Pickup Lines

I don’t typically get sentimental about cars and trucks. OK, that’s not entirely true. I do associate memories of my past vehicles with memories of other things, events, and people who were in my life at the time, so there is a nostalgia factor at work. Several years ago when I bought a Chevy Cruze (still in my garage today) I even dedicated a blog post to 10 of those vehicles. (See The Road Worrier.) But I don’t get attached to them in a way that makes it hard to sell them when the time comes, nor do I miss them when they are gone. I just remember them fondly – or in a couple of cases unfondly. Yet there is more than a little twinge about this one.

Even so, it’s not the vehicle itself causing the twinge. The 1998 GMC 2500 Sierra was purchased new by my father. He died in 2000. Even though I’ve owned it 10 times longer than he did, it still feels to me very much like my dad’s truck. So, selling it is severing a connection to an earlier phase of life. Nonetheless, during the course of its most recent visit for some basic service, a trusted mechanic informed me that it is time to let this one go. Much like myself (he didn’t make the comparison) it is aging more on the inside than on outside. Any vehicle can be kept running indefinitely, of course, if you are willing to foot the expense of constant repairs (and/or are a good mechanic yourself), but there comes a point when one has to ask why. That time has arrived. It has arrived at the irksomely appropriate changing of the seasons. Though it is still technically summer, there are yellowing leaves in the trees. At this latitude, regarding the summer as ending on August 31 is not entirely wrongheaded – orbital positions notwithstanding.

I won’t miss the GMC per se, but I sorely will miss the cash expended to replace it – and I do wish to replace it. I don’t need a pickup truck for daily use anymore, but I do need one occasionally. (Given how long I keep trucks, it likely will be my last.) Have you looked at the prices of new trucks lately? They are simply ridiculous. (I considered used, but then I might as well keep the GMC.) Further, the trucks in local dealers’ lots are all decked out with bells and whistles that add $10,000 or $20,000 to the price. I seek neither bells nor whistles. I’m not a high schooler trying to impress his date to the prom. Nor do I need anything heavy duty. A baseline model that every now and then can carry lumber, roof shingles, wheelbarrows, or what-have-you is just fine. These start in the mid $20,000s according to the manufacturers, though not a single dealer in three counties (I live near the border of two and not far from a third) has anything listed in current inventory close to that number. Most listed models are in the $40,000s. I suspect the tendency of many buyers to look at monthly cost rather than the actual price accounts for much of the popularity of these more upscale vehicles. This is not a new phenomenon. A century ago Will Rogers offered this cure for traffic jams: “Don’t let vehicles on the road until they’re paid for.” Plus ça change…

I might end up having to order a baseline model since no one seems to stock them. At the moment I’m leaning toward either Chevy Colorado or Nissan Frontier. I hesitate to mention any of this before actually buying a new vehicle. I have no doubt that as soon as this blog is posted the AIs that scan blogsites and social media posts will incessantly inundate me with ads for trucks – particularly Chevrolets and Nissans. I’ll let the “Labor Day Sales Event” promotions pass. On the off chance there is something appealing in a dealer’s lot (if some other sale fell through or something), it’s best if the banks and insurance companies are open so I simply can drive it home instead of stretching out the process, so maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. If the experience is discouraging enough, I might end up forgetting the whole thing and stretching the old GMC’s life with maintenance tweaks after all. The new version of the same model Sierra is priced over $70,000 (!), which in inflation-adjusted terms is a huge increase over what my dad paid in 1998. (I had no idea I was driving such a swanky vehicle.) Whichever way it goes, it will not be for sentimental reasons.

Grateful Dead – Truckin'