Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Automotive). This thread is read-only.
For over ten years, I’ve enjoyed (for the most part–driving older vehicles is a love/hate relationship) a car payment-free existence. For someone in their mid-’40s, I suppose I haven’t financed many vehicles. There was the 1999 Nissan Sentra I traded in for the 2006 GMC Sierra I still own. Then there was the wife’s 2004 Mustang GT. Until a few years ago, I used my Sierra as a daily driver, even when it was well past 300k on the odometer. My wife drove a 2006 Mercury Mountaineer we bought with cash, which is how I bought the eight or so other vehicles I’ve owned since the mid-90s.
My truck might have blown a head gasket a couple of years ago. It still made a two-hour drive to my sister’s house, but I decided to leave it in Virginia and bring it down south later (I need to try to get it down here soon), with the intent of putting a crate engine in it. My wife’s Mountaineer suffered a far more horrendous fate. I was relying on that for my commute the couple of days a week I had to drive into work during my last year or so in the Army. One day it wouldn’t crank and being a 4.0L with over 250k miles, I figured the engine had locked up. I kept it parked on the street for a few days and borrowed my son’s car. The night before Thanksgiving 2021, I heard what sounded like a gunshot right as I was basting my turkeys for the last big family gathering before retirement. I grabbed a pistol and peeked outside, seeing the Mercury parked at an odd angle in the ditch. Sure enough, someone speeding down the street had hit it, and the timing couldn’t have been better. I still had full coverage, so despite the driver being uninsured, I was able to file a claim and get somewhere around $5 for the truck. I used that to buy a 2009 Dodge Journey. In hindsight, I should have stuck with one of the minivans we were looking at. It’s been transportation since moving down to Louisiana, but that’s about it. A few days ago, however, it stalled out and will crank but not turn over. I’ll look at it when I get the chance. There’s one honorable mention vehicle. Last year, we paid $3k for a 2007 Ford Focus. Having a second vehicle (and one with A/C) was nice while it lasted, but driving into work one morning, a coworker whipped into the parking lot and totaled that car. We still came out about $300 over what we paid from insurance. Regardless, it sucked, because we’d only had the car a couple of months.
Anyway, all that to get to this. We drove to Mississippi yesterday to pick up what the wife and I consider the perfect compromise vehicle for our family. I rented a 15-passenger Fort Transit high-top last year and loved it despite its size. In the future, maybe, but that wouldn’t make for a good daily driver as I just drive back-and-forth to work. I’d prefer a full-size pickup, but I have one. Given today’s prices, I can pay to have my truck shipped here, replace the drivetrain and steering/suspension, and basically have a new truck on an old chassis at 1/5th the price of a new truck. There’s no major damage–a few scuffs and dings–but I won’t have to obsess over every little bit of dust that gets on it like I would with a new $80k Sierra. My wife likes SUVs. The problem is, we need 3rd row seating but didn’t want to go over $25k for this vehicle. Eventually, she’ll have the Escalade she wants, but frankly, I think it’ll be good that the kids will all be grown by then. I rented a car a couple of weeks ago, and within days, the 17-year-old had spilled sunflower seed shells all over the passenger side. We considered minivans but our prime years for one are way behind us, and neither of us really like them. Ten years ago, with kids ranging from three to 15, it would have made sense, but now the oldest two are grown and the youngest is 13.
So, the compromise vehicle… a 2021 Ford Transit Connect. This is by far the newest vehicle I’ve ever owned (well, will own once the bank’s paid). The seating configuration seems ideal, with a 2-2-2 layout giving plenty of space for the three kids still in the house and leaving enough room for the dogs if they ride along. With the seats folded, I can haul some stuff; sheet goods would have to be broken down and long materials like conduit or dimensional lumber would require the rear doors to be left partially open, but overall, it’s a better option than an SUV or minivan. I’ve heard these things called wagons, and I’ve heard them called vans. They’re smaller, but definitely not the classic definition of minivan, though the sliding doors don’t really make them a wagon in my opinion either. I like the feeling of being in a miniaturized version of that large Transit. This should meet our needs for the time being and will likely serve as our base of operations for any music festivals or other events we attend. Outfitted properly, it will provide a decent platform to camp out of, maybe with a vehicle tent at the rear.
