By now many readers will be picking up a pattern of my car purchases: new car catches my eye, new car negotiation ensues, old car is traded in (probably at a loss), new car is fun for a while, something else catches my eye, rinse and repeat. This week’s installment is no different, although the resulting purchase stayed with me for a good while.
Even though I grew up in Ohio in an area that still had a rural character, my family was never pickup truck material. The only experience I had as a kid with pickups was when my dad asked a co-worker to do some repairs on our beat-up Delta 88 coupe that were somewhat extensive. The co-worker lent my dad his ’72 Chevrolet C-20 regular cab pickup so we could have a vehicle (the 88 was our only car). Four of us crammed across the vinyl bench seat, no air conditioning or FM radio – our 88 wasn’t exactly a Mercedes, but this seemed like a major step backward. (The fact that the co-worker had put a “bald is beautiful” bumper sticker on the truck that my dad didn’t notice until he’d been driving the truck for awhile was especially amusing.) Pickup trucks were great for work, and I didn’t see a need for one for myself (and the Ford Ranger test drive I mentioned several weeks ago reinforced this).
Then I had the opportunity to ride in a friend’s 1999 Chevrolet Silverado extended cab truck and was amazed by the experience. (Well, amazed may be a strong word, but you get the idea.) Roomy comfortable cab (even in the back seat), all the amenities of a car plus the capability of hauling stuff, and ride and handling that wasn’t punishing or scary. As we were beginning to do a lot of home renovations on our 1960’s ranch house and having to haul a lot of bulky stuff home from the local hardware store, a truck could be handy. Maybe I could be truck material after all – but not this truck, as it was way too big for my garage.
That probably would have been it for my truck thoughts but for one thing: around the time of my Silverado drive, Toyota announced it would be replacing the T100 pickup with the Tundra, a truck that was in between the compact pickups like the Tacoma and Ranger but not as large as the Silverado or F-150. A brochure was acquired and some quick garage measurements confirmed that a Tundra would fit in the garage (mostly, as we will see later).
This was around the same time that a no-haggle superstore that the CC readership has discussed at some length in previous COAL entries purchased one of the local Toyota dealerships, and it happened to be the next closest one to me (the closest one was the one where my Camry was purchased, and there was no way I was going back there). As I had been pretty happy with the used car buying experience from that store with the Accord, I felt pretty confident about going with them for a new Toyota.
Of course, there were some difficulties with this purchase, as there were with many others I have done. I was buying the Tundra very soon after its U.S. introduction, so the trucks were in short supply. I definitely wanted the “access cab” version, and the mid-range SR5 trim was in my price range. The V-8 engine, CD player (still optional at that time), and the convenience package (power windows, locks, and mirrors and a few other items) were also must-haves. Where I ran into trouble was in wanting a 2wd pickup – in our area of Maryland, we don’t get that much snow so I felt that 4wd was just an added expense. That limited my options for in-stock pickups to exactly one within 150 miles of my dealer. However, that pickup had a lot of extra options like fog lights (could take them or leave them), running boards (expensive but could be worth it), bed liner and bed cover (handy items to have), and a trailer hitch (not useful to me).
The problem with all these extra accessories was in the way Toyota calculated lease residuals at the time. High residuals are good because they make for lower lease payments. Toyota boasted about the high residuals for their vehicles but failed to mention that these residual percentages were applied only to the base price of the vehicle for their lease calculations. So the residual value for the Tundra was something like 70% or so, but that was only on the base price of the truck. Some options on the truck I was considering, like the CD player and the V-8 engine, were simply added on to the residual as fixed prices (and were more like 40-50% residual for these options). Virtually all of the accessories, like the running boards, bed liner, and trailer hitch, added nothing to the residual. So, in this case there was at least $2000-$3000 in options that I had to pay for completely within the 36-month lease. As a result, the lease payment was significantly higher than I had expected. However, by now I’d talked myself into really wanting this truck, so I was stuck with the higher payment. (I did consider telling the dealer that I’d be keeping all the accessories when the lease was up as they belonged to me, but that wasn’t necessary).
As I noted, our garage was not huge even though the house had been built at a time when 1960’s American cars were 17+ feet long. When I brought the Tundra home I found out that the width numbers in the brochure were the width of the truck body itself, not the mirrors. Luckily, there was just enough extra width in the doorway to fit the truck through without folding the mirrors…barely. The truck was long enough that I couldn’t open the manual garage door from the inside because I couldn’t stand behind the truck and get at the center-mounted door handle. I had to mount a second handle toward the side of the garage door to get the door open temporarily while I had automatic door openers installed. You can see how tight things were in these photos below.
