6 ms·

As someone who's just been trying to buy a crappy used truck to haul some crap to the dump a couple times a year, you're absolutely spot on. I even live in the

by jahsome 9mo ago

As someone who's just been trying to buy a crappy used truck to haul some crap to the dump a couple times a year, you're absolutely spot on. I even live in the southwest US where trucks make up a considerable portion of vehicles on the road. Crappy used trucks simply aren't up for sale. And even the rare listing I do come across, the asking price is ridiculously inflated.

_whiteCaps_ 9mo ago
Consider a Honda Acty - they even have models with a dumping bed.
- ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
  Harsh did a tipper conversion for the Daihatsu Hijet, which had an 850cc triple with a lot more poke than the Acty's 660cc twin, and had a "true 4WD" variant. In the UK, Truck and Driver Magazine featured one so equipped in a head-to-head AWD tipper test (AWD in the sense of all wheels driven regardless of number of axles, not Subaru AWD/Audi Quattro type AWD), alongside a variety of extremely large trucks. Proper trucks, not F150s, we're talking 18-tonne Scanias and stuff here. Everyone wanted one of the little Hijets to take home.
- mywittyname 9mo ago
  These are quite expensive for what you get and are slooooooow. It's fine if you want an expensive, quirky neighborhood runabout, but you'll be made very aware that this is a product not at all designed for the US market (there's a good reason most examples do ~1000 miles a year). The ACTYs I found online were in the $7-20k range, for a ~30 year old model - more for a nice van. The best used work truck is actually a van. They lack the coolness factor of trucks, but are far more versatile. You can pick up a <10 year old Transit with under 100k miles for like 10-15k. That price point will get you a >10 year old F150 in the 100-150k mile range. Plus, there are good options if you want something smaller can car-based, like NV2000s and Transit connects. Which don't really exist for trucks outside of newer (maverick) or niche (Ridgeline) options. Bonus points, a nice Transit is a great daily driver too.
criddell 9mo ago
If you only need a truck a couple of times per year, maybe it makes more sense to rent one?
- alexjplant 9mo ago
  Not even. When I lived in the boonies trash service was ~$75 a quarter, the local hardware store would deliver pallets of mulch for free, and furniture stores offered free delivery above certain purchase amounts. My buddy's dad would haul your boat between the marina and your house for a flat fee. Hell, I was able to cram a full PA with floor monitors and a few guitars into my Corolla for weekend band gigs. I started looking into getting a trailer or hitch hauler but it didn't seem to make much sense. I could usually pay somebody on-demand to move stuff around and it always worked out to be cheaper than owning and maintaining a truck. I presently work from home and don't even own a car anymore; the math is quite similar with rideshare and motorcycle maintenance coming in significantly cheaper.
mindslight 9mo ago
Consider a trailer if you have even a mildly acceptable tow vehicle that can take a 2 inch receiver. Use what UHaul will rent you as a rough limit for what your vehicle can handle, and then if you want to save some weight get your own because it will be lighter than UHaul's brick shithouses. Having said that, I'm still in the market for a larger vehicle with a better tow weight rating as I use the trailer more than a handful of times per year, and my current tow vehicle is getting a bit long in the tooth.
gscott 9mo ago
I have had good luck with farm type auctions just check the rust. IronPlanet is also really good but a little more expensive.
m463 9mo ago
I was looking for the same thing and a friend gave me some advice. Get an SUV with a trailer hitch. worked out great. Maybe better than a pickup. For example - taking mountain bikes somewhere to ride - you can put them in the back, go ride, and leave them there while you go eat without someone stealing them. You can even load them the night before. dirty stuff can use a trailer (I've never needed one) and suv carries lots of people - which has worked out many many times more than I predicted. (it is a gas guzzler, but was cheaper because of that, and didn't compete with higher-priced pickup market)
- doublesocket 9mo ago
  Never understood why the yanks don't like vans? Pickups are much less popular here in the UK, many more people use vans. A crew cab van with removable seats is infinitely more flexible than a pickup, other than long stuff which you chuck on a roof rack.
  - aeonik 9mo ago
    Vans usually have a very difficult time off-road or in mountainous terrain. Vans are commonly used in urban areas, especially by businesses, but suburbs, rural, and construction benefit from higher clearences of SUVs and trucks. SUVs are also usually much better in hazardous driving conditions because of a more optimal weight distribution.
    - 3ple_alpha 9mo ago
      Vans work just fine on mountain roads. And driving off road is simply not a thing for like 99% of drivers. Reality is, people buy these things thinking they would drive them off road, and never actually do it. It's possible to make an off-road van, by the way. It's just that real demand is so vanishingly small that you don't really see them.
      - aeonik 9mo ago
        Having grown up in the mountains, and currently living in a hilly snowy area, no thanks I'll keep my SUV. My in laws have a mini van, and it's not great. I deal and have dealt with enough deep snow that would eat a van. I still might get a Sienna Hybrid for daily commuter
SJC_Hacker 9mo ago
Rent?
- jahsome 9mo ago
  For me personally, it's too much hassle. Between the paperwork, rental fees, getting a ride to and from, etc. I just start to lose motivation, and end up deciding to do the chore the "next weekend" which never comes. I need as few barriers between me and accomplishing a chore if I ever want to have any hope of completing it.
Aurornis 9mo ago
> As someone who's just been trying to buy a crappy used truck to haul some crap to the dump a couple times a year, I don’t get it. Why would you buy, maintain, and park an entire second vehicle for something that is beyond trivially cheap to hire out? If you wanted to DIY then renting a truck for the day makes more sense.
- jahsome 9mo ago
  Trivially cheap, huh? Wish I were so lucky. Renting a vehicle invites bureaucratic nonsense. For my personal situation, I need it ready to go at virtually a moments notice or I'll simply just avoid the chore.
wooger 9mo ago
Do you not have services in the US to do this for you? The problem: I have a pile of construction waste, household junk, garden waste etc. is solved by many businesses who'll come pick it up for a small fee. If your local government doesn't offer this, there are many commercial operators that do this in the UK. Seems bizarre to buy a whole giant, inefficient, vehicle just for 'hauling' occasionally.
- jahsome 9mo ago
  Scheduling a "bulk trash" pick up at my current home is only accomplished by calling my landlord, who then calls the trash company, who then calls back with some arbitrary date and time a month or more in the future. When I have crap I want to get rid of it, I don't want to deal with any of that. I'll take the "inefficiency" of storing and maintaining a second vehicle -- which my family would easily make use of other than hauling duties -- over dealing with the bureaucratic nuisance. There are private options, of course, but the fees are nowhere near "small" for this service.

