The 1989 S10 Farm Truck - Why It Matters
I drive this. Don't be jealous.
A couple years ago a buddy of mine gave me this truck. Yep, he GAVE it to me. Free. The state of Texas wouldn't let me get away with getting something for free so I paid a "gift fee" and taxes. Overall that day I was in about $70 to take the truck home in my name. Still not bad I reckon.
This truck has really "been through the ringer" "around the block" or "has seen better days". For my non-english speaking friends... the truck is in rough shape! (Idioms can be tough in a different language)
Right away we did a little engine work, replaced some suspension parts and added a good amount of duct tape to the dashboard. I wanted to see this old beater last for a little while.
The truck has served us well as a farm truck. It also got my son around town quite a bit.
One son... I won't name names... decided that old body needed some adjustments, so this happened.
It turned out ok! My two boys pulled together and got it all fixed up. The made some parts runs to the local salvage yards and worked together figuring out how to pull that old truck apart and put it together again. It was actually a pleasure seeing them problem solve as brothers.
We were back to driving the blue truck! Until...
The fuel pump went bad while parked at a local coffee shop. Of course, we didn't know it was the fuel pump until we got it towed to our buddy's garage. It's good to know a good mechanic!
Ok, here's why this truck matters
Number one... it's paid off. Having a car payment is a real drag. Having two car payments is a major bummer. The second reason is this
That's our family vehicle. Totaled. It's gone and insurance doesn't pay much for 2003 Suburbans with 270,000 miles on them, no matter how well they ran before being smashed.
So, we are down a vehicle. We are still paying for my truck (not pictured) so it's no fun thinking about getting another loan. This is where that beat up old blue truck comes into being a daily driver. My wife will take my gold truck and I'll make the blue truck my commuter.
It's squeaky and ugly, but for now it's saving us money.
In this upcoming Texas heat, I just wish the A/C worked.
AC is a must! Add shade and it helps but ya really need AC.
I like your truck @daddykirbs and like you said the best thing is that you have no payment on it and it works fine and it gets the work done.
I think it's so silly to be working just to be paying for a fancy new car or truck. You become a slave to it, just to look good.
We have a F250 1986. We thought we got a deal on it for $500. The Mass Registry didn't care. They charged sales tax on blue book value....
When the engine(s) went on the Subaru (2 in 30 days) that truck was a life saver, even if it's a major gas hog.
Totally agree about having a car that works and will save you money!!! I had one that didn't have AC as well. I made it work, it was cool enough in the morning going to work and on the way home I would just take off my nice work shirt and roll all the windows down and just enjoy that warm summer air.....ok using the word "enjoy" maybe pushing it!
I hear you on the car payment thing. We are lucky enough to be quite happy with our 05 Yukon that we paid cash for last year. I think the kids would like us to have a new vehicle, but they aren't the ones paying $1000+ per month for a loan payment. So far with any repairs and insurance, we have got about 25000 km/ 15500 miles and a year of driving out of it for less than $10000, and it's still in great shape.
When they become adults, I imagine having what their friends have won't be as important. If we do our jobs, that is.
That truck had better time. But he still has a lot of strength to give. If the heat everywhere is strong up here it has not rained but the rains are still delayed
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https://steemit.com/steemit/@prometheusrisen/beware-of-smartsteem-scam