I’m in my 20s and work in trades. I bought a cheap 10k truck a few years back and it’s absolutely perfect. I do regular maintenance and runs well, plus I don’t really care about getting it dinged up.
I understand people can do what they want with their money but it honestly makes me laugh when these guys I work with complain about inflation and how expensive everything is, yet they all have ridiculous monthly payments on 70-80k trucks.
I do plan on upgrading in a few years, but there is no way putting that amount of money into a truck is worth it.
Comments
“I want it because it’s cool” – That’s really the only justification you need to buy something stupid.
Although if you complain about how much it costs after you buy the stupid thing you should be mocked mercilessly.
I’m with ya. I make good money, but I’ve never spent more than 20k on a vehicle and drive them till they’ve got 200k+ miles on them. I just can’t justify spending that much on a car or truck.
They want other people to think they’re cool.
The way I look at it, I either pay the money to lease a truck, or I pay it in taxes. For the amount of driving I do for work, I’d also rather be comfortable with the latest tech. Showing up in a new shiny truck also looks better than a beater, some older vehicles can still look great, I’m talking about something dinged to fucking hell. I might pay a bit more money towards the truck than taxes, but it’s how I’d rather spend my money.
Life is insanely short and meaningless to a lot of people. Money is fake and means nothing by the end of it all. Trucks makes them really happy during their short time here.
Happiness > numbers on a banking app.
Guys think it makes their dick big.
I saved up for a long time and bought my dream truck that was within the ballpark of 75k. Manageable payments and was worth every last penny. Makes me happy and I’m proud to drive it. That’s all the justification I needed for myself to pull the trigger on it. I already have everything I need. I’m not going to put all my money away for retirement when I’m too old to truly enjoy it anyways. I’m going to spend it right now and enjoy my life.
i don’t want to be preconscious, and i’m sure a lot of people work in the trades because they love the job.
but,
a lot of tradespeople aren’t in it for the dream. they are in it because a chain of bad decisions dragged them there. bad decisions like buying $75k trucks.
working in the trades, you should have figured this out yourself by now: most tradespeople aren’t idiots, but most idiots end up in the trades.
well, most idiots without rich parents.
It’s a combination of these things called wants, desires, and opinions. They don’t justify it because there’s nothing to justify.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a truck like that that had anything in the bed besides dust.
It’s purely guys compensating for their shortcomings. The bigger the truck, the less likely they’ll use it for anything but going to work… at their office job.
They’re a lot cheaper than $85k trucks. Actually, my secretary drives one. The sales guy asked her how much she could afford each month, then gave her an 8 year note.
One payment at a time
If you just buy the truck in cash you don’t have to make monthly payments and its much cheaper:)
Sincerely not trying to get political (won’t reply if that’s where you take it) but when you grow up in a relatively conservative culture that says “be a MAN or you’re GAY and that’s BAD!!!!” you’re gonna be terrified and do whatever you can to act like a man.
Then when people tell you bigger and louder truck = manlier, you’re gonna buy the biggest loudest truck you can just to seem manly. And when you see a bunch of other yoked bearded dudes driving trucks, you’ll follow suit. You would be shocked at how much money people spend to silence their crippling insecurities. See: the entire cosmetic surgery industry.
Then, fold in the fact that spending absurd amounts of money on pointless status symbols is a story as old as society itself. Lawns are absolutely pointless, but they got their footing as a status symbol in society because only rich people used to be able to hire (or buy) people to mow, sod, and water massive worthless swathes of grass. Now, there’s an entire industry about selling $5,000 riding mowers and expensive watering systems to homeowners for literally… no goddamn reason. Zero value. But the prettier the lawn, the better. Just because.
TL,DR: A combination of insecurity of being perceived as non-manly, and a status symbol which is purchased just because they want to peacock the fact that they… at one point… had $75k + double-digit interest, in some cases.
I guess they have payments. I’d rather drive my old truck anyday
When I got my first 60k truck, people started treating me better. I appeared to be more boss-material to employees and clients viewed me as more successful.
