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The luxury truck segment is in large part due to automotive mandates.
Trucks are exempt from certain requirements allowing this segment to fully develop compared to other parts of the world that concentrate on passenger car production.
Still remember when several business owner friends bought large SUV type vehicles including Land Rover because if the vehicle was large enough to meet truck classification substantial tax credits kicked in.
When in doubt... follow the money is still sound advice to the how and why many things happen.
The F450 is not a truck that the average joe will buy. It is a tow truck pretty much.
The average joe is well served with a F150, or a 1500 Silverado unless they are towing homes for a living.
Look up the prices of a new commercial tow truck they are probably north of 100k. There is a reason they get a few hundred bucks to tow your car a few miles.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
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[quote=People who are willing to shell out $100K for a truck are coming at it from an entirely different perspective.[/QUOTE]
Yep - based on what I see around my area it's usually people who are young and broke but who can 'afford the payments'. They lease or finance with zero down for 6-7 years. Stupid and forever broke.
People who have the money and buy trucks buy Super Duties with their business name sticker to the door. They wouldn't be in this market either.
If you can afford the write a check then it may be a pretty interesting truck though not for me. The depreciation on something like this will be astronomical.
One of my friends is a one man mobile equipment mechanic... he tows his "Shop" which is fully equipped and makes for a heavy load... F350 is marginal at best for his set up.
I can see a nicely outfitted F450 filling the bill as he spends more time with his truck and trailer than anywhere else... plus it is a business expense.
Anyone remember when factory A/C first became an option in pickups? Many comments were made about not "Needing" A/C in a work truck or an automatic, radio, power steering, etc...
These big trucks have kind of taken the place of the big sedan as the platform to showcase all latest luxury tech. At least for these American brands. If you want a top of the line Mercedes you go straight to the S Class. Top of the line Ford is their biggest crew cab dually pickup.
You would think Detroit would get the hint with the success of fully loaded state of the art trucks being sold that they'd stop calling midsized sedans as full sized cars, and get with the program to build body on chassis rear wheel drive cars...
It's very common in the area of Florida I am in to see snowbirds driving fully loaded Tahoe Escalade Expeditions Navigators Silverado Ram F series trucks, aside from drop top corvettes...
I don't see many "cadillacs" or "lincolns"
I believe the town car could still be viable, so too would a Deville and Fleetwood/Fleetwood Brougham.
I'm not into the sports sedan trend being pushed.
When I think of a luxury car. The last one ever produced was the last year of the Deville rebadged a DTS/DHS and Lincoln Town Car.
Interior space-you get that in a land yacht Cadillac or Lincoln.
Storage space-you get that in the trunk of said Cadillac or Lincoln.
Fully loaded pickups have replaced the gap the manufacturer has created.
I love cadillacs. Not what they call cadillacs today...
For what insurance would run me on a Challenger Mustang or Camaro, even if it was powered by a groany V6 or turbo 4 pot, I can insure 4 brand new trucks. That's no joke.
My brother in law has an 09 charger V6 his insurance is 335 per month, no DWI, no accidents or speeding tickets. It's a "sports car"
My two pickups. Both fully loaded, with full coverage collision comp etc, 2 something a month. Think it was 260 ish...
For chits and giggles I asked for a quote from my insurance company for a Challenger, I was tempted to buy a hell cat before I bought big bertha.
615 per month. That was more than the monthly payment with 30k cash down at the dealer for a term of 5 years! No accidents, no DWI, no tickets.
So for me, if I were to buy a car... I'd want a Deville or Fleetwood Brougham.
Rear wheel drive V8 with room. Not something that was kicked in the nose and kicked in the Ass with pleather and plastic interior...
Real wood grain and chrome metal knobs/buttons. Real leather. Lazy boy recliner sized front seats like my old Fleetwood brougham had.
A brand new "Production" car bought off the showroom floor for MSRP, Factory Warranty, Emission Certification, etc.
My Boss did not special order or put his name on a waiting list... one day he was shopping for a new truck and saw the 2006 Ford GT on the showroom and he was interested.