by jahsome 9mo ago

_whiteCaps_ 9mo ago

Consider a Honda Acty - they even have models with a dumping bed.

ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
Harsh did a tipper conversion for the Daihatsu Hijet, which had an 850cc triple with a lot more poke than the Acty's 660cc twin, and had a "true 4WD" variant. In the UK, Truck and Driver Magazine featured one so equipped in a head-to-head AWD tipper test (AWD in the sense of all wheels driven regardless of number of axles, not Subaru AWD/Audi Quattro type AWD), alongside a variety of extremely large trucks. Proper trucks, not F150s, we're talking 18-tonne Scanias and stuff here. Everyone wanted one of the little Hijets to take home.
mywittyname 9mo ago
These are quite expensive for what you get and are slooooooow. It's fine if you want an expensive, quirky neighborhood runabout, but you'll be made very aware that this is a product not at all designed for the US market (there's a good reason most examples do ~1000 miles a year). The ACTYs I found online were in the $7-20k range, for a ~30 year old model - more for a nice van. The best used work truck is actually a van. They lack the coolness factor of trucks, but are far more versatile. You can pick up a <10 year old Transit with under 100k miles for like 10-15k. That price point will get you a >10 year old F150 in the 100-150k mile range. Plus, there are good options if you want something smaller can car-based, like NV2000s and Transit connects. Which don't really exist for trucks outside of newer (maverick) or niche (Ridgeline) options. Bonus points, a nice Transit is a great daily driver too.

criddell 9mo ago

If you only need a truck a couple of times per year, maybe it makes more sense to rent one?

