I hate to say it, but I'm about done with Chevy trucks

February 18, 2025, 07:31 PM

I guess I got lucky with my truck’s era. I have a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4x4 Z-71 5.3L V8 and it has been an amazing truck I still own and drive. I do 99% of the work on it myself. I do all preventative maintenance and fix/replace/repair things that wear out in time. I have a list of things I need to do one of these weekends and now one just got added. My truck suddenly stopped starting the first time you turn the key, but when you turn it again it starts right up. It appears it is the camshaft position sensor that needs to be replaced. $50 part, but not easy to get to so I will tackle it when the part arrives.

One day I will have to get s new truck, but I hope I still get several more years out of mine. I have no idea what to even consider as I have always been a Chevy guy. I am thinking of maybe a Toyota Tundra. We will see. Sad that Chevy has gone downhill.

February 18, 2025, 08:15 PM

ChuckFinley

Stormin, if you have luck it is that no-one else has come along and damaged your 2002. I had a 2001 that I would likely still have but for a woman on her cell phone. That was when Chevy trucks were Chevy trucks, not the oversized glass jaws that they are now. 3 of the last 4 Chevy's I had were crap. The only good one I had gave its life saving two of my family from a woman who deemed herself not at fault for the accident because it was the will of Allah.

February 18, 2025, 09:47 PM

StorminNormin

quote:
Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Stormin, if you have luck it is that no-one else has come along and damaged your 2002. I had a 2001 that I would likely still have but for a woman on her cell phone. That was when Chevy trucks were Chevy trucks, not the oversized glass jaws that they are now. 3 of the last 4 Chevy's I had were crap. The only good one I had gave its life saving two of my family from a woman who deemed herself not at fault for the accident because it was the will of Allah.

Yup, I agree. A deer tried to take it from me! He decided to try to jump across the front of my truck. His body hit the driver side windshield frame, his head broke the windshield, and his body damaged the side of the truck. It was $5,800 in damage and only $200 from being totaled. I always keep full coverage insurance on my vehicles even when paid off and still on this truck today. Everything got fixed, got the shop to fix a few extra things saying it was the cause of the deer, and I don’t have a totaled title. This truck has been good!

February 19, 2025, 12:33 PM

92fstech

quote:
Originally posted by Prefontaine:

I agree with you. It’s them with the ego, image, status, superficiality, Joneses race, etc. Financially it would be cheaper to own 2 vehicles honestly. A daily driver or commuter is just that. A solid daily is a regular Corolla hatch, Civic, A Fit when they made that. Basically an economy class car. Buy one, drive it, maintain it, and when it’s paid off, well then go buy your performance car, luxury car, or fancy truck. With 2 vehicles you gain redundancy in case of a stoppage. And since you are spreading mileage out on the ODO’s you’ll get more time out of both. Expensive stuff should be bought for long term usage, 10+ years. If you buy something expensive, rack a bunch of miles on it, then it’s exactly like you said, it won’t be worth anything. And in many cases, these same people we are referring to, want something equally or more expensive in 2-3 years, trade it in, and they are upside down on it due to depreciation, mileage, etc, and roll that debt onto a new loan adding to it. It’s a never ending cycle.

I have a number of vehicles, each bought at a time. Pay it off, keep it, and move onto the next piece of the fleet. I’m up to 8, with plans for 2 more. Meanwhile I’m driving the same daily driver hatchback for 11 years. If you ask these same people to drive the same thing for longer than 2-3 years they’d go nuts.

That has been our approach as well, with that same basic though process...minus the nice expensive stuff. We currently have:

2001 Silverado with 225k miles. Bought for $2800 in 2009.
2003 Suburban with 430k miles. Bought for $3000 in 2014.
2013 Mazda 3 with 175k miles. Bought for $4300 in 2020.
1999 Chevy S10 with 228k miles. Bought for $2500 for my 16 year-old son in 2023.

All of them run great and I wouldn't hesitate to jump in any one of them today (except maybe the S10...it's making some pinion bearing noise. But it's primary purpose is local transportation for my son and to serve as a sacrifice to keep him from wrecking the cars we depend on) and drive cross-country. I refuse to go into debt or spend more than I paid for my house on a new vehicle, nor have I found it to be necessary.

March 22, 2025, 02:22 PM

UpTheIrons

quote:
Originally posted by 92fstech:
quote:
Originally posted by Prefontaine:

I agree with you. It’s them with the ego, image, status, superficiality, Joneses race, etc. Financially it would be cheaper to own 2 vehicles honestly. A daily driver or commuter is just that. A solid daily is a regular Corolla hatch, Civic, A Fit when they made that. Basically an economy class car. Buy one, drive it, maintain it, and when it’s paid off, well then go buy your performance car, luxury car, or fancy truck. With 2 vehicles you gain redundancy in case of a stoppage. And since you are spreading mileage out on the ODO’s you’ll get more time out of both. Expensive stuff should be bought for long term usage, 10+ years. If you buy something expensive, rack a bunch of miles on it, then it’s exactly like you said, it won’t be worth anything. And in many cases, these same people we are referring to, want something equally or more expensive in 2-3 years, trade it in, and they are upside down on it due to depreciation, mileage, etc, and roll that debt onto a new loan adding to it. It’s a never ending cycle.

I have a number of vehicles, each bought at a time. Pay it off, keep it, and move onto the next piece of the fleet. I’m up to 8, with plans for 2 more. Meanwhile I’m driving the same daily driver hatchback for 11 years. If you ask these same people to drive the same thing for longer than 2-3 years they’d go nuts.

That has been our approach as well, with that same basic though process...minus the nice expensive stuff. We currently have:

2001 Silverado with 225k miles. Bought for $2800 in 2009.
2003 Suburban with 430k miles. Bought for $3000 in 2014.
2013 Mazda 3 with 175k miles. Bought for $4300 in 2020.
1999 Chevy S10 with 228k miles. Bought for $2500 for my 16 year-old son in 2023.

All of them run great and I wouldn't hesitate to jump in any one of them today (except maybe the S10...it's making some pinion bearing noise. But it's primary purpose is local transportation for my son and to serve as a sacrifice to keep him from wrecking the cars we depend on) and drive cross-country. I refuse to go into debt or spend more than I paid for my house on a new vehicle, nor have I found it to be necessary.

I did pretty much the same.
In 2012 I bought a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer from my mom for 5K and it had 84,000 miles on it. I had the transmission rebuilt at 225,000 miles back in 2021. Other than that, I had no major mechanical issues (other than the water pump at 150,000 miles). When I sold it to my BIL in 2023, it had 284,000 miles and is still running strong at 300,000+ miles. I'd still be driving it today except that my mom sold me my dad's 2019 F-150 after he died. Glad I got the F-150 for the note payoff as I definitely would not have given KBB value for it as it would have been way too expensive for my tastes and budget.
I think it helped that my dad was a mechanic and I learned early on about maintaining a vehicle. I have never had super major problems with any of my vehicles I think because of this.