So when do you pull the plug on a utilitarian vehicle?

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

I only do minor work on the truck. Transmissions and stuff like that have to be outsourced as I don't have the tools or time - i already struggle to deal with the "hobby" vehicles.

Curtis said:

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to GCrites80s :

Yeah, the diesel isn't doing that well on the mileage either, but at least I'm seeing 15-17mpg when not towing. It's only 2ish mpg down from what I got out West, but then again I live on the edge of the mountains.

I never noticed poorer mileage in my Dmax when I'm in Clarksburg.  That thing gets 20+ empty.  My F150 with a 5.4L got 12 at best.

Depending on the kind of diesel truck you have, you can expect anywhere from 30-50% better MPGs.  Back in the day I had an 88 TBI chevy that reliably got 13 empty and a 98 6.5TD that reliably got 22 empty.  And the TD had way more torque and way better resale value.  Guess which one I drove every day?  The TD.

Oh, I'm very aware that the fuel consumption of a gas engined one would be considerably worse. Fuel consumption is a bit secondary for me though as I don't use it that much (I have an E34 BMW as my daily) and having a gas engined truck makes some of the maintenance work a little easier. Either way I'll see what the diagnosis is next week as it looks like it's still a better idea to replace the transmission and deal with some of the other issues instead of buying another quasi-cheap truck.

The lack of a payment is very nice, especially on a vehicle that gets used sparingly.  While you have a lot of miles on the truck, if it's otherwise in good mechanical condition, I'd probably fix it.

My DD GX470 is 11 years and 122k miles old.  This past year all the wear items have worn out.  Most of the work I've done myself but this past weekend the radiator sprung a leak.  Huge storm rolled in Wednesday and I just didn't have the time to get the parts/tools to fix it myself.  Off to the dealer it went, where it got fixed and I paid an enormous bill. 

However, at this point, it should be good to go maintenance wise for a very long time...

Mechanical condition is so-so, at least according to the shop that replaced the oil pump and the HPOP valve. OTOH it's a running truck that got me across the country and it's still running.

I think the critical factor for me here is that I don't want a truck payment which currently severely limits my truck purchasing options - we don't have any payments other than the house right now and I'd like to keep it that way until one of the DDs will have to be replaced, hopefully a few years in the future. Plus, as you said, having a payment on a rarely used vehicle isn't that great.

You mention that the exterior is not great looking.  In my Gov't Mule thread I briefly talk about vinyl and the used of knifeless tape for cutting the vinyl and mimicking the factory two tone look.  This would cost about $100 per side in vinyl.  You could do it yourself.  

That would then be for adding a blue center color to your already white truck in this sample:

Cheap diesel trucks don't depreciate much past a certain point. If you are at the bottom, buying another truck for similar money will probably put you in the same spot you are now. With a old truck that needs work. 

If you seldom use it, service the transmission and drive it until the transmission pukes entirely. That may be years down the road or never. 

In reply to John Welsh :

The problem is more that it's got dents (including in the roof) and right side of the bed is pushed up right above the exhaust. I don't think they make vinyl to fix that . The dents on the roof should be OK to massage out, though.

It's not as daunting as doing a transmission, but how about a bed swap? 

In the same situation, I would probably fix the transmission and run it into the ground. I'm pretty forgiving with the looks of a truck that's a workhorse, in some ways it's less stress because you don't have to worry as much about it getting dinged, etc. I like the idea of the bed swap if the visible damage is primarily to the bed.

Slipping and slamming into gear are things that happen when the filter falls into the pan or otherwise sucks air where it is hooked to the bottom of the pump. I'd look into it before planning on a rebuild or to replace the truck. 

And if you do want to replace it with another 7.3 home down here and get you one. 7-10k well get you a decent 7.3 truck and a really nice v10 f250.

Transmission service did make a difference, it is now shifting much better.

It's also leaking a rather annoying amount of transmission fluid. It didn't do that before, so I guess I get to take it back to the shop. Yay.