Texas Trucks

[thriller]

Anyone down south that could lead me in the right direction in buying a good used truck. Un-benounced to Wes I hope to pick one up in the San Antonio area for ease of travel/location.

I need web site addys so I can do the ground work before I head south.

I may even look at the possibility in buying a tandem axle trailer/car hauler and bringing back a truck and a Volvo/XC90 for the Mrs.

I simply can't buy/compete with anything here in Canada for the prices I'm seeing in the Texas area.

for me F-350 crew cab/long box, diesel

for her Volvo XC/90 or equivelent like an X5. 3rd row seating a must:wink: :propeller


Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Craig S]

There are some awfully good deals on new full size half ton trucks. I saw an ad for a chebby at $7995. I'm sure it was to get you in, but...

[mrfixxall]

Anyone down south that could lead me in the right direction in buying a good used truck. Un-benounced to Wes I hope to pick one up in the San Antonio area for ease of travel/location.
I need web site addys so I can do the ground work before I head south.
I may even look at the possibility in buying a tandem axle trailer/car hauler and bringing back a truck and a Volvo/XC90 for the Mrs.
I simply can't buy/compete with anything here in Canada for the prices I'm seeing in the Texas area.
for me F-350 crew cab/long box, diesel
for her Volvo XC/90 or equivelent like an X5. 3rd row seating a must:wink: :propeller
Thanks in advance,
Mike

Traderonline.com,,,but be careful of what you buyaround texas and other southern states..I hear theirs alot of cheep vehicles down their but some of the cars and trucks slipped throuth the governments hands from hurricane katrina and are being soldtheir and were in the flood waters....

[gcarter]

There's a story most of you have probably read about how the Texas government got Toyota interested in building their new Tundra plant in San Antonio,Texas.
The Texas state representatives took the Toyota folks to the parking lot of the Cotton Bowl during the game several years ago. When the Toyota people saw that almost every other vehicle in the parking lot was a pickup, they knew they had found the state for their new plant.
Then it was just a matter of finding the right city.

[roadtrip se]

Mike, try cars.com in addition to autotrader. Cars.com has affiliations with most of the newspapers in Texas, so you will get a chance to see what is in the local classifieds. Try 76179 as a location zip, my old Fort Worth address.

To the flood car point, I doubt it will be as big a deal as it would be in Louisiana and Mississippi, but I would get a carfax on anything you get serious about, in addition to a factory warranty check run, like an Oasis on a Ford product with under 36K on the odometer. A bunch of warranty work in the past year will be a tip off.

After living sixteen years in Texas, I doubt chevy and ford will have too much to worry about from the likes of honda-nissan-toyota, even if they are built on covered up Texas ranch land that had been in the same family for 200+ years. Especially in the heavy duty market. Brand loyalty runs deep there. I'll never forget dragging Farmertex, a life long Chevy fan, to the local Ford pickup assembly plant for a tour. The pain in his eyes was visible from 100 feet! Dream on Toyota!

[Sofa King]

TEXAS/Oaklahoma is p/u truck capital of the world. Don't matter where you buy in America unless it's a TX/OAK pkg. which means u have to be a resident of either.
I buy for invoice, get all dealer cash, consumer rebates and split the holdback with the dealer :yes:

[thriller]

Great Info...I continue my search..What I like is there is no such thing as rust on a Texas vehicle:):eek!:

[RickSE]

You know, Arizona is a lot closer. :wink: Lots of trucks here, esp. in Phoenix that have never seen a dirt road. You almost have to drive a truck here to feel safe on the road since there are so many full size trucks running around.

[gcarter]

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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Business

Sept. 19, 2006, 11:33PM



AUTO INDUSTRY
Seeking a pickup
Truck purchases in Texas turn flat this year
By SHANNON BUGGS
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

TRUCKS always sell well in Texas, but this summer they didn't sell as well as usual.

Texas still leads the nation in truck sales, and dealers say they are are doing better largely because energy companies are going strong, as are related construction and services businesses where pickups are a
must.

