Muh Farm Truck

1997 Ford F-250

After looking for a truck for a couple of years, I finally bought an old beater Ford F-250 for $1500.

The truck market in the US is a microcosm of how fucked up and insane the economy is.  (See Ann Rhefn's recent post on Laborism versus Capitalism) Truck prices are wildly inflated. New trucks cost as much as you'd pay for an exotic sports car not many years ago. As a consequence, many older truck sellers are asking around $10,000 for vehicles from the 80s and early 90s.

In my opinion, used truck prices are half driven by supply and demand (market forces) and the availability of financing. It's "easy" to sign up to flush away multiple years of your income on financing a truck.

I noticed, lately, that the market shows some signs of distress--at least based on my prowling craigslist on a daily basis for at least a year if not two. The spread on prices seems to have recently exploded, so the low end of the market detached from the "high" end and older/historic trucks aren't selling at all.

I realized I don't need a lot of the "capabilities" that expensive used trucks have, which are sort of like the features of smart phones or new cars. I don't need 4 wheel drive, or a diesel engine. I don't want any infotainment electronics, so I ended up with an old, decent frame truck with high miles and lots of wear and tear issues.

The cash and real asset economy is like a parallel universe from the credit driven economy. In the cash economy, people are happy and think about what they're doing and live within their limitations. In the credit economy, people are in a bubble of consumer delusion about what will make them happy then miserable when they're stuck with the bill. I served some time in that world and I'll never go back.