2/27/03
Another Truck

I was up at my house sheet rocking the basement this weekend when I saw an ad in the local paper for a F-150 XLT shortbed 4X4, Pickup, 6-cylinder, with 117K miles on it.  It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but they only wanted $2300 bucks! Not one to pass on a bargain, I decided to give the ad a call. The owner described the truck as a great driver, but it had some rust on the rear fender lips. The Ford 300ci 6 cylinder is one of Ford’s best engines, so 117K miles was not a lot of miles provided the oil was changed regularly. Even though I had budgeted up to $7K for a truck, I wanted to see what $2K would buy!

Well, $2K buys someone  else’s headaches! The frame was 90% solid, but the rear hitch was rotted, and it was spreading to the frame mounts. The rear part of the exhaust was probably left by the side of the road somewhere, because it wasn’t hanging where it was supposed to be, and every corner of sheet metal was rusty. The good points on the truck, were signs of a new oil pan, no leaks, good interior, and a bedliner, but the bad points overwhelmed the good. Even for $2K, I would still have to spend $500 to get the pressing issues fixed, and I would still own a rusty truck. I didn’t even bother for a test drive.

My friend who is looking for me found a nice ’95 Chevy 4X4 extended cab pickup with about 100K miles on the odometer. It had everything I wanted, from the extra room behind the front seats, to the full size bed out back, but it had one problem: it was a Chevy. I thought long and hard on this matter, trying to understand why I wouldn’t buy this truck simply because it was a Chevy. Brand loyalty is becoming purely an emotional thing because cars and trucks are become more reliable, and yet I can’t seem to bring myself to buy a Chevy! I guess it’s like the same unexplainable choice I’ve made for Ferrari over any other make. It just happens!

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