Great time to buy tow vehicles!

[45Auto]

If you've been looking for a dedicated heavy duty tow vehicle it's a great time to get one. Car lots are loaded with 3/4 ton pickups and SUV's that people are dumping to get something that will save on gas.

Just picked up a loaded 99 3/4 ton 4WD Suburban LT for $3000. 4 brand new tires (265-75 x 16 - about $800 right there!), 3 seat all leather, TV on the roof, etc. Less than 80,000 miles, looks and runs like new. Must have been Mom's grocery getter. Hard to decide between it and another truck, but I like being able to tote 9 people and all the enclosed luggage space.

All the ramps I launch at are within 5 miles of my house, so gas mileage isn't a huge factor to me. Good thing, cause the beast only gets about 10 MPG around town!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Nice vehicle and a great price.
I was down at our plant in Alabama at the end of July and they were selling brand new bare bones F-150's for $12,000 out the door and drive away. If I did not live in Canada I would be sorely tempted to get one and drive it back to Ontario. I will be going again in the near future so will look in to what I have to do to it to get it registered here. (if possible)

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

great buy, we bought a 99 last year, our 3rd suburban, for towing. paid way more than you did. but a super tow vehicle.

 

[stinger222]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

great buy, you stole it...that burban was $39k brand new. The 3/4 ton trannies were great, have to watch out for the yrs on the 1/2 trannies, so your good. 454 or 350? I'm guessing 454 since you say 10 mpg.

I might need to upgrade to one of these given my new boat is 2000lb heavier than my old one.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

I hear ya. I have multiple friends with 3/4-1 tons that only use them a couple of times a year, but since the truck is now worth pennies they are just going to keep them. If my boat wasnt so small that my Ranger pulls it so nice I would pick up a rig as a backup/spare/winter rig since they are so cheap now

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Wow you really stole that burban. We just traded our '04 Chrysler Pacifica AWD in on an '07 Chevy Impala last night. The Pac only got 16. We took a loss on it to get rid of it but fortunately got a great deal on the Impala so it didn't hurt too bad. There were numerous factors in our decision but gas mileage was a big one. We have a 90 mile round trip commute.

 

[JoeCrow]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Get 'em while you can
I read recently that Chevy will be phasing out their pick-up's soon and Dodge may follow as well
From what I heard, by 2010 you may not be able to get a new American pick-up truck, at least from 2 of the big 3

 

[chuter]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Now is the time to buy. Just picked up an '03 EB Expedition with the 5.4L for $10k. Added new rubber and PM'd her. Replaces a '94 Bronco. After I sell the Bronco I'll have less than $9k in to the Expy. The original sticker was $41.6k. It's for tow and snow, not everyday or lots of highway use. Got a little under 17mpg this weekend. That's fine by me.

 

[ne7800]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Get 'em while you can
I read recently that Chevy will be phasing out their pick-up's soon and Dodge may follow as well
From what I heard, by 2010 you may not be able to get a new American pick-up truck, at least from 2 of the big 3

i doubt that will ever happen what i see happening is truck going back to being trucks not grocery getters

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

Really nice find 45Auto.

I have always been a big fan of Suburbans and yours looks really nice. All it needs now is a red stripe to complete the package look.

My brothers truck was totaled recently in a one driver wreck in Florida. His work truck was parked, and some teenagers were doing donuts in a mall parking lot when they lost control of "daddies" car.

Totaled, but with witnesses, including the police who just happened to be pulling into the parking lot to advise them on proper parking methods.

He had no luck in Florida finding one, and all that I found on the Internet there, were “bait and switch” deals on trucks they didn't really have to sell. All were just Internet scamming customers with their ads. As soon as he got there and asked to see them, they said it was already sold (yea right, two months latter and they were still featuring them as actual Internet specials), and would run him to, over the sticker price, new trucks and SUV's.

I found him one in Arkansas (where he lives), a dealer demo truck, 2008 Nissan Titan SE-Crew Cab, 1,600 miles, full factory warranty/guaranty.

Normal base price, $29,530 without options. It was a $34,000+ with options truck when new.

I handled on the telephone with them, and they reduced the price by $2,000, added a $600 Nissan tow package, bed liner, 4x rubber work mats, added the extended warranty, and filled it up.

End price (after dealing) was $14,000. All he had to do was show up with a check and drive off.

