KARNUT

New Jersey, California, Ohio and Texas.

They even have Shelby F-150s, Lightning’s, E-mustangs. Texas baby, everything is better. I wised up and left the east coast 42 years ago.

My local Ford dealer has 75 Superdutys, my local Ram dealer had 15 heavy duty trucks discounted. So it’s more than 15K off of what you’re paying.

It’s bad for about 3 months. You do your yard work early then chill indoors. The other 7 months are pleasant mostly. Even if you get a cold snap it’s over in a couple of days. I’ve done both. I’ll take this.

We’ve finally gotten a couple of decent rains. Some green coming back. Still no mowing though. A little weed eating to level out the lawn. Probably some seeding in the spring. It will be interesting to see if any trees that turn brown recover. Temperature is still mid upper 90s low 70s at night.

I look all the time. I use my truck as personal local ride. Basically 6 days a week to one of three walking tracks around me. At the most 20 miles a day. I’m always looking for neat older trucks. This morning I’m checking out an older 2014 Express Ram. It’ll take a special ride to unseat the Avalanche. If I ain’t looking I’m probably 6 feet under.

In my neck of the woods the Ford dealership is full and dealing. I’m seeing 15K off and lower interest. The Ram dealership, Nissan and even Toyota are dealing. My Chevy and GMC dealership not so much. Especially the GMC dealership, nothing in the overflow lot. They only had one SLE truck. Plenty of AT4s and up. Maybe GMs playing games? They really like the over MSRP during the shortage?

Check out the Jetta GLI, it’s a bargain considering. And you can row your gears.

I looked online at the Nissan Sentra and Altima. The Sentra is just a little more than the Versa. My local dealer is selling cheaper than my local Hyundai dealer on competitive models. VW in my area is advertising good deals. The cheapest in my area is Nissan. As far as road noise with my Odyssey. Noise cancellation with earbuds. That will keep me from making a bad decision on a replacement trip vehicle. Wooo cowboy.

Not yet. I haven’t driven one. I’m waiting to see if Toyota gets into the game. I wouldn’t mind if GM got in the game too. And finally the maverick craze hasn’t subsided yet.

You need to check out the Houston Area. I’m seeing up to 15K off, no payments for 90 days. And under market interest. Ford and Ram lots are full. Nissan trucks going for 42K. Rams for 45K. I think my local GMC dealer is playing games. Plenty of lot space with just high end trucks. They’re also a Hyundai dealer with mainly loaded examples. They’re probably going to get burned with the competition selling more budget friendly examples. The budget deals right now are Nissans in my area. Better deals than even Hyundai. And even VW is dealing.

I’ve never had a problem with getting an answer for show me the deals for longest on the lot. After awhile they have to pay interest if they sit too long. They like to move them before 60 days. I’ve had family members that were car salesmen. Around here they’re advertising big discounts lots are filling up. Especially electric vehicles. Of course the strike could affect that. My local Hyundai dealership has 10 Santa Cruise little pickups. Of course they’re hard loaded. Taking advantage of mark ups when they were scarce. Same with my local Ford dealer several Mavericks now. Hard loaded and expensive. A keen eye and patience. A good deal can be had if they linger.

I’ve read recently that Texas adds 200 renewal fee for the yearly sticker. My average is 65$.

My wife’s Genesis rides better than my 14 GMC did. Or my 02 avalanche. GM has wind noise, road noise figured out.

I go to resale shops. Buy scratch and dent appliances. Buy used or CPO. And make my own coffee. We live on SS and have a rent house. I never made 6 figures. My kids will be more well off when I pass on. I do believe you and your graph. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

There’s better products out there. The problems are the customers. They continue to buy the cheapest product. Cheap products don’t last as long. It’s true in most cases.

Most of my trucks were longest on the lot. I got the best deals that way. They were glad to work with me on those. This was pre Covid.

I’m sure Newdude would know for sure with the latest emissions. There was a time when 3 gallons of gas with a full tank of diesel wouldn’t have done anything. I would have moved to the diesel pump and filled her up.

