How much $$ do you put into your truck before saying enough is enough?

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Derick

Derick

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Well this is a second vehicle for me. My winter ride, and tow rig. That said, I dont particularly want to have it broken down at any point. I would also drive it daily if I got these things worked out. Technically I dont have a note on it, but I sort of do. The loan that I had to get the sequoia got wrapped into an unsecured consolidation loan for much lower interest rate.

In reality, the grand I'll spend on this TC is a lot less than a new trans or a motor...so for that I'm grateful. I'm also having my mechanic replace the oil pressure sensor and screen - and hopefully it returns back to it's spec pressure. That said, it will be another 800 bucks to replace the oil pump I'm sure. But when that's done, I feel like it will finally be reliable.
 

MajorJakkov

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serious question..I'm genuinely curious since it seems the general consensus here is that it would be frowned upon to sell or trade a used car that needs some work

how much more would you pay for a truck that just had some repairs vs one that simply left the repairs to the next owner? for instance if $1500 worth of suspension parts were just swapped out to clear the dash light, would you pay an extra $1500 for the vehicle? to me, it seems like it would be a bad financial decision for the previous owner to fix things only to sell it shortly after
 

ZACHBORIS

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serious question..I'm genuinely curious since it seems the general consensus here is that it would be frowned upon to sell or trade a used car that needs some work

how much more would you pay for a truck that just had some repairs vs one that simply left the repairs to the next owner? for instance if $1500 worth of suspension parts were just swapped out to clear the dash light, would you pay an extra $1500 for the vehicle? to me, it seems like it would be a bad financial decision for the previous owner to fix things only to sell it shortly after

I would not pay more than any blue book / nada value, and that value of course would be dependent upon the vehicles condition. So, this "car" blue books at 5K in excellent condition, and the owner just put in $1500 in parts, the blue book is still 5K, not $6,500. Now, if that car is 5K in excellent condition and needs $1500 worth of work, this car should now cost $3500.
If i am reading your question correctly.

Now , if there are add ons like a supercharger, and other mechanical upgrades, that owner may be able to fetch a little more, but only to the right buyer...
 
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Derick

Derick

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I would not pay more than any blue book / nada value, and that value of course would be dependent upon the vehicles condition. So, this "car" blue books at 5K in excellent condition, and the owner just put in $1500 in parts, the blue book is still 5K, not $6,500. Now, if that car is 5K in excellent condition and needs $1500 worth of work, this car should now cost $3500.
If i am reading your question correctly.

Now , if there are add ons like a supercharger, and other mechanical upgrades, that owner may be able to fetch a little more, but only to the right buyer...

I agree with this to an extent. If you're at that ~150-200k point, then blue book is for calculating for 150-200k parts. If you have replaced a fair amount of wear parts to bring it back to spec, I would expect to be fairly compensated for that. That said, as was mentioned above, it does not behoove someone to put in big money only to sell it. Grease up the joints enough to sell and ship it down the road.

Similarly, if I just put in a $6000 jasper motor, you better believe I'm not going to take blue book. Again, blue book accounts for used parts in accordance to the mileage provided....I'm not going to just throw in a brand new motor and expect nothing in return.
 
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Derick

Derick

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So this happened:
570062842.jpg
Got a call from the mechanic saying the flex plate needed to be replaced too...thats what he found.

Also that the Tc had some writing on it that made no sense...
570062908.jpg
 

jsoltren

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I keep a spreadsheet with two columns.

One column is the market resale value. I update it monthly.

The other is the total expenditures for maintenance. I update that, well, hopefully never, but in practice about monthly.

When total expenditure exceeds value, or the rate of expenditure consistently spikes, it's time for it to go.

How do you value your time and money? If you have the time to get parts from the salvage yard, have hookups to get distributor pricing on parts, and do all your own labor, maintenance will stay less expensive. If you farm everything out, every little thing is a $500 repair ticket.

If you're actively worried about the condition of the vehicle, to the extent that you're worried about doing normal things with it (like hauling kids), it's time for it to go. Cut your losses. Sunk cost fallacy.

If on the other hand repairs and upgrades give you the joy of working with your hands and being satisfied with your work, that has enough value that maybe you don't sell it.

Up to you to know what works for you.
 

Jorge1313

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I don’t know about you guy but where I love the Tahoe used with 45 k miles on ran up very expensive like 38 k when. New Tahoe ran for 45k new not 3 yrs old with no warrenty . I always have brought used but the Tahoe used are so darn expensive I’d rather spill out and extra 5 k and ride it new . Used Tahoe in Florida all I saw where very expensive with high milage
 

homesick

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Another factor here is parts availability.

I bought this '95 Tahoe last spring. My motorcycle is even older, a '93 model. I've had it for 15 years.

You have to be willing to scrounge, repair, and improvise parts as your machines age. Enthusiast forums like this one can be life savers.

joe
 

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