Going from a truck to a car

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For those of you who done it. Have you had any regrets? I don't use the truck bed too often but when I do it's nice. I would say it gets used four times a year mainly hauling yard waste to the dump.

I love my truck but its not very practical for the family.
 
pickup a small trailer and it will replace most of the truck if you use it that infrequently.
 
147,000 mile 3.4 Tacoma here in rust free N.TX?

You could probably get enough selling it to get a Silverado Crew Cab 5.3 of the same year model or newer.

Then it has a back seat that is as practical as the CR-V for the family, still has a big empty box on the back, and fuel economy is actually pretty close to what the Tacoma gets. Only real drawback is parking the huge thing. It's a lot easier to park a Taco in a tight parking lot.
 
Difference:
Spend WAY less in gas. Tires are cheaper.

I love my Jeep Cherokee, and would love another one as a daily driver. But can't beat 34MPG and $50 tires!
 
Rarely do I find a used truck that isn't totally shabby. I've had a few 2wd Dakotas, the early 90s ones, that IMO are the pinnacle of what a truck should be.

I got a dinky HF trailer to tow behind my HHR and both are surprisingly worthless. The HHR has a rounded off luggage compartment that won't fit huge boxes and the 40x48 inch trailer is like those joke boxes on Explorer Sport Tracs.

There must be something to those 5x8 foot utility trailers though. Plus I'd like the low lift height.
 
Quote:
2nd gen Dakotas, the early 90s ones, that IMO are the pinnacle of what a truck should be.


Absolutely! Bought one new, had it for 22 years, simple, big enough to haul basic stuff yet got 31 mpg on highway, perfect. Wish I could buy a new one.

Bought my wife a new car and took her car, hate it, time and time again I wish I had a truck.

John
 
If you can afford to, by all means keep your 02 Tacoma. That is a good year & needless to say a very good truck.

I kept my Silverado & went with a Prius which is a "huge" change but I did it out of necessity because I got transferred & went from 32 mi/day to 98 mi/day. Consequently, 10 mpg wasn't cutting it.

As far as driving experience is concerned, it took a while to adjust to the lower driving position without the visibility.

For me, the monetary benefit has been tremendous, as Hybrid vehicles do not need to be "smogged" in California, along with the extremely low maintenance requirement & high mpg, my savings has more than paid for the vehicle itself.

Coworkers laughed at me for a while because they're used to see me with a truck, but what they don't know is that I laugh all way to the bank !!
 
I would be tempted by a good running 3 cyl Metro. My brother put 200k on his. 52 mpg highway. The gas you will save will allow you to keep the Taco. I had a rental FIAT 500 for a few weeks. After getting rear ended in my work van, I drove it with a heightened level of awareness to my surroundings. I felt like I was driving a bug again.
 
Find a 1982-1984 Dodge Rampage.Car handling,truck bed,25-30 mpgs,and looks sporty as all get out.And a collectible...
 
Suv with a small trailer here.

Wanted 4wd for storms.

Things I miss about xb...
MPG, handling, tire cost.

Things I prefer:
I can go anywhere a.stock side by side can easily.
No more bent and busted wheels
No more speeding tickets
No worries about highwater
Trees across the roads don't matter
Cheaper insurance
no note
Easy to fix if something breaks
A small animal in the road doesn't mean 2-3k at a body shop.

A taco is nice. Ground clearance is freedom though.
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
147,000 mile 3.4 Tacoma here in rust free N.TX?

You could probably get enough selling it to get a Silverado Crew Cab 5.3 of the same year model or newer.

Then it has a back seat that is as practical as the CR-V for the family, still has a big empty box on the back, and fuel economy is actually pretty close to what the Tacoma gets. Only real drawback is parking the huge thing. It's a lot easier to park a Taco in a tight parking lot.

It's got 153K, moved to Texas from California 7.5 years ago. It's got no ABS and no EGR, 4x4 with locking diff.
 
I haven't done the truck to car. At least not yet. I decided to pick up a truck, and keep my current car. I had reached a point where I was going to replace my car, but could not find a decent compromise. Two vehicles seems better.

Only thing is, finding a non-beat-up truck was proving to be more work than I wanted, so when I found my Tundra I grabbed it. Not perfect but close enough. The Jetta I kept as I know 100% of its history. The Tundra is a gamble, but I think I got it young enough that it's a minor gamble. Personally I'd have a tough time trading out of a good known truck, but if it lacks space, and lacks the mpg you might want...

We kinda like our 4 door truck as a family vehicle. No fun in the city, but otherwise plenty spacious. Our Jetta and Camry are becoming daily drivers, while the Tundra is weekend only. Really hard to run out of space in its trunk.