The truck didn’t disappoint as a daily driver. The 245-hp V-8 engine enabled 0-60 times of less than 8 seconds, according to the brochure, and the seat-of-the-pants meters confirmed that this truck was one of the faster vehicles I had owned (the 0-60 times of the Thunderbird SC weren’t a lot faster, as I recall). As one might expect, this came at a cost of fuel economy that I hadn’t seen since my Monte Carlo days – 15 mpg was the best I could do around town. The ride was good and the truck was only really disturbed by bumps that went across the whole road as they made the solid rear axle hop a bit. The interior was as well-appointed and comfortable as our Camry, with supportive front seats and a full complement of gauges. The access cab doors were plenty wide for getting into the front and back seats, although since the cab was a bit smaller than the Silverado the rear seats weren’t quite as roomy or comfortable (but they did fold up to reveal hidden storage bins for tiedowns and other small items).
I did have a bit of trouble with those doors, however. The front door opened normally and the rear access cab door opened suicide-style, so the front door actually latched onto the rear door as there was no pillar to obstruct access. This was all fine unless the rear door wasn’t quite latched, as sometimes happened. The door would seem to latch but if something leaned against the door or a sharp curve pushed the door out, the doors would both open just enough to trigger an open door warning. Since Toyota had an interlock with the ignition switch to prevent locking the doors from the inside with the key in the ignition once a door was opened, the doors would then unlock and be impossible to lock again while you were driving. I had several instances on trips where something in the back seat would shift and push on the door and cause this problem. I just had to get used to packing the truck so that nothing leaned against the door.
The truck was great for hauling stuff, too, with an on-paper payload (people and cargo) of almost a ton. It hauled home many bulky items like interior doors, bathroom vanities, baseboards, a $75 upright piano (getting that out of the truck was the biggest problem), and even a rocking chair (sourced from an Amish furniture store in Ohio). I did get caught one time being overly optimistic about the truck’s capabilities as we were buying some landscaping wall stones. We were in the big-box home improvement store putting stones on a cart individually when an employee asked how many stones I needed (a bunch) and if I had a truck (yes, I did). He said he could just use a forklift to put a partial pallet of the stones I needed on the truck, and that sounded like a good idea to me. A good idea until he lowered the pallet into the bed and the truck went immediately to the bump stops and stayed there. Whoops, I guess I didn’t do the weight math correctly. Luckily, the store was close to home so I could get home quickly and get several friends to unload the truck.
I really liked having this truck, despite the considerable appetite for fuel, and kept it through the full 3-year lease. I wasn’t the only one to like it – when it was coming up to the end of its lease my dad asked me to sell it to him instead of turning it in. He was really happy with it as well. I only wish I’d have been as happy with what replaced the Tundra, though…
Great story! Nothing beats having a pickup when you need one.
Interesting read.
Like you, a truck never was a consideration for my daily driver. But after retiring from a career of mostly sitting in front of a computer, I wanted to live a more “physical” existence. My long term mechanic recommended a Toyota (and this was impressive to me as he drove a Ram), so I purchased a new 2013 18.5 foot long Tacoma double cab long bed (without the TRD rough and ready package).
Like your Tundra, it is probably the fastest vehicle I have ever owned. And like yours, it can be easily over loaded when one is carrying dense stuff (in my case logs from a fallen oak tree). A pine tree that Debbie ordered from a local nursery had a very large root ball and was loaded using a fork life. It did not overload the truck, but getting it off the truck and into the hole I dug was quite an experience in effort vs. weight, but wasn’t that I was looking for?
The big green Tacoma is 4 years old now and is still very inviting to climb into after driving the Miata. I always need to remember to take corners in a more gentlemanly manner that its tall tires and 4220 pound weight (empty) suggests.
I have used the truck to help most of my neighbors, friends, church rummage sale volunteers, and one ex-wife, carry their stuff from one place to the other. And back again.
I enjoy it. Because one thing important to me in retirement is to stay useful, and involved, and physically active. A pick up truck can help one do that.
And despite its large size (to me), it is still smaller than a normal F150.
Sounds like your father got a good deal on that Tundra.
You nailed the appeal of pickups in your third paragraph. Comfortable and highly capable, all while providing a nice ride, all rolled into one.
While the Tundra of this generation is a bit too dainty for my purposes, its appeal rings out loud and clear.
