Ever since I’ve owned property I’ve always thought it would be a good, practical thing to own a pickup truck. Over the years I’ve priced new pickup trucks and they are outrageously expensive. These days, a new pickup truck will cost you as much or even much, much more than a luxury sedan.
When and how did this happen? Who are all of these people buying $65,000 pickup trucks?!
They’ve added too much Chrome and other fancy amenities similar to cars.
No one sells a stripped down work truck anymore. Something you wouldn’t mind hauling hay or bags of manure in.
Your best bet is buy a used truck. Get a mechanic to check it first.
Not quite true but they are a tiny section of the market. Most people want fancy toys and big truck for 'Mericans.
Absolutely agreed
Yep - they got expensive when they became a status symbol, rather than a farm vehicle. Heck, doesn’t Lincoln even have a pickup truck now? That’s just wrong.
You think a Lincoln pickup is bad; here’s one from Mercedes.
There’s lots of beater work trucks out there for sale. Those bells and whistles depreciate like water in a hot pan.
Lots of people don’t do anything with their trucks but drive them to work and to the store. They are buying flash and comfort.
We got a lot of work out our awful trucks. The truck we built our house with had two forward gears, neither of them first, and you couldn’t turn off the heater, but not to worry, the windows didn’t roll up either. We sold 20 cords of firewood out of that absymal truck, when we cleared the land for our house. Hauled many a ton of gravel from the quarry in it. Oh to be young again.
I have a wonderful truck now. It was expensive (not $65K though) and it drives like a dream. We still get a lot of work out of it although mainly I use it to drag my horse trailer around. But it hurts my heart when it gets a scratch on it. Our first truck you could pitch rocks at it and you’d never see a difference.
Yeah, when I was a kid, it seemed like only rich people owned a $50k+ vehicle.
Now, everybody has a $60-70k truck.
It completely boggles my mind, and how can they afford it?
Googling, it seems the average price for a new vehicle is about $36,000. I remember when it was about $20,000.
Dewey, yer just a youngun, I can just barely remember when 15,000 was the price for a high end luxury car.
Best truck our family ever owned was a Jeep pickup. Straight six 4speed manual ran perfect for several years. $700 at a GSA auction. Traded it in on a brand new truck in 86. Found out in that process that it was running on 5 cyclinders not 6. Couldn’t tell.
Best truck I’ve owned recently was a chevy s10, 4 cyclinder 5 speed manual, no bells or whistles. Bought it used, drove it 12 years and the only problem I ever had was a worn out gas cap that didn’t seal properly.
Leasing?
So here are some numbers I looked up:
[ul]
[li]In 1986 my Dad bought a new Toyota pickup for about $8000.[/li][LIST]
[li]2 wheel drive[/li][li]Longbed (8 foot?)[/li][li]Standard cab[/li][li]AC[/li][li]Radio with tape[/li][li]Automatic transmission[/li][li]22R engine[/li][li]About $18,500 in 2018 dollars[/li][/ul]
[li]2019 Toyota Tacoma SR[/li][ul]
[li]2 wheel drive[/li][li]6 foot bed only[/li][li]Extended cab with rear seat delete (best match for standard cab)[/li][li]AC[/li][li]Radio with all the fixin’s[/li][li]Automatic transmission[/li][li]2.7 liter 4[/li][li]$24,930 including fees[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
In 1986 the average purchase price of a new car was $12,651, so his cheap truck was about 65% of the price of the average car. The average price of a new car in 2018 was $35,285, making the new Tacoma about 71% of the price of the average car new.
So, it looks like it is possible to get a basic truck for roughly the same, relative to the average car price. However, the price of the truck has gone up at a higher rate than inflation. Of course the 2019 truck is better in almost every way than the 1986 one.
I would have expected it to come out a lot worse for the current truck, because I too think of basic work trucks as costing about $40k now. I guess that is what happens when you insist on a 4x4 with a big engine.
Seven year car loan makes it around 1k a month.
The F150 starts at about 28k, which isn’t terrible.
I have a Chevy Silverado which may fall under the expensive truck the OP is speaking of.
