Re: Practical life of pickup?

Posted by Hal/WA on September 25, 2003 at 23:14:43 from (216.64.132.145):

In Reply to: Practical life of pickup? posted by Will on September 25, 2003 at 16:43:57:

You will be shocked with the price of a new pickup! If your 11 year old pickup has been maintained well and you don't live in an area where vehicles rust out real fast, keeping the old truck might be a good choice.

Have you considered having it professionally inspected? This might cost a couple of hundred dollars, but a high quality mechanic could look it over very carefully and should be able to locate trouble spots. Lots of engines run fine with much more than 120k these days, partly due to better machining, but probably more because of better oil. An automatic transmission may be due for a rebuild at 120k, but some last much longer.

You could do a bunch of preventive maintainance, like changing out all the hoses and belts, replacing brake components if they have not been done recently, replacing front end components if they show any amount of wear and adding new shocks and replacing the battery if it is more than 2 years old. Obviously the tires should always be in top notch condition. If the engine shows its age with bad compression, smoke or leaks, most U.S. made V8's can be rebuilt to new specifications for $2k or $3k. A good transmission shop can tell you if they think your transmission should have work.

If your pickup needs a lot of paint and bodywork and especially if it is rusted out, fixing it up may not pay. Fixing such problems can run into lots of money and often there is more to be done than first meets the eye. But there are lots of older vehicles out there that are generally in good shape that could be very servicable with very little work and maybe the pickup you have is one of them.

It also depends on how well you like your present pickup and how well it fits your needs. If you replace a 3/4 or 1 ton heavy duty pickup with a smaller truck and try to have it do the same jobs, you will probably not be satisfied with it. Do you, at 75, want and can you afford a new pickup? You should definitely do what you want to do and can do.....

No one could ever guarantee that your pickup could never leave you stranded, but even a brand new vehicle can leave you stranded, and with lots less money in your bank account. Good luck with your decision!

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Practical life of pickup? dhermesc 09:48:53 09/26/03 (0)

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