I am seeing a lot of trucks for sale lately

[IT Cowboy]

I am seeing a lot of trucks listed for sale on FB marketplace and other sites. When I was looking I couldn't find much within a 500 mile radius that wasn't either rusted out or a 90k show truck. Are are trucks getting more popular or are people hurting and selling their toys and hobbies.

[LockDoc]

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Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

Also quite a few guys and gals that enjoy these trucks are getting to the age that they can no longer drive or maintain them so they just sell them. I am slowly but surely getting to that point and when that happens I will have 5 of them to get rid of......
.

[kwmech]

I think LocDoc hit it on the head. Personally I have 5 vehicles. Getting difficult to keep all of them running, fueled, and insured. My Suburban needs a paint job...badly. Local body shops do not want to do a complete---especially on something that large. A shop in Sacramento said sure, but that's about 60 miles one way, a high theft area and they want (let's just round it out) 18 grand (before they 'discover something else') to take it down to metal, metal prep, epoxy primer and single stage white. My local guy closed it all up at the end of 2024 due to rising costs and regulations in Calif

[r8rs4lf]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

Also quite a few guys and gals that enjoy these trucks are getting to the age that they can no longer drive or maintain them so they just sell them. I am slowly but surely getting to that point and when that happens I will have 5 of them to get rid of......
.

^^^Simple and 100% correct answer!!!

Just like the Harley market, anyone with cash can get a great deal. Cash is king!

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

Also quite a few guys and gals that enjoy these trucks are getting to the age that they can no longer drive or maintain them so they just sell them. I am slowly but surely getting to that point and when that happens I will have 5 of them to get rid of......
.

Totally agree with this Leon. I'm getting to that point my self. Have the '71 4x4, '71 Chevelle and my '57. Three toys and three boys but not one of the three have a suitiable place to keep any of them out of the weather and will be secure. Not the type of vehicles to sit outside 24/7 with what I have invested in them. Sure glad I did all three years ago before prices went stupid crazy. And true, not many shops want to do a "full on'' restore anymore. Insurance /collision jobs are quick money and an in and out process.

[GOPAPA]

I have a 83 Chevy and going to sell it soon as weather permits,, no price yet ,, but what I see is the people who want a older truck a lot time want one like their dad had and as the years go by ,,we are in the Square Body Trucks era more so now ,,hope this helps me get a fair and good price and get a lot of lookers to buy

[best view]

Well the way I see it is you can die in the front seat of the truck and enjoy it or you can seat in the living room and die looking out at the memories, I’ll take the front seat

[IT Cowboy]

Originally Posted by best view

Well the way I see it is you can die in the front seat of the truck and enjoy it or you can seat in the living room and die looking out at the memories, I’ll take the front seat

I hope to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather and not screaming in terror like the other people in his car.

[Dead Parrot]

Another issue for some newer owners who bought one to get in on the "next cool thing" is finding out that there is an ever shrinking pool of shops that have someone on staff that knows how to set timing, adjust a carb and diagnose a problem without a computer. Faced with having to either learn a bunch of stuff and buy tools or cashing out, many are probably cashing out.

[Willie Makeit]

It's spring time & folks have tax returns. Smart sellers.

[71meangreenc10]

I will say they have always been available when I looked. Prices are getting back to normal for driver/rollers. There are still a lot of overpriced ones out there because of the shows.

Smitty

[Loco83]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

Another issue for some newer owners who bought one to get in on the "next cool thing" is finding out that there is an ever shrinking pool of shops that have someone on staff that knows how to set timing, adjust a carb and diagnose a problem without a computer. Faced with having to either learn a bunch of stuff and buy tools or cashing out, many are probably cashing out.

EXACTLY, nobody in town will touch my 83 Silverado, had a mechanic that did good work on my truck but then retired, he gave me names of mechanics he knows but all said no, being in my 70's only so much I can do.

[truckin 79]

It is my fault I decided to try and sell my Trans Am finally and of course economy went in the crapper as soon as I listed it. I will say it is a buyers market though looks to be some good deals out there on a lot of make and models of older cars. I am tired of trying to maintain 5 vehicles and I hardly drive Trans Am as it is. I see this being a rough year for most people, I should have just sold it last year but thought economy would pick up and I would get a little more, well not for a while I bet.
As far as older trucks/vehicles maintenance an O2 sensor in the exhaust is a great way to monitor air/fuel and how car is running. I have used AEM in both the 79 TA and truck worked great for passing emissions in CO. It will also just give you an overall sense of how well the engine is running. As others have said these young guys opening the hood of a carbureted engine must look in awe and wonder what this strange looking apparatus is.

