Author Topic: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck  (Read 8979 times)

JOAT MON

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Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« on: June 15, 2018, 01:04:17 PM »
I went to Ford's online "build your own" and found out that this truck that he bought brand new about a year ago is a F-250, crew cab, XLT, FX4 (4x4) for ONLY $778/month for 84 months (7 years!)

Not to mention he works alone, so his crew cab's rear seat never get's used, while his 6-3/4' is full of his roughly 300 lbs of gardening equipment. This truck is nearly 21 ft. long and can handle a payload of 3,450 lbs. So approximately 1/3 of the length is used for actual cargo and 1/10th of the available payload is used. The truck weighs 6,500 lbs and gets under 14 mpg according to Fuelly.

I will also point out that I live in San Diego where the median house cost is $530,000 and a gallon of diesel costs about $4/gal. I wonder if this guy even nets anything!
« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 03:14:46 PM by JOAT MON »

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2018, 01:11:27 PM »
While you're probably right, we don't know if he had a sizeable down payment to make that payment a little more realistic. That said, I knew a guy who did gardening and lawncare, solo, in southern california and he did very well, like close to six figures 15 years ago. He hustled though and worked a lot.

Spiffy

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2018, 03:09:49 PM »
My parent's neighbor is a "gardener". He drives an expensive truck, his wife drives a Mercedes. He bought all 3 children a nice used car. They vacation out of the country every year. Do you know why? He makes A LOT of money.

TheWifeHalf

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2018, 06:19:00 PM »
Maybe his aunt died and left him a bunch of money.
Maybe his child had some horrific accident done to her at the hospital, and there was some money for her parents. After the funeral expenses, he bought a truck.
Maybe his other truck got demolished in an accident, and his wife, though she's in a wheelchair permanently, told him to buy himself a truck with the insurance money they got - thinking a bigger truck might have helped them in the accident
Maybe his wife's employer has a plan where she can buy a Ford at cost
Maybe he's FI but loves working outside, with his hands.
Could be anything.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2018, 05:09:40 AM »
This is the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy, right?  Doesn't matter whether the gardener can "afford" the truck or not, the OP's point is that the truck is massive overkill for what it is used for.  And expensive on top of that.

My elderly neighbour's lawn service uses a truck (a small one, single cab) and a trailer.  Two men in the cab, the truck bed and the trailer are full of their equipment, no wasted space.    This is a LCOL area and they don't charge a lot - that truck would eat up all their profits.

Chris22

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2018, 08:02:52 AM »
Around here the landscapers all use trucks of varying ages (very new to very old) BUT they ALL pull trailers loaded up with ZTR mowers that need to be trailered along with bags and barrels full of yard waste.  Is it possible that on days when you see him he's working on small lots that don't require that type of mower, and on other days he has clients with bigger lots and he's towing a trailer full of that equipment?  And is it also possible that during the day he's not using the double cab of the truck, but on nights and weekends he's plopping his family in and driving them around? 

Also, aren't there still tax laws where vehicles over a certain weight qualify for much more favorable depreciation against his taxes?  Maybe he'd love to drive some little Scion shitbox like MMM, but it is much more advantageous from a tax perspective to drive this. 

MilesTeg

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2018, 10:36:59 AM »
Or, you know, he uses the truck to tow really heavy equipment and loads of materials and waste, but not for this particular job...

Miss Tash

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2018, 11:05:30 AM »
This spring I needed 700 sq ft of sod removed from my front yard.  Got some references off the Nextdoor site and had them out.  First guy showed up in a huge Ford with special "race car" (his term) paint, jacked up 4", and no logo or business markings.  It was at least a $60K truck.  He showed me all the bells and whistles when I seemed interested (dazed/confused).  He proceeded to upsell and mansplain until I just asked, "How much to remove the sod???".  $3300.  Justified because he needed to rent a bobcat, pay hauling-away fees, and still make a profit ($850, he said).
All I could think of was that amount of profit probably wasn't even a single truck payment.
Called a guy who had left a flyer on the door.  $490 for the whole job.  He owned his bobcat and took the sod to his workplace where he turned it into compost for re-sale.  He drove a nice, late model Ford that I didn't mind helping pay for.

ambimammular

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2018, 02:28:13 PM »
He may be using it as a tax write off. My brother makes big purchases every year, justifying it as "growing the business" when he really just likes nice trucks and new buildings. He's so busy keeping his income from going to taxes that none of it seems to make it to his savings account.

