car and trailer or truck for home owner

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BrokenArmBrewing

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So the title says it all. I have a truck that gets me 15 MPG, and a charger that gets the same. The value of the truck is worth what a newly used car with great MPG. I'm looking to go title for title.

Now as a home owner I Luke to have the bed for small light duty hauling, but I can't justify that by wasting $ every day I don't haul with it. My thought was to get a fuel efficient car and slap a 5 x 10 trailer on the charger. I don't have the trailer, or a hitch, so instant fuel savings would be a year out......

SWMBO is fighting back all guns blazing. But has yet to give me valid points. Am I on a pipe dream here? She says she would consider it if no money was to be exchanged...
 
I kind of agree with you. If you can do it even swap it might be worth it. Do you owe on either of them?

We have a 15 MPG Durango (if we're lucky) and I'd love to trade it in for a small MPG car, but we also currently have a 25' RV that we pull with it. Until we can trade the V in for a smaller one, I don't really want to get rid of it.

But, I also have a Cherokee that can pull my utility trailer, so dumping the larger truck makes sense in gas money. My friend just posted a picture of her 2011 (maybe 2012...) Ford Focus SEL getting 48 MPG on the way home from our place. Highway miles.

Our Druango would cost roughly $31 to drive that far at 13 MPG (closer to our average MPG). Her Focus would cost $8.84 using $3.40 per gallon, and assuming 45 MPG.

Of course our Durango can fit more cargo, but if could probably make do if we had to. And since we both work less than 2 miles from home, the savings in daily use would not make a huge difference in our expenses. Just the plan for when we decide to replace the truck.
 
So getting rid of the charger is out of the question? To me, that is the most useless vehicle in the fleet. Trade that for a fuel-sipper, keep the truck for runs to the lumber store on the weekend.
 
So getting rid of the charger is out of the question? To me, that is the most useless vehicle in the fleet. Trade that for a fuel-sipper, keep the truck for runs to the lumber store on the weekend.

This. We just bought a new pickup because we hated not having one as a homeowner. If you get rid of the pickup, you will probably regret it. But we do a lot of shopping on short notice and combined with other errands, so pulling a trailer all around town would suck. I just wouldn't want the added hassle.
 
I can't imagine not having a 4x4 truck in the driveway, even if it only gets driven once a week! My solution:

Keep the truck and buy a cheap civic or corolla to get the mpg's. I'm actually saving money on insurance by having a cheap beater car listed as my "commute vehicle" on my insurance policy and the $1,000 I paid for the car has paid for itself in fuel savings about once a year over driving the truck to work!

If you can do your own car maintenance and have the driveway space then a cheap beater car is definitely the way to go.
 
What is the trailer rating for the Charger? I think you might find that it is not even rated for towing. I would keep the truck. Every time that I run all the numbers; depreciation, insurance, repairs and then fuel cost, I find out that my payback for switching to a more fuel efficient car is several years out (if ever, is what I found on a Prius). Fuel is only one small portion of car ownership.
 
Getting rid of the charger WOULD be the smart option. SWMBO will never give up her V8 Hemi. We used to have a s10 and gave it up, made the worst car choice ever, an eclipse spyder. Had it 6 months and now have this truck.

I do our own maintenance, but just hate the gas pumps. Really its a winter problem, and rainy day problems.

When the weather us nice I take the 45 MPG motorcycle to work, summer rain makes that a tough ride...
Maybe she is right. (if she could read this lol)
 
You drive the truck at 15 mpg, your wife drives her charger at 15 mpg. Who has drives farther?

Actually, it sounds like your wife is on the wrong end of things here, but she isn't willing to listen to reason or you aren't willing to reason with her.

So bye-bye truck.
 
I personally drive a little beater gas sipper, and my big diesel 4x4 sits under cover at home. but when I need to haul gravel, rock, firewood, move friends/family etc. it is soooo worth it. Even though I don't drive my truck but a few times a month, I'd be lost without it.

Things I would consider,

Would SWMBO actually let you put a hitch on (her?) car. A lot of times they look kind of crappy IMHO.
Can a trailer/car tow what you usually do with the truck?
Do you camp? pull a boat, other things with the truck?

Do you have friends with trucks? I have lots of friends that can borrow mine, they just put fuel in it.
 
Keep the truck. Cars suck. The bike balances out the mpgs of the truck. Besides the used car market is terrible right now.

Do you have a payment on either vehicle?

Is it killing you at the pump financially or existentially?
 
I don't know. A truck is handy for sure, but if you only carry loads once in a while a trailer is a nice option instead of. The charger might not have a great towing capacity, but I'm betting they allow for at least 2500lbs if not more.. The real problem is having an ugly hitch on it. Even the best hidden hitches just seem to degrade the appearance of a sporty car IMO.
 
Blah. Dodge claims the 12-13 chargers only have a 1000 lbs towing capacity. Unless you have the SRT, in which case you aren't supposed to tow with it. And I know from reading reports online that Dodge is quite willing to dispute a warranty if they have evidence that you have towed more than the rated amount. Or even with out evidence.
 
I have a 10MPG truck that I drive 60 miles every day.
I don't like my 18 MPG trailblazer, my '54 Belair isn't up to the daily driver status yet and I hate little cars.
I'm planning on upgrading my milage by dumping the trailblazer and getting a cadillac deville. My last one was a '99 and besides the obvious comfort it would get up and go. If you kept your foot out of it you got 30 MPG on the highway.
Way better than driving a little car.

