I haven’t blogged in a while for the good and sufficient reason that I didn’t want to bore you. I figured if I was bored then you would certainly be bored too.
In our first two weeks in Massachusetts our main activities were (1) avoiding contact with people, (2) quick trips to food stores for provisions, wearing mask and gloves, (3) quick trips to the laundromat, wearing mask and gloves, (4) getting an estimate for necessary repairs to the Sierra (no actual estimate received yet, but I expect that the total of the turbocharger work and brakes will be roughly $3000) and (4) searching for a replacement truck. This last item consisted of a trip to a local dealer to look at a very promising Ram which I soon learned had been sold just hours before and a trip to Naugatuck CT to view a 2008 Ford F-350 which was very nice but overpriced and they wouldn’t budge. Worse, they initially offered me only $2000 for my truck. I laughed. They called back with a $5500 offer but the whole deal was still too expensive. I was hoping to get at least $8000 on the trade-in (KBB lists the trade-in value between $10,000 and $13,000). My target for a replacement vehicle is 2008 or newer, 100K miles or less and a net cost of no more than $22K after trade-in.
I am considering a private seller of a low-miles 2008 Ford F-450, but the complexity of transferring my Florida plates to a vehicle privately purchased in Connecticut is daunting. I am currently thinking of first investing the $3000 in fixing the Sierra, then putting it up for sale without having to disclose the turbocharger and brake issues. I will give myself to the end of July to do that. If successful I can then go out and find a replacement truck in September without worrying about trade-in. If I fail I will either take my lumps on trade-in or keep the Sierra for the return trip to Florida.
Dang! I really was trying to not bore you but you have fallen asleep.
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