I Brive a Dus

Today I drove a battleship down US 1. I checked out a nice pickup.

I have been whining making perceptive and highly justified complaints about the insane cost of used trucks. I originally wanted a used truck, so somebody else would get stuck with the depreciation, but when I priced F150s and similar items, I found that people were knocking about ten percent off the new price, which is idiotic. Why pay $18000 for a truck with no warranty and 40,000 miles when you can get the full monty for $20000? But it looks like prices on larger trucks are a lot better.

I did not want diesel. I know how great it is, but I didn’t want the smell, the slow acceleration, or the aggravation of finding fuel. But I kept reading good things about the new diesels, and I finally came around. I figured if I was going to go full-throttle and get a heavy-duty pickup, I should get an engine that would last for eternity and never need electrical work. A true SHTF engine.

I can’t believe the things I read about these things. Acceleration like the (admittedly sad) American sports cars of my youth. Better mileage than my roadster. Unlimited hauling capacity. I can’t figure out what the down side is.

I’ve read horror stories about Ford’s newer diesels, but everyone seems to like the Dodges (Cummins) and the Chevys. I don’t know who makes the Chevy engines. Detroit Diesel used to be part of GM. I don’t know whether that’s still true.

Chevys are not that easy to find, cheap. Neither are GMCs. But Dodge 2500s are relatively plentiful. Their late-model diesels come in two flavors: 5.9-liter and 6.7-liter. The bigger one would be a great choice, but for the fact that the Green Weenies ruined it with a bunch of emissions garbage you can’t remove without voiding your warranty and risking annoying nonmoving violations. So the 5.9 is IT. Chris Byrne drives one. It’s hard to imagine anyone who would learn more about a truck before buying it, and he seems to like it a lot.

I found a red Dodge yesterday, with a 5.9 and four-wheel drive. I don’t really need the four-wheel drive, but I suppose it’s good insurance, depending on where I find myself living in the future. It has tow stuff, and it has under 30000 miles. I Carfaxed it. It has a little scrape on the bumper, plus some small dings on a door, but other than that, it looks very good.

I took it out on US 1, and I have no complaints. It’s very big, and parking it will be no fun at all, but it’s comfortable, it rides well, and the air conditioning survived the Miami in September test.

These guys want $27K. I think I’ll offer $24K and let them sweat. I have a mechanic lined up to look it over. It still has nine months left on the warranty, but I want to make sure the odometer is correct and so on.

I can get a 2WD model for under $20K, but it has over twice the mileage, and it was assembled in Mexico, which scares me to death. The Carfax on the other truck doesn’t say it’s imported, so maybe it was made at the Missouri plant.

Either one would be a nice change. I just don’t know if I can force myself to sell the Thunderbird. Sometimes you want to go through a drive-through without causing a scene. Maybe I should sell it and get something cheap and small for running around.