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Hit 400,000 miles on my truck last Friday and part of me thinks I should have quit at 300,000
I rolled over 400,000 miles on my 2005 Silverado driving back from a job in Wheeling last Friday, and I honestly did not think it would get there. Here is my thing. One side of me says keep going, the truck runs fine, I change the oil every 5,000 miles, the frame is still solid, and a new truck payment would run me $600 a month which I would rather put into savings. The other side says I am fooling myself, because in the last 20,000 miles I have done all four ball joints, both front wheel bearings, a water pump, and the rear brake lines, and every one of those breakdowns cost me a work day. So which is the better protection plan, spending maybe $1,500 a year keeping an old truck alive, or eating a payment on something with a warranty and a backup camera? I keep a notebook of every repair and I am at $9,200 total over 11 years, which sounds like a lot until I do the math on payments. Curious what number you all would call it quits at, or if you just ride it until the tow truck wins.
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perez.mia21d ago
The part about every breakdown costing you a work day is the real number nobody talks about. Four grand in repairs over 20k miles is one thing, but if each one ate a day you couldn't bill, you're really paying the repair bill plus a day of lost pay, plus the stress of wondering if it'll start Monday morning. That worry has a cost too, even if it never shows up in the notebook. So the math isn't $1,500 a year versus $7,200 a year in payments, it's closer than it looks when you add the missed work. If the breakdowns are hitting twice a year now, that's the pattern saying something, not the odometer.
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