Just Trying to buy a Used Truck!

Originally Posted by Miller88
And I'm thinking I'm going to have to keep sinking money into ol' rusty untrusty!

So I spoke to a few people who use a Frontier to tow their Jeep, one of which is a good friend of mine who is a mechanic. They all say the Frontier can do it. A little slow taking off , but they never had any issues with it towing a Jeep on a dual axle trailer. I want low mileage and around $20K. That would keep it comfortable and if fertilizer hit the ventilator, I could pay off ... but I'm trying to keep hold on any cash at the moment.

Figured I'd try to start looking for one. The first week, I called on four different trucks. All were sold between the time I called and set up the appointment or were sold right before I called. Okay, that happens I guess.

Found one at a local dealer that had an okay price, former rental, and looked to be in good shape. Made an appointment to take a look. Get there and it looks good. When I rolled underneath it to take a look underneath ... wow! It would give my rusty untrusty 01 Ford a run for it's money. The frame rails had started to have some rot on them. Suspension components were rusty. Transmission and transfer case were powder white from corrosion. And a few exposed connectors had the green crusties growing. Checked under the front and the oil pan was gashed, dented and rusted out from the impact and leaking. Tow hook was bent. Oh, and the frame was full of sand. Pretty clear this one ended up in the ocean at one point.

Left that one, no thanks! I will say this dealer was pretty straightforward with my trade in and must have missed this one during their inspection. Because it was gone off their website right after I pointed out that it was a flood truck.

Found another one at a local Nissan Dealer. A used 2016 in good shape. No body damage. Called for two weeks before I could finally get ahold of someone there. Verified the 2016 was still there. So we get to talking about my trade in. They offered me pennies. "Well people just don't buy Subarus here in Upstate NY, I can't sell it for any money". Uh , okay. Literally every other vehicle on the road is a Subaru. And the usual "Well it needs tires, brakes , etc" -- I can provide receipts that I just did brakes using quality parts and the tires don't have many miles on it.

After hanging up on that person twice, I came to a reasonable offer on the Subaru. Of course, then suddenly the 2016 needed to have body work done and was not available but they had a brand new one. I don't want brand new. So walked away from that one.

Now have a call in to another large used car dealer on some Frontiers but for some reason they can't find the trucks.

Bah, so frustrating!!

Anyway, with all the things going on in the world, looks like I'm going to hold on to the Subaru and rusty untrusty for a few months. The used car market is going to get flooded soon with lots of rentals, I'm sure my trade in will suffer a bit but not as much as the stuff I'm looking at.


I don't get it. If you want a Frontier and you want to spend 20K. Nissan is in rough shape and a 2020 Frontier S with the 4.0 can be driven off the lot for close to 23K.
 
i overpaid at carmax for my less than perfect 20 thou mile 11, but since only a manual for me it was slim pickings. very pleased with the truck but my butt still hurts!! it looked decent but the extreme cold 2 yrs ago + my blind desire got me!!
 
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I think you and symptom ought to trade the Subaru and his Tundra
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Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
Originally Posted by eljefino
Trucks are nuts right now!

Yeah, lots of supply and no demand.
Sellers seem to think they are sitting on gold mines
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Frontiers are the only ones that kind of lose value used. Everything else is just as expensive at 5 years / 50K miles as it was new!


Originally Posted by dave1251



I don't get it. If you want a Frontier and you want to spend 20K. Nissan is in rough shape and a 2020 Frontier S with the 4.0 can be driven off the lot for close to 23K.[/quote]

There aren't any 2020s on the lots, only brand new 19s. And I can't get any dealer below $32K.




Originally Posted by Nick1994
I think you and symptom ought to trade the Subaru and his Tundra
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If I could fit another full size! As it is when I park the F350 in front of the house in the driveway, it actually sticks out into the road.

Originally Posted by benjy
i overpaid at carmax for my less than perfect 20 thou mile 11, but since only a manual for me it was slim pickings. very pleased with the truck but my butt still hurts!! it looked decent but the extreme cold 2 yrs ago + my blind desire got me!!


I'm trying to get away from having all of my road going vehicles be manual. I have come across a few S models with 6 speed manuals though! But with the gearing they have, I don't think a 6 speed would work for my towing.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Stupid question, but why a frontier?


They are by far the cheapest used. Used Canyonados with 50K miles are going for mid/high 20s, used Rangers and Tacomas are going for their brand new MSRP with 50K miles.

Also, they share transmission and rear axle with the first generation Titan. Midsize because I can't fit a full size 4 door truck in my driveway.
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
I think you and symptom ought to trade the Subaru and his Tundra
laugh.gif


I heard plenty of slurs on my name growing up, but that's a first!

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Originally Posted by Miller88

Frontiers are the only ones that kind of lose value used. Everything else is just as expensive at 5 years / 50K miles as it was new!