I would keep the truck. Maybe change out the mopar for a little better car.
 
Blah. Dodge claims the 12-13 chargers only have a 1000 lbs towing capacity. Unless you have the SRT, in which case you aren't supposed to tow with it. And I know from reading reports online that Dodge is quite willing to dispute a warranty if they have evidence that you have towed more than the rated amount. Or even with out evidence.

Sounds like Dodge to me. Dodge is not known for strong automatic transmissions and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Also the rear end of a charger cannot take tongue weight like a truck is made to carry and all trailers have tongue weight, especially single axle trailers.

OP: Not sure how much your truck is worth but If it were me, I would rather have one decent truck and one decent econo car than 1 nice truck. You can get a very nice 2wd pickup for $5,000 and a very nice late model econo car for $3,500. Some people have to have newer vehicles for some reason but economically it makes no sense to me. Newer vehicle = higher insurance and more worries about a hit and run in the parking lot. I have a 12 year old Toyota Tacoma and it is more reliable and sound than any of my employer's 6 year old Fords.
 
I own all 3 ,bike, car and truck free and clear. All have wicked low miles, and all were bought brand new. I'm.the only owner....swmbo drives the charger like an old lady. Lol.

I hadn't read up in the charger's towing.

Very interesting responses. Thanks for the insight.

The debate continues, but now I'm.leaning toward just keeping everything.

It's not like I'm on dire straighten. We pay all our bills on yime, not much to bank, but everybody is healthy and there is always food on the table.
 
I own all 3 ,bike, car and truck free and clear. All have wicked low miles, and all were bought brand new. I'm.the only owner....swmbo drives the charger like an old lady. Lol.

I hadn't read up in the charger's towing.

Very interesting responses. Thanks for the insight.

The debate continues, but now I'm.leaning toward just keeping everything.

It's not like I'm on dire straighten. We pay all our bills on yime, not much to bank, but everybody is healthy and there is always food on the table.

I hear you. I make it a point to never buy a vehicle I can't pay for in cash or pay off in under 1 year. This of course means I never get the oppurtunity to buy a new vehicle. The newest vehicle I've owned in the past 10 years was 5 years old when purchased. Once you have no car payments it's impossible to ever go back to a budget that had a car payment in it! I also ride a motorcycle to work 8 months out of the year at least @45+ mpg. Makes me wish I lived further south so I could ride year round...I just can't take riding when it's below 45F...it's no longer enjoyable.
 
Get rid of both for one fuel efficient car and one Magnum RT AWD. This way you will still have a Hemi. I have been able to get a lot into my Magnum, up to 10' pieces of lumber. And for the few times I bought really large items, I just rented the truck from HD/Lowes.
 
ingchr1 said:
Get rid of both for one fuel efficient car and one Magnum RT AWD. This way you will still have a Hemi. I have been able to get a lot into my Magnum, up to 10' pieces of lumber. And for the few times I bought really large items, I just rented the truck from HD/Lowes.

And you look like an up scale drug dealer rollin on some 20's. Lol. Just kidding. Swmbo will never give up her charger.
 
Something else to consider Do you have to license a trailer in FL? Is storage for the trailer when not in use going to be a problem?

Keep the truck get a beater to drive on rainy days.
 
One more issue to consider -- do you have space to store the trailer? In my neighborhood we're not allowed to leave trailers outside overnight. That means I pay a couple hundred bucks a month for storage of my RV trailer. This would be a significant enough barrier that would make me forget the charger/trailer route. YMMV.
 
Another thing to consider; I haven't personally been in the drivers seat of a Charger, but what is rear visibility like? I can't imagine it is very good, especially right behind the vehicle. Pulling small utility trailers sucks bad enough when you have good visibility of it. I know the late-90's Camaros, you couldn't see the pavement any closer than about 60' behind you; a trailer would completely disappear in that.
 
I am in a similar situation. My two vehicles are a Heavy Duty 6 liter longbed that sucks down 39 gallons with each pull at the pump, and a 750cc motorpony that gives me 50mpg in a head wind. I only drive the truck when I need to and have given some serious thought into trading it out but it never fails that something comes up that could not have been resolved easily without having that fecking truck. Most recent was the wifes car. Timing belt adjuster tanked. Found a guy out of town that replaced it for pennies (comparitavely) but had to tow the car 40 miles. Would have still been cheaper to hire a tow truck to haul it rather than going to a local shop but having that truck saved a ton by just renting a trailer.

Monies I dumped into performance mods on the bike. :eek: Fingers crossed the mpg hasn't taken a dump.
 
dkwolf said:
Another thing to consider; I haven't personally been in the drivers seat of a Charger, but what is rear visibility like? I can't imagine it is very good, especially right behind the vehicle. Pulling small utility trailers sucks bad enough when you have good visibility of it. I know the late-90's Camaros, you couldn't see the pavement any closer than about 60' behind you; a trailer would completely disappear in that.

Great point. I guess I've always assumed there wouldnt be an issue. When I worked for my father we pulled trailers no smaller than 16 foot.....the rear window is now very tall visibly wise....a small trailer would be furking tough to back up straight.

I think I'm gonna waive the flag on this....A lot of great insight! Thanks for all the information!
 
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