Chevrolet is celebrating 100 years of building trucks with a pair of retro-themed pickups.

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pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
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Kitchener, Ontario
Can you guys remember when the truck was the cheaper choice when new at the dealerships?

yup, pick up truck were farm work vehicles way back, panel trucks were delivery vehicles. A Ford F1 back in 1950 was $500
 

TURNA

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Jul 24, 2009
10,941
19,992
113
Socialist NY
The annoying thing is most of the *ss hats driving these trucks never did a day of hard work in there lives
 
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superbon54

G-Body Guru
Apr 15, 2014
755
2,440
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Wisco
Trucks, really nothing out there now impresses me. I have been passively looking to replace my 2003 awd Safari van for 3 years now. I figure I need awd or at least 4wd so that puts me in a truck. But either the price or lack of utility ( or both ) scare me away. My mechanic has a 2017 RAM and its a $63k truck after $15k in incentives. Really $63k for a damn truck ???

http://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/100k-f-450-among-fords-new-2018-super-duty-line-up/

$63k is nothing anymore. Every time I look at truck prices, I go change the oil and wax my 10 year old Ram in hopes to make it last a little longer!
 
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Kwik_Cutty88

Royal Smart Person
Nov 22, 2011
1,173
662
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Coastal North Carolina
I love GM trucks. My fathers 2006 Duramax Silverado is still holding steady at 185,000 miles, and my mom just picked up a 2017 Colorado (I was actually very impressed with it.) I sort of understand the reason for the million different special options packages that they have (wheels, graphics, painted accents etc). But I cringe when I see them because I know they aren't anything special. They could have done something a lot cooler with this.

Truck prices are really getting out of hand, but to be fair they've been on a steep incline for the past 10 years or so. And I would argue that the offerings by the big three are the best they've been, these new trucks are incredible. I mean I see nothing wrong with a fully optioned out 2500HD or Ram or F250. It seems people are under the impression that these trucks are just packed with useless features and the things that make a truck, a truck are gone.
 
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84dragcutlass

Royal Smart Person
Supporting Member
Aug 20, 2009
1,189
1,507
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North Vernon IN
The things that make a truck are basically gone, ever tried to actually use a new truck? I mean the things are like mini vans and good luck actually finding a long bed. These new trucks have beds the size of baby cribs on the back to haul Mr. and Mrs do goods luggage to the airport.... I mean the 1988-1998 body style was pretty much the last good truck chevy made, it was tough, could actually be used, and wasn't optioned like an executives mansion. Don't get me wrong I like the bells and whistles on a car but if youre buying a truck you should be able to use it without fear of it being so useless. I have a 1998 Chevy regular cab long bed W/T with the 4.3 6 cyl with 323,000 miles and it is meant to work and that's all I expect out of it and ill sure try and make it last as absolutely long as possible so I don't have to move on to some overpriced junker
 
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1evilregal

Comic Book Super Hero
Apr 23, 2009
3,056
4,357
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Greensboro, NC
that's why I'm trying to keep miles low on my 2009 F150.... my buddy priced out some new trucks like mine and his 2 F250's, and you could buy a small to medium sized house for what they want for them!

I love my Ford, and probably couldn't see myself going back to a chev/gmc or ram truck, the "Blue Ox" has just been so dependable...
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
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*CENSORED*
There seems to be a hole in the market for what most of us would consider a traditional work pickup. I often wondered if one of the truck manufacturers (Freightliner, International, etc) would have any success marketing a simple, basic, reliable 1-1.5 ton. Heavy duty chassis and sturdy, maybe galvanized body panels -- no "weight saving" aluminum beds. Actual gauges, roll-up windows, rubber floor mats and vinyl seats. No suede or infotainment center. If they could contract with Cummins and Allison they'd have a pretty tough to beat combo. Manual shifting transfer case and locking hubs on 4x4 models. Something more akin to a tractor than a Cadillac. Instead of focusing on gadgetry and trying to get customers to just buy a new, less obsolete, one every 3 years maybe they could try to build something worth keeping.
I bet if they could keep pricing reasonable they'd sell a bunch. Fleets would love something like that.