I consider sound proofing. You have to pull the seats. My local auto accessory shop quoted 1K to do it. I did spray the wheel wells with the CRV, layering undercoating. It helped.

The CRV was bad. The odyssey is worse. Bigger greenhouse. That’s why I never bought a Honda. The CRV was the mother in law’s. I traded for the odyssey with my daughter. I like them both until you hit certain roads. About 1/2 the trip are those noisy roads. I’m ordering earphones for the trip.

I had a 61 in 1976 as a work vehicle. 60 mph going downhill. We had a rainout. Loaded with 4 people we hit the highway for trip to Coney Island. I knew nothing about air cooled engines. They suggested drafting a tractor trailer to get more speed. After awhile two little lights came on. The guys in the back said just ignore that no problem. Then we started losing speed. Lock up happen then it broke loose and knocking. It made it back knocking at 45 MPH. I learned a good lesson. Those guys who worked for my father didn’t have my best interests in mind. I was the son of the man. Even though I worked alongside them every day. Lesson learned.

My situation is different. My wife has had her Genesis since 2011, it’s a great car. She says it’s her last. It’s definitely possible if it’s just used in town. I’m perfectly happy with my truck, I could stumble on another clean one and upgrade. She has a hard time getting in and out of it. At 22 years old I didn’t buy it for a trip vehicle. That’s why my budget stays low for a trip vehicle under 30K. Probably under 25K. If the wife would upgrade problem solved, ain’t happening. I also have a phobia of a trip vehicle over 150K miles or 3 years old. Unreasonable probably. That and the noisy Honda it’s a slow hatred for the vehicle. I got a trip coming in three weeks. It will be 2500 miles of dread. I just can’t help it. I feel so stupid. I can’t live this way. Where are my matches. I may be kidding, just a little.

On my 14 GMC with three cats and a resonator (a small glass pack) the muffler delete sounded like it had a performance muffler. After putting exhaust on every vehicle I owed since I was 17 (a lot) I finally grew tired of the noise. I even sold my hot rod truck. But after all I was 60. As far as hearing your cylinders shut down, I’m sure you will, it’s sound after all. People say there’s after market exhaust that masks that. I haven’t experienced that. Ultimately if you have an exhaust shop try it, you can always go back. I did.

I still managed to have a different one every two years. The last two are Hondas. The CRV was my mother in law who quit driving. After Two years I switched with my daughter who had the odyssey. I drive 12K miles a year retired spread between three vehicles. Two of our 4 vehicles are performance cars. I don’t need the trip vehicle to be one. I don’t do slow though. The odyssey isn’t bad in that regard plus gets good fuel mileage. The maverick is actually pretty quick. My problem with the Honda is road noise. The odyssey is worse than the CRV. I paid extra for quiet tires, not much help. I may do more research on sound deadening. I got some test driving to do. Getting into a new ride after selling the odyssey if it’s a mini truck, selling the avalanche. Wouldn’t take much additional cash. And it would be new.

I don’t see many people using trucks as trucks. I did for 40 years for work. I never used one as a family hauler. My wife got to drive the performance cars. I was so jealous. I did performance mods because they were so slow. Now because people made them mall crawlers the prices are ridiculous. An amusing day is watching women and kids trying to get in and out of trucks at the grocery store. Meanwhile at retirement my 6K avalanche has served me for 4years. I’m well off in retirement. I can’t spend 50K for truck that can’t hold a candle to a 35K car. Not just for cruising. I may hate the feel of the maverick, I haven’t driven one. But if I do it will replace two vehicles. My trip vehicle and my truck. So a fully loaded one comes in under 30K. That’s a bargain. Otherwise it’s a fully loaded car and my avalanche stays around. Way under a reasonable equipped hard to park, not so easy to get into truck. I drove trucks for 50 years, love driving them. Not really practical for most people. I’m not vain enough to spend 50K on a personal vehicle to drive 20 miles a day. My 6K avalanche fits the bill. The minivan fits the tip vehicle slot. The maverick can do both. The jury is still out.