[best view]

Have to know when to hold them and when to show them , definitely a buyer market

[IT Cowboy]

There are a lot of stupid priced trucks in CA. I am also seeing a lot of unfinished trucks too.

I couldn't find anyone close to me that knew how to tune a carb or even put in a distributor right so I just taught myself to do it

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

Also quite a few guys and gals that enjoy these trucks are getting to the age that they can no longer drive or maintain them so they just sell them. I am slowly but surely getting to that point and when that happens I will have 5 of them to get rid of......
.

My neighbor and I were just talking about the challenges our kids have with the cost of living, and future. I've noticed more rip-offs are available too.

Perhaps above all it's the great number of population and resources available. Supply and demand in other terms. Often someone is going to be paid no matter how ridiculous the cost. Pampering and pleasure for instance starts at 1K a day for couples in "nice" places. Someone is looking for it, worldwide. I have no desire for any of that business, but know people who live that life.

A lot of people don't realize anyone anywhere can buy US property. Rings like demand to me. My only advice to younger is skip all the Starbucks BS, and suck it up hard until you got 20% down. Even out $west it pencils out to do so, because if you don't you're literally spending more a month for less desirable in rent, while every dime of it is gone, bye bye, your money is now someone else's.
The longer that goes the greater your loss, and the more you will be strangled by inflation. They even teach that standard in school? Nope.

[connorm]

I will give everybody some input from the other side of the age range, I am 23 and graduated college a couple years ago. Right now I don't have a great place to store/work on vehicles. The only rentals that I can seem to find are apartments or condos/houses. The condos/houses are roughly 2.5x the price of apartments, putting them in the $2,000+ a month, not quite affordable. With the housing market is I am trying to save up for a house so that hopefully I can have something with a garage, which puts the a rental with a garage out of the picture for now.

Luckily I have understanding family and friends and have space for my two projects. I know that there are many younger people do not have the space or money for any projects and I am very grateful that I have the resources for my projects, so please do not take this post as ungrateful. I just wanted to give my point of view on some of the project vehicles from a young adults point of view.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by connorm

I will give everybody some input from the other side of the age range, I am 23 and graduated college a couple years ago. Right now I don't have a great place to store/work on vehicles. The only rentals that I can seem to find are apartments or condos/houses. The condos/houses are roughly 2.5x the price of apartments, putting them in the $2,000+ a month, not quite affordable. With the housing market is I am trying to save up for a house so that hopefully I can have something with a garage, which puts the a rental with a garage out of the picture for now.

Luckily I have understanding family and friends and have space for my two projects. I know that there are many younger people do not have the space or money for any projects and I am very grateful that I have the resources for my projects, so please do not take this post as ungrateful. I just wanted to give my point of view on some of the project vehicles from a young adults point of view.

Out west, as a good example a 2 bd 2 ba. apartment is $1350 to $2750. A stick built home in the same area starts at 325K, and will need some work...

By example, with current rates a 400K home with 20% down = $2290 with tax and insurance, and that's before the tax write-offs you didn't have. Trick of course having 80-90K banked for the 20% down. If nothing else it protects you from inflation and builds some wealth. Then for the average person it's a good idea to pay it down as fast as possible with raises and such, because every dime you pay on principle is essentially money in your pot earning $ at your mortgage interest rate, TAX FREE

[connorm]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

Out west, as a good example a 2 bd 2 ba. apartment is $1350 to $2750. A stick built home in the same area starts at 325K, and will need some work...

By example, with current rates a 400K home with 20% down = $2290 with tax and insurance, and that's before the tax write-offs you didn't have. Trick of course having 80-90K banked for the 20% down. If nothing else it protects you from inflation and builds some wealth. Then for the average person it's a good idea to pay it down as fast as possible with raises and such, because every dime you pay is essentially money in your pot at the mortgage interest rate TAX FREE

That 20% down is the key there. The monthly payment is high, but with a 6-7% interest rate right now, it is somewhat more similar to the high teens mortgage rates of the late 70's early 80's than most people my age are willing to admit. The hard part is the down payment creating a significant barrier to entry, and the 3.5% down fha loans are going to create problems in the next 10 years when people are trying to upgrade.

