New or used vehicle
- Thread starter arnettda
- Start date
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sethas
Member
- Location
- Los Banos, CA.
What can you afford?
I'm partial to a new one myself, but I dd just buy a used truck. At the end of it, I'm not sure it is that much of a savings. I'll need another one in 2-3 years with all the mileage we put on it.
I just hate breaking down, you loose way to much money servicing the older vans and trucks, that it is all a wash in the end. So wich one will give you less of a hassle? Which one will last you longer?
I'm partial to a new one myself, but I dd just buy a used truck. At the end of it, I'm not sure it is that much of a savings. I'll need another one in 2-3 years with all the mileage we put on it.
I just hate breaking down, you loose way to much money servicing the older vans and trucks, that it is all a wash in the end. So wich one will give you less of a hassle? Which one will last you longer?
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
i'd go with the e-350 if you are gonna do extended.
more stable. they can get twitchy if loaded down.
there is an excellent sway preventer for the e-350
that i'd go for.
i went with an 06 6.0 diesel. not a good choice.
milage is good, but when (and when is the word)
you have your 6.0 roll over and die, it can be a
$10,000 fix. (mine was). if i was gonna do it over,
i'd go with the E-350 extended with V 10.
GUNNING
Senior Member
- Location
- Gainesville, Florida
used
used
I would go with the used low mileage vehicle. We have a couple of dealers around here that sells one year old vans with maybe 6k miles for $18k. I can't see spending the extra $10K for a year of value to run it till it drops.
used
I would go with the used low mileage vehicle. We have a couple of dealers around here that sells one year old vans with maybe 6k miles for $18k. I can't see spending the extra $10K for a year of value to run it till it drops.
PEDRO ESCOVILLA
Senior Member
- Location
- south texas
why take the hit on depreciation 12 seconds after you drive a new on eoff the lot. put a good used rig into service, you charge for a rig in your daily billing, right, the work will pay for it.
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
If you go with the V10 be prepared. My F-350 with the V-10 is 10 miles to the gallon.
Very true. The book price drops around $3K as soon as it hits the road off of the lot.
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
All vehicles probably do it seems.
Like buying a new computer, obsolete before you get out of the store.:rant:
Heck, my 1/2t Nissan Titan gets 10-11mpg city and max 17 highway, unloaded.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I don't know how much you gain in reliability by getting a new versus used vehicle in general.
This kind of vehicle though gets beat pretty good though in some applications.
If a used vehicle is such a great idea, why are the people who gave it up selling it?
It seems like a crap shoot to me.
This kind of vehicle though gets beat pretty good though in some applications.
If a used vehicle is such a great idea, why are the people who gave it up selling it?
It seems like a crap shoot to me.
- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Service Manager
Agreed.
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
I think I would want to know the history and why they are being sold after only a year. If the original owner went out of business I might be interested but otherwise I would be suspicious. You know what they say about used car salesmen. I have only bought one used van in my life many years ago and I would never do it again. Don't need someone elses headaches.
Right now I have a 98' E-250 that I bought brand new. Never had a problem with it because I take care of it and I know where it's been. Do yourself a favor and buy new and take care of it rather than buying two or more used vehicles in the same period of time. You also get a 5 year warranty which you won't get with a used vehicle.
Since you seem to toss about E-250, E-350 and extended van without much thought other than apparently how much you can cram into it- another important thing is to get a van with a GVWR capable of handling what you carry. You would be surprised what your materials weigh and I've seen many ECs with overloaded trucks, they really should have been using a box truck with dual rear wheels. If you exceed the GVWR you shorten the life of your truck, void the warranty and risk big fines for being overweight. This is another reason for buying new- you get what you need.
-Hal
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K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
Tip for buying used:
Purchase while still under warranty from the new car dealer that carries the brand.
Why?
I used to work for a Chrysler dealer.
When we would get a low mileage vehicle they were probably better than new when they left our facility.
These vehicles would come in and us techs got to fix everything and anything wrong with them that was covered by warranty, no questions asked. We inspected them from stem to stern and some of them were good money makers for us. We would do anything to get a big engine job, that's one of the few things warranty paid a decent wage for. I don't mean like sabotoge, but if we heard an engine noise or felt something wasn't right, it got looked into with a microscope.
All recalls were done, and all the TSB's were searched for the possibility of more warranty work.
All the required maintenance was caught up and done using OEM products.
This is quite different than a private or non-dealer seller. Sure, they could bring the car to the dealer and tell them to keep it as long as they need to in order to fix every possible warranty defect found. But, as a former tech in a dealership, I can tell you they won't. I can also tell you they won't catch up on the maintenance using factory parts and products.
That's for full warranty vehicles.
Now, once the warranty runs out, the used car dept. got real fussy about what they were going to fix and what they weren't.
Oh, and the main reason people sold nearly new cars was usually because they got new ones every couple years, not because they didn't like the old ones.