There really seems to be an inverse relation between garage sizes and time period in which the house was built. My current house was built in 1988 and can easily accommodate both my F-150 and my Galaxie at the same time, but it does get a smidgeon narrow due to some shelving that was built before I bought it. My last house was built in 1977 and could swallow both the Galaxie and the Ford E-150 but it wasn’t as deep as it could be and I had to watch for the door. The prior house was built in 1967 and it was vertically challenged, so even a first generation Chrysler minivan would have required being on the lookout. All had a single, 14′ wide door. I’m envious of your double doors!
We once owned a house built in 1954 with a one car garage. This is when we owned a long succession of GM b bodies. My 1988 Caprice wagon took up the whole space but fit comfortably.
My later B cars (91 and 95 Caprice sedans and 93 Roadmaster) barely made it. There was less than inch of clearance between the rear bumper and the garage door. Also, it was just barely wide enough to fit; my wife scraped the mirrors a few times backing out.
My parent’s house built in 1988 also with a one car garage could not fit my 1978 Caprice sedan. The car could fit in the garage but the garage door could not clear the rear bumper.
My mom’s G body Buick Regal fit just fine. I wonder if the house designers figured that the b bodies would be extinct and replaced by the G bodies as full size cars.
“I wonder if the house designers figured that the b bodies would be extinct ”
Or else it was just cheaper to skimp on garage dimensions. 🙂
My prior house had a garage that probably dated to the 1930s or 40s. It was huge for the time, a full 2 1/2 car width with a single overhead door. The problem was depth and someone had built a doghouse extension out the back to accommodate one car. Both my 66 Fury III and my 64 Imperial had to be backed in because the fixed hood ornaments were too tall to go under the extension. That Imperial was a tight fit in that in order to close the door the back bumper had to come to rest touching one of the wooden studs at the back.
My parents lived in a condo that was built in 1973. They paid extra for one of four enclosed garages that were built into the building. Their 1977 Grand Marquis had to be parked inside very carefully with both bumper guards touching the back wall to prevent the electric garage door from snagging the rear bumper. Dad and I spent a whole day remounting the rear bumper so that it was more flush with the bodywork. The results looked surprisingly good but Ford didn’t make it easy to mess around with the impact bumpers. My parent’s friends and fellow condo/garage owners bought a new ’74 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Talisman – very pricey. That car wouldn’t fit inside their garage without leaving the door open, and it had to sit outside in the parking lot exposed to the elements. The next year it got traded in for a Seville.
The styling resembles the 97-03 F-150, but toned down a bit. I personally like the restrained styling over the mini-Kenworth styling that modern trucks have today. I think the giant chrome plated plastic grilles look tacky.
It is interesting to me that in a country that has been making pick ups for almost a century Toyota Pickups are so popular.is it because Domestic Trucks are not as well made?
I like Toyota trucks, but they are far from popular when compared to the US trucks sales. Just look up the sales numbers for pickups. The Tundra has a decent following but the percentage of customers who will even consider a non-US brand truck is relatively small. The Tacoma has dominated the compact market segment, but mostly because of the lack of competition. It does seem that truck buyers are more willing to think of the Tacoma as an “acceptable” truck versus the Tundra. It’s as if a lot of people are okay with Japanese branded trucks as long as they aren’t fullsize. Pickup buyers seem to be some of the most brand loyal and conservative buyers.
Further, Toyota is notorious for letting their products stagnate in terms of development. While the Tacoma was a segment leader in 2005 when it came out, and the Tundra in 2007,when it was new from the ground-up, Toyota has made minimal efforts to keep up with the US competition. It seems though most buyers who do end up in Toyota trucks do more so because they value the quality and reliability of their vehicles over the latest and greatest features.
Domestic trucks are well made and probably some of their better vehicles overall in terms of reliability and long term durability. That said, reputable long term reliability studies consistently show the Toyota trucks as the leader for reliability.
Agreed on reliability. Toyota may not be first with pickup truck innovations (step in tailgate; tool storage in the fender), and maybe not nearly as handsome as the domestics, but I’ll take the Toyota reliability any day….
In the grand scheme of truck make up in the USA, Toyota and Nissan trucks really don’t have a high presence when you look at truck sales year by year. It is true Toyota owns the midsize truck market but the domestic makers pushed a lot of folks that were in the market for a midsize truck to a full size truck with enticing monthly payments and the “look for a little more you get all this” line
If a full size F150 that is decently equipped is only $2000 more then a top of the line midsize or compact pick up truck a lot of folks will pay the $2000 or so
Even then, if you stopped and spent a few hours looking at cars and trucks that drove by, you would probably see 4 or 5 F150s, 3 or 4 of the GM trucks and a few Dodge Rams before you saw a Toyota Tacoma, Tundra or Nissan Frontier or Titan drive by. (heck you must likely will see more Ford Rangers(last made in 2011) drive by.
