Are new cars that awful? That expensive?

“Don’t you want that 25-year old Honda Civic, it’s so cheap and reliable”, that song resonates in my brain.

I get so tired of those endless financial websites that tell you buying a new car is a waste of money. I agree you shouldn’t finance a consumption purchase, something you use up over time, unless you really have no other option and it’s least bad option. But you need something to get around, and if your heading up to the wilderness and you plan to use your vehicle primarily in the wilderness, it’s not an unreasonable thing to buy a new truck after 14 or 15 years.

People say new vehicles are full of sensors and technology, and are generally unreliable. But so far that’s not been my experience with the SuperDuty for the seven months I’ve owned it and 3,500 miles driven, with no issues except once or twice Android Auto Play crashing the radio, though that might be more of an issue of a bad connection over the USB. I didn’t care much for the toxic new vehicle smell, but I do like the backup camera that makes parking the F-350 pretty easy even in tight spots, the automatic parking brake and hill descent control. And those awesome F-350 brakes are fantastic on long hill.

Spend money on experiences and not material goods quickly used up and worn up we are told. But it’s not that simple. At least with the SuperDuty, they are very much intertwined. The SuperDuty has my camper on it, all my gear, it takes me to and from camp, even if I tend to park the truck and leave it set up for the weekend and ride from camp. Without the SuperDuty I wouldn’t be able to make it to the remote country I often enjoy, and while there are smaller, cheaper, more fuel efficient trucks out there, the big truck hauls my gear better, is fun to drive, and gives me room to stretch out – and ample power for all my electrical loads.

Yes, the SuperDuty took about 6% of my personal wealth to buy, but it’s a one time purchase that will likely serve me well for the next decade and the markets where I invest continue to grow. And I needed some kind of vehicle. I make good money, and I wanted good basic, transporation for my adventures. People think F-350 SuperDuty and think big and fancy, but I point to the fact the truck by SuperDuty standards is very basic – the XL trim with only a handful of options that I wanted like the off-road package, remote start, and the extra large alternator for camping. And I think it’s a good truck for my needs but maybe not for your needs, but it’s not your truck.