Anyway, this is getting long. I guess I’ll be sucking up the payments on this new to us vehicle. At least I can use the app to set remote start times to get some A/C going before I leave for work. With the proximity sensors on the front and rear, I’m hoping the wife doesn’t take out quarter panels like she has on the SUVs (my truck only went through two sets of nerf bars on her watch). All told, I don’t mind the payments. We’ve lived fairly frugally over the past few years, and if I’m going to continue to work, I need something I can jump in and not start stressing over because of a new noise or due to the temperature gauge being slightly higher than normal. It just sucks that the Dodge quit when it did… within two weeks I’m eliminating most of my debt and would have had enough to pay cash for the this. As it stands, well, one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do.
Pics please
Good luck with the new ride
Also get a new keyboard, ‘cause the letter ink must now be worn away
I hear you. I had a 2012 Ford F150 with a bunch of problems and it only lasted 100K. It had so many problems and rusted so badly, it wasn’t worth putting money into it. I liked not having a payment also. I looked at used and new cars and wanted another truck. The used car prices were crazy as by us, there were not many available, I guess there was a chip problem so not many produced. When I looked over everything, it was about the same as getting new for me. I ended up going new but I think in the future, I am going used. Not enjoying a payment again.
I’ll get some pics uploaded soon. I’m fortunate to not live in the Rust Belt, so my GMC should be good frame and body wise. I remember having cars where rust was a big problem, including my 1978 K5 Blazer. Sadly, when we sold what we could before letting go of the in-laws’ house, the 1989 Mercedes 560SEC only netter a few hundred. The buyer went underneath and immediately just cut off the catalytic converter, saying the frame was rusted through. That car was nice when we got it in 2000 and had a sticker price of around $85k new. Unfortunately, after I joined the Army, it sat neglected, and when the sunroof started leaking and a window motor went out, so much water got into it that the electrical system was screwed and the interior mildewed. Obviously, the rust set in due to that.
Unfortunately for me (self-affirmed troglodyte) the automotive industry has migrated from manual transmission V8 engines to hybrid automatic vehicles.
Thank goodness my newest vehicle, a 2022 Porsche Macan, was the last year before they forced smart cruise control, which doesn’t work for me w/ long distance travel, so I remain alert instead of reliant on smart systems. That change will prevent me from replacing it w/ a new vehicle in the future.
Currently using my ’79 CJ-5 as my daily driver, but I’m very happy w/ my older and newer vehicles.
It’s been a long time in the grand scheme of things. My beloved 2006 GMC Sierra SLT Z71 is long gone. A few months ago, I finally had a scrapper come get the Dodge Journey that was sitting in the yard since the original post. Not long after posting two years ago, I bought a 2011 Kia Sorento that’s been my commute vehicle for the past two years. I added the ’46 CJ2A I posted about elsewhere on these forums and just added another GMC Sierra.
The 2006 was my “forever truck”. I’d planned to keep it and replace drivetrain components as needed. The body was in great shape for its age and mileage, but I made the mistake of leaving the truck in Virginia too long. My sister was engaged–but not married–to her youngest kid’s dad and had to take care of some business in TX. A week before she returned to VA, her fiancé died, and his oldest son and “friends” immediately started doing wrong. My sister wasn’t even allowed back on the property, though the son ensured her that my truck would be safe while they sorted out the estate. Instead, within a few months, he scrapped it. All of the trips between Baton Rouge and Richmond, and later Savannah and Columbus and Richmond, all of the other memories gone, with a perfectly running truck I knew inside and out parted out for a couple hundred dollars.
Anyway, a coworker just got a new-to-him truck, unbeknownst to me until a couple of days ago. I don’t pay that much attention, though I thought his black crew cab Sierra looked a little different. Someone asked him about it on Thursday, and he stated he still had to sell his old truck and needed at least $5k for it. I jumped at the chance. It’s a 2010 SLE 2WD, of course lacking some of the features my older SLT had while the same 5.3L engine makes about 20 more horsepower, and the 4L80E transmission has been replaced with a 6L80. I went this morning, took a quick look, and paid cash, with him voluntarily knocking $500 off the asking price to get the hood painted.
Blue Book value starts around $6500 and only goes up from there, so $4500 for a truck–2WD or not–is a great price here in the Deep South. Down here, you’ll see people asking $3k for a 30-year-old body and chassis without a motor or transmission, $6k for a ragged out 4.3L Chevy with 350k miles, and $10k+ for something like my “new” Sierra.
