$80K truck?
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Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,477
Likes: 19
From: Sheffield, AL
$80K truck?
2017 Ford SuperDuty - Build & Price
I hope this link works... yesterday, a friend showed me his new 2017 Super Duty F350 King Ranch. Wow! It does everything!
It makes me feel somewhat humble, driving my 1986 F150 with manual everything! 
I hope this link works... yesterday, a friend showed me his new 2017 Super Duty F350 King Ranch. Wow! It does everything!
It makes me feel somewhat humble, driving my 1986 F150 with manual everything!
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
From: Geneva NY
Exactly! My wife keeps giving me a hard time because I like these old trucks. If I had $1200/mo I'd still be driving an old truck. It'd be pretty darn nice, but it'd still be an old truck ;-)
Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 924
Likes: 4
From: Johns Creek GA
Whenever I see a truck like that, I wonder...will it still be running 37 years from now? My truck is 37 years old...and 37 years from now it will STILL be running.
Senior User
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 477
Likes: 3
You're comparing apples to oranges. I've heard 1986 was the first year carpet came in a pickup and leather wasn't even a choice. Your current pickup doesn't have navigation built in. It doesn't have heated and cooled seats.
Try changing the features to something that matches your own. You'll find that the price is significantly lower. Yes, you can add on lots of features and jack the price up significantly... but that's not a fair comparison.
Your signature line says you have a 1986 f150 with a I6. Put in those specs and you're below $30k
Try changing the features to something that matches your own. You'll find that the price is significantly lower. Yes, you can add on lots of features and jack the price up significantly... but that's not a fair comparison.
Your signature line says you have a 1986 f150 with a I6. Put in those specs and you're below $30k
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
My 2015 didn't cost quite that much, but it does have most of the bells and whistles. And the truck is a tow monster. It brought Big Blue back from Florida at 75 MPH and never complained - except to say "feed me" frequently.
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 171
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From: Tonopah, AZ
Adjusted for inflation or not, that truck costs more than my house did. But i bought at the bottom when the last bubble burst. Even so, I'd never buy a truck that cost more than my house 
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2013
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From: Minnesota
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,298
Likes: 26
From: NJ
Without the luxury crap you can get a new truck for around $50k that is similarly capable but a lot less reliable and far less pleasant to own and operate than an 80s truck... And for all that money they won't make you a truck how you'd want one anyway, carbureted big block or mechanically injected big cubic inch diesel, manual trans, transfer case, axles, no power anything, no air conditioning, etc... Some people have more dollars than sense, but there must be a market for it or they wouldn't make it.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
Without the luxury crap you can get a new truck for around $50k that is similarly capable but a lot less reliable and far less pleasant to own and operate than an 80s truck... And for all that money they won't make you a truck how you'd want one anyway, carbureted big block or mechanically injected big cubic inch diesel, manual trans, transfer case, axles, no power anything, no air conditioning, etc... Some people have more dollars than sense, but there must be a market for it or they wouldn't make it.
Yes, if you had an absolutely new 80's truck then maybe we could talk about comparable reliability. But, not when comparing 30 year old parts to new parts.
Senior User
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 477
Likes: 3
Don't forget about inflation, too. When you calculate the value of money now compared to 1986, you'll find that $15,000 is the same as $33,000 today.
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Using some original prices, this guy (https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-c4463_ds519078) says his pickup in 1979 originally listed for $8604 with all the options that were available at the time. The same money now (after calculating for inflation) would buy a $29,000 vehicle which buys a pretty well-equipped single-cab pickup today too.
Now I'm not gonna go out and buy the biggest, most equipped pickup that Ford offers because I don't need that stuff. I'm guessing you're not going to go buy it either. I'm just saying the prices today aren't that different than before.
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Using some original prices, this guy (https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-c4463_ds519078) says his pickup in 1979 originally listed for $8604 with all the options that were available at the time. The same money now (after calculating for inflation) would buy a $29,000 vehicle which buys a pretty well-equipped single-cab pickup today too.
