As a very nice 1997 F350 diesel owner (crew cab, long bed, 5th wheel hitch, two 2" receivers, brake controller, etc):
I don't drive it much. :) And my wife's family does antique cars as a hobby. A truck is just another tool. You can use a tool well, or you can use it poorly. A lot of trucks on the road are used poorly. A clean bed is a good sign of this. As is a bed topper. A dirty bed, or a bed that's heavily scraped up, probably means the truck sees a lot of use as a truck.
Since new trucks are such a devestating barrier to FI, my question is why do Americans insist on buying more new pickups than any other pssenger vehicle?
"Because I want to be able to haul anything, any time, anywhere." Which is useful, if you use the truck for that. Or if you want to be seen as the type of person who has a truck for that. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes.
Anyways, I think a lot of people associate a truck with masculinity.
Sorry, I've never much cared for trucks. The only advantage to owning one is that I could be active in a local charity that helps set currently homeless people up with homes (along with jobs and transition counseling resources) which I think is a pretty decent idea.
I find shiny new trucks amusing, but not really a good indicator of masculinity. Personally, I find an older, well maintained truck to be far better indicator of solid masculinity. I may be biased by owning one, though. A new truck means, "I can sign on the dotted line!" An older truck, still in excellent shape, often means, "I can actually maintain my vehicles myself." The second is far more awesome. Someone who owns a big truck and maintains it themselves is, to me, far more awesome than someone who owns a shiny new truck and lets the dealership take care of everything. And, if I'm honest, older trucks have a lot of things that need maintaining. I can't say I mind, though. I like spending a sunny Saturday working on vehicles.
Also, with regards to the charity, the value of a truck goes up in relation to how few people around you have a truck. If everyone has a truck, it's not that useful. If you're one of very few people in your social circles/work circles/etc with a truck, it's a whole lot more valuable. Assuming you remember to suggest people pay you for diesel. I've made good spending money hauling stuff for people, made what amount to free dump runs by grabbing big stuff from other people, and generally try to make use of it as a truck whenever I can. It also means my wife & I can buy used furniture and haul it home (useful with a kid on the way), when otherwise that would be somewhat difficult, and we might be tempted to buy something more expensive because it had delivery as an option.
And, as a friend of mine used to say, "if you have a truck, you always have work", as they have tremendous utility for hauling and towing.
IFF (if and only if) you use it like that. A lot of people have a truck, but aren't willing to use it as a truck.
But I also have a F250 Powerstroke diesel 4x4 longbed which I use for buying and selling motorcycles and general utility.
What year? The F250 comes as a supercab with the long bed, right? Being able to show up and haul off non-working motorcycles to fix seems a nice little cash side gig. :)
The lightest Ford F-150s are still 4700+ lb and they can get heavier than 5700 lb... The F-350 can weigh over 7000 lb.
Yup. Mine is over 8k lbs with me in it and full tanks. :)
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Anyway, to the OP: Your question should not be, "Why do I want a stupid new pickup truck?" The question should be, "If I can justify a truck, what is the most reasonable way to obtain one?" And a used truck can be had for not very much, and will still do a very fine job of hauling large things and heavy things.