But when domestic truck sales in Texas, the No. 1 market for full-size pickups, are virtually flat compared with the previous year, as they were in June, July and August, the national sales declines look even worse.

"We're not doing as well with full-size trucks as we did last year, but we're doing better in Texas and Oklahoma than we are in the rest of the country," said Earl Hesterberg, chief executive of Group One Automotive, a Houston-based national auto-dealership chain.

That's because soaring oil prices in Texas and Oklahoma mean higher gasoline prices and more money flowing into and out of the oil industry. Many energy companies are spending the extra cash replacing worn-out pickups and adding trucks to their fleets.

"Retail may be kind of flat compared to last year, but commercial is up significantly," said Carroll Smith, owner of Monument Chevrolet in Pasadena. "I
am almost double com-
mercial sales."

But not all dealers have that buffer. To prop up summer retail sales, manufacturers used discounting and free financing, giving both Texas and the Houston region about a 1 percent increase over last year.

Even more telling was the number of days it took for dealers to move trucks off their lots.

Sixty to 65 days is average in any given month, says Tom Libby, an auto industry analyst for the Power Information Network. However, large pickup trucks sold in August sat on dealer lots one day shy of 90 days in the 26 markets surveyed. In Houston, the August trucks had been baking in the sun for an average of 79 days, while in Dallas-Fort Worth the average was 81 days.


Turnover is slower
"Large pickup trucks are turning slower than the rest of the new vehicles," Libby said from his office in Detroit. "The inventory for full-size trucks nationwide is high. For Ford and GM, it's not quite as bad as it is for DaimlerChrysler."

The Stuttgart, Germany, company's U.S. Chrysler division is expected to lose $1.5 billion in the third quarter as it readjusts its product line.

To deal with a stockpile of light trucks and sport utility vehicles, DaimlerChrysler said Tuesday it will reduce dealer shipments of new Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles.

"I heard that, so I'm stockpiling right now," said Alan Helfman, who runs Helfman Chrysler Jeep on Kirby. "I've put in close to 250 orders to make sure I'm covered because it's a little different around here; there is so much oil-related business."

Whether an oil wildcatter or a home contractor, a significant portion of truck buyers purchase full-size pickups because its the only kind of vehicle they can use.


Toyota goes full-size
And that is the market Toyota wants to attract to its redesigned Tundra that will be built in San Antonio starting in November.

"We feel that the full-size truck market is the one segment we need to focus on for our future growth," Toyota spokesman John Hanson said.

On Monday, the Japanese automaker unveiled a long-bed version of the Tundra at a national conference for manufacturers of after-market parts and accessories for work trucks, such as plows and ladder racks.

Hanson said the current Tundra "is basically a personal use pickup," but the company is betting the improved Tundra will appeal to people who "treat their trucks like a tool — they use and abuse them."

Toyota sells about 100,000 of the 2.1 million large pickups sold every year, Hanson said, while market leader Ford sells about 900,000.

And by manufacturing the Tundra in truck country, the automaker's intentions to take market share from the traditional brands that dominate the full-size truck segment are clear.

Getting to or staying at the top of truck sales is so important because trucks are the least expensive vehicles to make, and they maintain the biggest profit margins.

"You make more money on the average pickup than on virtually every other vehicle sold," said Brett Hoselton, a senior automotive analyst in Cleveland with KeyBanc Capital.

It's critical for Ford and General Motors to retain primacy in pickups to stay profitable, he said, but if they do, they could still sink into financial trouble if they don't develop other products consumers want.

"You still have a generation that believes that Ford and Chevrolet trucks are the best vehicles on the road," said Hoselton, a scion of an auto dealer family. "But does the next generation bring a different perception? Do they start to lose customers because people grew up buying Hondas and Toyotas?"


Is Ford vulnerable?
Toyota's truck challenge comes just as Ford's falling stock price and chief executive change make it appear more vulnerable. But the automotive stalwart is not ceding any ground on pickups, especially in Texas.

