I bought a truck tonight!
No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
I don't know a whole lot about car pricing, but I managed to get him down from $17k to $13k. What's the consensus? Sound like an okay price? Everything was in perfect condition - no dents, scrapes, dings, broken plastic, scuffed whatevers. It looked pretty much like a new truck to me.
If you'll permit me a moment of reflection for the old '00 Ford Focus hatchback that's pretended for 9 years now to be a truck. You were a trooper, and you never once complained, nor broke down whilst hauling my absurd loads. You will be missed. Let's reflect a moment on just a small subset of your honorable service…
Ah, my old Rigid shopvac, and a bunch of 8' lumber. I think those melamine shelves were 9'. How did you do it?
The Delta 6" jointer I got from Rockler at 50% off! What a day! We got there at 5AM, and got the 7th of their last 8!
My old Halloween '05 Star Wars AT-AT costume! This was the year my new truck was born!
Here's how I looked in the costume. What a nerd!
Supplies for the wood storage shed, a project I keep meaning to post here (soon, hopefully!). We made so many runs like this, or far worse, while building that thing. Btw, if you were wondering, 26 is the ABSOLUTE LIMIT to the number of 96" 2×4s you can cram into this thing. Seriously, a 27th cannot fit (w/ windows shut):
The giant treadmill! I never thought we were going to fit that one. The guy at Sears was gobsmacked when it dropped into place. It was an oversized model that could handle up to 300lbs (I was 280 at the time! I've lost quite a bit since then).
Then there were the paperbark limbs from the tree cutters that fogged up your windows.
Those same tree guys told us to come back the next day for an entire other tree (possibly an olive).
There was that enormous fallen Eucalyptus we took home in 3 or 4 trips, full cargo area each time:
And of course the highly sappy Pittosporum undulatum, or Victorian Box, aka Australian cheesewood, which blew over by the El Pollo Loco Mexican restaurant, which we picked up in 2 very dirty trips. The huge trunk base you handled on the second trip was the largest piece of wood you've ever carried, easily over 200lbs, maybe even 250lbs. You will not, my old friend, be asked to do that again. Not by me:
Let's not forget the huge branch of that as-yet-unidentified tree we found late at night while out scouting for fallen trees after a very windy day. It took us 2 trips like this, a great deal of elbow grease to get those limbs in your cargo area, and even more to get them back out!
Yes, you have been a real trooper. I will do my best not to cry when I trade you in. I imagine the guy at the Toyota dealership might weep a bit when he sees how much sap is dried into your roof fabric, though
As a final note about the possibilities this new vehicle will afford me, I will say only this: 4X8 SHEET GOODS, FINALLY!!!