What to do...
So it seems around this time every year all my vehicles go to pot.
I have no idea why, but in the last couple of weeks..
The fuel pump went out in the truck (again) $500
The bug decided that turn signals were no longer in style and has since refused to use them (started out of no where yesterday, it is in the shop now.) $??
The battery on the motorcycle died. (I got sick of push starting it.) $?? (Haven't made time to buy a new one yet.)
The bike also isn't running real smooth. Could be gas, could be the need for a tune-up. (I have to be due for a new air filter and spark plugs.)
The truck is leaking coolant and power-steering fluid at ever-increasing rates.
So the bike and the car shouldn't be to big a deal. The truck, on the other hand, is causing me some angst.
The big question is, do I keep it (fish) or get a new vehicle (cut-bait)?
The truck has around 115k miles on it. A fair amount, but I should be able to get a good 60k more at least. In order to get that, however, I will need to put a few thousand into it. (And maybe more, it is always a crap shoot on older vehicles.)
Reasons to keep the truck:
Reasons to buy something new:
I just don't know, but we have to decide soon. (Like this week) because the truck needs some attention. I need to know if it is going to be band-aid attention or major surgery attention.
I have no idea why, but in the last couple of weeks..
The fuel pump went out in the truck (again) $500
The bug decided that turn signals were no longer in style and has since refused to use them (started out of no where yesterday, it is in the shop now.) $??
The battery on the motorcycle died. (I got sick of push starting it.) $?? (Haven't made time to buy a new one yet.)
The bike also isn't running real smooth. Could be gas, could be the need for a tune-up. (I have to be due for a new air filter and spark plugs.)
The truck is leaking coolant and power-steering fluid at ever-increasing rates.
So the bike and the car shouldn't be to big a deal. The truck, on the other hand, is causing me some angst.
The big question is, do I keep it (fish) or get a new vehicle (cut-bait)?
The truck has around 115k miles on it. A fair amount, but I should be able to get a good 60k more at least. In order to get that, however, I will need to put a few thousand into it. (And maybe more, it is always a crap shoot on older vehicles.)
Reasons to keep the truck:
- I like it. I am used to the way in handles. I like its versatility. I like having a truck.
- In the short-term, it would be cheaper to keep the truck than to buy something new.
- I'm not sure we will be able to afford another truck. We haven't shopped around to much yet, but a new version of what we have with the options we want would be kinda spendy.
Reasons to buy something new:
- The truck has rather nasty gas mileage. (Although if we bought another truck it might not be all that much better.)
- Clean slate. (unless we get something used, but even then it won't have the issues that this one does.)
- Updated features. Now that we have a kid it would be nice to have some of the newer safety features. (Not to mention fun things like a DVD player, which might not be so handy now, but will be in the future.)
I just don't know, but we have to decide soon. (Like this week) because the truck needs some attention. I need to know if it is going to be band-aid attention or major surgery attention.