If a contractor pulled up in a POS, I would judge them as not being good enough to afford a quality vehicle.
Cuz you can’t show up at a construction site in a $75k BMW
Used for work it’s a tax write-off
They write their vehicles off on their taxes as business expenses.
Debt, a whole lot of it. You’re not buying a truck, you’re buying debt that comes with the truck.
There are 3 types of pickup drivers per my carpenter friend. Guys who buy a truck for the lumber yard, guys who buy one for Home Depot, and assholes who hire contractors because they don’t know the ass end of a hammer.
I’ve never made good money. My car is a 2002. I couldn’t afford a car payment even if I wanted to. I’d never be able to justify this expense especially when $75k is more than 2x what I make annually.
But I guess if you’re lucky and make $75k+ annually then such an expense is easier to swallow.
You’re conflating those who can’t afford the trucks and those who can. I know people who have paid cash for trucks that cost 75k or more.
People like what they like. A nice truck drives much better than a 10k truck. The interior and trim is nicer. It’s no different than someone purchasing a $75k or more car. If money didn’t matter and it was all about efficiency everyone would be driving base model Camrys and civics.
People splurge on what they like.
On the flip side, those who can’t afford those $75k+ trucks get them because they think they gotta keep up with the Joneses or aren’t financially knowledgeable.
Why do you even care?
To each their own. I buy used vehicles 2-3 years old and typically in a lower end trim level that has the basic features I want. I take no pride in my truck; its reliable, gets me where I need to go, and has the utility value I’m looking for.
I am also shocked at what people are willing to pay for vehicles. The guy with a Raptor F150 down the block paid 3x what I did and it never leaves the pavement, despite the full off-road kit. Why bother?
Mostly little dicks
Everyone is different. Some people want to retire someday, some people like expensive trucks.
I never understood it, if I was going to drop big cheddar it would be on something restored from the 60s or 70s, and then only 30k.😀 Personally I have a disdain for all the plastic shiny “chrome”, the electronic interior crap, and forget about looking under the hood. That said, newer vehicles create a ton of power/torque, handle great, stop great, tow great….to each their own.
I’ve been saying it for a decade, oversized trucks have become the new luxury/muscle cars.
It’s what us old folks call. Trying to keep with the Jones.
What should they rather spend their money on? drugs and hookers?
In a few years, your 10k truck will be 20k. Your upgrade will probably be a lateral move at best
They’re overcompensating for some deficiency.
So I’m in Australia and $$ may vary, but I drove a 3k car for 12 years from 18-30 and last year my husband and I upgraded to a family SUV for 70k. We had our second child this year and it is now the family car.
It is a lot safer, in theory, than my old sedan which was 23 years old by then but the engine was still perfect.
It is much more comfortable and convenient with better seats/space for my 6ft3 husband, bigger boot to fit a pram, more fuel efficient (bought a plug in hybrid).
We could have afforded a little upgrade maybe 5-6 years ago but decided to hold off until we needed it for the family – will be using it for road trips/camping in future, towing trailers for gardening, hardware, furniture now. We paid cash and bought it through his business.
For us, we wanted to buy a PHEV and got one of the cheaper PHEV SUVs on the Australian market.
It made no sense to us to upgrade to a bigger car without upgrading to the latest safety and fuel standards at the same time.
it’s needed. Gotta move heavy shit regularly. Can I get a 6.6 Duramax without spending 77k? Sure. But i spend at least 3 hours a day in the thing. Creature comforts matter.
If/when you’re bringing home 100k+ and your partner is gainfully employed and you’re not living at the top of your tax bracket, the $1200 payment doesn’t hurt that bad.
Found this the other day. On target to this topic.
https://youtu.be/KKEkUs8MTnQ?si=uNrPzaZJHuDE7sU1
Depends what you do with it. I want a new truck for tow rig but also has business allocations for me. Personally I’ll buy a decent used truck with lower miles for $20k less but still considerable investment. If you just driving around not much reason to spend $75k unless you really like truck and have money.