Thinking about a Diesel?

[XJSuperman]

Call Nationwide auto ins. I've been using them for almost 12 years.



For my dodge and my wife's WRX we pay $140 per month TOTAL not each. It's about a 60/40 split truck/car respectively as my truck is insured for business use and mileage. So figuring that it's about $85 for the truck and $55 for the car.

 

[WMcGuire]

Well, I don't want to get too bogged down in semantics but according to my registration notice, I don't pay any taxes on my truck!! They're all Fees!! Oo. Oo. Oo.



Registration Fee = $40. 00

Vehicle Licence Fee (VLF) = $173. 00

Weight Fee = $204. 00

County/District Fees = $7. 00



So when is a fee not a tax? and which is worse?



the VLF is an in lieu property tax, imposed after prop 13 was passed in California to replace the lost income from lowered property assessments



Weight Fees?? obviously a disguised tax!! Oo. Oo.



So. . all you people in low tax-low vehicle registration fee states, is that registration fee really the bottom line?



Or, is the cost of ownership pretty much the same everywhere after adding in all of the disguised hidden costs? Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[rbattelle]

If you’re not really going to pull something and really use this truck do not buy one.

If you’re not going to pull and not a Bass boat on the weekend think before you buy a new truck.

I do exactly this. I have nothing to tow. I don't even own a hitch for my receiver (I'll get one eventually). The only thing I've ever pulled is people out of various ditches.



When I was a kid all my toys were big trucks. Everything from Semis to big 4x4 pickups to model railroads. Ever since I can remember I've salivated at the sight of large mining trucks, dozers, cranes, dumptrucks, motor graders, etc. I can't pass a construction site without oogling the equipment. I work at a place where giant aircraft and fighter jets are a common site, yet I ignore those and drool instead over the diesel fire equipment. I spend so much time researching diesel trucks my friends think of me as a total diesel goober. Heck, if they put a diesel on a portable toilet I'd probably want one.



And oh boy is it an expensive hobby! So expensive I refuse to keep an accurate record of how much I've spent on fixing it up. So expensive that my wife had to put me on a strict $300/month budget to keep me from spending us into the poorhouse.



To each his own, Hootie, and I'm sorry to hear your truck isn't quite what you were looking for. I wish you best of luck in finding something that's better for you.



-Ryan

 

[swalls]

Tony T, if you are remotely associated with agriculture, try Ag Workers Mutual in Ft Worth. Buy a cow if that's what it takes; they are miles lower than State Farm. Also Texas Farm Bureau is pretty good; you don't actually have to be a farmer

 

[john3976]

I pay 580. 00 every six months for insurance and my tag is around 60 or 70 dollars a year.



Florida is great!

 

[DPelletier]

When I was a kid all my toys were big trucks. Everything from Semis to big 4x4 pickups to model railroads. Ever since I can remember I've salivated at the sight of large mining trucks, dozers, cranes, dumptrucks, motor graders, etc. I can't pass a construction site without oogling the equipment. I work at a place where giant aircraft and fighter jets are a common site, yet I ignore those and drool instead over the diesel fire equipment. I spend so much time researching diesel trucks my friends think of me as a total diesel goober. Heck, if they put a diesel on a portable toilet I'd probably want one.



-Ryan

LOL,



Hey Ryan, I have a diesel blender you might be interested in!



Dave

 

[ttreibel]

rbattelle

In a recent TDR issue they had a story about diesel powered aircraft you might be able to blend your interest.







HootieF

With your cost so high if you can't afford the truck get rid of it. We bought our new truck only after our state voted out all those taxes. Our insurrance is dropping each year the first year they told us it was so high because the truck didn't "have a history". I would of bought a gasser truck if I was not pulling much or if I was one who traded every couple years, but we are planning on keeping this rig until 2115 so diesel was our only choice. I do all my schedual maintenance and soon with the bumper to bumper over all my own repairs to save some money. Buy diesel at a truck stop you get a better price and fresher fuel only use a city pump in a pinch.

 

[RJOL]

a. I fill up my 35 Gallon tank a minimum of 5 times per Month. It cost about $65 to fill up. 5x $65 = $325 ( dose not include fishing trips)

You usually don't buy a 2500 or 3500 CTD if your just going to use it to commute...

b. To finance $39,000 your payment =for 72 month will be around $634

Yes... if you have to finance the whole thing, it can be expensive...

c. Your insurance on this beast will be around $150 a month if you have a clean record.