Think about it. Truck drivers don't trade in every 3 years because they want the latest in connectivity so they can tweet from the truck stop. They Invest in the long term life of the truck. My uncle has been driving the same Peterbilt since 1984. My grandpa drove log truck for 40+ years and I think he had 3 or 4 trucks. The last one only got replaced because it got wrecked.

I just can't see a new pickup as being money well spent. $60k and up (My former boss had close to $100k in his Ram) for something with a planned obsolescence at 100,000 miles isn't practical. Sure, most go well beyond that, but at a cost.
Now, if I had an option to buy a HD pickup for, say, $40k that had no frills and was designed to go half a million miles, I might consider that a better investment.
 
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Andebe

Greasemonkey
Mar 6, 2017
241
256
43
Indiana
Todays truck prices are why I bought a Caballero/Camino. If...ha ha,when I sock a bunch of money in it,at least it will be tweaked to my liking. I get so frustrated when I try and load a mattress into a customers truck,and they spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how to undo their bed cover. :doh: God forbid,if it has to lay up against the side with the tail gate down. My favorite is when they get so nervous,they say let me go home and get a trailer and come back. Sigh...:blam:
 

Kwik_Cutty88

Royal Smart Person
Nov 22, 2011
1,173
662
113
Coastal North Carolina
The things that make a truck are basically gone, ever tried to actually use a new truck? I mean the things are like mini vans and good luck actually finding a long bed. These new trucks have beds the size of baby cribs on the back to haul Mr. and Mrs do goods luggage to the airport.... I mean the 1988-1998 body style was pretty much the last good truck chevy made, it was tough, could actually be used, and wasn't optioned like an executives mansion. Don't get me wrong I like the bells and whistles on a car but if youre buying a truck you should be able to use it without fear of it being so useless. I have a 1998 Chevy regular cab long bed W/T with the 4.3 6 cyl with 323,000 miles and it is meant to work and that's all I expect out of it and ill sure try and make it last as absolutely long as possible so I don't have to move on to some overpriced junker


Every 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton truck offering from the big three has an option for a long bed. Yes, I've "used" new trucks routinely, and many companies buy fleet vehicles of brand new trucks instead of paying to rebuild their old ones if that says anything.

I think the basics of a truck are still alive and well (tough, versatile etc.) they just have a lot more features. Trucks don't have to ride or handle like they did 20-30 years ago. They have come a long way and will continue to advance.

There seems to be a hole in the market for what most of us would consider a traditional work pickup. I often wondered if one of the truck manufacturers (Freightliner, International, etc) would have any success marketing a simple, basic, reliable 1-1.5 ton. Heavy duty chassis and sturdy, maybe galvanized body panels -- no "weight saving" aluminum beds. Actual gauges, roll-up windows, rubber floor mats and vinyl seats. No suede or infotainment center. If they could contract with Cummins and Allison they'd have a pretty tough to beat combo. Manual shifting transfer case and locking hubs on 4x4 models. Something more akin to a tractor than a Cadillac. Instead of focusing on gadgetry and trying to get customers to just buy a new, less obsolete, one every 3 years maybe they could try to build something worth keeping.
I bet if they could keep pricing reasonable they'd sell a bunch. Fleets would love something like that.

I think this would be the golden ticket, but it seems that fleets have no problem forking out the cash for brand new "stripy" work trucks. I guess because they have no other option. Even the most basic long bed, regular cab, 2WD V6 1500 Silverado still starts at around 30 grand. But I don't see how they can make these WT trucks any less basic.
 

DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,079
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*CENSORED*
My only real fleet experience is in dealing with a large transit entity. Our shop did repairs on their support vehicles but they handled basic maintenance. They preferred the older vehicles to the newer ones. In fact they were trying to rotate out their 6-8 year old F350s so that they could hang on to their 15+ year old trucks. Why? Because the new trucks were too complicated and expensive to repair. Many that I worked on cost well over $100k to outfit with a service box and necessary accessories but any kind of major engine problem (6.0 diesels, mostly) would render the truck almost valueless.
I also have a good friend who works for the state as a mechanic. Cost of repair has led them to lease almost all of the newer equipment. They still own and repair older stuff because it makes sense on paper. Sure, people like touch screens and "clean vehicles" as long as it doesn't cost the anything.

Sorry about the topic drift. That is indeed a fancy bowtie.
 
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