When we were just married, Eric bought a truck outright from a private seller. It was a beauty. A Ford F-150 Lariat Supercab, white, with a hood scoop, rumble muffler and an amp that would make a 16-year-old boy jump for joy. Not to mention my husband. It had a cattle pusher on the front, oversize off-road tires and was obviously well taken care of. We lucked out, got it for a great price, and have driven it ever since.
But it was getting old. 174,000 miles, and rust was beginning to show. It was getting to the point where we needed to sell it to get anything out of it. The great thing with trucks is that they hold their value really well - especially American-made trucks. Some of the truck we saw while searching for his "new toy" were $15,000 and they had the same amount of miles on it. Unfortunately, that was not ours. Kelly Blue Book had Eric's truck priced at $6,000, in fair condition, which we would say it was more in good condition than anything. No dents, a little spot of rust here and there, and overall, a well-maintained truck. But like I said, it was time.
So we posted Eric's truck on Craigslist and waited. Had a few bites, but no one came to look at it. So we dropped the price from $5500 to $4500. We would have been happy with $4000. But again, no one took the bait.
As we waited for Eric's truck to sell, we researched trucks online. And looked at car dealerships. We took Sunday drives as a family to check out local dealers and dealerships. For two months, we searched for the "perfect" truck that would fit Eric's needs. Leather, so it was easy to maintain and upkeep when he was dusty from a day at the job site. Some, but not all, bells and whistles, so that it would hold it's value even more, for even longer. Four wheel drive, since he hauls a trailer. Supercrew cab, since we need to haul two kids in car seats. White to match his trailer, and easy to keep clean. Each one of those things drove up the price.
During our search, it was decided that we might not be able to put money down on a truck without overextending ourselves. We pay $1100 a month in daycare alone, with a $900 mortgage. We didn't want a $500 a month truck payment. So I went to the bank. Being debt-free has it's advantages, and we rang in at 2.3% interest, the lowest we could find.
So we searched some more. We finally decided on a truck and went to test drive it one day while our kids were at daycare and I was about to start school. It was good, and we liked it. Came with all the bells and whistles we were interested in, plus a DVD screen and two wireless headphones in the back. It was older, and had some miles on it, but like I said, trucks hold their value a lot longer than cars and SUV's, so we were ok with it.
But the experience was a pretty poor one. Negotiations were made in the lobby of the dealership. They were only going to take Eric's truck at $2500 and they refused to come down in price on the truck we were looking at. So Eric and I walked.
But we kept coming back to that truck. This past Sunday, we took another family outing to look at it again. For some reason it was unlocked, and we sat in the cab. I didn't like it. Something just didn't feel right.
Due to a long-time teacher in our district passing away, school was dismissed early on Monday. I didn't know the teacher, so I came home and Eric and I talked about our truck options. For two months, it seemed like that's what we've been doing. We were getting tired and starting to talk in circles. So we took one last look at autotrader.com, and saw a truck that was newly listed at a dealership 40 miles away. There was only one picture shown, but it was white, supercrew cab, Lariat, leather interior, and exactly what we had been looking for. It was slightly more expensive, but it was worth a look.
So we drove to the dealership, only to find that the truck was out being detailed. Luckily, Pam, our salesperson, was incredibly kind and offered to drive us to the detailer, which was only a short drive, to take a look at the truck. When we pulled up, we were interested. Very interested. It was obviously a well-maintained truck and we were anxious to get a look inside. The same there too - very well maintained.
Pam allowed us to take it for a test drive, and that was it. Eric and I were sold. But we were worried what they would allow for trade-in. In those two months of no bites, we had started to reluctantly accept that no one wants to buy a 15 year old truck. Even with a clean title, and it being well maintained, the person that bought it would be a needle in a haystack and with winter coming, we knew it was only a matter of time where something happened with the truck, and we would be putting more money in than what it was worth.
Long story short, they came back with $3000 on the trade-in. Aggressively, I came back with $4000. She came back with $3500. I told her $4000 and the truck was sold. And sold it was.
So with our down payment and trade-in, we didn't have to take out a huge loan. It's a doable loan, with four years of payments on it. But, we took out a loan with a payment knowing that I can, and will, pay ahead on it, so hopefully it's done in three. Eric is happy as a lark, and just said to me, "I think I'm going to sleep outside in my new truck..."
It's a nice looking truck, with a few minor dings, scratches, and chips that come with buying a used vehicle. But it's nice, and we love it.
Debt-free works sometimes, and sometimes, it doesn't. For us, it wasn't feasible to pay cash for a truck. Like Eric has said several times, he can't be pulling up to half-million dollar houses in a rust-bucket. The truck he has now is modest, but looks good. He can be proud when he pulls up to his client's houses in it.
Although our goal has been to maintain our debt-free status, it's also a goal of ours not to get into a situation where we are forking out money left and right to maintain a vehicle that isn't worth it. We were on the cusp of that, and we didn't want to risk it. So we're happy, and even though Dave Ramsey would be disappointed, we did what was right for us, and right for Eric's business. We deliberated a long time, talked abut it for a long time, and made the best decision for us. And that's all that matters. :)
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