Are there any dealers up there with a lifetime warranty? Reason i ask is because there are a few here both are Mopar dealers but you get it with any car ,regardless of brand, on the lot and its unlimited mileage too.

I would also but a vote in for the two wheels option. yeah i know it snows but there are guys in Alaska and Canada that ride year round. if its too cold you can drive the truck when its snowing and what not.

Another option is take the cash from the insurance and pay off some bills, credit cards, the wife's car or put it towards your truck.

 

Picked up a beater 2002 taurus. Runs fine has a bit of rust but i didn't buy it for looks. The truck can now keep out of the road salt baths, keep the miles down, and save me a little money. Who knows it might blow up tomorrow and I'll be out selling it for scrap, hopefully not. I'm hoping for 2 good years of service but who knows the body my rot off by then . Tempted to get he rust cheaply fixed but it's probably not even remotely worth my time or money. I'll just throw some heavy grease on it!

 

At least it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who likes to keep their 4x4 truck away from salt and snow and drive a beater instead! That was part of the deal when I just got my new truck a month ago. I saw a 2000 Grand Marquis sitting on the corner of the dealerships lot when I was buying my truck and I told them I'd take the truck if they would throw the car in with it. They did and I got lucky. The car has 197,000 miles on it and it runs great. I hope to get a few more years out of it too.

 

RWG78, I don't plow and the true "need" to use 4WD is so seldom that it's not worth letting a nice truck rot so i can use 4x4 four to five times. I think I use 4x4 more during the summer dragging my dump trailer out of the dump I use. If we are going somewhere and expect bad weather we'll just take the truck. The car is a beater and I don't care if it rots, but i will do proper maintenance and blast the rusty areas with fluid film. So I'm with ya in keeping the shiny truck off the salty roads. I have a truck for a summer business, and because I want it, so it's not "needed" in the winter. I also don't feel the need to drive it everywhere so everyone can "see" me driving it.

I love it, think it's a neat ride, and want to keep it for as long as I can. I'd rather drop a couple grand every few years on a beater than buy a newer truck every 3-5 years if I can. Plus this beater will pull summer commuting duties, not just winter. Now if I was made of money I'd just drive the truck and be getting a new one all the time. But unfortunately that's not the case. Here's hoping out beater cars hold up for us!

 

And I live in areas with heavy lake effect snows too.

 

I hear ya. I use my truck to tow my racecar around with in the summer. After using my last truck as a daily driver for the first few years, and then fighting the losing rust battle, I've decided to not go through that again. The rust was already eating at my 2002 F250 by the time I quit using it in the winters, and I tried my best to keep it clean. The doors and wheel wells stayed solid, but the bed supports rotted through, and the cab corners were starting to go. Needless to say, that after spending what I did on the 2009, it's never going to see salt as long as I use it. All I can say is long live the beaters!!!

 

Smart man! I wouldn't worry about rust on a beater, I don't, just gonna get rusty again.

I will absolutely never drive anything nice of mine in winter! If you do that you may as well take it mudding, off roading, threw the woods, river, and over the hill.

I pretty much gave my brother a car to drive in the winter so he doesn't have to drive his vortec max. Funny, he drives the car all year round more than his truck. lol

 

Yea I need to get over it fast. The car is a piece of junk to get me over the river and through the woods. The driverside power door lock stopped working today (oh I've owned it for 5 days now ) I just hope it's not a sign of things to come! As long as the motor and wheels turn and it passes yearly state inspections without major repairs I'll be happy.

Maybe when it's on its last leg and ready for the scrap pile I will do that

When I had that Impala it was the same way. The truck was the towing and weekend vehcile. It was actually nice to get in the truck only every so often. Felt like I was driving a new vehicile!!


It's nice not being that teenager of soooo long ago who would be embarrased to drive a rusty old car. I love it knowing that my truck can stay off the salty roads and hopefully last longer than I want it to. And like I said before I'd rather spend a $1000-$2000 every 2-3 years on a beater than to watch that truck rot and need to spend a whole lot more money to get another truck. Eventually I'll need another truck someday but hopefully by then I can just pay most of it with cash!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the beater remains faithful!!

 

You know, I get some of the funniest looks when driving my pile. I know some people are looking at me and thinking I am a poor white trash stinky scum bucket. But I don't care, lol. I always park real close to the lexus's and bmw's in parking lots just because it is funny.

Even my own relatives can't figure out why I drive the beater all the time. One time when I pulled up to my aunts house I could hear her say threw the open window to someone else "look what he drives" I am not sure what the other person said but she then said "no, he has nice vehicles, he just likes to drive that thing".

 

The best part is when friends or relatives think you are that poor trashy person and in nice weather you show up in the truck. Then it's the "what, did you win the lottery?" and as the conversation continues "What does that thing get? Two miles per gallon?". I respond "actually it gets 10 but that car I drive gets 25 so it doesnt matter what the truck gets. It's just my toy anyway. Driving that beater allows me to have this" The conversation usually ends there and from then on its usually only positive things from them like "wow this thing is really nice" or the famous "could you help me move/pick up/get something for me. Most of my friends or family pay the same if not more per month for thier sedans then I do for the truck. I just let them keep the illusion that I pay some ridiculous amount for it. Plus most people cannot tell the difference between a 2-3 year old used vs new. Then they can go look at the sticker of a new truck and can't believe you own something so expensive. But again I'll keep the secret that it's used.

 

Just buy a rusty truck and you can drive your truck every day. I just bought my rusty old truck a few months ago and people have already told me I need to find a new one.

 

My X gets around 20mpg with the 7.3, they don't believe me though. My wife drove my beater a few times and hates it! lol, she doesn't like the white trash feeling I guess.

 

Nah. I want one nice thing.

 

My wife feels the same way. Plus there are some exhaust/burning smells (i think there is a small oil leak thats dripping on the exhaust)that she says she doesn't like.

 

Can't say I blame you. I miss having a shinny new pickup.