Friday, January 21, 2011

Used Trucks - Better Than New

 Used pickup trucks might beat new trucks in some situations. When you think how long pickups can stay on the road with a little care, it just makes sense to consider used over new. Saving money in several ways always comes in handy. But used vehicles offer more sometimes than just less cost. Used beats new at least these 5 ways.

Someone Else Pays For The New Smell

Depreciation trumps most costs when buying new vehicles. The value of any vehicle plummets fast after the unit leaves the showroom. No matter when you trade, if you buy new you pay for that newness every time you get a new car. Buy used and let somebody else pay the big bucks for the new feel. They also pay to work out the initial problems with any machine.
Taxes, Licenses, Insurance

Not only do you get to pay more for a new vehicle initially, you get to keep on paying more. Taxes, licenses, and insurance all potentially cost more for new than old. Some older vehicles barely cost anything for these recurring fees, at least in my state. Side=step big recurring fees with older rigs.

Better Mileage Maybe

Oddly enough, pickups get more and more powerful and bigger. But the fuel mileage has stayed about the same or gone backwards over the last 30 years. That means the improved efficiency of more modern engines resulted in much more power, but not much better fuel economy. That means you can buy a new truck with half again as much power as a thirty year old truck, but it gets little or no better fuel mileage. How much is all that power worth to you?

Mountains Of Parts
 Maybe someday used pickup parts will disappear, but for now such is not the case, at least for the more common trucks. New and used replacement parts for domestic trucks, especially Ford and Chevy trucks are common and relatively inexpensive. That means maintenance costs are reasonable and probably will stay that way for awhile.
Old Truck Cool

Look what it costs to add accessories to a new truck and make it stand out from the crowd. Note the attention a clean, older truck gets just because it's a little odd. It's far cheaper to own a cool old truck that a stand-out cool newer truck. Old trucks attract attention and hold their value for far less money and maybe more fun than newer trucks.

Used pickups offer more than just lower initial cost. The on-going expenses to keep a pickup may be surprisingly less for the old model than a new model. Then again, it's far easier to own a stand-out old pickup than a stand-out new one.

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