Have Pick Ups Always Been this Expensive?

In reply to Driven5 :

 My son's Lexus LS400 makes me feel super chill.

OHSCrifle said:

I simply can't wrap my head around $35k Honda civics and $50k pickup trucks. 

I must like to live a lot further from the edge than a lot of people. I feel like I should call my parents and thank them for brainwashing me to be frugal. 

I  get sticker shock whenever I go into a new car showroom because I've only ever bought three brand new vehicles over the last 47 years, but then I went and test drove a $40K Miata. It was very nice.

I'm used to the price of new vehicles as a traveling salesman new was normal. Luckily I actually made money on almost everyone I bought. 
       Most traveling salesmen wanted fancy cars. / trucks since they spend most of their day in it.    I preferred more basic.  Then because  I  kept them maintained better and longer than most .  Typically  the last year of ownership  was profit for me except the actual costs of fuel, maintenance, and insurance 

    In addition My first year out of the Navy I sold cars which taught me the tricks of buying at a better price then most. 
     

I haven't read 9 pages to find out, but I'll assume someone already made the "Depends what part of town you're looking in" joke in reference to the thread title.

In reply to frenchyd :

I sell industrial products - the perception of what you drive is wild.  Most of my customers have trucks and use them to deliver supplies on the fly.  

Buy a used 3/5 year old Cadillac for $25-$30,000 and everyone thinks you're making bank and overcharging.  Wow, driving a Cadillac?

Buy a $40-$55,000 truck and nobody says a word cause they have $60,000 trucks.  

Trucks are the new full-size luxury sedans. They replaced the big Lincolns, Chryslers, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, etc.. 

Look at 90% of 'em, huge chrome  grill, 4 doors, a tonneau cover over the bed (effectively a trunk), leather on every surface, high end sound, tons of sound and heat insulation, power everything, ....

I've yet to figure out how some owners keep their chrome-plated hitch ball scratch-free for so many years.  I must have *done it wrong* on the farm. 

ConiglioRampante said:

I've yet to figure out how some owners keep their chrome-plated hitch ball scratch-free for so many years.  I must have *done it wrong* on the farm. 

I think some folks are more comfortable with lots of debt. 

Have pickup always been this expensive?

No.

Were they ever this comfortable, fuel efficient, have excellent brakes, or lasted as long?

No.

Datsun310Guy said:

I sell industrial products - the perception of what you drive is wild.  Most of my customers have trucks and use them to deliver supplies on the fly.  

Buy a used 3/5 year old Cadillac for $25-$30,000 and everyone thinks you're making bank and overcharging.  Wow, driving a Cadillac?

Buy a $40-$55,000 truck and nobody says a word cause they have $60,000 trucks.  

I mentioned this before. My Son pulls in to work in the C5 Z and all his coworkers go on about what a high roller he is.

They're all driving $60-$70k pick up trucks.

Appleseed said:

Have pickup always been this expensive?

No.

Were they ever this comfortable, fuel efficient, have excellent brakes, or lasted as long?

No.

That sums it up nicely............granted I'm still aghast at the prices (of course you are Tom because your F-in cheap).

In reply to Tom1200 :

Houses are expensive too. So are eggs, and milk, and baby wipes, and...

Tom1200 said:

Appleseed said:

Have pickup always been this expensive?

No.

Were they ever this comfortable, fuel efficient, have excellent brakes, or lasted as long?

No.

That sums it up nicely............granted I'm still aghast at the prices (of course you are Tom because your F-in cheap).

Well I am too, probably even cheaper than you. But a discussion we had over dinner recently, what do you buy? They all have problems

Peabody said:

I mentioned this before. My Son pulls in to work in the C5 Z and all his coworkers go on about what a high roller he is.

They're all driving $60-$70k pick up trucks.

It's such an old mentality that has continued on. So weird to me. My total investment into my Mercedes racecar, BMW toy and old DD Jeep combined is less than what I bought my "used" new pickup for. People, it's a 25 year old BMW it's not that expensive. My new pickup is more comfortable and practical than the BMW and the old Jeep.

Appleseed said:

Have pickup always been this expensive?

No.

Were they ever this comfortable, fuel efficient, have excellent brakes, or lasted as long?

No.