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2018, 02:45:14 PM »
The pictured truck is a 3rd generation F-250 (2011-2016). If he bought it new last year, it was leftover (very) old stock and there's no way he paid MSRP.

If it was in fact used, they're cheap.

BudgetSlasher

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2018, 05:13:18 PM »
You wonder if he nets anything, I wonder how much your neighbor is paying him.

shotgunwilly

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2018, 08:38:05 AM »
Probably because he's making twice as much as the people that are paying him to do their lawns.

I know several people that are like this.

shotgunwilly

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #12 on: June 19, 2018, 08:39:40 AM »
The pictured truck is a 3rd generation F-250 (2011-2016). If he bought it new last year, it was leftover (very) old stock and there's no way he paid MSRP.

If it was in fact used, they're cheap.

There's nothing "cheap" about these vehicles.

You linked a gas F250 with 170k miles on it already.  If it was diesel, then that would have been a steal. 

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #13 on: June 19, 2018, 11:58:44 AM »
The pictured truck is a 3rd generation F-250 (2011-2016). If he bought it new last year, it was leftover (very) old stock and there's no way he paid MSRP.

If it was in fact used, they're cheap.

There's nothing "cheap" about these vehicles.

You linked a gas F250 with 170k miles on it already.  If it was diesel, then that would have been a steal.

Okay, so here's a 2012 diesel with 122k for $19,499..

My point is that the landscaper guy did not buy a brand new $70k (or $55k, since the OP can't seem to figure out how much it was) 3rd gen F250 in 2017, because the 4th gen has been in production since mid-2016. And if in fact they did buy a new last-year leftover 3rd gen, there's no way in hell they paid MSRP (which is what the build calculator on Ford's site will give you).

Just Joe

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2018, 03:44:05 PM »
I hear the diesel engines are VERY expensive to repair. Like $650+ per injector (x8). Like $1500+ for a turbo replacement.

These engines last a long, long time but are very expensive to repair. And an oil change requires gallons of oil.

No big deal if a person needs a heavy duty pickup. Pretty expensive as a commuter vehicle when something else would get the job done for less.

jinga nation

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #15 on: June 22, 2018, 02:32:30 PM »
A common sight on Friday afternoons/evenings in the trailer home neighborhood near my parents is these trucks getting washed and cleaned for weekend family use. Some folks use industrial canvas seat covers that they take off for weekend cleaning. Some of these guys clean their truck so good that you'd never know it was used by a gardener, handyman, used for trailer towing, etc.

I will never bash an expensive truck as I know people who make a lot of $$$ working very physical trade jobs and their truck is their pride and joy and their daily driver to job sites. Most of these folks are humble af and willing to lend advice for free.

PDXTabs

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #16 on: June 22, 2018, 11:57:41 PM »
Prior to the recent tax reform many independent contractors made sure to get heavy vehicles because they recieved preferential treatment for tax purposes. Section 179 Vehicles List: Tax Deductions For Heavy Vehicles.

JOAT MON

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2018, 12:34:48 PM »
I will admit that some of these responses bring up some good points with regards to some of my speculations so here's what I will do: I'll see if I can catch him next time he comes and ask him what he actually paid for it, what he uses it for (both business and leisure) and how much he makes doing his gardening business. Hopefully he'll be willing to answer all of my questions. I will say that he regularly curses at his equipment, so I wouldn't consider him the most approachable guy in the world. If that doesn't work out, I can get some basic info from my neighbor.