Anyway, I’ve got to hit the road again and get the kids to a movie. A great bonus to buying the truck from my coworker is that he kept his tag on it until we get the title straight next week. He’s still got insurance on it as well, but I did add it to my policy (Louisiana rates are ridiculous; my wife and I have great records and will be paying over $300 a month now). Down here, we have to get the titles notarized. That’s one of the few things I preferred about VA: I could get a title signed over to me without going to a notary. By the end of next week, though, I should have my 100% DAV tag on the truck.
Sweet buy. Sounds like a great deal. I had a 2003 SLE but being up north, I had the 4 wheel. One of my favorite trucks. Ran like a beast. The only problem I had for 100K was the motor in the mirror and that was just n the first 50 miles so it was defective. Other than that, it was great. I would have kept it but it was an extended cab and I had two kids. Anyways, sounds like a great truck you got.
The GMT-800s (’99-’07 Classic) were great trucks, as were the GMT-400s (’88-’00 for 1/2-tons). I’ve heard decent things about the GMT-900. I had to look it up; the GMT-900 platform ran from ’07-’14, with the K1XX replacing it and the newest trucks being the T1XX introduced in ’19. One of the “fun” things about a “new” used vehicle is learning the model’s quirks and the particular truck’s needs. The sway bar links were shot, so I replaced those and the bushings just now. I also replaced the plastic spacers for the rear seats; the seat backs hook into the rear of the cab, and the plastic tends to break over time, making the seats loose and with metal on metal causing annoying squeaks. The front of the truck looked weird with cutouts for nonexistent tow hooks, so I installed some red ones to match the GMC logo (the sway bar bushing and links are also red, FWIW). I bought stickers to cover the HVAC controls (the graphics rubbed off, my ’06 did the same over time) and just cleared the airbag code (driver’s seat harness had sent an error code at some point). I also put my 48″ Ridgid job site box in the bed. I had an aluminum cross-bed box on my ’06 that I’d taken off and left with my trailer. I’m almost positive that trailer and the box are gone as well, as I left them with a friend who’s since become transient.
The only thing I can’t do at the moment is replace the TPMS sensors. I’m considering ordering some from Amazon and breaking the beads myself to install them but might just pay someone. I’ve tried both the deflation method and using a tool to reprogram them, but the batteries are likely dead. It’s not an absolute must to replace them, but it would be nice to have zero trouble indicator lights on the dash.
Pretty cool you can do all that work. I am not good with electric or automotive.
Those TPMS sensors saved my butt one time. I was doing a FL to RI and back road trip, stopped for a splash and go at a gas station on the way and immediately got a low pressure tire alert when I returned to the highway. I pulled off the next exit, up to a gas station air machine, located the screw, plugged the hole and refilled the air, all before the rapidly diminishing daylight was gone.
All my vehicles have an over stuffed Safety Seal Tire Plug Kit that permits fast / easy tire repairs.
Agree, I love the sensors. I am going to have to look at that kit. Crazy how some cars don’t even come with spares anymore.
Eric – TIA wrote:
10 hours ago, Eric – TIA said:Crazy how some cars don’t even come with spares anymore.
That 2022 Macan w/ the tire screw included from the factory: a spare tire / wheel w/o air, collapsed on the sidewall for decreased outside diameter storage; a cannister of tire sealing goo (recently replaced by the dealership for the date code) and an air compressor.
In my mind, removing and plugging the screw while parked at the fuel station air pump was the fastest / easiest way to restore Packled motion.
wingless wrote:
4 hours ago, wingless said:That 2022 Macan w/ the tire screw included from the factory: a spare tire / wheel w/o air, collapsed on the sidewall for decreased outside diameter storage; a cannister of tire sealing goo (recently replaced by the dealership for the date code) and an air compressor.
The spare and jack is shown in these images.
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Eric – TIA wrote:
15 hours ago, Eric – TIA said:I am going to have to look at that kit.
That kit has been used by me multiple times on several vehicles w/ 100% success. I always use the additionally available RS slim plugs, instead of the standard (larger) diameter plugs.
Wow, that is a great idea and space saver to. Plus it looks like a nice spare tire.