. I've owned it since 2008.

They're known for blowing transmissions at this age. So I don't tow with it anymore. If it blew, a good rebuild with a Corvette servo is about $1500.

This is also why I couldn't bring myself to sell this truck when I realized I don't need multiple vehicles. I can't replace it for anywhere near how cheap it is to operate it. So, it gets driven on doggy dropoff/pickup days or if we need to haul humans around, and the dogs like the room in the back better than the Subaru.

It needs new brakes before the end of summer. I'll do that here shortly. Might need rotors this time too.

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Just 150k? Slacker
 
Nope, don't like white trucks at all. ;)
 
Clark1961 said:
Just 150k? Slacker
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Big time. The Subaru gets more miles per month. :) The Yukon was retired as a daily driver about four years ago unless I'm carting the dogs that day or people.

It's been to OSH once, but it's longest two drives this year were Karen taking it to CYS and both of us taking it to GWS.
 
My 2003 Mercedes ML320 SUV has 199,600 on her. I refuse to sell it or buy a new one. It's been very good to me, normal maintenance items only. Paint still very good and interior too. Ok, the back gets a little hairy from hauling the mastiff around.
 
GMascelli said:
My 2003 Mercedes ML320 SUV has 199,600 on her. I refuse to sell it or buy a new one. It's been very good to me, normal maintenance items only. Paint still very good and interior too. Ok, the back gets a little hairy from hauling the mastiff around.
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Out 2003 Mercedes E55 is at 208k and climbing. Laurie is driving the thing 400 miles one way to work to fly the King Air. Really it's been very good to us. Bought with 190k and keeps on ticking. Had to ditch the air suspension and replace a fuse, that's been it.
 
I drive a 2002 Silverado 4X4. 196,000 miles. Been a good truck and hope to get another 2-3 years out of it. Of course I say that every year. Biggest issue here in the Northeast is rust. You can slow it down but you can't stop it. I think the CV joints are starting to get bad and I will need to do those before winter.
 
My Nissan pickup cost I think $7k new it was the 90's) and drove for 140K miles needing nothing before I got rid of it.I replaced it with my Toyota convertible, which needed nothing before it committed suicide on the freeway ten years and 80K miles later. My wife's Tercel went 140K miles needing nothing. We only got rid of it because there was a special tax deal at the beginning of the Obama administration.

My second convertible (found it for sale used down the road, couldn't resist) has needed its engine rebuilt and a new suspension. It is now my last car. I've way too much into it, I'm driving it until it doesn't drive anymore.
 
I guess I'm in the minority, but I like new. I order exactly what I want, then keep it for a long time. I kept the last vehicle 17 years, I hope to keep this one 15+.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I guess I'm in the minority, but I like new. I order exactly what I want, then keep it for a long time. I kept the last vehicle 17 years, I hope to keep this one 15+.
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Financially, I think the sweet spot typically ends up being something lower miles that's more or less how you want it and keep effectively forever. There's a lot of depreciation that goes on during those first few miles. Laurie bought her Avalanche with 10k miles on it, really how she wanted it (more optioned than she would've bought it) and kept it until 175k. The only reason we ended up selling it was because it was no longer a large enough family hauler, and also not a large enough pickup. Depending on your life, factors like that can change what sort of vehicle you want. But in that ~165k of ownership the only item of significance it needed was a rebuilt front end at 142k (common on those trucks - surprised Nate hasn't needed it yet on his Tahoe). Sure, it took normal wear items and the exhaust fell off at one point, but none of those are major. We also did some upgrades to try to make it tow the boat better, all of which failed.

But there's a lot to be said for ordering exactly what you want and keeping it forever. I effectively bought exactly what I wanted with my 2004 Dodge (other than 4x4) and should've kept it forever, as I've said. If I'd bought it in 4x4, I think I would've.

There's also a lot to be said for buying used from a financial perspective, and also if you have automotive ADD (like yours truly - something around 50 vehicles owned over the past 17 years). But I've been getting in the habit of buying "too used" I think. That said, the Excursion I think was a great purchase exactly where it was. Bought for $4,200 with 194k on it, still runs great. Had to put in $1,500 or so worth of parts for brakes and rebuilding the driveshaft to fix a nasty driveline vibration at highway speeds (the F-350 has a lesser one that needs addressed, too) and it's been great. Since that's the primary kid hauler, it's good having something that we don't care if the kids mess up... because they do. Example: the Sharpie that was used to "decorate" the 3rd row bench. I'd have been really annoyed if this was a pristine, low mile truck. For what it is? Egh, whatever.