That being said, I think I can respond to a few of the points that were brought up:
In the hypothetical situation(s) where he comes into a lot of money for various, why would that change the way he approaches a business decision? He could still buy a more reasonable vehicle (in the situation where it was demolished) and invest the rest in VTSMX.
If he has a special deal with Ford, he could still get a F-150 or even a transit/transit connect for much less money and lower running cost.
It is my speculation that he doesn't love his job (see above), but I don't know for sure.
There are no large lots in my area, so in order for him to justify the use of a sit down mower, he would have to be driving another 20 minutes to get there (further increasing his running expenses).

I haven't looked into the tax cuts and I don't plan to. I have my doubts that it is cheaper to get a larger and more expensive truck (especially in California), but I am willing to be proved wrong.

MilesTeg

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2018, 12:39:35 PM »
I will admit that some of these responses bring up some good points with regards to some of my speculations so here's what I will do: I'll see if I can catch him next time he comes and ask him what he actually paid for it, what he uses it for (both business and leisure) and how much he makes doing his gardening business. Hopefully he'll be willing to answer all of my questions. I will say that he regularly curses at his equipment, so I wouldn't consider him the most approachable guy in the world. If that doesn't work out, I can get some basic info from my neighbor.

That being said, I think I can respond to a few of the points that were brought up:
In the hypothetical situation(s) where he comes into a lot of money for various, why would that change the way he approaches a business decision? He could still buy a more reasonable vehicle (in the situation where it was demolished) and invest the rest in VTSMX.
If he has a special deal with Ford, he could still get a F-150 or even a transit/transit connect for much less money and lower running cost.
It is my speculation that he doesn't love his job (see above), but I don't know for sure.
There are no large lots in my area, so in order for him to justify the use of a sit down mower, he would have to be driving another 20 minutes to get there (further increasing his running expenses).

I haven't looked into the tax cuts and I don't plan to. I have my doubts that it is cheaper to get a larger and more expensive truck (especially in California), but I am willing to be proved wrong.

Or, and I think this is a much better idea. You can just MYOB and move on...

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #19 on: June 26, 2018, 12:46:46 PM »
I will admit that some of these responses bring up some good points with regards to some of my speculations so here's what I will do: I'll see if I can catch him next time he comes and ask him what he actually paid for it, what he uses it for (both business and leisure) and how much he makes doing his gardening business. Hopefully he'll be willing to answer all of my questions. I will say that he regularly curses at his equipment, so I wouldn't consider him the most approachable guy in the world. If that doesn't work out, I can get some basic info from my neighbor.

That being said, I think I can respond to a few of the points that were brought up:
In the hypothetical situation(s) where he comes into a lot of money for various, why would that change the way he approaches a business decision? He could still buy a more reasonable vehicle (in the situation where it was demolished) and invest the rest in VTSMX.
If he has a special deal with Ford, he could still get a F-150 or even a transit/transit connect for much less money and lower running cost.
It is my speculation that he doesn't love his job (see above), but I don't know for sure.
There are no large lots in my area, so in order for him to justify the use of a sit down mower, he would have to be driving another 20 minutes to get there (further increasing his running expenses).

I haven't looked into the tax cuts and I don't plan to. I have my doubts that it is cheaper to get a larger and more expensive truck (especially in California), but I am willing to be proved wrong.

Or, and I think this is a much better idea. You can just MYOB and move on...

Yuuuup.

If you came up to me and asked what I paid for my truck, I'd tell you. If you asked what I used it for, I'd tell you. If you asked me how much I made, I'd probably look at you like you had two heads. It's none of your damn business.

HPstache

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #20 on: June 26, 2018, 12:52:26 PM »
You're lucky this "gardener" doesn't frequent the MMM forums.  One click on your name and he'd find out he's being criticized by a fresh-out-of-college grad who's tuition was paid by mom & dad and who is still living at home.  I'm in the same boat as many others, mind your own business, you have no idea what it takes to run a landscaping business.

Zamboni

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #21 on: June 26, 2018, 01:06:17 PM »
He's so busy keeping his income from going to taxes that none of it seems to make it to his savings account.