How about no? I just bought a very well equipped CPO 2017 GMC Sierra SLE 4x4 wtih only 15,000 miles on it, for nearly half of it's original sticker price.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...mc-sierra-sle-4x4-double-cab#Post5425140

Maybe it is an Indiana thing... and trucks are overpriced everywhere else...
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Trucks are ridiculous in NY. Steel body trucks only last about 10 years before they have giant holes in them. So the market for used trucks is only about 10 years. And everyone thinks they need 4x4 so that drives the price up even more.
 
Buy one from the south or from California and have it shipped. I'm never buying another used vehicle from New England ever again, it's not worth the headache. I looked for MONTHS for a Jeep TJ in the surrounding 300 mile area. I must've looked at close to 20 of them, all were rusty turds. Even the ones claiming they had *spotless frame, no rust*, were rusty. Dealers simply don't care, because they know most people around here will buy them anyway and won't look underneath. They just end up wasting the time of people like us who actually will look under the vehicle. Most of the trucks you called on that "weren't there, or they couldn't find them" likely sold months ago, but they keep them on the website to get you into the dealership. The final straw was a dealer that had filled the frame of a Jeep with spray foam, then painted everything underneath black to hide the rust. That one had a $13,000 "rust free, immaculate" price tag.

I bought my current TJ Wrangler from California, it's spotless underneath, and even with shipping was still cheaper than the rusty ones here in New England.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Nick1994
I think you and symptom ought to trade the Subaru and his Tundra
laugh.gif


I heard plenty of slurs on my name growing up, but that's a first!

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Darn autocorrect on my iPhone!
 
Originally Posted by mrsilv04
Originally Posted by Miller88

Frontiers are the only ones that kind of lose value used. Everything else is just as expensive at 5 years / 50K miles as it was new!


How about no? I just bought a very well equipped CPO 2017 GMC Sierra SLE 4x4 wtih only 15,000 miles on it, for nearly half of it's original sticker price.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...mc-sierra-sle-4x4-double-cab#Post5425140

Maybe it is an Indiana thing... and trucks are overpriced everywhere else...
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It's a New York thing. A new truck which would go for 23K here will go for north of 30K in New York. I would give a Nissan Dealer in Pennsylvania a call before I bought in New York.
 
the car market is not really doing what i expected. Things are selling for good prices anyway. New dealers are running out of stuff. Rental car companies are selling down but they dont typically have a lot of trucks. Manheim reporting auction prices going back up, to where we are only down 4.8% same time last year. Pandemic Pricing just isn't happening.
 
Originally Posted by wkcars
https://www.aviscarsales.com/all-in...0Crew%20Cab&sortBy=internetPrice+asc


^ This.

Or search Hertz car sales. I always see them available.

When my FIL bought his 2017 Frontier SV 4x4, crew cab from a local mega chain dealer in 2018, it was an ex-rental with 8K miles on it and he got it for $23700 +TTL. It wasn't even a year old at the time.

Not to shift gears on ya, but is a Ram 1500 an option? Same or better fuel economy than a Frontier and a lot of truck. : https://www.hertzcarsales.com/certified/Ram/2018-Ram-1500-f4ad4bd60a0e0a6b087d79edf47449e5.htm
 
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Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by wkcars
https://www.aviscarsales.com/all-in...0Crew%20Cab&sortBy=internetPrice+asc


^ This.

Or search Hertz car sales. I always see them available.

When my FIL bought his 2017 Frontier SV 4x4, crew cab from a local mega chain dealer in 2018, it was an ex-rental with 8K miles on it and he got it for $23700 +TTL. It wasn't even a year old at the time.

Not to shift gears on ya, but is a Ram 1500 an option? Same or better fuel economy than a Frontier and a lot of truck. : https://www.hertzcarsales.com/certified/Ram/2018-Ram-1500-f4ad4bd60a0e0a6b087d79edf47449e5.htm


Then $21000 for a 10k rental doesn't seem too bad, that's what they are locally.

I can't fit a full size in my driveway unfortunately. The F350 sticks out in to the road a few inches. Once it's replaced, it'll be parked behind the garage.

There's quite a few Chevy 1500 WT extended cab (but 4 normal door) trucks with the 4.3 locally. That's really what I want in a used truck. Even have the floor transfer case shifter! But, too long
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Originally Posted by dave1251
$25,054.20 due at signing* for that Ram.


For the 2018 on the above Hertz link? I see $22690 +TTL
 
OP, if trucks not OK in your area, can you afford the time to look a bit south?

Also, would a work van be an alternative? You can change the interior to camp you and the dogs/tiny house on wheels.
I think user SteveSRT8 had many over 500k miles (in Florida) while loaded at 8k-9k pounds all day long...
user Dareo just bought a good shape '07 rare diesel.

Also maybe a conversion van on the right platform and change the plushy travel shocks to truck style?

I'm thinking keep the Subie-Doo for DD and the van for house projects (are you done with those?) and camping + towing.

I'm just thinking the van may be cheaper since you keep your vehicles a longtime and truck will be expensive to purchase and expensive to operate if not driven daily/sitting a lot
 
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