It has a 317-hp 5.6-liter V8, 5-speed automatic transmission with Tow/Haul mode, 4-wheel ABS, 168? wide open rear doors, 40/20/40 split front bench seat, AC, 18" alloys, chrome bumpers & grille, power outside mirrors, power door locks & windows, including back glass window, remote keyless entry, radio & in-dash 6-CD changer with MPW/WMA and auxiliary audio input jacks.

All standard, plus a load of extras.

On the private open market the best I could find for this truck used, was $22,000 with 38,000+ miles. The best I could do in Florida with the dealers was $24,000 for a similarly equipped trucks.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

i doubt that will ever happen what i see happening is truck going back to being trucks not grocery getters

Good point. I agree there will always be a need for them by those that actually need a truck as opposed to a smaller lighter vehicle.

 

[wgoodhoofd]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

i doubt that will ever happen what i see happening is truck going back to being trucks not grocery getters

What an accurate statement. You use a truck because you have to haul drywall or 2x4s, not because you need a carton of milk.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

What an accurate statement. You use a truck because you have to haul drywall or 2x4s, not because you need a carton of milk.

X2

I drive a Ford Ranger and it handles 99% of the hauling I need to do and I feel I haul more then "Joe public" does. it gets 20-22MPG, can pull a small trailer or boat and has hauled wood chips, engines, couches and all. Although it rides like a truck, has rubber floors and manual windows. I think the days of guys buying a 3/4 truck because it looks cool are gone.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

I live in Germany and to have multiple vehicles, each with it's specific purpose is not possible, because of the hidden governmental cost here. This is why many German auto companies attempt to build “do all” vehicles. A vehicle that attempts to “do all” things, generally “does none” of them well.

A friend bought a German SUV, for a sum of money that exceeds the cost of 80% of the houses in America, to pull a flatbed auto trailer last year. We used it twice, for round trips to a local race track with a total highway drive time of about 8hours. It blew the head gasket twice, and burnt up the automatic transmission. It is useless for anything except cruising through the city, looking like you are going on an expedition. It is a poser.

The auto company refused to cover the damage cost because they said the vehicle had been used for purposes it was not designed for, towing. It is advertised as a multi-purpose vehicle, suburban shopper, autobahn commuter, during the week, and workhorse for the weekend. It had all the factory options for towing installed by the factory at a total “extra” cost of an complete American pick-up. The out of pocket cost to repair this German vehicle were more than my brother just paid for his 2008 truck.

In Switzerland it is a different story. There you can have one set registrations and vehicle plates, and you use it on the right mode of transportation that suites your needs at that moment. You can have a small car for daily commute, a 4x4 for use on the snow covered mountain roads, and a truck for hauling duties.

I, on the other hand, have to make do with one vehicle, because of the separate cost involved. Because of this trucks are for the most part, non-existent in Germany.

This said, I don't have a truck right now, but really wished I did. The family in the States have 4. These are all work trucks, and the duties they preform, could never be done with anything else on the market. If they are not working, the trucks are parked, and they drive more economical vehicles.

I can't foresee this American icon ever disappearing from the landscape.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

I can't foresee this American icon ever disappearing from the landscape.

It's not going to dissapear, its just going to go through a major shift. These days a difference of 3-5MPG is a huge factor. As much as I would love a fullsize truck, going from 20ish MPG down to 15-17MPG just isnt going to happen. In fact I would love to find a similar truck setup to what I have now that gets another 3-5MPG.

 

[ne7800]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

What an accurate statement. You use a truck because you have to haul drywall or 2x4s, not because you need a carton of milk.

I here ya I pulled my camper home from camping 2 weeks ago and the truck never moved till yesterday when i (you guessed it) pulled the camper I never even unhooked it, My truck strictly works don't get me wrong it has all the buttons but i don't use it as a car

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Great time to buy tow vehicles!

I think the shift will be in the people who buy them because they are traditionally cheaper than a car, and are now crying that they use too much fuel. People who don't need a truck will shift back to vehicles that use less gas.

We use our trucks for what they are, work vehicles, and don't get me wrong it would be nice if they used 3 or 4 gallons less, but their capacity to pull and carry what they can now, can't be compromised. If it is compromised they become useless posers for us.

Either it can, or it can't. Either it has the muscle, or it doesn't.

A little truck or no truck at all would be fine for 90% of the people I know that have them. They really don't need one and almost never use it for what it was designed for. Same with those that have 4x4's. The biggest challenge most of these ever see is climbing speed bumps at mall parking lots.

The best selling vehicle of any type in America for decades, was and is, a Pick-Up. Do most of these people really need a truck? No.

Change the people, not the truck. There is not a design problem with a truck, there is problem with people choosing the wrong design for their real needs.