This is one of my favorite all time quotes from years of reading MMM . . . thank you for that!

The link to the cheap 250's was broken, but it led me to this 2014 gem for the low, low price of only $69,995:
https://www.brentroad.com/photos/00535282.jpg

My favorite quotes from the listing:
"Custom Stereo System with Focal Elite speakers and Probox Sub behind the rear seat. Very, very LOUD."
"Lightbars have a custom control knob to dim and strobe."
"Truck is built right and turns heads everywhere. I Have well over 130k in this truck but I don't have time to drive it. Only 37k miles."

In fairness, though, my brother works in construction and drives a heavy duty Chevy truck to pull his trailer. It cost him around $30K. It is factory white, has cloth seats, and is not jacked up. He does not baby it other than he drives like a grandma to maximize the gas mileage (coasts and let's the loaded trailer push him down the hill and as far up the next hill as it can.) It has his company logo magnet on the sides. He makes WAAAY more money that I do. Alas, though, I don't think his lightbars strobe. I'll have to ask him why their is no strobing on his truck ;-)

JOAT MON

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #22 on: June 26, 2018, 03:35:11 PM »
I will admit that some of these responses bring up some good points with regards to some of my speculations so here's what I will do: I'll see if I can catch him next time he comes and ask him what he actually paid for it, what he uses it for (both business and leisure) and how much he makes doing his gardening business. Hopefully he'll be willing to answer all of my questions. I will say that he regularly curses at his equipment, so I wouldn't consider him the most approachable guy in the world. If that doesn't work out, I can get some basic info from my neighbor.

That being said, I think I can respond to a few of the points that were brought up:
In the hypothetical situation(s) where he comes into a lot of money for various, why would that change the way he approaches a business decision? He could still buy a more reasonable vehicle (in the situation where it was demolished) and invest the rest in VTSMX.
If he has a special deal with Ford, he could still get a F-150 or even a transit/transit connect for much less money and lower running cost.
It is my speculation that he doesn't love his job (see above), but I don't know for sure.
There are no large lots in my area, so in order for him to justify the use of a sit down mower, he would have to be driving another 20 minutes to get there (further increasing his running expenses).

I haven't looked into the tax cuts and I don't plan to. I have my doubts that it is cheaper to get a larger and more expensive truck (especially in California), but I am willing to be proved wrong.

Or, and I think this is a much better idea. You can just MYOB and move on...

You know what? You're absolutely right. What matters here is not this individual's personal decision and I shouldn't have put him on blast like that.

That being said, there are plenty of people who make these sorts of decisions and I think that some productive discussion about this type of choice can and have been made. I still stand by my initial message that anyone who uses a vehicle such as this for a purpose as described is making a foolish decision. You can come up with hundreds of hypothetical justifications, but I think for 99% of these cases those justifications do not apply.

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #23 on: June 26, 2018, 03:49:38 PM »
The other thing you're not considering: he's a business owner. If his truck goes down, he can't do his job, so he can't earn money. That's a bad thing.

Business owners, especially once they've reached a certain point, do not care about what's financially optimal from a consumer or environment standpoint, they do what's best for their business, in the hopes that it will pay off for them in the end. The money "saved" by buying a beater truck or van or whatever would probably be wiped out by a week of the truck being in the shop. Just like some consumers rationalize a newer car for better reliability, a business owner will do the same, only there are real life direct impacts to his paycheck in the even the truck goes down. An uncle of mine is a very successful business owner and doesn't even blink at the cost of new delivery vans, since his goal is to always keep them up and running with minimal downtime. For him, the higher price of consistently rotating in and out of brand new commercial vans is worth it knowing that breakdowns and the like are unlikely.

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #24 on: June 26, 2018, 03:58:26 PM »
I will admit that some of these responses bring up some good points with regards to some of my speculations so here's what I will do: I'll see if I can catch him next time he comes and ask him what he actually paid for it, what he uses it for (both business and leisure) and how much he makes doing his gardening business. Hopefully he'll be willing to answer all of my questions. I will say that he regularly curses at his equipment, so I wouldn't consider him the most approachable guy in the world. If that doesn't work out, I can get some basic info from my neighbor.