Now I'm not gonna go out and buy the biggest, most equipped pickup that Ford offers because I don't need that stuff. I'm guessing you're not going to go buy it either. I'm just saying the prices today aren't that different than before.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,298
Likes: 26
From: NJ
I beg to differ on the "far less reliable" issue. While my 2015 has been back for a TSB or two, it has been totally and completely reliable. And, when driving it I know I have all new parts under me. That isn't true of any of my 80's trucks, and they all have/have had problems. Some of those caused me to have to stay overnight to resolve, and others just caused me to have to change plans.
Yes, if you had an absolutely new 80's truck then maybe we could talk about comparable reliability. But, not when comparing 30 year old parts to new parts.
Yes, if you had an absolutely new 80's truck then maybe we could talk about comparable reliability. But, not when comparing 30 year old parts to new parts.
Sure you would expect a brand new vehicle to at least not leave you stranded for a couple years. Let me know how reliable that 2015 truck is when we get to least 2035. I'd wager ever within a decade that 2015 will leave you stranded with something that isn't a few minute roadside repair with what you've got in the truck, let alone 30-50 years. TCO will also be many times that of a simple reliable vehicle over the same time period, the value simply isn't there when looking at the financial side as OP was.
I need my vehicles to just plain work every single time and get me where I need to be. For that reason alone, excluding preferences and value, the newest vehicle I own is over 30 years old.
I'm curious what problems you've had that have caused unscheduled downtime on the road that were not either from lack of maintenance or ignoring symptoms.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
The alternator failed on Dad's truck, and I caught it just before heading home at night. I stayed the night and drove home the next day on the battery. It was under warranty with O'Reilly's and I had the receipt here so felt like it would be easier to swap here than there.
Took Big Blue back to my home town recently, driving in the dark of the early morning to go hunting. On the way home in the daylight the new one-wire alternator that Vernon put on failed, so I came home, again, on battery power. In neither case we're there warnings or lack of maintenance.
I will agree with you that the more simple the vehicle the more reliable it will be in the long run. However, I do not believe you can say that today a 30 year old vehicle is more reliable than a new one.
Took Big Blue back to my home town recently, driving in the dark of the early morning to go hunting. On the way home in the daylight the new one-wire alternator that Vernon put on failed, so I came home, again, on battery power. In neither case we're there warnings or lack of maintenance.
I will agree with you that the more simple the vehicle the more reliable it will be in the long run. However, I do not believe you can say that today a 30 year old vehicle is more reliable than a new one.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,298
Likes: 26
From: NJ
Sounds to me like you have two failures of fairly new electronic components, like the ones that new truck is loaded to the gills with. Sometimes it's luck of the draw with aftermarket parts. Anymore I prefer a top notch brand like PowerMaster for starters and Alternators if not sticking with a FoMoCo part. Either way, not a reliability issue with the truck itself and not related to age since you had failures of new components. Not a show stopper either.
I had a likely 30 year old 2g alternator die on me in Canada. Drove the truck another day or two up there and over 500 miles home before changing the alternator. I knew the 2g was on borrowed time and a junk design anyhow, but was being lazy about when to do the swap. Since it wasn't anything that would leave me stranded I could afford to do it when it was convenient for me, or worst case swap it out in 15 minutes at any auto parts store if I was too far from home.
Like I said, check in on this thread in 20 years and let us know how reliable that new truck is.
I had a likely 30 year old 2g alternator die on me in Canada. Drove the truck another day or two up there and over 500 miles home before changing the alternator. I knew the 2g was on borrowed time and a junk design anyhow, but was being lazy about when to do the swap. Since it wasn't anything that would leave me stranded I could afford to do it when it was convenient for me, or worst case swap it out in 15 minutes at any auto parts store if I was too far from home.
Like I said, check in on this thread in 20 years and let us know how reliable that new truck is.