What to do.. vehicle upgrade

[Bolt action]

I didn't want to hijack the F-150 thread with this...

I currently have a 2008 Traiblazer (V6, 2WD). This suits me, albeit a little older, most of the time. I just broke 100k this year. I've put roughly $1k into it each year for maintenance items above and beyond wear and tear. Outstanding loan is about $4,500. Prior to this I had a Highlander. I thought that would go 200k miles, but the driveshaft had other ideas and broke at 100k. When that happened, I needed a car quick, and the Trailblazer was it. In a normal year I put on about 15k miles, so leasing probably won't work.

95% of my driving is around town: running errands, taking the kid to practice, etc. Even for hunting I just use a hitch mounted basket. The catch is that I have a camper that weighs about 2,800 pounds. The Trailblazer can pull it ok, but not great. The V6 struggles to get up to speed on the Thruway and on long inclines despite having a tow rating around 5,000. Also I'd prefer 4WD for a variety of reasons. 

So here's my dilemma. An AWD 4 or 6 cyl SUV or even hatchback would suit my driving needs the vast majority of the time. I only really need a truck 4 or 5 times each summer to haul the camper. Do I keep the current car and pick up an older but well maintained truck? Or do I just get a truck even though it's more than I need most of the time? 

Best case scenario would be that I just have 1 vehicle that can do it all. Less than 10 years old, and reasonable miles for the age. I hate having to finance a car where I'm still paying on it as things start to break. In a perfect world there would be an integrated brake controller, back up cam (game changer with a camper), interactive screen.. (would love heated seats and remote start, but that's pushing my luck).. I don't mind putting down 5 or 6 or 7k, but with the negative equity, my payments are still higher than my desired ceiling of $300/mo.

Am I chasing a dream or do these actually exist? What would you guys do?

[Splitear]

Doesn't really do anything for fuel economy, but I have always liked the Chevy Avalanche. My drummer has one, and he loves it. It has plenty of towing capacity, a bit of bed space if needed, but offers a good amount of covered cargo space for his kit. You could probably find a good used one in your price range if you shopped around a bit. 

[mowin]

Finding a truck with those options for your budget is going to be tuff on a less then 10 year old truck unless it has very high mileage.  Even a less equipped truck might be difficult to find for 7k or under. If the trailblazer is still running ok, you might be better off trying to pay it off this summer, and then look for a newer rig.

 

[Bolt action]

3 minutes ago, mowin said:

Finding a truck with those options for your budget is going to be tuff on a less then 10 year old truck unless it has very high mileage.  Even a less equipped truck might be difficult to find for 7k or under. If the trailblazer is still running ok, you might be better off trying to pay it off this summer, and then look for a newer rig.

 

The reference before of putting 5 or 6 or 7 down was meant as a downpayment, not the total price. But yes, that's my thought for now. Work to pay off the current so that I don't roll anything over. I realize that this is a want and not a need, so have the luxury of waiting for the right opportunity to come along. My fear is that something big will come along (tranny, head gasket, etc..) where I have to settle for what's available at the time. 

[Robhuntandfish]

If you don't do a lot of miles there have been some great leasing deals out there. 

[Steve D]

32 minutes ago, Bolt action said:

 

Best case scenario would be that I just have 1 vehicle that can do it all. Less than 10 years old, and reasonable miles for the age. I hate having to finance a car where I'm still paying on it as things start to break. In a perfect world there would be an integrated brake controller, back up cam (game changer with a camper), interactive screen.. (would love heated seats and remote start, but that's pushing my luck).. I don't mind putting down 5 or 6 or 7k, but with the negative equity, my payments are still higher than my desired ceiling of $300/mo.

Am I chasing a dream or do these actually exist? What would you guys do?

You are chasing a dream especially with todays used car/truck prices. You don't get much any more for $20,000.

[Bolt action]

I saw a few back in the spring when Covid was just shutting the country down. I called on 4 or 5 and they literally all sold in a day. 

Another option (which the wife is refusing) would be lease a truck, but then buy a smaller car outright (think Honda fit) as a daily driver that could absorb miles and wouldn't cost to maintain. 

[suburbanfarmer]

Buy the vehicle for your daily usage and an AWD 4cyl will do just that. For the 4-5 times you need to tow your trailer/camper rent a truck from uhaul. Way cheaper in the long run.

Edited January 6, 2021 by suburbanfarmer

[bfahy13]

Please do not laugh at me, but look into the honda ridge line.

Is it a truck? Maybee depending on who you ask. But it can tow well, comfortable, has incredible covered storage, and honda reliability. 

I drive an obnoxious lifted diesel truck, and can tell you first hand that my ridgeline I drove in high school was the most practical car I have ever owned. 

[suburbanfarmer]

16 minutes ago, bfahy13 said:

Please do not laugh at me, but look into the honda ridge line.

Is it a truck? Maybee depending on who you ask. But it can tow well, comfortable, has incredible covered storage, and honda reliability. 

I drive an obnoxious lifted diesel truck, and can tell you first hand that my ridgeline I drove in high school was the most practical car I have ever owned. 

I drove a 2005 pilot till the frame gave up.  I did everything with it from towing 3k# trailer or pulling logs and stumps out.

The engine and trans ran great at 262k miles  with basic maintenance and even then I sold it for $1000. Some guy repaired the frame and is still using it.

 Ridgeline can tow upto 5000lb

[Moho81]

To get yourself started download the cars.com app on your phone. From there you can search every type of vehicle you want either new or used and it has a calculator feature where you plug in the price of the vehicle, trade in, down payment, sales tax, APR and how many months you want to finance.