That being said, I think I can respond to a few of the points that were brought up:
In the hypothetical situation(s) where he comes into a lot of money for various, why would that change the way he approaches a business decision? He could still buy a more reasonable vehicle (in the situation where it was demolished) and invest the rest in VTSMX.
If he has a special deal with Ford, he could still get a F-150 or even a transit/transit connect for much less money and lower running cost.
It is my speculation that he doesn't love his job (see above), but I don't know for sure.
There are no large lots in my area, so in order for him to justify the use of a sit down mower, he would have to be driving another 20 minutes to get there (further increasing his running expenses).

I haven't looked into the tax cuts and I don't plan to. I have my doubts that it is cheaper to get a larger and more expensive truck (especially in California), but I am willing to be proved wrong.

Or, and I think this is a much better idea. You can just MYOB and move on...

You know what? You're absolutely right. What matters here is not this individual's personal decision and I shouldn't have put him on blast like that.

That being said, there are plenty of people who make these sorts of decisions and I think that some productive discussion about this type of choice can and have been made. I still stand by my initial message that anyone who uses a vehicle such as this for a purpose as described is making a foolish decision. You can come up with hundreds of hypothetical justifications, but I think for 99% of these cases those justifications do not apply.

A discussion here is much different than walking up to someone and interrogating him about his choices in life.

JOAT MON

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #25 on: June 26, 2018, 04:46:08 PM »
The other thing you're not considering: he's a business owner. If his truck goes down, he can't do his job, so he can't earn money. That's a bad thing.

Business owners, especially once they've reached a certain point, do not care about what's financially optimal from a consumer or environment standpoint, they do what's best for their business, in the hopes that it will pay off for them in the end. The money "saved" by buying a beater truck or van or whatever would probably be wiped out by a week of the truck being in the shop. Just like some consumers rationalize a newer car for better reliability, a business owner will do the same, only there are real life direct impacts to his paycheck in the even the truck goes down. An uncle of mine is a very successful business owner and doesn't even blink at the cost of new delivery vans, since his goal is to always keep them up and running with minimal downtime. For him, the higher price of consistently rotating in and out of brand new commercial vans is worth it knowing that breakdowns and the like are unlikely.

I completely agree that you have to consider how much a vehicle is able to produce in its lifetime and consider downtime as a major factor. That being said, I think there are more cost effective (dare I say much more cost effective) options. There are many choices in between a new super duty (or possibly new-ish as JLee pointed out). Even a new Tacoma, F-150/Silverado/Ram/Tundra, Transit, Transit Connect, Chevrolet Express/GMS Savanna would be much cheaper than the 250 and just as reliable.

I am certainly not saying that super duty trucks are useless. Of course there are businesses that require them (for example AT&T needs them for their man-lifts). What I am saying is that a gardener whose only occupation is gardening does not need one. There are hundreds of gardeners who are still nursing along 90s era Toyota pickups powered by ~100 horsepower 4-bangers. I'm also not saying that everyone should go to this extreme, but if it works for them then a brand new light or medium-duty truck should work fine.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 05:45:13 PM by JOAT MON »

marty998

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #26 on: June 27, 2018, 02:51:24 AM »
1) Maybe his aunt died and left him a bunch of money.
2) Maybe his child had some horrific accident done to her at the hospital, and there was some money for her parents. After the funeral expenses, he bought a truck.
3) Maybe his other truck got demolished in an accident, and his wife, though she's in a wheelchair permanently, told him to buy himself a truck with the insurance money they got - thinking a bigger truck might have helped them in the accident
4) Maybe his wife's employer has a plan where she can buy a Ford at cost
5) Maybe he's FI but loves working outside, with his hands.
Could be anything.

I'm a little late to this but oh my fucking god. I want to cry.