alexjplant 9mo ago
Not even. When I lived in the boonies trash service was ~$75 a quarter, the local hardware store would deliver pallets of mulch for free, and furniture stores offered free delivery above certain purchase amounts. My buddy's dad would haul your boat between the marina and your house for a flat fee. Hell, I was able to cram a full PA with floor monitors and a few guitars into my Corolla for weekend band gigs. I started looking into getting a trailer or hitch hauler but it didn't seem to make much sense. I could usually pay somebody on-demand to move stuff around and it always worked out to be cheaper than owning and maintaining a truck. I presently work from home and don't even own a car anymore; the math is quite similar with rideshare and motorcycle maintenance coming in significantly cheaper.

mindslight 9mo ago

Consider a trailer if you have even a mildly acceptable tow vehicle that can take a 2 inch receiver. Use what UHaul will rent you as a rough limit for what your vehicle can handle, and then if you want to save some weight get your own because it will be lighter than UHaul's brick shithouses. Having said that, I'm still in the market for a larger vehicle with a better tow weight rating as I use the trailer more than a handful of times per year, and my current tow vehicle is getting a bit long in the tooth.

gscott 9mo ago

I have had good luck with farm type auctions just check the rust. IronPlanet is also really good but a little more expensive.

m463 9mo ago

I was looking for the same thing and a friend gave me some advice. Get an SUV with a trailer hitch. worked out great. Maybe better than a pickup. For example - taking mountain bikes somewhere to ride - you can put them in the back, go ride, and leave them there while you go eat without someone stealing them. You can even load them the night before. dirty stuff can use a trailer (I've never needed one) and suv carries lots of people - which has worked out many many times more than I predicted. (it is a gas guzzler, but was cheaper because of that, and didn't compete with higher-priced pickup market)

doublesocket 9mo ago
Never understood why the yanks don't like vans? Pickups are much less popular here in the UK, many more people use vans. A crew cab van with removable seats is infinitely more flexible than a pickup, other than long stuff which you chuck on a roof rack.
- aeonik 9mo ago
  Vans usually have a very difficult time off-road or in mountainous terrain. Vans are commonly used in urban areas, especially by businesses, but suburbs, rural, and construction benefit from higher clearences of SUVs and trucks. SUVs are also usually much better in hazardous driving conditions because of a more optimal weight distribution.
  - 3ple_alpha 9mo ago
    Vans work just fine on mountain roads. And driving off road is simply not a thing for like 99% of drivers. Reality is, people buy these things thinking they would drive them off road, and never actually do it. It's possible to make an off-road van, by the way. It's just that real demand is so vanishingly small that you don't really see them.
    - aeonik 9mo ago
      Having grown up in the mountains, and currently living in a hilly snowy area, no thanks I'll keep my SUV. My in laws have a mini van, and it's not great. I deal and have dealt with enough deep snow that would eat a van. I still might get a Sienna Hybrid for daily commuter

SJC_Hacker 9mo ago

Rent?

jahsome 9mo ago
For me personally, it's too much hassle. Between the paperwork, rental fees, getting a ride to and from, etc. I just start to lose motivation, and end up deciding to do the chore the "next weekend" which never comes. I need as few barriers between me and accomplishing a chore if I ever want to have any hope of completing it.

Aurornis 9mo ago

> As someone who's just been trying to buy a crappy used truck to haul some crap to the dump a couple times a year, I don’t get it. Why would you buy, maintain, and park an entire second vehicle for something that is beyond trivially cheap to hire out? If you wanted to DIY then renting a truck for the day makes more sense.

jahsome 9mo ago
Trivially cheap, huh? Wish I were so lucky. Renting a vehicle invites bureaucratic nonsense. For my personal situation, I need it ready to go at virtually a moments notice or I'll simply just avoid the chore.

wooger 9mo ago

Do you not have services in the US to do this for you? The problem: I have a pile of construction waste, household junk, garden waste etc. is solved by many businesses who'll come pick it up for a small fee. If your local government doesn't offer this, there are many commercial operators that do this in the UK. Seems bizarre to buy a whole giant, inefficient, vehicle just for 'hauling' occasionally.

jahsome 9mo ago
Scheduling a "bulk trash" pick up at my current home is only accomplished by calling my landlord, who then calls the trash company, who then calls back with some arbitrary date and time a month or more in the future. When I have crap I want to get rid of it, I don't want to deal with any of that. I'll take the "inefficiency" of storing and maintaining a second vehicle -- which my family would easily make use of other than hauling duties -- over dealing with the bureaucratic nuisance. There are private options, of course, but the fees are nowhere near "small" for this service.