So much wrong here...
I prefer to spend under 5k in CASH. keep it 2 years. that means it cost about 250/ month. That's an average car payment. Any time it lasts over 2 years it is a FREE CAR.
50k trucks are for people who can't do math. Losing 2k / yr in value is just silly no matter who you are.
I just want to point out the math here because of the irony of accusations of 50k trucks are for people who can't do math. If your 5k car lasts 2 years that is 25k over 10 years. If I pay $40k for a $50k truck and get $10k out of it in 12 years that is exactly the same cost as your 5k car.
carry on.
I think you are missing the point - you can buy a car for $5k with ~100k miles on it, drive it for two years and then sell it for ~$4k. Depreciation cost is ~$500/year
Or you could drive said car an 'average' amount (~12k-15k miles/year) for about five years and then still sell it for $2.5k. Depreciation cost is the same.
You paid $30k cash for the truck (plus trade-in), are hoping to get $10k after 10 years. Depreciation cost = $2,000/year
However, I honestly think you are missing the bigger picture here. Reading between the lines I think you see yourself as having a $52k truck that you only paid $30k for and hope to get $10k at the back end. You are rationalizing that $20k over 10 years is "cheap transportation" and are ignoring the 2005 you traded in for it. However, that $20k is
only the depreciation. Here's what else is going to make it very expensive over 10 years (assuming 150k miles over 10 years).
Fuel: 9,375 gallons (at 16 mpg) - $28,100 at ave $3/gallon
Tires: 3 sets (truck tires cost almost 2x over car tires) $2400-4000Those two alone are substantial because they cost far more than the would for a wagon or van.
Ignoring everything else they add ~$31k to your truck expenses over 10 years.
Your truck costs over $5k/year just in depreciation, fuel and tires. Then there's the other expenses listed below. To be fair, most of these you would have regardless of what car you drove.
Insurance - way more for a truck valued at $52k(!)
~30 oil changes
*20 tire rotations
*4 passenger air filters
*3 engine air filters
*3 brake fluid changes
*3 brake pads
*a new set of spark plugs
*water pump and drive belts
lots of other little stuff
(likely) at least one major repair over 10 years
* reference - 2015 GMC Sierra owners manual