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This is obviously a different subject that the thread for this post but you mentioned something that has been a frequent lament of mine. I cannot seem to get my head around folks who buy a truck, usually a very large truck at that, and use it as a daily commuter and rack up tremendous miles in something that typically gets terrible mileage and costs 2 or 3 times what a fuel sipper economy car would. It has been a successful marketing strategy by the Big 3 auto makers to convince people to spend good hard earned money fueling a beast of a truck and then using it on a daily commute carrying nothing but themselves for 100 miles round trip daily.
I remember during the last truck bubble (pre-2008), industry execs were reported as mockingly referring to this huge contingent as “air-haulers,” and obviously targeting almost all of their marketing toward them. Must have something to do with the American ideal of each one of us somehow being self-made landed aristocracy.
That is bloody hazardous & I would refuse to ride in that vehicle. You hit the brakes or have an accident and all of that stuff on those shelves is coming forward at warp speed.
Just A. Surveyor,
I feel your pain, although I have no need for a “new” (or used) vehicle anymore. My 2007 FJ Cruiser is more than adequate for my [very] limited needs for a FIELD vehicle these days.
I don’t have any idea what I would do IF I had to buy a FIELD Vehicle TODAY, due to the almost universal lack of any reasonable candidates. I suppose that if you can tolerate an automatic transmission (I can’t and never will), and don’t mind the time involved in special ordering a NEW vehicle, then maybe there are a few options out there.
Of the NEW vehicles that I am aware of (that are actually available in the US), the Toyota Tacoma 4×4 TRD (6 speed manual) gets about a close to a GOOD candidate as I can find. I think that you can get into one for about $35k (which is still a little scary to me), and Dodge/Ram still offers a 6 speed manual (but only with the Cummins I believe), which is mucho more $$$ (and possibly reliability challenged).
Obviously many folks DON’T need a 4×4 of any sort, and many who do, don’t really need an “off road vehicle” per se. As always, IT DEPENDS, and your mileage may vary (pun intended).
Loyal
Even though its a temporary rack its strapped down to both the passenger seat bolts and the hooks on the side. I also put a section of shelving on the front to prevent anything from going forward. I actually locked the brakes up on the highway today when I got cutoff by some Canadians and it stayed as it should.
Now if I roll the thing there would be problems and that is why the wooden shelf and organizer are getting upgraded.
Trucks vary greatly, if you want a 4×4 with a super cab the Dodges are available for 33,000-40,000. I would need a full size bed a 3/4 ton. I would expect high 30’s to low 40’s for that. They don’t sell many 2 wheel drives here, but they probably can be purchased for less. 2 wheel drive 1/2 ton should be reasonable.
Guy at my office just purchased a sweet Tacoma for personal use, 4×4, manual, very nice, I didn’t ask what it went for but I’m guessing mid 30’s. You can pay whatever you want, but for a work truck I sure wouldn’t buy the expensive one anyway.
We have run Mercedes Sprinter vans since 2004 and haven’t looked back. Very rarely in the shop, great mileage, lots of storage, decent off road for a 2wd and they are a huge sign board. I just added a new 2018 a couple of months ago for 40K, so, they are not as expensive as you might think. Rural requirements may vary.
Just sold my ’07 Tacoma for $8k and picked up a ’19 Tundra TRD off-road Limited. Self employed, so why not, lol. Love Toyota, reliable and hold their value better than any other truck. Kids start college in a few years, so now is my window.
I’ve only ever worked out of Suburbans. First one was a ‘94 that had over 250K on it when we dumped it. We have two 2004s now. Transferred the wooden boxes from the 94s. We also have two Polaris Rangers that have cut back on the crap we put the Suburbans through. Both Suburbans are going strong and we’ve had them for seven years.
They are nice on the occasion where a three man crew is used.
If I was solo, I’d probably stick with something smaller.
When they die, I plan to replace wit used Suburbans.
“I suppose that if you can tolerate an automatic transmission (I can’t and never will).”