I want to buy a King Ranch interior for the F-350, but it's the backup kid hauler, so I'll probably hold off on that. I do think I'll pull the power leather seats out of my F-250 part truck and put them in the F-350, though.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
There's also a lot to be said for buying used from a financial perspective, and also if you have automotive ADD (like yours truly - something around 50 vehicles owned over the past 17 years).
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I'm more ADD about motorcycles, 4-wheelers not so much. If I order a car with exactly the colors/options I want, I find that I'm happy with it for a very long time. I'd have to think a little to see how many I've owned.

EDIT:

16 motorcycles
17 cars/trucks
 
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Bill Jennings said:
I'm more ADD about motorcycles, 4-wheelers not so much. If I order a car with exactly the colors/options I want, I find that I'm happy with it for a very long time. I'd have to think a little to see how many I've owned.

EDIT:

16 motorcycles
17 cars/trucks
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I've been ADD with motorcycles as well, but really been with both cars and motorcycles. I think at this point I'm less so since I've owned enough and have a better idea of what exactly I like, don't like, want, and don't want. I still like getting different vehicles and learning about them, though. That's as much fun as anything else for me.
 
I ran my previous Corolla to 230k miles. I started getting a grinding noise and figured it was the transmission (stick shift). At the time I was driving across the state every weekend, so I sold it to a friend of mine for $700, figuring demise was imminent. He drove it all over the place, then sold it to his cousin for $1,000. :cool:

I now have another Corolla. Also stick shift. Good cars. Not exciting, but I tend to use my cars as a tool.
 
Wow, you had to replace dash cluster servos and lights and climate control panel on a "like new" truck? I guess that's what one gets for buying a Chevy. *shrug*

All the interior and dash pieces on my 23-y/o F350 are original and work fine, even after quarter million miles. Oh wait, scratch that, the rear-view mirror has fallen off twice already and I had to glue it back up. That qualifies as a major repair, right? :)
 
You guys drive too much. Have any of you thought about flying instead? :p

I put 9-9.5k / year on my car. Now that the kids are in college (no driving all over to see them in their sporting events) and I'm flying planes at an airport closer to home it will probably be even less than that.
 
BigBadLou said:
Wow, you had to replace dash cluster servos and lights and climate control panel on a "like new" truck? I guess that's what one gets for buying a Chevy. *shrug*
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Ford has their design flaws too. The heater air door was nice little $1,000 repair because of two flaws: a weak hinge and access required removal of substantial portions of the dash.
 
wayne said:
You guys drive too much. Have any of you thought about flying instead? :p

I put 9-9.5k / year on my car. Now that the kids are in college (no driving all over to see them in their sporting events) and I'm flying planes at an airport closer to home it will probably be even less than that.
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I agree. I am lucky to get 5000 miles a year on any of my three vehicles. Last year my pickup only gained 3000 miles. I change oil due to time instead of miles.

20 years ago a friend of mine inherited his dads 1967 Ford Ranchero. He and his dad are/were mechanics. That thing still looks new and drives well. His dad put a 351W engine in it in 1970 because he wanted more power than the original 6 cyl. I think that thing has more than 500,000 (and climbing) miles on it.
 
BigBadLou said:
Wow, you had to replace dash cluster servos and lights and climate control panel on a "like new" truck? I guess that's what one gets for buying a Chevy. *shrug*

All the interior and dash pieces on my 23-y/o F350 are original and work fine, even after quarter million miles. Oh wait, scratch that, the rear-view mirror has fallen off twice already and I had to glue it back up. That qualifies as a major repair, right? :)
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It's a huge yawn really. I did the servos myself for $10 worth of eBay parts. Chevy used a bad batch of them for a couple of years. When the light bulbs started going out I didn't feel like figuring out the proper way to mount LEDs in the reflectors but the light bulb thing isn't limited to Chevy. The Subaru also has bulbs burnt out.

So I sent it off to a dude in AZ who sent it back completed in three days. I think he uses hired help because they seemed a bit too bright and about a year later started flickering -- either his guys forgot the series resistors needed for converting bulbs to LEDs or the LEDs were failing. He honored his lifetime warranty for free over a year later and fixed it.

GMGaugeGuy.com if anyone needs it.

The climate control worked fine when I pulled it. The vacuum florescent display was dim. A replacement out of Mexico was cheap and easy. Takes five minutes to swap it.
 
I think the driver side rotary encoder was skipping a couple of degrees when you'd spin it on the climate control thing too. Usable but annoying.
 
I prefer my suburbans black... like the two parked across the street from my house right now. Of course I never get to ride in them but they follow me whenever I leave


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Tampico Trauma said:
I prefer my suburbans black... like the two parked across the street from my house right now. Of course I never get to ride in them but they follow me whenever I leave


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Just think how safe you are! Your own personal security detail.
 
Hah! I own a car and a bike (both black, sporty, rare and unusual) and I walk to work. Neither really gets driven sufficiently.
 
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