I do have a 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer, with 12" tires. For what it is, it works well. I threw some 2x4 stake sides onto it, and a plywood floor, and have no inhibitions scratching it up. Drawbacks is certainly backing it up etc. But a low loading floor is nice, and registration is cheap. I was content with it for years, when I could only have just one vehicle for myself. I have kept it in case I do go back to having just one vehicle, in which case this time it'd likely be a crossover.
 
I've gone from truck to car a couple of times now in the last 30 years. Most recently in 2006-7 when gas went crazy.

When it comes down to it, I don't like mid sized cars for family use. We need a bit more room than the common car today. Simple tasks like bringing a ladder home from work become a real problem. And road trips are an exercise in annoyance with the dog, mama and me. As there is no room for the things that make trips nice. Like coolers, DVD players, iPads, inverters, mama's large purse, coffee cups, GPS, etc.

It gets to be a junkyard within hours when the cabin is too small.

Now, a real full sized car would be another story, but those days are gone. Even the new Taurus and Impala have "cocoon" drivers compartments. Very comfortable, but there is no room for anything but people.

My current set of trucks, a 2009 F150 4x4 Lariat and a 2011 F150 Ecoboost (both supercrews) are amazingly comfortable and capable machines. The EB can achieve 21MPG if I drive exactly the limit.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I've gone from truck to car a couple of times now in the last 30 years. Most recently in 2006-7 when gas went crazy.

When it comes down to it, I don't like mid sized cars for family use. We need a bit more room than the common car today. Simple tasks like bringing a ladder home from work become a real problem. And road trips are an exercise in annoyance with the dog, mama and me. As there is no room for the things that make trips nice. Like coolers, DVD players, iPads, inverters, mama's large purse, coffee cups, GPS, etc.

It gets to be a junkyard within hours when the cabin is too small.

Now, a real full sized car would be another story, but those days are gone. Even the new Taurus and Impala have "cocoon" drivers compartments. Very comfortable, but there is no room for anything but people.

My current set of trucks, a 2009 F150 4x4 Lariat and a 2011 F150 Ecoboost (both supercrews) are amazingly comfortable and capable machines. The EB can achieve 21MPG if I drive exactly the limit.


Hard to argue with a roomy 4 door pickup if you're packed to the gills, but a compact or midsize hatchback/wagon can solve a lot of those problems too. My wife and I have done plenty of trips with a week's worth of clothes and other luggage, plus some food and our 85 lb dog and his food, travel crate, etc. in my WRX and while I probably wouldn't want anything smaller, there's plenty of room. Granted you do have to be a bit more creative in packing arrangements, and with the seats folded down for the dog you're not carrying any other passengers.

If space and versatility were a concern going from a truck to a car, I would definitely go for a wagon (or minivan if that counts) over a sedan. But I do think the best option is to keep the truck and add to the fleet if it's workable.
 
Heh, we've taken our Camry on a number of trips, shopping and weekend trips, and I agree. Lots of space. But the last time we took it shopping we filled the trunk at the first stop, and I wound up sitting on a 40lb bag of dog food on the way home. We've taken the truck ever since when do big shopping trips now.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Find a 1982-1984 Dodge Rampage.Car handling,truck bed,25-30 mpgs,and looks sporty as all get out.And a collectible...



They once interviewed a Dodge exec about the Rampage. He said something like: "We immediately sold one to every single pool man. Then it stopped."

* * * *

I went from a truck to a car. I really liked the handling, the comfort, the performance, the ease of parking and the security. I borrowed my friend's truck from time to time.

After car got totaled in minor accident, I went back to a truck. Why? Used car prices were way high. So were used truck prices, But you could get a lot of vehicle for the money on a new [full-size] truck if you keep the options down. The depreciation on a truck tends to be a bit more linear than a car, which tends to be more exponential (at least in normal times).

You also have an opportunity to save a lot of transaction costs over time with a truck.You get to step off the buy retail sell wholesale treadmill for a few years. Truck goes from first car, to second car, to third car, to drive-to-the-dump-three-times-a-year vehicle over the course of maybe twenty or even thirty years.

I figure that I'll use my truck as a daily driver for a few years until used car prices normalize, then I'll get myself a used car and the truck will be second car.

If I had a good Tacoma, I wouldn't give it up unless it were at the point of a gun. They don't make trucks like that anymore, at least not at a reasonable price. Yet, they are particularly useful as secondary-tertiary vehicles compared to a full sized truck. If you sell it, you will never have anything like it again.
 
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Originally Posted By: jimbrewer

If I had a good Tacoma, I wouldn't give it up unless it were at the point of a gun. They don't make trucks like that anymore, at least not at a reasonable price. Yet, they are particularly useful as secondary-tertiary vehicles compared to a full sized truck. If you sell it, you will never have anything like it again.


I think that sums it up pretty well.
 
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