That dealer had a huge markup... so he made a few telephone calls and found a Ford Dealer and made the Deal at MSRP...
Ford vies for being the largest automaker in the world and every Ford Dealer sold Ford GT's
Well, I don't think we typically see appreciation in your typical automobile, especially if you buy it new. If you get a good deal on a used vehicle, it may hold most of its value depending on mileage, and condition. In my opinion, most vehicles are poor investments unless you buy collector cars, and time the market properly.
In our part of the world, go to any parking lot and you will find 3/4 of all vehicles are medium to large SUVs, and Pickups. The #1 best selling vehicles in the USA, is the F150 pickup. It sells more pickups than the first in production autos. And that does not include the F250, F350, and F450 lines of pickups. #2 is the Chevrolet Silverado, and #3 is Dodge Ram.
The range from a little over $20,000 to nearly $100,000 in price. In that parking lot, the 4 door mid to up scale models and trim levels are the same value as the autos driven by people driving cars in the city. My wife and I are in our late 80s, and our two vehicles are a F150 pickup, and a fully decked out Ford Explorer SUV. Sticker price was just under $50,000 and this is just a mid price range model. Most are 4 doors, and all 4X4 drive. Rarely will you see a 2 door short bed, pickup.
In the cities Doctors, and Executives drive luxury cars. Out in the real world like Montana, the same people drive luxury pickups such as this the Ford F450 which started this thread.
Out here they call the following model pickup, and those mid size made by foreign owned companies, are called Ladies Trucks. Out here people drive real pickups, not for work buy everyday drivers.
Out here we don't think anything about seeing a teen age 4'8" 85 pound girl jump into a F350 pickup and wheel it down the road as well as any man can do. We drive what we drive, as they will serve us well no matter the road conditions, up and down mountains. They are also build tougher and use less maintenance than cars do. Out here the first car a teen is given or buys is a Pickup, all with 4X4 or AWD, and 4 door configuration.
Note: Ford F150 is considered the most dangerous car on the road. Not dangerous for the driver and their passengers of the F150, but for dangerous to those driving small and sporty cars that run into one. When one of those little city cars crashes into one, it extremely dangerous for the little car driver, and those in the pickup, have no injuries.
Last edited by oldtrader; 10-01-2017 at 04:24 PM..
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,741,137 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtrader
[b]The #1 best selling vehicles in the USA, is the F150 pickup. It sells more pickups than the first in production autos.
Having worked at Ford corporate headquarters, I can tell you this is due mainly to the huge number of fleet sales of F150s. Not because the average joe is buying one.
Please, will somebody bring back the little utility pickup? A modern version of the Chevy LUV, the Mazda B2000, etc. No frills. Cloth seats and hand crank windows. Maybe a small extended cab area to stash a few items. A 6-ft bed. Something that will fit in your garage. I think a modern version of a small utility pickup with say, 180hp 4 cyl mated to a 6 spd tranny, will perform a lot better than the 1980's mini-trucks. And sell them for under $20k!
Never going to happen. There is not enough business to justify building such a vehicle. To put such a vehicle back in production, especially not enough business to be able to produce one for under $20,000, and the car company and the dealers to be able to make even 10 cents each profit. The days of a $20,000 pickup, are long gone, and are not coming back.
Well, I don't think we typically see appreciation in your typical automobile, especially if you buy it new. If you get a good deal on a used vehicle, it may hold most of its value depending on mileage, and condition. In my opinion, most vehicles are poor investments unless you buy collector cars, and time the market properly.
Very true... probably why I will need to keep my one and only new car forever if I want to keep my record of never selling for a loss.
In high school I bought a 72 Plymouth Valiant for $800... drove it for years... all of a sudden my rust free Valiant with 300k miles sold for $2500... only repair was a timing chain and that was $40 for parts and my Saturday morning... tires, battery, brake pads are maintenance items.
Not sure if that will pan out for newer models as I have seen some high end cars like BMW 7 series go for nothing because it wouldn't pass smog and the converters and such run thousands...
My 91 Stepside keeps appreciating nicely... one owner and rust free... gave $2500 for it about 15 years ago when it was just old...
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