As you can see by this website breaking out the various Pickup trucks
http://www.tfltruck.com/2017/01/year-wrap-up-who-sells-more-2016-pickup-truck-sales-report-usa/
That Toyota sold a whopping 115,489 Tundra trucks in 2016. By contrast Ford sold 820,799 F Series trucks
While the Tacoma is still midsize truck sales leader, The Colorado is not that far behind and posted a good sales increase.
However if you look at the total number of Toyota trucks sold in 2016, Toyota is still a distant 4th place.
I really don’t think that the domestic truck makers really need to worry about Toyota much truckwise. Reliability is a big concern for buyers but a for a lot of truck buyers, history is a big seller also. Plus you can go to west nowheresville USA and still be able to find a part for an F150 or a Chevy truck. On top of that the domestic trucks are very reliable and have always been reliable, look at how many 1960’s trucks are still doing work duty.
Garage depth has always been a sticking point for me.
Even though it was a 1974 “upscale” home (for that time period), built when some of the longest American cars were in vogue, the garage was just barely adequate.
With my gorgeous “boat tail” ’71 Riviera Gran Sport parked in the right hand side of the double car garage (it was SO pretty both of my Parents suggested that it use the garage!), I had to position it with the front bumper touching the front of Mom’s washer & dryer and the trailer hitch resting one inch from the garage door.
Poor Mom had to lean over the side of the washer to add clothes in.
I have enjoyed your COAL’s so far, just haven’t always had the time to comment. Like others, I too have come to appreciate the modern pickup that is a good compromise between a family vehicles and true work vehicle. Even though people knock these Tundra’s as less than fullsize, they really aren’t that far off of a GMT-400 pickup in dimensions. I suppose the cab space was a bit smaller, But for me the biggest difference was that these trucks seating position was significantly lower than the US trucks. The current Tacoma also suffers from this low seating too.
I actually looked seriously at this generation of Tundra the last time I was pickup shopping. Despite their “slightly” smaller size, their capability was pretty on par with the American counterparts of the era in terms of payload and towing. There were a few things that ultimately decided against one. The rear seat on the access cab was a bit on the small size for child seats, which was a requirement. I wanted to avoid crew cab trucks due to their smaller beds or excessive length (with a 6.5’ bed). The bed on these Tundra’s are a little shallow and I didn’t like that the 4.7L V8 had a timing belt (I’d have it long enough to need to change). I ended up spending the extra to buy a second generation 5.7L Tundra, which resolved all of my concerns. We’ve had a few modern Toyota’s trucks in our family, Tacoma’s and Tundras, and all have been great vehicles.
After owning several trucks over the past 30+ years I am now truckless. The ridiculous price of buying new or used has caused me to read examine what I need in a vehicle. The one thing that I don’t need most of all is the weight of a killer payment around my neck. Between a roof rack on the car and a tow behind trailer, I think I’ll be good. Lumber yards all deliver, and so do furniture and appliance stores. The guy down the road has a 15 yard dumptruck for hire should the need arise. It might not be macho but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper.
I’ve been waiting for a COAL on these, and yours is much appreciated.
A friend’s father had one I rode in a couple times and I remember it being nice compared to my parents F150 on lease at the time. The packaging didn’t appeal to me as much then but does now. I think these, like the Dakota I should have bought in 2006, are perfectly sized for everything I do except round hay bales and the trailer, and I’m glad you enjoyed it and found it useful.
Only owned one Pickup in my life. Thought I have many times considered it again. This was in 1977, as I and friends were engaged in maintaining a 300 acre Ozark farm. it was determined more trucks in our vehicle mix would be best. And as the Audi Fox I owned was not up to the task I decided to use the diminutive Audi as my City/date vehicle and set out to purchase a truck. A local Chevy dealer, Weber Chevrolet in Creve Coeur, Mo. a suburb of St. Louis, had exactly what I needed. A comfortably outfitted but fairly plain looking Chevy C10. Made many trips to the farm loaded with all manner of accoutrement and joined other trucks owned by friends in many adventures. Several of these vehicles were by todays measurements tiny Toyota and Datsun (Nissan) vehicles. They were fun and did their duty without issue. Though tings like a single wall bed and a tendency to rust quickly were a disadvantage. My Shivverlay was only a 2wd half ton. but it forded the Cortuois creek with aplomb and went nearly everywhere others 4wd trucks went. ( I wasn’t an idiot and knew the limits. Never got stuck) A decent ruck, and dependable. Personally, I hold that todays trucks are just too big, too tall, Unnecessary bulk. I would welcome a return to the size of the 70s.
