Truck shopping the next few months

Given that I need my truck - or a truck - on a reasonably regular basis for a side business I own, I've come to the conclusion that having a 20-yr old (rusty) truck w/ 200k on it with no backup truck is probably not the best for my stress levels, or business.  Was loaded up and leaving for a delivery Monday when it started misbehaving.  I was able to limp it back, but its thrown my schedule (err... and maybe budget) into chaos, as now I get to rent a pickup tomorrow and try to cram 3 deliveries, an install, and a material pickup in a span of about 8 hours.  

If I continue to need a truck for (some) income, I should probably start rotating into a new-to-me truck every 5-7 years.  So buy something newish in the next few months, keep it for 5-7 years, rinse and repeat.

I've started poking around on AutoTrader, CL, etc. for my options.  This would be a work truck, so I don't need all the fancy stuff - in fact, cloth interior would definitely be desired.  What I'm trying to figure out is where is the sweet spot of price, mileage, reliability, etc.  A base 1500/150 truck is really all that's necessary.  Minimum 6.5' bed.  I could swing the payments on new, but I'm not sure I want to or if it makes any sense.

So given everything that's going on, what's the collective wisdom?  New, 2-3yr old, 5-7 yr old?  I've set soft limits of no older than 2010, and no more than 120k mi.  

(And for those wondering, the current truck is a 2001 Ram 2500 Cummins 6MT that I am 100% not getting rid of.  I was contemplating getting another truck anyway as I need to do some serious refurbishment on the Ram's body.)

If you're looking at 2-3 year old trucks, compare them to what you can get new after haggling and incentives. From what I remember for trucks they often aren't that far apart.

Question is, if you need the truck for a business, can you find a 5-7 year old truck that has been maintained well enough so it's going to be reliable for the time you need it?

My new 4-cylinder Silverado had enough incentives on it that I only paid @60% of sticker. That's a lot of truck for the price, and it would be tough to beat used.

BoxheadTim said:

If you're looking at 2-3 year old trucks, compare them to what you can get new after haggling and incentives. From what I remember for trucks they often aren't that far apart.

Question is, if you need the truck for a business, can you find a 5-7 year old truck that has been maintained well enough so it's going to be reliable for the time you need it?

A friend of mine briefly thought his truck had blown up a few weeks ago and was shopping new F150s. At one point I checked the used inventory just out of curiosity. Prices were like $3-5k less than new for a three year old truck with 30-60k miles on it...no way does that make any reasonable sense. And of course being used, the financing options and discounts were nowhere near as good as buying new.

If it's a thing you really intend to keep for a long time, most everyone is doing 0% financing for an insanely long time period right now and is probably willing to make some deals on top of that.

In reply to NorseDave :

How much rust do you have? Can you tolerate?  

$22,000 paid for our Tacoma SR Utility . New. No frills. 6.5 feet bed. Msrp 25950$

if you want cheaper, Frontiers are dirt cheap. 
 

to me the insane resale on Tacomas, makes it cheapest to own for me. 

And this is why I asked.  

BoxheadTim - 5-7 yr old doesn't scare me at all.  Remember until now it's been a 20 yr old truck.  

oldopelguy - 60% of sticker ??!!??  Wow.  Wasn't expecting that.  May have to investigate...

dps214 - yeah, I'm having trouble imagining how a 2-3yr old model makes any sense.  They're nearly the same as new from what I've seen so far.  

frenchyd - eh, its rusty.  But again, I'm not selling the Cummins.  It's the truck I wanted when I bought it new, and it's still the truck I want.  The mid-atlantic winter salting has done a real number on the body.  It will get "refreshed"

mr2s.. - Largest Tacoma and Frontier beds are too small.  Less than 4' between the wheelwells is a dealbreaker. 

NorseDave said:

 

mr2s.. - Largest Tacoma and Frontier beds are too small.  Less than 4' between the wheelwells is a dealbreaker. 

My apologies. I saw the 6.5 feet bed lenght requirement, thus mentioned it. 

