Traded my truck in...

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414
Location
Seguin, TX
... on a new Escape for LOML. 'Traded' is funny word in this situation, because it's almost always more of a 'GIVE it away'. :eek: In this case, I know they got me because the wholesaler came over and wrote a check while I was still there. :doh: And yeah, I know I coulda got more by selling it myself.

Anyhoo, this will be the first time 'truckless' for me since 1994. I've said before that I'd never be without a truck again... but the gas prices are killing us, and it's a simple matter of economics. Also easier to do it knowing my FIL's truck is 300 feet up the driveway. I'll drive the older Escape, and immediately cut my monthly Exxon-Mobil contribution by $150. Sigh.
 
Anyhoo, this will be the first time 'truckless' for me since 1994. I've said before that I'd never be without a truck again... but the gas prices are killing us, and it's a simple matter of economics.

This is the first time in my life I have ever been truckless too. I have a 40 mile commute to work (one way) and thus fuel economy was just killing me. I bought (and all of you feel free to laugh) a Ford Focus and I could not be happier. I am saving 80 bucks a month of fuel costs alone. The surprising thing is, I like my car. Its comfortable, rides nice (no bouncing on these back roads) and is just a nice all around car. We have a Toyota Highlander too that enables me to get lumber and that kind of bigger stuff. I miss my truck from time to time, but its nice driving by gas stations all week!!
 
Traded my 4-Runner in earlier this year when we had the new baby to get my wife a Sienna van. I now drive her 2002 Rav-4. at 35 mpg I can live with the razzing from my buddies.

Heard on the news over X-Mas that they are predicting regular gas to go up by $0.65 per gallon by spring, putting the national average at $3.60 per gallon.

Randy
 
A Texan without a truck? They might exile ye to Mississippi. :rofl:
I'm wanting something smaller for everyday driving but sure would keep the Dodge. Wife has a Ford Focus station wagon, I want one of those also. Lessee, now, three vehicles for two old retired people on fixed income??? :doh:
 
Getting ready for retirement, the wife and I had a conversation a couple of days ago about something similar. We'll probably sell our 5th wheel and I'll get rid of "Bruiser"...my 1990 F-350....4X4.....460 Cuin....4:10 rearend 5-speed manual p/u. It's 11 mpg...up hill...down hill...into the wind....with the wind....loaded..unloaded....with the 9,000 lb 5th wheel trailer or without....11 mpg.

But I'll probably get another p/u.....maybe diesel....4X4.....I drive 4 miles to downtown Lewiston and drop 800' in elevation....getting up the hill in the winter sometimes...it helps to have 4x4...
 
Got rid of the P/U a few years ago too. The P/U just sat in the driveway as I have a city car which I use 95% of the time. LOML has her own and I have an Explorer we drive when we both go somewhere together, the "go'n out" car:). the poor P/U only got used for lumber runs and the like about once or twice a month. It was just rotting in place really and costing me money to boot! With insurance, inspection, registration and maintenance it was costing me about $500 a year and I was usually driving it less than 250 miles a year. At about $2 a mile it wasn't very cost effective! I sold the P/U and picked up an enclosed 7' X 10' trailer with the proceeds. Best move I ever made, virtually zero costs now. The only cost I had had was the one time permanent registration/tags which ran $56.

The enclosed trailer keeps an road grime off the lumber or whatever I'm hauling and the weather is no longer a concern. As a bonus, the trailer also doubles as a storage shed when no it use and doesn't take up any more space than the truck did.

Mike
 
With my somewhat unique job situation, my truck has been sitting 90 + percent of the time. Last weekend I actually put 1100 miles on it, but on a typical week I might run maybe... 100 miles tops. I'm seriously considering trading it in for a new van for the family, then taking over the wife's 12 yr old econo-box for my weekly run to go to Lodge.
 
