Buy New or Revive Old? Place your vote and reasoning

[Joe-JDC]

To each his own.  I don't drive a new Ford because of getting screwed royally on the last two I bought.  Learned my lesson the hard/expensive way after driving Fords since 1962.  Lost my "lemon law" case when Ford brought an 83 year old attorney out of retirement to fight me. Joe-JDC

[Thumperbird]

Me to, Ford truck maybe, anything else, no way.
Bought a 94 wagon, rear suspension, head gaskets, ac compressor, power windows, all crapped out just after 60k mile warranty expired.  Talked to a regional rep, since I didn't have my oil changes done at a dealer she questioned my maintenance, almost fell off my chair.  Engine blew up on the guy that bought it from me, I warned him and gave a good deal.  I have bought a couple Ford trucks, been pretty good but coil packs and fuel pumps failed before 100k miles and needless to say the F150 rotted prematurely in my opinion.

Now that you've got me thinking about it, I hope I like the Ridgeline!   

[BattlestarGalactic]

We've had a couple Honda Accords here at work for VP to drive.   Got 300K miles out of them without much fuss.  Not my cup of tea and personally the seating is horrible.  It's like a park bench, flat and not enough cushion.  Plus it is built for 5ft tall people.  With the seat all the way back for me(5-10), you are behind the door pillar, no place to rest your left arm and the right arm rest isn't worth much.  The newest one, 2017, is better overall, but still not what I call comfortable.

The 2012 Chevy truck(sales truck) has the most comfortable seats ever.  Thoroughly impressed after doing a 6 hr trip in it.  Side bolsters and such just hug you and you aren't achy and stiff after a long drive.

We got 300K out of our 2001 F150/5.4/4wd.  It fell off that preverbial cliff and has lots of stupid issues, but it still runs/drives and gets you there and back.

[Jim Comet]

Just talked to my Honda guy at work here (Hollander) and he states the Ridgeline is a unibody, shares many parts with the Pilot and Odyssey.Jim

[Lenz]

Got a friend who just traded his Ridgeline, had it for around 5 years.  We all referred to it as a "gentleman's" truck.  Minimal cargo are but a great place to ice down your beer.  Saw it once loaded with some slab wood, didn't look like it had signed on for that duty.  But in the end, he had no complaints about it.  Went out and bought a new Tacoma instead, more "truck-like".

[HarleyJack17]

I will give my .02 again, hopefully it doesn't come back to bite me....I can't afford to drive new all the time or even half the time. Here are the vehicles I have dealt with in my 38 or so years.
My 1st at 16, 1977 Dodge Van with no windows...yeah moms loved to see me show up. Decent vehicle over all mechanically. Sucked the fuel and totaled it.
2nd was 1987 S10 Blazer of issues, it was old and I put it through the ringer since it was my first 4x4...so maybe not a good review.
3rd was 1991 Toyota 4banger 4 spd- Hard life but overall I put close to 100K on it with very minor repairs.

4th was a new 03 SuperDuty with a V10 and 4x4. First and only new truck I ever bought and still have today. I can not say I am impressed. Never broke 11 mpg and by 80K miles, I have replaced 2 alternators, blew a head gasket(re-did both heads), has burned a little oil since day one, replaced a broke cable on the SC door, has relay issue for windows/radio, replaced radiator cap, and rebuilt the entire front end(steering, outter bearings, ball joints...all of it wore out). Truck has not seen any type of major duty or off road use. Now has 100K on it. Pretty sad to rebuild two major components on a truck that has 80K and cost me a lot. Not Happy and I would be very hard pressed to buy another.  Lot of folks running SDuty's did the same as me.

5th Nissan Titan Pro4x-2015 Model. Loved it but a POS. Only truck to date that I had to have towed. Oddly met the prior owner who I was told was an old lady(knew that was lie)...he traded bc it stayed in the shop more than on the road...makes ya feel great! Cracked both exhaust manifolds twice and blew a main wire fuse once. Bad engineering on the exhaust since they had 4 cats. First two were less than a foot from the last cylinder and generated too much heat. I put 25K on it and took a hell of hit on it.
2005 Honda Pilot-Bought with 25K now has 200K...knock on wood-0 issues.
2015 Jeep Wrangler @ 15K now has 40K...know on wood-so far so good.

In between these, we (my family) had a 1989 Toyota Celica's bought it for fuel economy since the V10 was killing me. Had 170K on it, and when I parted with it she had 270K on it. Put tires and one CV axle on it. Best damn car next to the Pilot I ever owned...beats the Pilot since I only paid $500 for her.

1993 and 1987 Nissan Hardbody trucks. Both over 200K miles and bought new. Replaced one starter and one alternator. Great Trucks of the time.

Next one will be a Dodge or Chevy truck likely....bad as I hate to say. But the old Highboy went through hell for a loooong time before it died.
Simple has its advantages.

[Thumperbird]

Leaning towards redoing what I have, just don't feel like I've gotten my money's worth or driven it into the ground so might just have to revive it, still need to check the frame though.

As for new, I would probably go with the Ridgeline Black Edition, nice looking inside and out and likely long lasting.  Plenty good capacity for me, volume of bed is poor but that is not a big deal most of the time either, holds a sheet of plywood but would have to get creative hauling long boards.

Not sure I would call it a truck but like I said, mostly a flexible commuter.

[Thumperbird]

Had a late 90's Celica for a while as well, bought it for kids to drive.
They beat the shit out of it, ran like a watch, no issues, went from 120K used to 200k before my daughter wrinkled the front end.  Dealership took it on trade, straightened it just enough and sold it for an obscene amount of money.

[Falcon67]

I like the 1993 F-350 DRW.  Nice truck and is fairly easy to work on.  I would prefer a late 90s diesel crew cab DRW for the load we pull - even though I don't know crp about diesels. 

We also have a 2004 F-150 Super Crew.  I plan to keep it as long as possible.  The basic thought is that even if I have to replace the trans or the motor - or both - at some point, there still won't be a $600/mth payment for 6 years on the thing.  The new trucks are nice - but I'd rather not be thinking about social security payments at 66 y 4 m with a huge car payment that would run another 2 years past that. 

[Joe-JDC]

In the past, I typically kept a truck at least 14 years, and only got rid of one when someone hit me and ruined a good vehicle.  I had three Ford trucks that were excellent, and that is why I wanted a new crew cab XLT as my supposedly "last new truck".  At 72, I don't want a new vehicle payment any more either.  New trucks today with all the options are priced for young folks making six figure incomes, not retirees.  A F-150 Platinum is over $50K, and the King Ranch editions are ~$70K or more depending on options.  That is outrageous for a vehicle that someone can total while driving and texting.  Insurance for those new vehicles is another issue.  Joe-JDC