1) Not a reason to buy a truck, much less an expensive one;
2) Still not a reason to buy a truck, much less an expensive one;
3) So he buys a big truck to what? Put his wheelchair bound wife on the back of the tray?
4) Still not a reason to buy an unnecessary gas guzzler
5) Again - buy one that doesn't cost $55k

He may be using it as a tax write off. My brother makes big purchases every year, justifying it as "growing the business" when he really just likes nice trucks and new buildings. He's so busy keeping his income from going to taxes that none of it seems to make it to his savings account.

As pointed out, he is still an idiot for spending $55k to get back what? 10k? So he is out of pocket $45k plus ongoing costs.

Again. Idiot. And should be called out for it.

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #27 on: June 27, 2018, 08:09:52 AM »
I can't figure out why so many of you are hung up on what MSRP is for that truck. The OP claims it was purchased new last year. The OP used current MSRP to determine a price.

The truck pictured is at least two years old.

Something doesn't add up.

acroy

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #28 on: June 27, 2018, 09:19:58 AM »
I have 2 stories re: gardeners and vehicles!

1)Oddly, I bought and drove a $17k brand new truck (dodge dakota 4.7 v8, great truck) as a 19yr old college student paying the bills by mowing lawns, lots of lawns, hundreds of lawns! 8lawns/day 5 days a week, with another 3-5 on Sat, charging $15/ea and averaging about $17/ea with tips. It was a good hustle, making $600-800 a week, mostly cash. The average lawn took about 30minutes. I was busting my hump big time, start by 7am and done by 11 or 12 before the Houston heat really kicked in.
The first vehicle was an ancient $1600 chevy. It got rear-ended and destroyed. I needed something reliable, quickly, and had the prospect of a well paying engineering career ahead of me. 3-5yr old used trucks at the time were like 15k, made no sense; so I worked a deal on the brand new Dodge at 1.9% interest. It also helped me build my credit history. I kept it for 8yrs and 80k and sold it for $8000

2) current neighbor lawn guy. I admire this guy. Hard working Hispanic dude, little English, wife and small kids. He started in the neighborhood with 1 customer and an ancient hatchback Civic, lawnmower strapped in the back with the hatch open. he picked up more customers and bought an old mazda truck. Kept hustling and now has a late model shiny red 1/2ton chevy with 20" chrome wheels. Living the dream in the land of opportunity! Badass on him.

alanB

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #29 on: June 27, 2018, 02:33:42 PM »
Not enough information in OP to determine whether this is really shameful or comedic in my opinion (vs. the many people I see commute to office jobs in pointless glamour trucks every day).  I am generally more forgiving of work trucks.  I know it is probably overkill, but would you call someone who has a nice personal office an idiot since they could just work off their kitchen table?  I am willing to believe that having a fancy truck could theoretically help you get more business.

Please do follow up with this guy in real life and find out what his deal is, inquiring minds need to know!!  Even better, direct him to this thread!  Would love to hear this guy's perspective.

Snaldo23

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #30 on: November 19, 2018, 06:36:41 PM »
Please don’t go ask this guy or guys like him questions prying into his life choices. It’s not going to come off the way you think it will. He’s just out there doing his job and maybe the other days of the week he’s towing a huge dump trailer delivering mulch to customers. I’ll give you a personal story where I was in this guys shoes.

In college I worked for the school on the grounds maintenance crew. Every morning we’d go out and clean up the campus at 6 am. Every morning we’d all drive trucks around campus from trash can to trash can - take the full bag out, throw it in the bed, put a new bag in, repeat. Id fill a full sized truck bed a few times every morning.

One January morning it’s like ten degrees, I’m out at 6 am picking up trash all over campus for $9/hr and this professor walks up to me to start asking leading questions that she clearly already knows the “right answer” to.

“Why do you leave the truck running when you’re standing next to it?” Didn’t have the chance to answer but it was my only source of heat, and better than starting and stopping the truck every 30 seconds for 4 hours every day.

“Why are you driving such a huge truck when the bed is nearly empty?”