Yep... Insurance ain't cheap, and it don't look like it's going to get cheaper in the near future. I pay about $2300 a year for my truck two cars, and a trailer...

d. Property tax (in VA) about $1200 per year or $100 a month.

Well this one I can't help you with... Maybe you should move...

e. I do drive a lot and chance my oil every 3500 miles $69 at the dealer.

I change my own oil... Takes about 10 minutes and cost about $25 with filter...



Seriously... I'm sorry you are not enjoying your CTD. If it doesn't fit your lifestyle, then probably the best thing you could do it sell it and get something more economical to drive. You don't have your signature filled out so it's hard to tell what your setup is. If you have an auto 4X4 with a 4. 10 rear end, and you drive a lot of stop and go short trips, or like to drive with the foot in it... 15MPG isn't all that bad for a full size truck... Hope your situation improves...

 

[Matt400]

Matt400, Couldn't let that slip by without comment, we do have a property tax on our vehicles in California, remember the VLF fee you pay at registration, I just checked my renewal notice for 2005, $173. 00 VLF fee, that is an in lieu of personal property tax. Oo.

I never looked at it that way, each year I pay property tax on real estate and each year I pay a license fee for the vehicles, trucks, cars, motorcycles- etc. . I suppose you could say it's a property tax.

 

[Matt400]

Hey Matt and Klopp!

Wait untill you see the price of CARB diesel this summer

Gee thanks!!

Oh I make Diesel for a living!!!!!!!

Well dang Mac, your just the fella a bunch of us has been looking for.

Any idea what the HFRR and Cetane index is on the stuff your making?

And are you personally using any additives in your own truck?

 

[Matt400]

What I want to know is where in the heck are you guy's finding that cheap auto insurance. Matt saying $900. 00 a year

Hey Tony,

We have Allied Insurance, they have all our personal business- homeowners, auto's, kids cars & boat. They give a break the more business you give them.

We have State Farm Insurance

Tony... the wife is looking over my shoulder as I type and says- and there ya go!

We have never had a claim and State Farm doubled our homeowners over a 2 year period. Allied for us is even better than Geico that we also had.



It may have allot to do with where you are. . I think its time to find 3 independent brokers and have them write up the same exact coverage for comparison.

 

[robert4570]

Sorry I’m not good at writing.

:

Then you have property tax... In VA to drive my 2004 I pay $400 dollars every 4 months to drive a $40,000 + truck back and forth to work and fish on the weekends





I can't believe some states have a non real estate property tax . It almost discourages anyone from buying big ticket items, such as trucks etc .

Who were the geniuses that came up with that?It must do wonders for the local economy. If you can , move to another state that doesn't tax you to death.

By the way my insurance thru state fram on my 05' dually is $ 1400 a year. :--)

 

[HootieF]

Again if you have the money to drive this truck it's great but if someone is on a budget and wants a big toy, it will cost you. In VA near DC there are no truck stops in fact the closes place to get diesel is 8 miles from the house and it has been at $2. 23 for the last two months. So just to fill up and drive back home it cost me $2. 23. And about the Vibe read the tread Vibe at 70. I lot of the trucks do this or at least the 04.

 

[Cummins4WD]

My insurance is 555 every 6 months for the Dodge and I use www.usaa.com so if you are in the military or your parents were you can take advantage of USAA. In Denver insurance is pretty high but it's not as bad as it could be I guess.



I financed for 80 months to keep my payments under $500 and I send in large payments on the principle when I can. I had two Jeeps to sell after I bought the Dodge and now they are sold so I will send in about 10,000 on the principle and eventually re-finance the loan to get the payments arond 300 per month. I like having the option to send in money when I can but getting locked into a $700+ payment can be a little rough for most folks when every month you have to send in this amount. Bombing the truck hasn't been doing me any favors financially but I'm almost to a point were I'm content on all the mods. Installing an EZ helps with mpg too as long as you drive it nice. I averaged 21mpg on a 500 mile run from Denver to Grand Junction this past Sunday to pick up a trailer.