The other issue is the people 5-10 years older than me are in all the "starter homes' and have a 1-3% mortgage rate and aren't willing to give up that interest rate. That limits those home on the market. There's also just not many houses on the market. Although, in my area the houses are starting to stay on the market for longer.

It's an interesting time right now and there doesn't seem to be any consensus on where the market is going to go

[3drburb]

[QUOTE=LockDoc;9424719]-
Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

That's it!

It not the young people who cannot work on a carb, we were young also at some point, well maybe not all of you, LOL.

The dollar is at it's lowest point in 4 years.

Gas has been going up for the past 2 months and yesterday had it's highest jump in 20 years.

Garbage, Electric and Heating Bills have increased in some places about 25%. Along with increase on just about everything else.

I went to one of the big box store to buy a sheet of interior plywood I had purchased about 2 years ago for around $20-$23, now its $49 and I had to buy buy it.

If everything is going up and layoffs are up, toys are sometimes the first thing to try and sell if you can, with hopes you are lucky enough to find a buyer.

Sometime the first answer is the correct one in the larger scope of things.

[Willie Makeit]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

Out west, as a good example a 2 bd 2 ba. apartment is $1350 to $2750. A stick built home in the same area starts at 325K, and will need some work...

By example, with current rates a 400K home with 20% down = $2290 with tax and insurance, and that's before the tax write-offs you didn't have. Trick of course having 80-90K banked for the 20% down. If nothing else it protects you from inflation and builds some wealth. Then for the average person it's a good idea to pay it down as fast as possible with raises and such, because every dime you pay on principle is essentially money in your pot earning $ at your mortgage interest rate, TAX FREE

It's not just "out west" with that being said, truck sales are still solid here in the Southeast.

[PbFut]

Having been in the lending business for most of my life. I feel qualified to offer a few options for those interested. Yes 20% down is desirable for better terms. There are many programs available with as low as 3% down. The idea is to capture and control an asset as early as possible. Controlling an asset using its appreciation to augment a savings plan is often a better choice than attempting to save for larger down while the market rises faster than the savings account. Get creative. Assume a low interest rate loan and stack a HELOC that has a interest only payment for first ten years. Low payment to control a higher value asset. Look for seller finance. Work out a AITD. All these creative options require a Realtor who knows the business. Not your cusion who passed his license test last month and cant even navigate his local MLS. IF YOU CAN AFFORD RENT, YOU CAN AFFORD A HOUSE.

[IT Cowboy]

My wife and I flipped our first house and used it as down payment on our current home. It took us 25 years to flip it but it worked out. Our first house was 700 square ft. and we replaced the roof, wiring, siding, back porch, refinished the floors and more. We purchased it for 35k and paid it off in about 10 years and sold it for 90k. We put the entire amount down on our current home and financed it at 2.5 %

Like our old trucks I think a lot of people don't have the skillset to renovate, restore, remodel or even maintain a house these days. Sweat equity is a really valuable thing if you can use it.

Kind of off on a tangent here but kids are under a lot of pressure to have the latest and the greatest everything. Phones, game machines, cars, and let alone gourmet coffee every morning. I also know a lot of people who can't or will not cook. The running joke is if Taco Bell went out of business then a large percentage of people might starve. Eating every meal out is probably close to the same amount as a house payment each month.

[MS66]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Without getting political, I think a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet right now for various reasons. If that happens the first things to go are the toys. I really don't see that getting any better for the forseeable future.

Also quite a few guys and gals that enjoy these trucks are getting to the age that they can no longer drive or maintain them so they just sell them. I am slowly but surely getting to that point and when that happens I will have 5 of them to get rid of......
.

[LS short box]

When my wife and I got married 46 years ago we saved for 2 two years and bought our first house. 900 square foot rambler. Interest rate on the loan was 14.5%. We worked every minute of overtime we could and paid off the house in 5 years. We still had fun but I didn't have any car projects yet.
In regards to current car/truck for sale the nice stuff reasonably priced goes fast. High priced junk stays on the market for a long time IMO.
I'm in MN and 90% of the older cars/trucks have rust or poorly repaired rust.
One thing a person needs to be careful of as you looking for a new hot rod of any type even if it's in the southwest or southeast it may of spent a good part of its life in the rust belt.