 I was too dumbfounded to answer intelligently, but for the rest of the time I had that job I couldn’t shake the thought that every day there was some highly paid  professor looking out the window of their air conditioned and heated office judging me as I picked up frozen garbage.

EDIT: I should say that I loved the job and actually enjoyed picking up campus, just being critiqued in such a way while doing it rubbed me the wrong way
« Last Edit: November 20, 2018, 06:59:20 AM by Snaldo23 »

talltexan

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #31 on: November 20, 2018, 08:58:13 AM »
The other thing you're not considering: he's a business owner. If his truck goes down, he can't do his job, so he can't earn money. That's a bad thing.

... The money "saved" by buying a beater truck or van or whatever would probably be wiped out by a week of the truck being in the shop...

So buy two trucks, each of which is 1/3 of the price of the high-end truck. Then you have a back up for when these break-downs happen.

BDWW

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #32 on: November 20, 2018, 09:29:28 AM »
Sounds like there are so many potential lucrative landscapers on this forum. Who knew?  Clearly they can run these people out of business or make a killing with how much better they know how to run it.

JOAT MON

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #33 on: December 02, 2019, 01:51:48 PM »
I know this has been dead for over a year, but new information has been brought to light and I wanted to share.

I never talked to the gardner, but my dad mentioned to me that he was over at my neighbor's house and my neighbor (we'll call him Kevin) was complaining about his gardner. I guess my dad was telling Kevin how much he liked his gardner. Apparently Kevin and his gardner were old friends and Kevin is more or less forced to stay with him. The main complaints expressed about Kevin's gardner are that he does not do a good job and his services are overpriced. My dad didn't know any more of the details, but it seems to me that Kevin's gardner is probably not the most competitive in his field.

trollwithamustache

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #34 on: December 02, 2019, 01:56:24 PM »
I know this has been dead for over a year, but new information has been brought to light and I wanted to share.

I never talked to the gardner, but my dad mentioned to me that he was over at my neighbor's house and my neighbor (we'll call him Kevin) was complaining about his gardner. I guess my dad was telling Kevin how much he liked his gardner. Apparently Kevin and his gardner were old friends and Kevin is more or less forced to stay with him. The main complaints expressed about Kevin's gardner are that he does not do a good job and his services are overpriced. My dad didn't know any more of the details, but it seems to me that Kevin's gardner is probably not the most competitive in his field.

so... the Gardner has a customer that believes he is too expense so this proves him to be un-mustachio?

JLee

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #35 on: December 02, 2019, 02:21:58 PM »
I'm so confused as to why you care so much about this topic that you'll come back after a year to post an update...

Bloop Bloop

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #36 on: December 02, 2019, 02:26:08 PM »
This is the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy, right?  Doesn't matter whether the gardener can "afford" the truck or not, the OP's point is that the truck is massive overkill for what it is used for.  And expensive on top of that.

My elderly neighbour's lawn service uses a truck (a small one, single cab) and a trailer.  Two men in the cab, the truck bed and the trailer are full of their equipment, no wasted space.    This is a LCOL area and they don't charge a lot - that truck would eat up all their profits.

Maybe he just really likes big trucks.

I'd say the appropriateness of the spend depends on the amount of money the gardener is making. If the gardener is making $40k a year then the truck is overkill. If the gardener makes $250k a year - unlikely I know - then the truck might be a perfectly good way to convert cash into utility. Particularly since it would be a business vehicle and therefore 100% deductible as far as all expenses go.

MoneyQuirk

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #37 on: December 02, 2019, 02:29:24 PM »
But why does he need to retire when he has that sweet ride?

talltexan

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #38 on: December 03, 2019, 09:02:44 AM »
No joke, once he retires, there won't be any reason to enjoy driving that truck to another place.

OtherJen

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Re: Neighbor's Gardener Drives a ~$55k Truck
« Reply #39 on: December 04, 2019, 06:35:10 AM »
I'm so confused as to why you care so much about this topic that you'll come back after a year to post an update...

I wonder if we’re being trolled. OP has 6 posts total, 5 on this thread.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!