Hi Gents, I am going to be in the market for a new Ford Escape this spring. I won't be trading in anything as our son from Oregon has decided that he wants to fly in and drive our 94 Buick Le Sabre back to Oregon. Interestingly, that car will be owned by 3 generations of Garlock. My Dad bought it originally new. When he quit driving at age 90, he gave it to us and we drove it from Ohio to Texas.

On the Escape, I want the 4 banger automatic in the XLT middle trim. It will be my wife's car, and she wants Sirius radio so she can listen to the "Road House" (old C&W) channel. Otherwise, we will only add side step rails and some cargo area mats.

MY attack is to get the invoice prices from my Credit Union, or Kelly Blue Book. I will then add up the cost of options and color, and add about $200. With that with information printed out I will make the rounds of the Ford dealers, show them the printed list, and give them an option to sell it to me for that price. There are a lot of Ford dealers in the area to give the opportunity to. The deal is simple, no I don't want an "almost the same" off the lot, you are going to order it as I want it, you can choose to take my deal and thus make money, or I will go somewhere else. By the way, you will have one chance to "take it to the manager."

Man, I hate car dealers!:eek:
 
Congrats on the new Escape, KC. I know several people who've been real happy with theirs.
...The deal is simple, no I don't want an "almost the same" off the lot, you are going to order it as I want it, you can choose to take my deal and thus make money, or I will go somewhere else. By the way, you will have one chance to "take it to the manager."

Man, I hate car dealers!:eek:
I did something similar when I bought my used Lexus RX300 a few years ago. I had just sold a house, so I was planning to pay cash (check, actually) for whatever I bought. I knew what model I wanted, and what it should sell for, so I went to the dealer and said "I'm buying a vehicle today. I'm paying cash, and I WILL be driving something home this afternoon. If not from your lot, from someone else's lot. I'll tell you what vehicle I want, and you have once chance to give me your best price. I'm not going to haggle. You have one shot, and one shot only, so give me your best one."

I ended up getting prices on two different vehicles at that dealer, and the second one was in the range I was willing to spend. It was the easiest car purchase I've ever made. The only decision I had to make was how long to extend the warranty. I ended up with a fully equipped, slightly-used Lexus, for about the same price (and warranty) as a new comparably-equipped Kia or Hyundai.
 
Good going Vaughn. Lexus makes a fine vehicle.:) It seems to me that walking in and ordering a specific car is a no brainer for the dealer, a free opportunity to help make quota and/or make some money.
 
I discovered you can buy a vehicle that way off the Internet. I just entered the distance I was willing to travel to purchase the car, exactly what I wanted and the price I wanted to pay.

Three dealers responded, two with a higher price. One with my price. I called the third, made an appointment, went in, did the paper work, wrote out a check, and drove off in a brand new car.

I hate car buying, too, but this was painless. That dealer had three guys in their Internet buying office. They sold more cars each month than the rest of the entire sales force. :thumb:

YMMV but it worked for me.

And if you guys think it is a horrible experience, send your wife in alone and see what they do to her! The stories I could tell! :eek:
 
My wife won't even go to look at cars, let alone actually sit down in 'the chair'... and salespeople should be grateful. She has a very low BS tolerance, and doesn't hide it well. She'd be the customer the salesman throws out of the office and talks about at the water cooler. :eek:
 
Let's see, high school is 5 miles away and my truck sits at home unless it is a weekend. Oh, yeah, how do I get to school???? My school corporation like a lot around here are in desperate straights to keep qualified bus drivers. Had my license, route that starts half mile from my house came up, took it two years ago and now have a "company" vehicle!! :rofl:
Don't see myself truckless as we live on a small farm and my three main trailers (24' stock trailer, 26' flatbed, 2 horse w/ living quarters) are all gooseneck trailers. Do have two other non plated and one non plated JEEP (with the stock V8!!!) for on farm use or until they get stuck and we get a team or tractor out!
 
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Jonathan, I'll bet you can haul some long stuff in your company vehicle. :p

Come to think of it, you haul a lot of short stuff every day. :rofl:
 
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