I can haz truk!
The saga of the truck.
Last Thursday I took my beloved Tacoma to the shop. Little did I know it was never to return home. Otherwise I would have taken all of my crap out of it. The mechanics at Economy Service finally called on Friday afternoon and said the truck was unsafe to drive. The attachment points for the leaf springs to the frame had rusted. Pretty much rusted away - as in through the frame. So it was towed to a Toyota body shop where the magic word - Recall- was uttered. They (the nice folks at the body shop) drove it to the dealership, all of 200 yards away. The service manager explained there was a Customer Support Program for rusty frames. If it can be repaired, they repair it for free. If not, they buy your truck back. Yea!
Now I was hoping just to get Kelley Blue Book value on this truck. The rust was severe and the service manager knew it would be purchased back. While he’s processing the paperwork he mentions that Toyota is very generous with the repurchase. Very. Generous. Toyota puts me in a rental and I’m on my way. Tuesday I got a phone call from Toyota with the offer for my vehicle. Lots. Of. Money. More than twice Kelley Blue Book. We’re still stunned.
So last night we went vehicle looking. However, what do we want? What’s my replacement vehicle? I loved my truck, but as a truck, it did have drawbacks such as passenger space - exactly one. We’ve been taking Jim’s VUE to a lot of things if Carla comes along, which has put a lot of miles on the VUE. The VUE is cramped if you have 4 people and their stuff going to Jamestown or 3 people going to Mousehole.
We need something with passenger space, but can still be crammed full of stuff. Pennsic looms in the back of our minds “How are we going to get all of our Stuff to Pennsic?” Either tow it, or stow it. So options with passenger space and stowage are either a large pick-up with crew cab or a minivan. Again pros and cons with both. A Toyota Tundra crew cab with a 6 foot bed would be awesome. But the gas mileage is pretty awful. And with a 25 gallon tank - ouch. The Sienna is better on the gas mileage, but really, it’s a minivan. But you can cram it full of stuff and still take passengers.
We looked at vans and trucks. We sat in vans and trucks. We analyzed space in vans and trucks. I drove a Tundra. We talked 2WD vs AWD vs 4WD. Then we analyzed MPH for both the van and the truck. Really, there wasn’t much difference. 15/18 vs 17/21. Then we did it.
We bought the Tundra Crew Cab with 6 foot bed. It’s a 2006 4WD. It’s nice. We dickered to below Kelley Blue Book (retail) for it, and I still have a feeling we’re paying a bit too much, but it’s ours now.
We signed a promissory note for the down payment (the check that is coming) and financed the rest. They know where the check is coming from, so they were cool with that. The truck is parked outside right now.
While I don’t want a car payment right now (or ever), it’s not as heinous as we originally feared thanks to the buy back.
And it’s pretty.