used vehicle inflation

[rubydist]

You can buy a lot of gas for the cost of an upgraded replacement vehicle...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You can buy a lot of gas for the cost of an upgraded replacement vehicle...

For better or worse, that’s where I’m at with it. Hate spending a fortune in gas but a gas sipper vehicle costs more than the gas unless I want some beater but that has the potential for needing lots of repair work which goes against what I’m trying to achieve. I don’t need another project, I need a gas sipper that I can drive halfway across the country without a worry and ideally if it breaks in the next 3-5 years, it’s someone else’s problem to fix. Trying to take the workload off my aging fleet so I can get caught up on repairs

 

[19Walt93]

My friend has a PHD and decided his F150 wasn't fuel efficient enough for a commuter car so he bought a used Civic to drive to work. And pays to maintain it, and insure it, and since he lives in the Vt people's republic, paid sales tax when he bought it. He's 68, I hope he lives long enough for the "gas savings" to cover the cost but I doubt it. Meanwhile his F150 sits a lot and rusts.

 

[JohnnyO]

For better or worse, that’s where I’m at with it. Hate spending a fortune in gas but a gas sipper vehicle costs more than the gas unless I want some beater but that has the potential for needing lots of repair work which goes against what I’m trying to achieve. I don’t need another project, I need a gas sipper that I can drive halfway across the country without a worry and ideally if it breaks in the next 3-5 years, it’s someone else’s problem to fix. Trying to take the workload off my aging fleet so I can get caught up on repairs

That's kind of where I was with my old Sport Trac. New truck payment is a little over $400 a month but I spend $100 less a month in gas and the old Trac cost me $5000 combined for the last two state inspections. Then this spring it lost a head gasket, I would have had to put repairs on plastic and to pay it off in a year would have been at least $300 a month. So I would have $8500 in a 13 year old vehicle with 212,000 miles, double what it's worth, and no doubt something else expensive would break sooner rather than later. Look at it that way and a new Ranger was less money out of pocket and it shouldn't give me any problems for the next 100,000 miles and if it does, well, it's on warranty.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's why I bought my '97 a couple years ago, was $450 on Facebook Marketplace with a mismatched door and a bent I beam and no battery. All said and done with all the parts and registration I was into the thing for $1200 which took me a mere 7 months to make up for in the gas savings versus my '00 Explorer going from 16mpg to 22mpg, now it gets 24mpg after another $60 in some different used tires...

 

[John97]

It's crazy here in FL. Dealer offered me almost $10K more than I paid for my truck.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That's kind of where I was with my old Sport Trac. New truck payment is a little over $400 a month but I spend $100 less a month in gas and the old Trac cost me $5000 combined for the last two state inspections. Then this spring it lost a head gasket, I would have had to put repairs on plastic and to pay it off in a year would have been at least $300 a month. So I would have $8500 in a 13 year old vehicle with 212,000 miles, double what it's worth, and no doubt something else expensive would break sooner rather than later. Look at it that way and a new Ranger was less money out of pocket and it shouldn't give me any problems for the next 100,000 miles and if it does, well, it's on warranty.

My repair bills really haven’t been that high mostly because I do the work myself and have a pile of parts laying around, but it’s the constant repair work that has me on the ropes. Was trying to do bare minimum to the 92 while I fixed the green one, but that backfired on me when the #2 piston melted in the 92. All of my trucks need a good bit of attention at this point and with a girlfriend that lives in Ohio, I’m racking up miles. Cost wise, before COVID the numbers still didn’t work out, would cost me more for something new and fuel efficient than to keep driving what I have, buutt… it would take the workload off my fleet and put any repairs to the new vehicle on someone else while I deal with my fleet. Once the green Ranger is back on the road I should be good for awhile because at this point it’s getting pretty much everything imaginable done.

I see a lot of different vehicles at work and had pretty much settled on a Mazda 3 hatch for my new gas sipper until the new Bronco came in the other day. I might have to look into ordering one…

on the other hand, my 92 is pretty mechanically sound at this point so if it can get me to having the green one back up, then there is no huge need for a new vehicle. Because if I buy new, it’s less money I have for my property. I’d have more money if I went back to being single, but that’s an entirely different can of worms

 

[JohnnyO]

I see a lot of different vehicles at work and had pretty much settled on a Mazda 3 hatch for my new gas sipper until the new Bronco came in the other day. I might have to look into ordering one…

Shults Ford in Wexford has a decent selection of vehicles and occasionally I see new Broncos on their lot. That's where I got my Ranger since it's like a half-mile from my work.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Shults Ford in Wexford has a decent selection of vehicles and occasionally I see new Broncos on their lot. That's where I got my Ranger since it's like a half-mile from my work.

F##k Shultz Ford?

Sorry, they left a really, really bad taste in my mouth years ago. They threw me off one of their lots years ago when I questioned why they were lying about the price of a vehicle (back in the day when you could find actual dealer invoice prices on KBB) they were claiming they were selling $99 over invoice but the invoice they showed had the number whited out and typed over and was about $4k higher than a better equipped model invoice that I had looked up. Then later at another lot, I had warranty work done. They ran my truck through the car wash (it was clean, I didn‘t ask for it, and they didn’t tell me). Scratched the hell out of the roof and when I complained they told me to get off the lot or they would throw me off.

 

[racsan]

Ive thought about what my next ranger replacement will be, glad Im not subject to inspection here, my 94 would of been a parts vehicle long ago. Ive considered letting her get a new escape and Id keep the 2011 for myself that we bought 2 years ago. (she then surprised me by saying she is interested in the new bronco!) Ive looked at a few 2wd 4cyl reg cab shortbeds, all in the 2003-2006 year range, most have nearly 200K on the clock and the “cheapest” was $3,000 About 4 years ago I bought the 94, had a budget of $1000, there wasnt much out there then, my choices of what I could find online was the ranger I bought and a 93 extend cab 318 dodge 1/2 ton that in the picture was up on blocks with the hood open and weeds growing all around it. There were plenty of good $2000 vehicles at that time but I only had $1000 to work with. I ended up giving 700 for the ranger and I don’t even want to know how much $ Ive put in it, granted quite a few parts came from a rolled ‘97 I had, Maybe in a year or few things will turn around. At the moment Im about to move so unless something majorly breaks Im not buying anything.

 

[JohnnyO]

F##k Shultz Ford?

Sorry, they left a really, really bad taste in my mouth years ago. They threw me off one of their lots years ago when I questioned why they were lying about the price of a vehicle (back in the day when you could find actual dealer invoice prices on KBB) they were claiming they were selling $99 over invoice but the invoice they showed had the number whited out and typed over and was about $4k higher than a better equipped model invoice that I had looked up. Then later at another lot, I had warranty work done. They ran my truck through the car wash (it was clean, I didn‘t ask for it, and they didn’t tell me). Scratched the hell out of the roof and when I complained they told me to get off the lot or they would throw me off.

Sorry to hear that. I didn't have any issues buying it or with service at Shults so far. Everyone I knew at Ron Lewis Ford retired and with where I work now it's not convenient anyway. Shults at least has vehicles, I was past Ron Lewis yesterday and they're pretty empty and the Chevy dealer across the street is closed. I was going to do my best to come home with a new truck that day before the liquid head gasket sealer I'd dumped into the radiator wore off. 13 years old and 212,000 miles they're going to wholesale it to Ohio or the Taliban anyway.