Grassfarmer said:
Burnt, I hear that comment all the time about new being so cheap that you can't afford to buy used and it doesn't make any sense to me. I bought a $10k truck that I got 9 years out of having probably spend about $4k on repairs. It will still be good for years around the farm etc as I doubt it has much resale value but I'm starting to get a little nervous trailering longer distances. To go new on a 4wd 3/4 ton is still going to be $30k+ I'm assuming even with discounts? probably well over that. I saw a used '95 truck recently, same as my own with a lot less miles on it, and never been on a farm, for under $5K. How does the new one work out cheaper or affordable? I'm not a person who cares how new my truck is, merely that it's reliable.
I didn't say anywhere that new trucks are so cheap, because they still are pricey even with the rebates. I'm just saying that there is not enough difference between the price of a used one and a new one.
And I can about guarantee that the '95 replacement is going to give you a few surprises when you're not looking because a truck that is 15 years old has stuff that is going to let go just because of its age unless it comes from someplace where they never see salt.
The body on my '95 is still pretty decent, but I got quite a shock this fall to see that the frame has a few holes eaten through it from salt. I regularly carry about 2200 lbs on my Silverado 1500 thanks to my Firestone Air Ride suspension, so one of these days it's gonna bend in two when I load it.
The wiring has been giving me trouble for a few years now and sometimes I got signal lights and other times not so much.
Most days I can go out and it fires up on about 2 spins of the starter and the next time the battery is dead - something is shorting out somewhere and we have not been able to find it. So when the young lad heads out to work milking cows at 5 AM, that's not good news.
But other than those and (quite) a few other things, it still runs good and its kinda hard to retire it. Kinda like an old hired man who knows the job but isn't quite up to it anymore!!
So if you are looking for reliability in a '95, your luck had better be better than mine or your need less than most.