What this does is give you an idea of what a vehicle you are interested for is selling for and what your payment maybe. Then when the time comes to buy something you will have a pretty good understanding of what they are worth.

Honestly with putting 5-7k down I think you can get yourself into something 3-4 years old decent mileage for around your $300 a month price range.


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[Splitear]

48 minutes ago, bfahy13 said:

Please do not laugh at me, but look into the honda ridge line.

Is it a truck? Maybee depending on who you ask. But it can tow well, comfortable, has incredible covered storage, and honda reliability. 

I drive an obnoxious lifted diesel truck, and can tell you first hand that my ridgeline I drove in high school was the most practical car I have ever owned. 

Not laughing at all. When my Outback gives out, I’ll be shopping for one of these. Good mileage, AWD, and enough bed to haul a deer and a climber. 
 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Id keep driving it until the wheels fall off. 

[Swamp_bucks]

I'm kinda in the same boat.  I just put 600 into my truck and decided to go get a smaller car to drive for work to save my truck.  I dont want the payment of a truck right now so I'll go buy a 5k car in cash and wait a little longer to buy a newer truck.

[mowin]

13 hours ago, Bolt action said:

The reference before of putting 5 or 6 or 7 down was meant as a downpayment, not the total price. But yes, that's my thought for now. Work to pay off the current so that I don't roll anything over. I realize that this is a want and not a need, so have the luxury of waiting for the right opportunity to come along. My fear is that something big will come along (tranny, head gasket, etc..) where I have to settle for what's available at the time. 

Oh ok.   Didn't realize that was the down payment.  

Think your plan of paying current vehicle off first is the best option.  Ya, there's always a risk of something major going wrong.  Have you looked at blue book to see what your trailblazer is worth? You might be surprised.  

[Bolt action]

kbb only has it around $2500. I was talking to a friend of mine last spring about trade in value and the top that they could offer was about $2k. Preference would be just to trade it in. I don't have the time or the patience to try to sell it privately and know that the trade off is that I would likely get less for it by trading it in.

[Swamp_bucks]

1 minute ago, Bolt action said:

kbb only has it around $2500. I was talking to a friend of mine last spring about trade in value and the top that they could offer was about $2k. Preference would be just to trade it in. I don't have the time or the patience to try to sell it privately and know that the trade off is that I would likely get less for it by trading it in.

Trade in values are up.  Someone I worked with back in october traded a 2009 f150 with 155k and box was rusted and he still got 9500 on his trade in.  

[phade]

Pay off the outstanding loan and take the rest and use that as your down payment.

$7K minus the $4.5K gives you $2.5K to put down. Ball park of that and a $300/mo payment gets you a $16K vehicle unless you stretch out the payments longer. I wouldn't do that on a newer vehicle.

$15-16K will get you a decent vehicle but it'll be hard to find all that you look for in that price range. Unfortunately you need a mid-size SUV for that tow weight. I had great luck with the prior generation Escapes and they can be had for a good price and be super reliable as long as you avoid any that have the rot issue along the rear suspension areas. I had two of them and abused them to no end w/almost 400K miles between them and next to no major repairs until the end. That won't work as I think they have a 2k tow limit. 

Tough spot for sure.

*Edit - run down to Simmons Rockwell. They are fantastic with used car pricing. If I ever buy another used vehicle via a dealer it will be from them. Had multiple positive experiences over 3-4 purchases there. If they have a vehicle you like at one of their lots farther away, have them bring it to their bath or hornell spots and you can deal with them there. I think the last two I bought there were brought over to their Ford place in Hornell and we saved time rather than driving further. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by phade

[DonVincenzo]

i leased a tacoma trd sport for 300 a month with and nothing down besides a 500 broker fee and first month payment.  24 months 15k miles/yr.  was in and out in 20 minutes.

 

 

[mlammerhirt]

That's a great deal......what dealership and please explain the broker fee? Did they setup the whole deal for you?

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[mlammerhirt]

i leased a tacoma trd sport for 300 a month with and nothing down besides a 500 broker fee and first month payment.  24 months 15k miles/yr.  was in and out in 20 minutes.
 
 

Trade in values are up.  Someone I worked with back in october traded a 2009 f150 with 155k and box was rusted and he still got 9500 on his trade in.  

October may have been up there still but the peak of the trade in value was end of August beginning September. We have a Nissan Murano with mileage in the low 50's at the time and was offered 18,500 but couldn't get our hands on the specific vehicle my wife wanted. Fast forward to November and we only out a 1000 or so more miles on and that trade in dropped to 13,000. So guess what she is still driving her Murano and waiting for the roller coaster of vehicle pricing to calm down.

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[Bolt action]

I've been stalking the big 3 websites (autotrader, cars, cargurus) to stay on top of inventory within 150 miles. One actually just came up yesterday that caught my attention. It's a little older, and not as many features, but the make, model, mileage are appealing. Some of the options I can add after market. It stretches the budget a bit, though. I reached out to the dealership for more info. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Bolt action

[DonVincenzo]

told the broker what i was looking for, what i wanted to pay, where i was from, and ballpark credit score

he came back with what he had on the lot and after i paypaled him the fee he sent me the dealer sheets for me to choose.  after that it was a few cals and a credit application with the dealer and I was on a train to go get it.  initial text to broker was on a friday and I picked up the truck on tuesday

thought the whole thing was a scam because all the quotes I received were 3-4k down 400+ a month

[mlammerhirt]

Last question.....where did you find a broker?


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[DonVincenzo]

i went through leasehackr forum

don't know what is being offered now as my lease was from before the "flu" but it can't be too far off.  some do security deposits to drive down the price but its still better than anything local