What year Cummins should i buy???

[Diesel_Junkie]

Ok,
I have my good old '92 cummins at about 200k miles, but it is getting old and tired, and a little too unreliable. All the dodge parts are falling apart, or have been replaced, but the cummins is holding strong.

I need a new(er) truck, but i cannot decide what to get.

With it being my daily driver commuter truck, it needs to be reliable. I also do not have time to spend worrying about when i am going to fix my only mode of transportation. I work 60hour weeks usually and spend a lot of time traveling (flying) for work.

It definitely needs to be 4x4 dually, club cab cummins, manual tranny ect. and needs to be less than about 80 k miles on the odometer.

I have been debating this for a while and i cannot decide between buying an old 12 valve, a brand new 3rd gen, or something inbetween.

What do you guys think??? is a brand new cummins with all the fancy options worth 3 times the price of a good old used 2nd gen????

What would you buy if you had to do it all over again?

Maybe a 3rd gen with 10 - 20k on the Odometer?

Is a brand new truck worth it???

I will be keeping my 92 around as a spare/beater/and "i couldnt live with myself if i sold it."

Please help

Thanks,

 

[Rcannon]

Is a brand new truck worth it???


Please help

Thanks,

try this little exercise:
I know guys that this is over simplified but...

Get a quote on a brand new truck, any brand. Then take that truck and go to KBB and price that truck on a trade in or selling outright with 1000 miles on the OD. You lose money/value driving that baby off the lot.

So, is a brand new truck worth it to you, not us? There are arguments either way.

 

[holtzer1]

personally i'm fond of the 24valve 2nd gen's

 

[Mighty Dodge]

I had a 93. It still ran like a champ but was beginning to rust bad. It was a plow truck before I bought it. I found a 97 at an estate sale....man I love it and the price was right. I sold the 93 a few months ago. The ideal truck would be an early 98, it still had the 12 valve engine but the new interior and four doors...but that's jut my opinion.

 

[killer]

Can you afford large payments, and do you intend to keep the truck for 5+ years? If you don't intend to get rid of it right away, and the chance of outside factors making that decision for you are slim, then I'd go new. You get a warranty for a while, you're not getting someone else's garbage, and it won't (shouldn't?) need high dollar maintenance for a while.

But I put a lot of value in getting something unblemished. I stay away from used vehicles because I don't want the trouble of removing something the previous owner thought was cool. And I've had a lot of trouble in the past with vehicles that had little problems, and the owner let them escalate to big problems.

 

[haz-mat19]

I would get like an '04, it will have a warrenty if the miles aren't over and you will not have to pay the big price of a brand new truck. But if a payment is no option get a new one, like they where saying it is yours and you will not get someone elses problems. My truck was a year old with 30k on it and it was about $8k less then a new one. See ya.

 

[Rcannon]

you're not getting someone else's garbage, and it won't (shouldn't?) need high dollar maintenance for a while.

But I put a lot of value in getting something unblemished. I stay away from used vehicles because I don't want the trouble of removing something the previous owner thought was cool. And I've had a lot of trouble in the past with vehicles that had little problems, and the owner let them escalate to big problems.

These are my biggest worries about buying used. You might get an older guys car...after his 3 teenagers used it for 3 years...


no, not all teens aren't ******* vehicles

 

[***]

Can you afford large payments.

I'm not sure that's a good measuring stick... If you can afford large payments then you should be able to save and pay cash. debt is just not a good thing, in my opinion. but to each his own ends to happiness. for me, no debt= no stress and security, although there are no absolutes in life. not trying to argue with the fact that new vehicles are pretty much trouble free and all that.. i agree with that part for sure.

 

[killer]

I'm not sure that's a good measuring stick... If you can afford large payments then you should be able to save and pay cash. debt is just not a good thing, in my opinion. but to each his own ends to happiness. for me, no debt= no stress and security, although there are no absolutes in life. not trying to argue with the fact that new vehicles are pretty much trouble free and all that.. i agree with that part for sure.

I don't mean that if you've got a lot of money coming in you should have a lot of money going out. I mean don't push the limits of your financial situation, in case something unexpected comes up. Once you buy a new truck, you're in it for a while until you can break even selling it.

If making the payments is going to be a little tight at the best of times, it's probably not a good idea. I still would, but I wouldn't use what I do as a model of what anyone else should do.

 

[100 Proof]

To address the original question, if you are going to get a used 3rd Gen, I'd look for an '03 - '04.5 HO vehicle. (Those are the 305 HP, 555 torque engines.) Those trucks have no catalytic converter and seem to get the best mileage of the 3rd Gen lot.

100 Proof

 

[strokin]

what do you guys think of the new cummins. I'm a ford guy, but always wondered what those trucks have. Any feed back would be awesome

 

[Diesel_Junkie]

I could easily make the payment on a brand new one, or pay cash, but i hate the idea of spending such a huge amount of money for something that will depriciate so fast.

The thing i like about the ol'92 is that it is pretty much not going to loose any more value than it has already. I know that is not really possible with the level of luxury and reliability i am after though.

I was riding in my buddies 24valve 2nd gen the other day and i realized that i loved all the extra noise you get when compared to the new common rail motors.

Also with the new body style being out for a few years now, i think the 2002 trucks can be had for a decent price.

i saw a 2002, 24valve, 6 speed, dually, 4x4, leather, larime, 40k miles, on ebay the other day, ended up going for $22k,

If i can find one like that for 20-21 K$ that might be the way to go. I figure that after 10 years at 10kmi/year it will still be worth $10k.

What do you guys think? 4 year old truck for $20K or brand new one for $40K?

 

[Mike]

What do you guys think? 4 year old truck for $20K or brand new one for $40K?

In my opinion that is a no brainer............. but I am a cheap bastige and drive an 11 year old pile also.

 

[HOIB]

In my opinion that is a no brainer............. but I am a cheap bastige and drive an 11 year old pile also.

That doesn't make you stupid, the way I've been most of my life it makes me jealous and you Einstein.

 

[haz-mat19]

$20K is about right,mine was a year old with 30K on it and I got it for $29K. I love my truck, it still sounds like a diesel .See ya