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I am a single man who will be buying my first home this spring 2013. I currently drive a passenger car, but I am wondering if a truck would be more useful as a home owner.
The age of house I plan to purchase will be about 10-15 years old. I will buy a home that requires little or no maintainance at time of sale (not a fixer-upper). I would hire a contractor for major projects (like roof replacement, etc). I will be handling the easier routine maintenance.
Do home owners wish they had a F-250 size truck (or at least a pick-up truck)? Does having a truck make life easier for this routine maintenance?
Unless you plan on making frequent trips to Lowes or Home Depot for D-I-Y projects around the house, where you might need to haul lumber, dirt, mulch, etc....you'll probably be just fine with a car.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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With the modern cars having back seats that fold down there's no need for a truck for most homeowners. They are nice to have as a second or third vehicle if you are going to tow a boat or camping trailer but not needed any more by homeowners than renters.
Home Depot and Lowes will deliver everything you might need. Unless you have to haul your own trash to the dump you don't need a truck just to own a house.
I was going to say what would be the point if you aren't getting a DIY fixer-upper or plan on doing major renovations in the near future?
Skip the truck. I bought back in May and never wished for cargo hauling or space.
If anything, if you do eventually start DIY jobs around the house and don't need the hauling capacity of a truck / don't want the same space requirements, you can do just fine on a minivan. My dad replaced the electrical system from fuses to a circuit breaker, rewired the house, put up new drywall, re-tiled the basement, painted many times, replaced a boiler, and hauled wood for various projects, all with the same minivan we used to haul us kids around
I always like having an older truck laying around, but I'll readily admit you can get by without it. Should you ever find yourself in need of one, there's always U-Haul. Heck, even Lowes and Home Depot rent trucks now.
I used to have a little 4x6 trailer that I towed behind my Scion xB. Between the cargo room in the xB and the trailer capacity, I was able to do everything I wanted on my first house. That included cutting down a couple dozen pine trees and hauling away the wood. It took a couple more trips than it would have if I had my truck then, but the plus side was that I basically had the best of both worlds in one vehicle.
I live in Texas. Everybody here has at least one truck, I have 3. Considering how nice the newer trucks are and the safety it provides, it's kinda hard not to have one. Fuel mileage, a 4 door Crewcab will get in the teens town driving and in the mid 20's hiway for most of the trucks. If that fits in your budget, look at them and take one for a ride. Most are nicer than most luxury cars and certainly bring more content to the purchase than an econobox. You can also buy a hard lockable cover for the bed if you like. I've had several like that and they are water tight, at least the ones I've had. But I wouldn't suggest a 3/4 ton like an F250 unless you just like a rough ride and a gas hog. The F150 or similar truck will do most anything a weekend warrior needs, provide more safety, better ride than most cars, and carry more value at trade in than most cars. I think you need to at least drive one.
Having at least an old truck around can be quite handy more often than not. Cars and vans are fine, but nothing beats an eight-foot bed when having to haul a little dirt to fix a hole or two on the lawn, or maybe some lumber, or a refrigerator, or just load the bed with the old canoe and go paddling somewhere.
I don't like to wait for things to be delivered to my home from the local stores, unless I have no choice.
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