Shocking

Excuse me for a moment as I lament over my First World problems. I have much for which to be grateful; I know that. I suppose that makes large bills easier to stomach, but still, they sting.

Way, way back in 1999, my husband and I did a special order for our (my) dream truck. We bought a 2000 Ford F250 Triton V-10 Super Duty Crew Cab with 4 wheel drive. That truck was a beast, and I loved it with all my heart. Blue Truck was the most reliable thing I have ever owned. Other than a few batteries, tires (LOTS of tires) a fuel pump, and hoses and belts, nothing ever went wrong with that truck.

Blue Truck

You have all heard this story before, but in 2019 with less than 150,000 miles on her, I decided to trade in Blue Truck (along with unlucky Juke) for a new truck, Newt. Newt is a fine lookin' hunk-a-burnin' love, but cheap she is not. Newt is a 2019 Ford F250 with a 6.7L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel that I bought in 2019 with 22,000 miles on her. She hauls my three-horse living quarters trailer like nothing is behind her. All of that power has come with a very steep price though.

My sports car has a tailgate.

In the two and a half years since Newt joined Team Speedy/Izzy, she has racked up quite a list of repairs. At this point, I don't even want to think about what else can break, wear out, or fail. Here is the current list excluding oil changes and required service maintenance like fuel filters and the like:

• Steering Damper - Ford paid for that.
• Blown Turbo Hose - I paid for it and did the labor myself.
• Batteries (diesels take 2) - I paid for these and helped out the technician by hauling out my charger/starter.
• 8 Glow Plugs over 3 months - I paid for two of them, Ford took care of the rest
• New Brakes - I paid for those.
• New Tires - and those.
• 4 New Shocks (both fronts and rears) - and even those.

The guys at Les Schwab asked if I wanted a uniform - I've been there a LOT the last few months.

I am not kidding. I have had all of this done in two and a half years. And really, nearly all of this was in the last year because Newt was pretty solid for the first year I had her. The batteries, glow plugs, brakes, tires, and shocks all went kaput in the past 10 months. I get it. Owning a four-wheel drive truck is more expensive. Diesels just add on to the cost of ownership. Add the two together, and what should be a manageable bill ends up costing 50% more than your standard daily driver.

At times, I regret buying such an expensive truck, but then I haul over the pass into Ventura or LA and remember why I need such a heavy truck. For nearly fifteen of the nineteen years we owned her, Blue Truck was used only to haul the trailer or other truck necessity, and even then we often used my husband's truck. It ended up being cheaper for me to have a day-to-day car to drive around while Blue Truck sat parked. I have three and a half years left before Newt is paid for. You can bet I'll be looking for something a lot smaller and a lot cheaper to drive around when that payment is made.

Let's hope Newt feels like she doesn't need any more spa treatments.