But I still disagree that cheaper trucks aren’t available. Just look for them.
I’ve seen plenty of brand new “farm” pick up trucks for under $18K, with 4 wheel drive under $22K.
There are smaller trucks like Nissan Frontier very nicely equipped for under $24K. If you don’t need 4wd I have seen them for under $16K.
My brother bought a freaking gorgeous 2018 Chevy Colorado, loaded to the gills for $27K after rebates and negotiations. That truck is awesome and deserving of every award it’s ever gotten. it has everything my Silverado has except the bigger engine. It has a 6.
Is the OP looking at MSRP or prices after rebates and negotiations?
I bought a base-model Nissan pickup in 1986, brand new, for $6,000. You not only can’t get a basic truck any more, you can’t get a small one, either. They’re sized like olives these days, the range only goes from large to colossal; no such thing as a compact truck.
The base models are relatively cheap. The problems is that most people don’t want an access cab, and many get 4WD. I just checked the Tacoma price and doing that makes it from $23,835 to $32,045. That’s the base trim, the top is over $45,000 without even any accessories.
Agree with the OP. I look at the commercials for trucks these days and they like to appeal to the “working man” blue collar tradesmen types; what with dumping gravel into the back, pulling some obscure piece of machinery up a dirt road, and then going “muddin” on the weekends. No one spending $60K on a [luxury] vehicle is going to be doing any of that stuff, and most construction workers wont have that kind of cash or income to purchase such a vehicle. LOL
I had a basic 2wd Toyota “pickup” regular cab (pre-Tacoma) back in the early 90s. It was a 5-speed manual, had a bench seat and roll-up windows with no AC. The door locks were old-school (not electronic). It was my first new vehicle and I had to pay for everything, so I took good care of it. I don’t remember what the price was, but it was probably under $10K. I did not use it for work so much, but more as a fun vehicle for camping, exploring, etc, as well as just general getting around and to my office job. I agree, it may be difficult to find a “basic” truck these days, but a used one you should be able to get a decent one at a decent price.
You think the Nissan Frontier is large? And I’ve seen them for 16K which isn’t bad for 2019.
Compared to the compact pickups that were available in the 80’s? Hell yeah they’re large.
I’m thinking about buying a truck and I’ve made the same sticker shock observation DCnDC notes.
I was just reading the March/April 2019 issue of Truck Trend magazine. Their editorial is on exactly this issue - how stupid expensive pick-up trucks have become.
Some stats they note:
The editor also mentions that he bought a new F-150 in 2007 listing at $36,000, with inflation that’s now $42,000. The comparably equipped 2019 F-150 lists $60,000.
He doesn’t really get into why, except to say companies have realized they can make a lot of profit on pick-ups, so for the last 10- years they’ve been jacking the prices.
Bottom line - he thinks the pricing has gotten out of hand and a crash is coming.
Interestingly, he says that going forward TT will feature more stories on how to keep your old truck going instead of focusing only on new ones. One of the things he encourages readers to consider is buying an old truck and putting a new motor in it. He says he bought an 02 Silverado for $3,800 and put a new $10,000 Duramax motor into it and he’s way ahead.
Depends on how used. 90s one would be cheap, but you aren’t saving much on a recent one. Pickups are among the least depreciating models.
No more small trucks because CAFE: How CAFE Killed Compact Trucks And Station Wagons | The Truth About Cars
Funny this comes up. My parents had an '88 F-250 4x4 King Cab Lariat with about 70k miles about 20 years ago. My dad died and I tried to sell it for my Mom.
Highest offer was $2k. I said I’d set it on fire for that, and gave my Mom $4k. (below low book)
Been driving it off and on since then, bought a big ol’ camper to haul around for the family. Lots of Epic camping trips to Yellowstone, Glacier, all up and down the west coast. Multiple trips to LA for football games for years. It’s still in near perfect running condition, and no way could I afford to replace it if I had to. Has everything you need and would be in the 5-figures to replace. Crazy.
The paint sucks, however. And the AC crapped out, but what do want after 30 years?