3:73:1 gears will give you better miles per gallon and think about adding a tonneau and staying as close to 1800 rpms as you can i. e. 70mph or under... force yourself to drive it nicely for two weeks and hand calc you fuel usage. Check your air pressure every week as well.



Diesel in Denver is down to 1. 85 right off I-70 at a truck stop... a Diamond Shamrock and Conoco in my area of town is 1. 89 finally.

 

[nickleinonen]

there is no need to be changing the oil every 3500 miles if you are highway commuting every day... you can extend that by double at least... i do 2 lube oil changes per year myself... [once in spring, once in fall]



my truck never has gotten great fuel economy, my last tank was about 15. 3 mpg [or 15. 3 liters per 100km, your pick... ] but that tank lasted me 20-21 days [put 132 liters in it] and 99% of my driving is in the city, and i have a heavy foot while driving...



my truck payments arn't too small, but i have 0% for 36 months and i a little better than 50% down...



my insurace isn't cheap either, being under 25 and driving an expensive vehicle, but as long as i can keep my record clean, i know that will go down yearly [becoming a "mature" driver :-laf and vehicle value coming down. ]

 

[rbattelle]

my insurace isn't cheap either, being under 25

As an aside, on another thread I commented that it's funny how you get to "know" people from being around here for awhile. Well, it's also funny how you form pre-concieved notions of what a person looks like. Great example - Nick, I thought you were in your 40s at least. Sorry about that... you're younger than me (I'm only 27)! :-laf



-Ryan

[Don't mean to hijack the thread]

 

[nkiewel]

So. . all you people in low tax-low vehicle registration fee states, is that registration fee really the bottom line?

I thought that Minnesota was the tax capital of the world, maybe some of you have us beat! My tags cost $120 every year.



As for insurance, it looks like I am getting screwed! I pay about $1800 per year. Looks like I will be doing some calling around this week!



And I figured that Ryan was older, but he is younger than me (28). There are a lot of young people with sweet rides on this board.

 

[DPelletier]

And I figured that Ryan was older, but he is younger than me (28). There are a lot of young people with sweet rides on this board.

Enough with the ages, your making ME feel old!



Dave

 

[Tony T.]

Thanks guy's for all the come backs on ins. prices an referrals. This really has pi$$ed me off. Looks like I'm one of the highest prices on auto ins. on here an there is no good reason for this. Unless their doing like hospitals do on your health insurance an charge 5 times what it would normally cost for a service trying to makeup for people that don't have insurance.



Makes me wonder if the little independent State Farm agency is pocketing some of my money. Wife just informed me it was $282. 00 a month for both vehicles, this $3384. 00 a year for a 03 Dodge truck an a 99 GMC Jimmy. No accidents,no tickets,etc. An I just completed a defensive driving course through my work they do every 3 years.



We will definitely be changing insurance companys soon.



Again sorry on the hijack.



Thanks

Tony

 

[mconstable]

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here... well, maybe a little... but...

Why did you buy this truck???

Your first complaint is the price of Diesel... is this your trucks fault? I just spent 2 weeks in Ireland and our money was a bit crappy compared to theirs, so a pint of Guinness or Carlsberg cost me around 6 bucks American when they were charging me around 4 Euro... It sucked, but that's just the way it is.

Insurance and property tax... why didn't you check on these ahead of time? I would have... again, not the trucks fault.

Next you complain about the "gas" mileage... ??

These trucks weigh a ton... or 4 depending... what did you expect for "fuel" mileage?

About taking forever to warm up... there's a place to plug in a cord next to the passenger headlight that will give you instant start-up and heat in the frigid weather.

Vibrates when you drive it??? ... ... . never mind

Next, you talk about an investment, I think the quote was "what a joke"

Again, don't mean to sound antagonistic, but,I don't know if you realize this,

unless you're buying a vehicle from the '70's and back... they aren't an "investment" they lose value, period, some slower than others, but that's just how it is.

I have a '61 Volkswagen that I paid a mint for, that will do nothing but appreciate in value... it does get 18-22 miles per gallon, but it won't pull a bass boat to save it's life, not for long anyway, it rides rough, idles rough, it's noisy as hell,and I love it very much, but if "gas" prices go up, I won't get mad at it and sell it, because it's not it's fault, and I knew what I was getting into, and, I assume, so did you?