Finally made up my mind. I'm getting a truck.

"MooseKnuckles" (andyschenk) 10/12/2013 at 12:36 • Filed to: WTB Truck

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But where the hell are they?

All summer, actually even as far back as March 2012 when I bought my current car, I've been back and forth between a truck, GTO/Firebird, or sticking it out with my 07 MazdaS6 hatch. I don't like my car, I bought it under pressure from the insurance company to give up my rental car after my 2006 CTS got written off. That car, the CTS, I loved. The Mazzy was never in a place to be liked because of that. Almost two years later it has done nothing to woo me over. I pay $3000 a year for insurance on it, pretty typical for Ontario. A truck would drop me down to $2200ish. That $800 saved is 8 tanks of gas in my eyes.

Me thinking out loud, *don't pay attention*: I spend $250 on gas a month in the Mazda=$3000 a year + insurance = $6000. Truck I figure an additional ~35% on on gas=$4000+insurance=$6200. Hey, not bad!

The GTO? Good luck, last I looked there are 2 for sale within 200km of me and neither appealing (one is yellow and the other way out of price range).
The Firebird? Ehhh, I don't know if I could drive a gen4 daily.

So a truck. Something I've always wanted but couldn't justify while in school (MPG mostly). 60% of my driving my work now pays me mileage for. And now that I'm done school (i.e. actually have a life again) I'm getting back into hunting and fishing and just got a steal on a 19ft Bayliner (which i need to borrow my brother's truck to tow anywhere). I will also likely be buying a quad again in the spring. A truck has become practical for me.

I'm looking for a first gen Sierra (or Silverado), so 1999-2007 body style. But damn is it hard to find something. Criteria: 4x4, reg or ext cab, in short or standard box. And prefer the 5.3 but 4.8 is ok. Also wanting to stay under 170,000km.
I've had my Mazda listed a couple days @ $11,000 and have had more interest than I intended (sweet!). I would like to stay close to that when buying a truck, all said and done with 13% taxes, $15,000 is my mark.

I kind of figured there would be a good amount to choose from, but even just weeding out the mass of rwd trucks doesn't leave much left.

It's like when I was shopping for my CTS, everything was the damn 2.8L, a 3.6 worth looking at was few and far between. Where are the people buying 4x4 trucks!? More importantly where are those people wanting to sell them 10 years later!? I was hoping to have a purchase made by the end of the month, but damn this is going to be a process.

Not sure how to turn this into a worth while Oppo... Has anybody else be semi-stonewalled when wanting to buy a seemingly common vehicle?

Your boy, BJR > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 12:46

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YES. Fuckin' 2nd gen Tauruses. I had one for a winter beater a year ago, base, 3.0 vulcan, green velour bench seats. Some jackass who was texting plowed into me at 50 mph while I was sitting at a stop light, destroyed the car. I was looking for another, and the VERY few that I could find had the 3.8 boat anchor. And I remember tripping over these things like 5 years ago. now they're nowhere.

desertdog5051 > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 12:46

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Is it possible to cross the border and buy one and take it back? A lot cheaper but in MPH instead of KPH.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 12:57

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I'm a truck owner from BC and I can't stress enough how much 4x4 and at least an extended cab would help out. My daily driver is a 2003 Sonoma and I had a hell of a time finding one in 4x4. Finally did and it had the third door which was a huge plus too. When it comes to vehicles never settle for anything but the one you want, you will be stuck with it for a few years anyway.

PatBateman > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 13:00

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I would advise you to go down to the southern states to buy a truck (less cold weather + no salt used = little to no risk of rust), but the plane ticket would hurt. Not sure how much a hauler would charge you to ship it north, either.

Look in the bordering US states. A dashboard swap to get KPH on the speedometer wouldn't be too expensive,

lonestranger > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 13:04

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In '06, I had to retire my '92 Ranger. I wanted to replace it with another compact truck, just something newer with lower kilometres. I also wanted something different from a Ranger, so them and Mazda B-Series were out.

That left Tacoma, Frontier, S10/Sonoma, Colorado/Canyon, and Dakota. In Calgary, in my price range, what few Tacomas I could find weren't much newer or lower km than my previous truck. Froniers were all ridden hard and put away wet. S10/Sonomas were getting old. Found a matching pair of Colorado extended cabs, but they had a centre console and no rear seats, and I needed a third seat. Dakotas were meh.

You know what was plentiful and therefore relatively cheap with low km? '99+ Silverados and Sierras. '97-'03 F-150s, too, but I've never liked them. So, that's why I picked up way more truck than I need - 2004 Sierra SL 2WD 4.8L auto.

Firewrx234 > MooseKnuckles 10/12/2013 at 13:10

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They seem pretty common place down here in the states. I'm going to second the question of whether it's feasible to grab one from south of the border.

lonestranger > desertdog5051 10/12/2013 at 13:16

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Yes, it's not only possible, but quite common . Vehicles imported to Canada from the U.S. will have to be inspected, and may need some minor modifications (DRLs, metric speedo if the current one is MPH-only), but it can often be worth the hassle as it's still cheaper overall. My dad got both his truck and motorhome from Washington state.

desertdog5051 > lonestranger 10/12/2013 at 13:35

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A friend of mine bought a motorcycle in Washington state and took it to Alberta. Saved a lot of money doing it that way.

MooseKnuckles > desertdog5051 10/13/2013 at 12:47

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hmm I'll definitely look into that! I didn't think it would be cost/time effective for such a relatively low priced vehicle.