Talk about murphy's law.......

[spareparts]

here's one for you Charlie
http://charleston.craigslist.org/ctd/2052273799.html

if you can handle the high miles, this one pretty tough

http://charleston.craigslist.org/cto/2056994349.html

[lumberslinger178]

Chuck what about a new one with zero percent financing .... just mabe order something strip down bare bones , thats what I did when I bought my frist brand new truck .....it was a ford f150 drove it for 6 yrs then traded it for a 250 utility body....or mabe a lease that keeps the payment low and with ur short comute they wont kill you with mileage I'm no financial wizard but just a thought.

[lumberslinger178]

spare that looks like a real nice truck.

[charlie_the_tuna]

spare, my problem was i couldnt afford to spend too much right now. i'm actually looking at a truck in the $7,000. to $10,000. range. also, maybe something a bit closer.
lumbo, i cant take on a 6 year loan right now. we're working without a contract and this piece of sh!t, jay walder wants to automate the railroad. he doesnt care who gets hurt, as long as he makes his $350,000. a year and his $5,000. a month housing allowance.
so it looks like he is starting by cutting our overtime. now we have to make ends meet on a flat week's salary. let me tell you boys, it aint easy living on long island on a flat week. raising two boys who never stop eating and a mortgage that seems to go up just a little bit every year or so.
thought we would have a little breathing room when we finished paying off the boss' minivan but it seems like that extra money just disappeared.
dont know if i mentioned but i have my brother-in-law living upstairs and he hasnt payed rent since last november.
it's all just starting to catch up to us now.

[charlie_the_tuna]

whoops. vented a bit didnt i ? !

[spareparts]

the raleigh area is a little closer,, its a good market to look for cars. Not enough snow for salting the roads. You could take a train one way to pick one up that you like
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2058895665.html

this is you right here
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2058863650.html

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2058694599.html

cheap enough
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2058634049.html

this one looks too good to be true
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/2058556152.html

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2057971907.html

I'd look in the Richmond area as well

[Destroyer]

CTT, pick-up's are nice, but do you really "need" a pick-up? My point being that for some reason pick-up's seem to be bringing really high prices right now... way out of line for what they are. You might be doing a lot better looking at used SUV's... I know they aren't as utilitarian as a pick-up, but they are 4WD, and most have v8's in them that will pull your boat easy. And they are usually a lot less than a pick-up of the same age/milage/brand. Just somethng to think about.

Also, I gotta go with Reel on this one... there's a reason for everything.. sometimes we know what it is, sometimes we don't. And Lumber had a really good idea... buy or lease a brand new one. With your short haul to work the milage won't eat you alive, and with 0% interest you just might be paying less then if you bought the used one @ 14.9% interest.

(and quietly take your brother in law aside and tell him that he needs to be paying for the food he's eating.. maybe he can't afford to pay some rent, but at least make his stay at your home neutral financially.)

[straycat]

I to am looking for a truck, used not new. I have to get one of those before I can get a V20. I have an excellent mechanic that I have learned to trust and I asked him his take on any particular make or model considering a used truck will have to be fixed sometimes. He said he plans to build a monument to Chrysler products because they paid for his business his two houses his boat and his airplane and he says he is most grateful to them. He told me if I stuck with an F150 or a GM Sierra I would be fime. Thats his opinion not mine. Sometimes things work out even when yoiu think they didn't.