Pickup Philosophy Question

[ShenandoahJoe]

How many times per month do you have to need a pickup, before it makes sense to buy one?

 

[MotorSeven]

Hard to say...I've been driving one for 30+ years.....just don't care for cars much.

There are some really good deals out there on decent used trucks....shop around.

 

[TripleR]

If the only people who owned trucks were those who really "needed" a truck, probably half as many would be sold. My 90 year old mother drives a pickup and has for years, she just prefers them over cars. I tried living without a truck a couple of times, but like MotorSeven I don't care much for cars. We own farms, so I haul or pull stuff pretty often so I actually need one.

As mentioned there are a lot of good, lightly used pickups out there you could pick up if you only "need" one occasionally.

 

[jomar215]

Every time I owned a vehicle that was not a pickup it didn't last too long because I used it like a pickup. Any pickup I ever owned just lasted because I was using it as it was meant to be used.

 

[LD1]

You are thinking about it backwards. Its not having something to haul and in need of a truck.

Rather its having a truck and in need of something to haul

You will find all sorts of uses for a truck. (at least I do). And would never be without one.

Need a sheet of plywood and a few 2x4's......forget it without a truck.
Need to seed some grass and need a few bales of straw.....
towing a trailer....
Firewood....

And how in the heck are you supposed to go tailgating withtout a truck??

 

[Ed of all trades]

How many times per month do you have to need a pickup, before it makes sense to buy one?

Part of the question is "how many times" for a new truck, for a lightly used truck, for a rusty trusty truck? Different for each truck. My truck is 11 years old and worth around 1500 bucks. looks good drives good. I can't see me buying a new truck. Not for my needs

 

[wedge40]

I'm lucky cause I can afford two vehicles, ones a truck and the other is car that gets 50mpg. If I had to give one up it'd probably be the car. I hate having to borrow someones truck. I also hate having to plan when I need to do something. I'm not saying I couldn't get by without the truck, but life would be much harders without a truck. Even a wanna-be would be better then nothing.

Wedge

 

[randy41]

what do you do if you need one but don't have one? do you rent one?

 

[s219]

I have always wanted a pickup, and have come close to buying one many times. If I had the budget and room for multiple vehicles, I'd buy a truck in a heartbeat. But for a single vehicle, I just haven't been able to justify it -- an SUV and a trailer just works better for me. The SUV covers 90% of my needs very well, and the trailer takes care of the other 10%. Sometimes it's a hassle to go hitch up the trailer for stuff that could have just been thrown in the back of a pickup, but I guess that's a small price to pay.

 

[CBW1999]

If it were up to me, makes perfect sense to have one around....looks tough......manly......
Of course when the wife has her input-

I would tend to say that all it takes is one time of needing it to justify it (at that particular moment)..

I guess in reality though, more considerations. Does it also need to be a daily driver or are you able to have it as a second (or third) vehicle? In my circumstances, it would need to be a daily driver and be able to carry at least 4 of us. Being a daily driver, fuel economy is a big consideration based on what you expect to do with it.

Even if i didn't need it as a daily driver and, could afford it as a third vehicle- it would still need to carry 4 of us.

I hate to "overbuy" or "underbuy" what I need. A half ton is affordable to some extent but its capacity would be maxed out most of the time. A 3/4 ton is more suitable but increased expense across the board.

As jomar215 stated- using other vehicles to accomplish the same doesn't work out. I currently have a mini van and even though I have not exceeded any of the load ratings, I need to rebuild the transmission. It just isn't designed for daily use to haul stuff. either cargo or towing.

Not trying to side track, just sharing some of the continual head banging I experience everyday!