Purchase while still under warranty from the new car dealer that carries the brand.
Why?
I used to work for a Chrysler dealer.
When we would get a low mileage vehicle they were probably better than new when they left our facility.
These vehicles would come in and us techs got to fix everything and anything wrong with them that was covered by warranty, no questions asked. We inspected them from stem to stern and some of them were good money makers for us. We would do anything to get a big engine job, that's one of the few things warranty paid a decent wage for. I don't mean like sabotoge, but if we heard an engine noise or felt something wasn't right, it got looked into with a microscope.
All recalls were done, and all the TSB's were searched for the possibility of more warranty work.
All the required maintenance was caught up and done using OEM products.
This is quite different than a private or non-dealer seller. Sure, they could bring the car to the dealer and tell them to keep it as long as they need to in order to fix every possible warranty defect found. But, as a former tech in a dealership, I can tell you they won't. I can also tell you they won't catch up on the maintenance using factory parts and products.
That's for full warranty vehicles.
Now, once the warranty runs out, the used car dept. got real fussy about what they were going to fix and what they weren't.
Oh, and the main reason people sold nearly new cars was usually because they got new ones every couple years, not because they didn't like the old ones.
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Greg1707
Senior Member
- Location
- Alexandria, VA
- Occupation
- Business owner Electrical contractor
New or used
New or used
An important consideration regarding buying new or used is how long the vehicle will be in service or how many miles it will be driven. If the vehicle is used for ten years, saving three thousand dollars on a used vehicle saves only three hundred dollars per year over the life of the vehicle.
New or used
An important consideration regarding buying new or used is how long the vehicle will be in service or how many miles it will be driven. If the vehicle is used for ten years, saving three thousand dollars on a used vehicle saves only three hundred dollars per year over the life of the vehicle.
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Leesburg, VA
I am a firm believer in new vehicles, I did the used route and always seemed to buy someone else's headaches. But there are many factors to consider, we typically get 7-8 years out of our trucks, our men drive 60-80 miles oneway 6-7 days a week, so a reliable truck is a must.
renosteinke
Senior Member
- Location
- NE Arkansas
Given the choice, I'd go for the new truck. Everything works, you have the warranty, and you can get exactly what you want. With your record of using the truck for 12 years, you'll get your money's worth from it.
Depreciation after the first year? How much of that can be attributed to simple tire wear? It's pretty easy to spend $800 on a set of tires.
Plus, with a new truck there is the option of leasing. Advantages? Possible tax write-off, and you can decide later if you want to keep it.
Depreciation after the first year? How much of that can be attributed to simple tire wear? It's pretty easy to spend $800 on a set of tires.
Plus, with a new truck there is the option of leasing. Advantages? Possible tax write-off, and you can decide later if you want to keep it.
Thank you everyone for the views, they were all excellent but I could just not drop $28,000 on a vehicle. I bought a 2011 2500 chevy with 40k miles on it for $17K, All power, shelves and bulk head included. It also has the upper doors on the outside that flip up. For what I could find I think I did allright. Putting over half down and if all goes well with the tax man I should have it paid for by summer. Thanks Again.
TOOL_5150
Senior Member
- Location
- bay area, ca
Ouch, that doesnt seem like good gas milage at all. My 3/4T dodge diesel gets 17MPG highway, unloaded.
Not good at all, but that is the norm for the 5.6L in the Titan. Nissan has also been developing a Cummins diesel for the Titan as well. That will probably be coming in 2014.
In the olden days (until the mid 90's) , working by myself, I would get the least expensive, best condition truck I could find, drive it till just under 100K miles, then sell it in a year or two for about what I paid for it. I'd pick up a $2K truck and sell it in a year for $2K.
No payments= low overhead= cash in my pocket (remember cash?) If work was slow, I'd go to the lake and not worry about not making any money that day. With a "real" business, every day you don't work, you are bleeding cash. Damn...I miss the olden days.
Now, with several trucks on the road, I always buy new because, if a truck goes down, money starts flowing in the wrong direction.
No payments= low overhead= cash in my pocket (remember cash?) If work was slow, I'd go to the lake and not worry about not making any money that day. With a "real" business, every day you don't work, you are bleeding cash. Damn...I miss the olden days.
Now, with several trucks on the road, I always buy new because, if a truck goes down, money starts flowing in the wrong direction.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
i know... but the repair hit when the 6.0 died amounted to 12 cents per mile,
for 90,000 miles.
in all honesty, on the road loaded to 10k#, i get 20 mpg at 55, 14 mpg at 65,
and 10 mpg at 75
when i was going to san bernardino every day, the difference between 55 and 75
was 20 minutes, and the cost difference was 12 dollars more for 20 minutes.
so going 20 mph faster costs about $36 per hour MORE. so, driving slow pays half
as much as working with the tools....
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