I too was an anti-dentite and only bought manual tranny cars until a few years ago. Newish 5-6 speed autos equal the mileage of a carefully rowed manual and older robust 3-4 speeds seem indestructible I’ve got a rock crawler recreational Jeep with an auto and it’s worlds easier to drive in the tough stuff. Note that there is not a single manual tranny competitor in the W.E.ROCK rock crawling competitions these days.
I always say something was lost in translation/ marketing when Toyota decided to started writing “T(U)RD” all over those rigs…..
Yeah, we get some odd-named ones down here too, like the Toyota Probox:
It has a slightly upmarket sibling, the Toyota Succeed, then up some more to the Toyota Fielder.
Ironically they’re ok for urban survey needs.
I recently went through this myself. The price of new trucks cured me pretty quick. In 2016 when I went solo, my 2015 personal truck became my work truck. It now has 97k on the clock. I sold all of my running Classic trucks and Suburbans in 2016 also. I opted to buy myself a ??new? personal vehicle and keep driving the 2015 since it is already rigged and does the job fine. I bought a 1992 full size 4×4 Blazer for personal use and can survey out of it if I have to if the work truck goes down for some reason.
It’s a shame GM does not make the 4 Wheel Drive ASTRO van anymore.
Back in the 80’s, Toyota considered a joint venture with Chevrolet. They wanted to call it Toylet. ????
One of my main gripes is does anybody look at payload when they buy a vehicle. We have V6 quad cab Dodge Rams that are 4×4 and very lightly optioned. They have a payload of 1700 lbs. That sounds like a lot but we are right at that weight limit. You will find a lot of trucks that have less payload, maybe 14oo lbs or less. My personal truck is a F150 extended cab (Ford calls is Supercab) and it has a payload of 1940 lbs. This truck stickered for about 47k but I got it for more like 37k. If I were buying a work truck I would get the same truck I own now but an XL instead of a XLT. It would have a payload of a little over 2000 lbs. I’m guessing a truck like that could be had for around 32k.
YUP, when I ordered my new Survey Vehicle back in 1999, I went with an F-350 instead of an F-250 for that very reason.
Loyal
What gained my interest with Toyota Tacoma with the TRD and towing options was that it gave the truck a 3/4 ton rating.
It will haul and pull more than my F150 and still get better mileage.
- Posted by: Just A. Surveyor
So for the past few weeks I have been cruising the Web looking at the trucks and holy molly the price of a bloody truck is outrageous and I have to wonder how in God’s name anyone can afford one. I routinely see young folks driving around in by all accounts nearly a $80k truck and that does not even factor in the aftermarket add-ons. It would not surprise me one bit of I were to learn that some of these dually diesels were $100k.
So what do you fellas do for a work vehicle because even the used ones are commanding very high prices.
Around here I gotta tell ya the fee’s need to double or triple to get to where they need to be but after looking at the truck prices even that will not be enough.
Have you raised your costs this month? I go up on my fee’s tomorrow.
Many of those folks are not affording the $80K vehicle, they are only affording the 6 years worth of $1200/month payments for right now and are just one extra drain on their paycheck from not being able to make that payment.
I’m the sucker who usually buys new for both work and personal vehicles. That should be great for someone else down the road to save the depreciation, except that I drive them forever. I still have an ’04 Ranger with 269K miles that I work out of (although I have been phasing out of it and into my ’16 Frontier due to comfort).
Anecdotal – ROUGH CALCS DONE ON THE FLY – My new (when purchased in ’04) Ranger works out to about $1800/year cost of only the vehicle. No major repairs have been needed. A colleague buys very used and has gone through four different used vehicles bought for much cheaper, but needed major repairs and caused downtime. Rough estimation of his vehicle w/ repairs costs would be about $2200/year NOT INCLUDING DOWNTIME. Not a huge price difference, but I’ve had working air conditioning and no parts hanging off of my vehicle over the years.
If you like your Frontier aside from the size, have you looked at the Nissan Titan? Online pricing shows MSRP for a 4X4 crew cab SV being about $43K. I haven’t compared the beds, but the Titan may have more bed room than the Frontier. When I bought my Frontier, the price for what I got was a big factor. Of course the car reviewers will point out that is because the Nissans are a little dated with minimal new technology added compared to other trucks.
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