Then I would get a cheap F150 or a Tundra. Just my .02

It's not very GRM, but...

Is the business established/structured in a way that you could lease new and write off the cost?

You could still buy out the lease at the end if you decide you want to keep the truck.

Have you looked at used Uhaul pickups. Most of them are 1-2 year old F150s with 10-20k miles. And they are regular cab 8 ft bed configuration. 
Search for Uhaul Truck Sales. I think they only sell directly. 
You also look at other used fleet trucks, since you want a work truck. 

Does it need to be 4x4?  One of the guys I work with is selling a mint 2500 duramax.  He used it to pull a travel trailer but has since bought a 40 foot diesel pusher and no longer needs it.  It is pristine an has around 70k miles.

Someone here mentioned Fastenal's truck sales the other day, seemed to be many 1-3yr old Dodge trucks for 17-25k

No Time - The problem I run into with this is in truth its use would really be split between 2 businesses, thus muddying the waters come tax time.  It's a good thought though, enough that I should investigate.  

Nate90LX - good thought, just looked at Uhaul, Ryder, Penske and none of them had much to offer locally.  Will keep an eye out though. 

pimpm3 - I'm pretty sure he will want more for a mint 2500 Duramax than I'm willing to spend!  Plus, I don't think the Cummins would like seeing me driving the Duramax...

classicJackets - hmm.  Off to Fastenal web site.

Based on oldopelguy's Silverado experience, I checked a couple of local dealers and was astounded to be honest.  Brand new Chevy work-truck spec for $20k with 84 month 0%.  Not just one either, several.  Not sure I'm going to beat that.  

In reply to NorseDave :

I'm the buy the base model version nobody wants.  I found a 2016 Silverado that sat on the lot for 6 months near Indianapolis. When asked my sales guy admitted nobody wants the base, steel wheel trucks.  I got a great deal. 
 

My problem is my car allowance only pays on 6 years or newer 4-door vehicles. I'm going to run this way out as I can't stand car payments.  
 

In reply to NorseDave :

I mentioned Fastenal in this thread.   I have no personal experience but the thread returned positive opinions.  They are all Ram Trucks too (which you are familiar with.)  

I never buy new... mostly because I can't afford it, but also for two reasons:  Buying a few years used means someone else took the fast part of the depreciation curve, and by then, google will tell you everything you need to know about their foibles, bugs, and shortcomings.

Off-lease stuff is nice, but that pretty much requires you to go to a dealer which can sometimes mean hard negotiation to still get hosed on the price.  Ok, not hosed necessarily, but they have high overhead and their needs (and cravings) for profits sometimes make it a hard sale.

For your needs, I like the retired fleet stuff that is being mentioned; Fastenal, Hertz, (the yellow ones, not the ones at the airport) etc.  I tend to steer clear of U-haul or any rental that is non-commercial, consumer-based.  Typically u-haul stuff is rented by non-commercial individuals who are trying to spend the absolute least to do the absolute most amount of work.  Hertz truck rentals caters to commercial entities that know what they need and why they need it.... and have the scrutiny of insurance and DOT liabilities to deal with.  U-haul rents pickup trucks to normal people who refuse to spend more than $29 to move five pianos at one time with bailing twine and duct tape.  Hertz (the yellow ones) rent a pickup to (for instance) a DOT delivery company who has one of their fleet trucks not running and they deliver paint, or auto parts, or newspapers for a few days.

I looked up the Fastenal option, those do seem like relatively good prices. 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I never buy new... mostly because I can't afford it, but also for two reasons:  Buying a few years used means someone else took the fast part of the depreciation curve, and by then, google will tell you everything you need to know about their foibles, bugs, and shortcomings.

 I'm generally 100% on board with this approach, but it seems like 2-3 yr old trucks are virtually the same price as new.  Or they are 3 yrs old, have 100k miles, and are like 80% the price of a new one.  And as mentioned previously, the terms are usually far less agreeable.  