Can tow more, are safer, more reliable, more corrosion-resistant, faster, handle better, have much cleaner emissions, require less maintenance, available in more configurations, etc, etc. A modern pickup is a damn spaceship compared to one from the 80s or 90s.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

If you don't think so, you can buy a pretty decent "restored" 60s, 70s, or 80s pickup for$10,000-$25,000. Buy one and drive it daily. See what happens.

Appleseed said:

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

If you don't think so, you can buy a pretty decent "restored" 60s, 70s, or 80s pickup for$10,000-$25,000. Buy one and drive it daily. See what happens.

Oh, I have. You know I was agreeing with you, right? 

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

The royal you.

In reply to Appleseed :

My 1990 E250 is spaceship compared to the 74 F350 that it replaced and the F350 was a spaceship compared to the F100 it replaced.

New trucks are like being beamed though space and time co pared to the three of those. Couple of years ago we used my buddies truck to tow my F500 to a track 320 miles away.

The big difference, other than his truck took 45 minutes less to make the trek, was that in my E250 you are ready to be done without about an hour and a half from home.

The issue for me is I only do this 300 mile trips once or twice a year...........the cheap me wins out.....despite my butt saying spend the money for the last 30 minutes of the trip.

While I agree new trucks have come a long way, attempting to justify the price with how much better the build is and how long it will last doesn't really apply to the majority.

Most folks are still going to own it for 3-5 years and then punt it because something newer and cooler came out. 

Therefore you're left with forking out $70k for new or $45k for 5 years old that only had oil changes and probably needs some things. Both these things make me grumpy, especially as I get older haha.

Tom1200 said:

In reply to Appleseed :

My 1990 E250 is spaceship compared to the 74 F350 that it replaced and the F350 was a spaceship compared to the F100 it repalced.

New trucks are like being beamed though space and time co pared to the three of those. Couple of years ago we used my buddies truck to tow my F500 to a track 320 miles away.

The big difference, other than his truck took 45 minutes less to make the trek, was that in my E250 you are ready to be done without about an hour and a half from home.

The issue for me is I only do this 300 mike trips once or twice a year...........the cheap me wins out.....despite my butt saying spend the money for the last 30 minutes of the trip.

I'm right there with you, I can't see paying the nut on a 60 -70K loan for something that i will only have a use case for a few times a year.   My kid's car broke down in BFE southwest Georgia, and U-haul wouldn't rent me a tow dolly because my 91 C1500 Silverado is too old according to their website.  So, I dialed up Avis and rented a Dodge Ram.  No doubt the trip was more comfortable in the Dodge, but if not for U-haul I really didn't need it.

ConiglioRampante said:

I've yet to figure out how some owners keep their chrome-plated hitch ball scratch-free for so many years.  I must have *done it wrong* on the farm. 

My hitches are always pretty. I take them out after I use them every time. I may put them in 4 or 5 times in a week but it comes off after I tow, even when I tow my camper, I take it off after I get to the camp ground. I never understood why people leave them and have rusted ratty looking hitches. 

Just going from a 03 "work truck" trim F250 to a 05 2500hd "cushy" trim was a huge jump. I race with guys with Denalis and King Ranches and they are easliy nicer than a Cadillac  and get a job done. It's like buying Snap On tools instead of HF.

NY Nick said:

ConiglioRampante said:

I've yet to figure out how some owners keep their chrome-plated hitch ball scratch-free for so many years.  I must have *done it wrong* on the farm. 

My hitches are always pretty. I take them out after I use them every time. I may put them in 4 or 5 times in a week but it comes off after I tow, even when I tow my camper, I take it off after I get to the camp ground. I never understood why people leave them and have rusted ratty looking hitches. 

Same. In fact, I wonder how much people who Actually Use Their Trucks (tm) leave them in. If you are actually loading stuff into the bed, a trailer hitch is in the way. I've banged my shins on them enough to know I don't want it there unless I'm using it. Also, my garage is just barely big enough for me to cram a long-bed pickup (or my Expedition) into it, so I have to take it out to be able to close the garage door. And, of course, the other thing is that I have (or had) 3 different trailers that took 3 different ball sizes.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

The reason I leave mine in is because new pickup trucks are so bloody high.  With a dropped trailer hitch  it's a step to the top of the ball another step to the license plate cutaway.  Another step to the top of the bumper  then I'm able to step over the tailgate and I'm in the bed of the truck. 
     ( 4x4 ) 

Basically, it forms a ladder to access the bed of the truck.