Truck owners paying 60% more for new trucks than ten years ago

Bought my '13 DC new for $38K and plan to run it until either it stops, or I do. Came with TRD/OR pkg, tow pkg, cruise, nav--everything I need. I also picked up a used Prius C last year to help take non-truck miles off of my Tundra, as well as stop giving half my $$ to Shell. I have zero interest in paying $50K+ for a truck nowadays. Nope. Nope. Nope.

 

I kept my 2015 Taco when I bought the 2018 Tundra. The dealer offered me $19k for it and I laughed my ass off. I told him I'll put another 50k miles on it and still get $19k when I'm done. Dealers are slime. They would screw their own grandmother out of a car if they could get a sale. Cars need to be sold factory direct and then have service centers for repair. The games and bullshit are unethical and morally wrong. If someone is upside down and trying to roll one into the next and hit a payment then they need to hear the word NO. That's the word our parents have told us for years. The dealers will ultimately be responsible for their own demise when the credit stops flowing and all the cars are getting repo'ed again. The economy is a cycle. There are highs and there will always be lows. Quit drinking cool-aid and looking through the rose colored glasses. If you need a truck and can afford one then buy it. If you are stretching every dollar and digging through the couch for change to make 84 months of payments then get a damn beater and pay off some shit!!!

 

You should get way more than that! My insurance payout at the first of this year on my 2007 taco trd was 17k and it had 211k on it! Also had a front end repair from a bumper crunch and the paint didn’t match very well.

These new rigs last a long time and you have to consider value in relative terms. They cost a lot, but most all newer pickups retain their value very well.

The easy credit definitely drives the price up. It also tends to drive folks to pay much much much more than they would if they were making a cash purchase.

If you are writing a check for the whole amount, it really makes a guy think about it a whole lot more. If you have 60k ready to spend, the 35k rig really starts to look good! You feel it when you sign that check! Guess that defies common logic but it’s true.
Of course that’s how/why folks build up cash savings in the first place.

If you don’t have the cash, by definition you can’t afford it. Buying things you can’t afford will absolutely destroy your ability to build wealth.

 

X2^
I paid 41k for 2018 Ltd CM 4x4 and in 2000 paid 31k for F150 XLT ExtCab 4x4 with big motor and leather (fleet price). Seems like normal inflation to me and the tundra is a much nicer truck. Just as long as you research pricing before stepping foot in dealer showroom. Once the next slow down occurs I will upgrade my wife's vehicle and get her out of a GM, as long as it doesnt drop an afm lifter before then .