My house was built in 1975, but only has a single car garage. Which for me is a good tradeoff as it allows RV parking into the backyard, I have a ’89 Layton 35ft 5th wheel back there which makes a great office/escape and guest room.
My 2004 Titan King Cab will just fit in the garage, but requires folding in the mirrors and blocking the door which leads into the house and puts the bumper right up to the washer and drier, so not really practical to squeeze it in, so the ’86 Jetta resides inside instead.
Really is a world of difference in comfort between the old ’70 C10 and this truck. The Chevy was a base model as is the Titan, but has AC, PS, auto trans, 6 speaker CD, cruise, tilt, tach, ABS, ABLS, carpet and headliner, 4 wheel disc brakes compared to the Chevy’s 3 on tree, manual steering and drum brakes, no radio equipped base model. Do still have manual windows, locks, mirrors and 2WD.
The Chevy cost $2750 in 1970, I paid $18,000 in 2004 for the Nissan, $13,475 is what the C10’s price translated into 2004 dollars so I did pay for the extra equipment.
Trucks really have come a long way in comfort and standard equipment, good for both work and play in total comfort. If only it wasn’t so damn high up!
My only experience in owning a pickup is one of the “old testament” variety (a beam axle 63 Ford F-100), which was before they became pleasant as daily drivers. I am beginning to understand the allure of the modern pickup but have had a hard time seeing their superiority over the vans and minivans that have been much more common in my life.
My 94 Ford Club Wagon was more-or-less an F-150 that would seat 7 very comfortably and would haul a whole lot of stuff with the seats out. Its only limitation was on really tall cargo like a refrigerator or a tree, but I figured that my van gave me 96% of the pickup’s utility where the pickup would provide maybe 40% of that of the van. However, the market has spoken and pronounced me as the crackpot, because the pickup truck rules today.
I would have loved to see you test your leasing theory. Turning the truck in after you have removed all of those accessories that Toyota refused to lease to you would have been fun to watch.
Oh yes, the garage. My house was built in 1958 so it is understandable that it might have been a little smaller than some others. Fortunately I have one single wide door rather than the two individual doors, so wide cars have been easy to accommodate by aiming to the center to clear a mirror then skewing back towards the side.
At one time I regularly parked the big Club Wagon and a 68 Newport in the garage at the same time. Length was tight on the Chrysler and I handled the width by parking the drivers side of the van very close to the wall. We entered and exited the van airplane style through the side door for the second row. Mrs. JPC would not move a car in or out if the other car was in the garage. That became my job.
Garage? Never once had a car on our two-car garage here. Too much stuff. And I wouldn’t want to deprive our cars of our healing rains here; they might start rusting. 🙂
JP you raise a good question about van vs pick-up. It is one that I have debated in the past too. I think often times it boils down to how you use the vehicle. I haven’t owned a fullsize van, but I did have a Suburban for a while, which I bought solely as a pickup substitute. I bought it over a pickup because it was far cheaper on the used market and was a well-cared for machine. The Suburban could carry 8 people, and had the ability to carry 8 foot lumber enclosed, or swallow 4×8 sheets of building material. I even could carry 16 foot lumber tied to the roof rack. But in the end, I still found the Suburban limiting for my needs. I think I used the rear seat once in the time I owned it. I often had to put a tarp in the back to protect the cargo area from dirty cargo (greasy car parts, garabage, firewood, etc). And of course the lack of an open box limited me on tall cargo.
While a van would have a little larger cargo area (plus somewhat taller), the limited driver space, and the lack of easy engine access are two draw backs for me. Plus, 4WD is not an option, and while not absolutely necessary, it makes living in my rural location much easier. I have a couple friends who swear by vans, but their needs are different than mine. In the end a pick-up is a compromise, but it’s the best compromise for my needs. It also helps that it is our secondary vehicle, while we have a more fuel efficient smaller car for primary family duties.