I don't know how much you drive with your side hustle but I've been doing a similar cycle with trucks that I use as tow vehicle for my race car. I Drive about 5-8k miles a year.
 I usually look for something with over 100k and newer.  You might get better deals with the previous model chassis. As soon as the new models are released, it seems like the value of the previous model drops  

I also look for something older with low mileage. Usually owned by an old guy who wanted a truck but never really used it. 

What's the best deal for a "suburban family truckster" these days? I need something that can be daily driven with my wife and a kid in a car seat, but also tow the racecar occasionally. I'm thinking small, quad-cab, short-bed pickup would work. But I can't bring myself to spend too much for basically an appliance. 

NorseDave said:

And this is why I asked.  

BoxheadTim - 5-7 yr old doesn't scare me at all.  Remember until now it's been a 20 yr old truck.  

oldopelguy - 60% of sticker ??!!??  Wow.  Wasn't expecting that.  May have to investigate...

dps214 - yeah, I'm having trouble imagining how a 2-3yr old model makes any sense.  They're nearly the same as new from what I've seen so far.  

frenchyd - eh, its rusty.  But again, I'm not selling the Cummins.  It's the truck I wanted when I bought it new, and it's still the truck I want.  The mid-atlantic winter salting has done a real number on the body.  It will get "refreshed"

mr2s.. - Largest Tacoma and Frontier beds are too small.  Less than 4' between the wheelwells is a dealbreaker. 

Do not try to fix rust. You can patch over rust holes but the rust comes back.  Best thing is to realize the body of a diesel is the same body as a six cylinder. Go to a rust ffree state to buy a body. Strip it and have it painted whatever color you want.  Or you might get lucky and find bits and pieces or most of a rust free one in a color you want.

Second any truck in your environment will rust at about the same rate give or take however much you wash and wax your truck.   Look at 10 year old trucks are they rusty? Here in Minnesota 5 year old trucks even well taken care of ones start to rust.   

I bought a 6 year old low mile F150 about 18 months back. Its high option but I could have bought a brand new work truck for less.

I'd bet with current rates (0% anyone?) and discounts that buying a new work truck makes the most sense.

frenchyd said:

NorseDave said:

And this is why I asked.  

BoxheadTim - 5-7 yr old doesn't scare me at all.  Remember until now it's been a 20 yr old truck.  

oldopelguy - 60% of sticker ??!!??  Wow.  Wasn't expecting that.  May have to investigate...

dps214 - yeah, I'm having trouble imagining how a 2-3yr old model makes any sense.  They're nearly the same as new from what I've seen so far.  

frenchyd - eh, its rusty.  But again, I'm not selling the Cummins.  It's the truck I wanted when I bought it new, and it's still the truck I want.  The mid-atlantic winter salting has done a real number on the body.  It will get "refreshed"

mr2s.. - Largest Tacoma and Frontier beds are too small.  Less than 4' between the wheelwells is a dealbreaker. 

Best thing is to realize the body of a diesel is the same body as a six cylinder. 

Not a Cummins bro are ya?  :-)

Loweguy5 (Forum Supporter) said:

Like many of the others have already shared, the used truck market is so strong generally that a new truck is often the best value proposition.

However, my professional opinion (I work in auto finance for one of the largest banks in the U.S. after 15 years in the car business) is to wait another 30 or so days before purchasing.  I believe the market hasn't bottomed out yet.

Car dealers are sitting on literal mountains of New and used vehicle inventory with very minimal demand.  The manufacturers will continue to throw money at the new ones to make them go away which will in turn compress the prices for used vehicles too.

Sit tight, watch the ads, and be prepared to buy on the spot.  Good luck in your search.

I'm not sure I'm reading this right. Do you think the slightly-used market will drop in the coming weeks?  Seems like mfr are already throwing money at the new inventory when I see dealers advertise prices at 2/3 the sticker price, and throw in 84 month 0% financing too.  You think that will go down more too?

Don't forget to explore fly-and-drives.  
socal often has great deals and I bet airline tickets aren't bad right now.