Posted on 08/26/2012 6:00:09 PM PDT by Chickensoup
OK FR Men! My Son Wants to Buy a GMC One Ton Diesel C3500 with 140K on it and New Brakes.
It is big. It is heavy. It goes vrooom vrooom. He wants it to upgrade with some friend's help. Near as I can figure out from the Net this thing must get about 10 miles to the gallon. It does not have the double wheels in the back. If that is the case it is 9.00 every time he drives to town. 2+K to insure and at least 4k annually to feed.
Price 3K. Edmunds says it is worth 2400. He has other transportaion, his school commuter car is Taurus that I chose after FreeperSummit on used cars.
The kid says he wants to mow lawns, we have other means and the reality is that he wants a toy. Vroom Vroom. He has worked all summer to save towards something special. I just didnt expect this would be it. He has no regular job, and is in school at a voc where many other kids have dads who own excavating companies or rigging companies and the kids drive a company truck.
What is a mom to do?
I’m just about to turn 200K with my 2005 K3500 Chev dually with a Duramax diesel and I get 18 mpg on the road. Mileage drops to about 12 mpg if I’m pulling a trailer with a car in it. $3K seems really cheap. I’d have it tech checked for injector problems, as those are an expensive repair. The year of manufacture makes a big difference.
It is not the sale price of the truck it’s ....how hard/expensive to fix? parts? etc. I would say NO way jose/joe. Look for a pick up truck that is manageable and put a voom voom muffler on it.
Have a serious talk to your son about how expensive it will be if repairs are needed for this type of vehicle. You may have already done this
Have it checked out by a mechanic, unless you’re acquainted with these types of trucks, it could save you, or at least prepare you, for a financial hit.
Who is paying for the insurance coverage?
If he’s earned the money himself, if he’s going to pay for things out of his own pocket, I’d reluctantly give the go ahead.
FWIW, I’d gone through this with 3 sons. They always think bigger than you’re prepared for!
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Thanks for the good words. I was thinking a Ranger, maybe a Tacoma.
I will have him check it out six ways at least.
I pay nothing. This is his baby.
Around here, lawn maintenance guys use a 1/2ton p.u. with a light trailer to haul riding mower & gear. A 1-ton is a BIG truck for that. Does he know what tires & brakes for that costs?
How much money has he saved?
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About 3500.
He’s a young man, as you say, revved up by the vroom-vroom and the idea of keeping up with his pals.
That’s way more truck than he needs, and likely at less of a price than is necessary for him to count on it being reliable.
With only 140K on the odometer it seems to me that someone is misrepresenting the actual mileage OR is trying to unload a truckload of troubles.
I think he’ll be writing repair checks all year long and will end up with a vehicle he can’t get much out of.
As the man says, it IS his money...but is there a relative or a fellow (or lady) at work or in church whom you and your son can turn to for a once-over and reliable evaluation?
Good luck!
But I have been a diesel mechanic for many years and yet I drive a gas engine, why? Because when the diesel breaks it will break your bank account.
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Thank you for your input.
What about the coming gas/fuel situation?
Also Diesels are not really the sort of shade tree
mechanic type of vehicles.
When you run out of fuel in one, it’s a real pain.
Sometimes you have to bleed the system and crack
some injector lines to get it to start, also
can be cold blooded in winter, make sure it has
a block heater.
Best to let a prof DIESEL mechanic check it out.
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He said his friend’s dad the diesel mechanic will help him out. My son is a putterer, not a mechanic.
Lad of 17, 15 year old truck. Truck kisser. Uh huh :-)
Well if he isn’t doing anything really weird (as in sexwise) with trucks ... maybe he ought to be allowed to learn if it’s his own dough at risk. Still, could it be the way he’s trying to get in touch with a manhood that he feels he lacks? (Don’t know what father issues he might have had.) Does he have (sane) uncles that he can talk about this with? Grandfathers?
I’m a big Nissan fan. I got 212K out of my last one and it was still trouble free, I only sold it because it was 2WD and putting chains on 15-20 times a year in the NM mountains has somehow lost it’s charm. I now have a 4WD Nissan with 90K and never a problem.
A fellow I work with is a physicist ($$$) and he still drives a 1985 Frontier with 380K on it. Why? Because it starts every time her turns the key. He can’t say that for his wife’s Range Rover.
Just make him pay for it, ALL of the expenses. The moment he can’t - get rid of it.
I guess there is no Dad at home?
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FR is my husband for technical issues. Right guys?
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His job right now is doing well in school--not looking good out on the boulevard.
If you, mom -- are the bearer of costs, (including INSURANCE!) and risks of ownership, maintenance.... etc...
Then you have the final say over the transaction.
You didnt mention his age.... but if he is under 22... the insurance rates will be... "interesting"
Most young men "know" what they want to drive-- but they do not know how to count the costs of owning/maintaining/insuring/ etc...
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"What's a mom to do?"
A few good answers:
(1) ... "not now"...
(2) Show me some grades....
(3) Make some money...
(4) Let him do a cost-analysis on all the items;
HINT:
Use a spreadsheet and compute it down to "cost-per-mile" basis--then ask him how many miles a week /month /year he thinks you can afford?
And agree to re-evaluate in 6 months or so...
Havw him buy a honda civic coupe, take of the rear door and put some sheet metal in theback so it looks like an el camino. now he has a honda pickup that gets 40 mpg
Try parenting. He needs to understand that this truck is going to become a money pit very quickly that will eat virtually every dime he makes. If you tell him that and show him what the REAL cost of ownership is, he might make a better decision....
A vehicle like this will quickly nickel and dime him to death plus the fluctuating price of gas (including diesel) make this a very expensive vehicle. Why else would the current owner want to sell it?
If you explain all of this and he is still determined to get this money pit, let him. But, when he brings it home, make sure he knows that the bank is closed. If his truck is broken or out of gas on a Friday or Saturday night, make sure he knows that he won’t be borrowing your car to go out on his date.
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I assure you I parent my children well. He has heard all this. He is in love. And I am trying to keep it as safe as I can.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest, "Ask Dad."
TWO things...#1 he has to get a regular job...#2 ask him to take a survey of how many other GMC trucks he sees the others driving....and remind him the other trucks are company tax write offs
He needs more than secondhand FR technical advice IF he has male identity/father issues. No don’t get frightened and call a shrink (yet), but any men in the family whom he respects? Or the pastor or priest of a church (or even rabbi of a synagogue)?
The diesel engine has a lot of promise, they have won races even. But of all the shade tree mechanics I know very few understand what makes a diesel run, the high compression, the detail needed for clean fuel, the need to use a different fuel in the winter and then there is the limited RPM range or torque curve.
Which is why so many mod a diesel to get over 500 horsepower out of it, so they can stomp on the throttle and peel rubber while making a god awful horrendous racket and a plume of smoke to rival a nuclear blast.
See I drive concrete mixers, I am the mechanic for them plus the owners personal diesel trucks, I have seen most if all on the road from two cycle Detroit’s to the ill conceived Oldsmobile diesel, and then the wonderful Mercedes diesels and agin to the VW diesels.
Cold weather is tough on a diesel, again I say because I live in Alaska.
My son seriously wants my tricked out dually, I told him how much per mile it costs and he shut up real quick.
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I have heard that term from him. I think he has watched thousands of truck porn vids on Youtube.
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