I have an opportunity to off my truck at no cost to myself. Haven't really needed it in the past year. Will mean that I get closer to the ground in my neighbourhood, literally, walking kids/dogs to and from school. Will mean I use the neighbourhood better for preps. Will focus bug-out plans more tightly. Will get more exercise lugging handcart. Think I just answered my own question!

Any compelling reason to hang onto it? Have I missed anything? Input appreciated. Thanks.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), October 28, 1999

Answers

I can think of a few:

You might need it. Armeggedon may not occur overnight. You could load stuff in it to bug-out. You could even load your neighbors and your dog in it, so they can bug out. Burning bridges is not an essential element of Y2K preps, but may be necessary depending on your circumstances.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), October 28, 1999.

Bug out where? Didn't you hear, it's all going down, everywhere.

-- (fourWD@hosed.tubed), October 28, 1999.

Silver ion:

Depends alot on where you live. I have an SUV and a 4x4 truck. I can't get out without them for a part of the winter and in the spring when the thaw turns the road to axle deep mush. If you haven't needed 4x4 in the past and don't intend to travel anywhere it will be needed, by all means, sell.

Best wishes

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), October 28, 1999.

I would not part with such a possibly valuable and necessary means of transportation until next spring...you are fortunate to have such a means of helping yourself and others if things go bad at Y2K.

You can always donate it to charity at no cost to yourself next year. Lots of charities are asking for your old used vehicles all the time.

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), October 29, 1999.

Thanks so much for the feedback, folks. A Drudge says, 'developing hot'...

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), October 29, 1999.

After 11 years and using the 4X4 feature 5 times for real (not for field play) I converted to a pair of crown Vic's and 2 months later (to the day) it started to snow. 4 days later we had 48 inches on the ground. talk about timing! (course this was 3 years ago and we haven't had a real winter including that one since. that one was just the one storm, darn.)

Be careful your timeing isn't as great as mine.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 01, 1999.

Hi again folks,

Cost of keeping truck, incl. loan pymts, insurance, gas, maintenance, is $600+/mo (Canadian $). I have an opp'y to transfer the loan to someone else who wants the truck. Other pertinent info: it's not in minty shape, because my dogs and kids are trashing it. The mileage is piling up, cosmetic bits have already gone sproing, and it will soon need big work and new tires.

I read the Oil Chat thread on the other forum like a good girl, and that reinforced my feeling that this truck is a money pit and a debt I no longer want. So, it's going, and sincere thanks to all for your input. I think this forum is the greatest.

Part Deux: my partner and I are now chewing over what to do next. In consideration of above-named kids and dogs turning our vehicles into grungemobiles, my partner wants to pay cash for a seriously roomy '78 Benz sedan (total tin pot dictator car, I love it). I say, nah, let's use the same money to buy mountain bikes w/ trailers. We can get to bug out locale on bikes w/ out too much trouble.

Thots? Thanks, all.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), November 01, 1999.

Is the 78 Benz a diesel? I have a 79 Mercedes diesel and it's a pretty good rig. You have to be careful and make sure there's still lots of life left in the engine (usually good for 400K miles) and the transmission. The advantages of this car are: ruggedness and reliability, no computerization (regular people can fix it), and the long shelf life of stored diesel. The disadvantages: any car more than 20 yrs old is bound to have things break on it, Mercedes parts are expensive, and they're not as common as American car parts.

If the car is a diesel, I'd be real tempted to get rid of the pickup, buy it free and clear and have a car that will last a long time and run on diesel, kerosene, or #2 heating oil in a pinch.

-- rob minor (rbminor@hotmail.com), November 01, 1999.