I am from the same frame frame of mind as you about van ownership. I have never owned a pick up but have had always had at least one van in the fleet. Starting with some old 1970’s vw vans moving on to an 86 Vanagon and presently driving a 96 Toyota Previa. If the need arises for a pick up I can usually trade a buddy some beer for the use of his truck. I found the worst thing to haul in the van is gravel but last year I ended up putting one of the kids old kiddie pools ( hard plastic style) in the back and it worked great. I can’t believe it took me so long to figure that out. The one advantage these days as everyone has moved on to pick up trucks is that minivans are dirt cheap on the used market. At least where I live on the west coast of Canada.
Yet another good COAL
” Where I ran into trouble was in wanting a 2wd pickup – in our area of Maryland, we don’t get that much snow so I felt that 4wd was just an added expense. ” I live in the same part of Maryland as you and while it is true we don’t a lot of snow most of the time, the amount we get is annoying enough.
I don’t really see many of the first gen Tundra around anymore. Unlike the Toyota Tacoma which seems to own the midsize truck segment, the Tundra seems to be a perpetual also ran in the fullsize truck segment. I wonder if it drives Toyota nuts that unlike their other products, they have never even made a dent in the full size truck segment. American full size trucks have the history, reliability and high resale value to keep buyers coming back for another rather then go to Toyota for a truck.
Keep up the COALs
The concept of a truck not being a daily driver is so foreign to me. I have never owned a car….only pickups and four wheel drive SUVs…..I simply cannot imagine trying to live and function on a daily basis in a car.
The First generation Tundra is a fantastic little pickup. I had one, and loved it….except that it was the first two wheel drive truck I had owned in a decade, and it reminded me why I will never own another.
Our first house was a small ranch in Kirkwood, MO. The house had a small, one car attached garage. Access to the basement was in the back of the garage, so car length was limited. Our 1970 Malibu coupe fit fine. When trading time came in January of 1974, I had my heart set on a new 1974 Impala wagon. On the test drive I asked the salesman if we could take the wagon home for a “trial fit”. When it was discovered the wagon was too long, the salesman sggested (1) leave the car outside in the drive or (2) leave the overhead door up. Neither were options for me so I relunctantly passed on the wagon of my dreams.
We ended up purchasing a new left over 1973 Gran Torino with all the toys at a bargain basement price (oil embargo still being felt). It fit, although the length still made for a tight squeeze to the basement. In July of 1975 we moved back to northeast Ohio and purchased a home built in 1941. The single car attached garage was VERY narrow and short. Plus the entrance was on an angle to the drive.
I never felt comfortable having my wife pull the Gran Torino wagon into or out of the garage, so I always did it. Because of the Torino’s length, it only fit one way-carefully place the front bumper guards of the newly introduced 5 moh front bumper between the back wall studs. The bumper itself gently rested against the wall studs. Out back I had about 4″ of clearance between the closed door and the rear bumper. It was a stretch but I could just reach the latch to unlock the overhead door.
As much as I loved the wagon (I’ve had many since then) my next car was a sensible, smaller, more economical, better looking new 1977 Buick Skylark 4 door sedan. It fit the garage much better.
After the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (and the shoddily built and poorly maintained federal levies) flooded much (but not all) of New Orleans; my First Responder friend was determined to buy a four wheel drive truck. He wanted to always be able to report to work on time.
Three months ago, after finally admitting that 4 wheel drive was not hardly ever needed here in #NOLA, he purchased a two wheel drive truck.
I have owned 4 pickups, 70 f100 2wd long bed, 84 Dodge sb 4wd with slant 6, 92 Dakota with shell, and 2003 Nissan crew cab lb. Each was better than the last. The Nissan was leased and replaced with mini van. I always worried about stuff flying out of bed in open bed truck. Not with the mini van. Plus could use for vacation. My step dad has a96 t100 that he owns and uses. He also keeps it just because he’s a great guy. He lets all his friends use it when they need to.
The t100 is a very basic truck. Only marginally nicer than the f100 I owned-it has carpet and cloth seats. Mileage is horrible. Turning radius is huge. But it only has 71k on it. So that’s cool. I used to want it, but settle for borrowing at this point and asked that I get a shot to buy if he decides to sell.
At this point my 2007 Ford Edge is serving most of my truckish needs. And I have my own key to the t100. Just have to text to make sure it’s home. Can use anytime. Without the expense of owning
I have driven many different truck since getting my DL but I have only owned 3, and still drive 2 of them. My 1st was a 4WD V6 Xtra cab T100, my 2nd is a 4WD V8 regular cab Tundra and my 3rd is a 2WD V8 regular cab Tundra. All 3 are SR5 trucks, and I am still driving the Tundra trucks. I like these trucks so much that I no longer enjoy driving cars.