To make sure Ford F150s continue to appeal to Lone Star customers, dealers across the state advise Ford executives on Texas tastes and trends, said Ben Poore, truck group marketing manager for Ford in Dearborn, Mich.

"We know if we can make it work there," he said, "then we can make it rock everywhere else in the nation."

shannon.buggs@chron.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Business
This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4200041.html

[Craig S]

"I heard that, so I'm stockpiling right now," said Alan Helfman, who runs Helfman Chrysler Jeep on Kirby. "I've put in close to 250 orders to make sure I'm covered because it's a little different around here; there is so much oil-related business."


fwiw, Alan Helfman runs a great dealership. I bought an '03 and an '04 Jeep Rubicon from his place (I think the highest volume Jeep dealership in Texas), and now a Dodge CTD from his Dodge store. Price was extremely right, and no games.

[harbormaster]

Jefe might have his for sale. Its a very nice rig.

[Sofa King]

Alan Helfman is a nice jewish boy. Good dealership. Prolly the best in Houston is Tommy Vaughn (doesn't floor plan pays da driver a check :wink: ) on shepard but he is a ford dealer (insert crying face)

[Craig S]

I don't think either one of those guys are leveraged. Must be nice!

[Team Jefe]

Jefe might have his for sale. Its a very nice rig.

As a mater of fact I do....It needs to be cleaned up after this weekend, but I'll get some pics up soon.

[boldts]

Just had to interject this. LOL Here in Columbus, OH the Quarter Horse of America annual horse show is put on at our Ohio State Fairgrounds. Man the town goes wild because of the dollars spent when those Texas Cadillacs roll into town. Some of those trucks cost more than a very nice home in these parts! Go 4 dr. dually with some very imaginative paint schemes or go home. Leather and chrome everywhere, TVs and every other possible game or video piece available, GPS and radar. They really are show trucks! Then you add the trailer housing those beautiful animals on their tour to Columbus that matches the truck of course. Last, but of course not least, the lovely ladies who either own the whole operation or are riding the horses in the shows or are the girlfriend to the cowboy who owns the whole operation and man, life just doesn't get any better. As a matter of fact, that show should be coming up very soon. :)

Sorry, back to locating a TX pickup.

[Team Jefe]

In case you are interested. $18,500 USD

[Team Jefe]

Posted it on 2coolfishing.com and interest was high to say the least. I had 4 calls in less than an hour and sold it to the first guy in line the next morning.

[thriller]

Congrats Jefe! Nice looking rig:)

I have to get the wifes SUV first or I will be living in my son's tree fort. I hope to be in Dallas next Tuesday if the mechanical goes ok on the SUV:confused:

[Team Jefe]

And we know you aint awalkin.. What'd ya buy, What'd ya buy, huh huh huh??? :hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

Well, I have a new Saying.....Why Stroke it When you Can RAM IT !:yes:

Can you Say MEGA:biggrin.:

[Team Jefe]

Congrats Jefe! Nice looking rig:)
I have to get the wifes SUV first or I will be living in my son's tree fort. I hope to be in Dallas next Tuesday if the mechanical goes ok on the SUV:confused:
Mike - Are you squared away on that deal?

[thriller]

I have a fellow board member going down to Arlington on Monday to check it out. He will give me the straight goods and if it is as clean as the owner is telling me then it's a done deal. My flight is booked..

Arriving on American Airlines flight AA814 from YVR-DFW @1315 Oct. 11th

I suspect he will meet me and then take it from there....

Damn that was one fine truck you sold but the 3500 Ram Mega cab is just a tad more spectacular:eek!:

[farmer tx]

Jefe, Around here the saying is " I'd rather be cummin than stroken":)

[Team Jefe]

Good One Mark, I will keep it in mind.

Mike - thanks, I'm lovin' the MEGA. Especially the dually with teh new flares, not too many out there yet and I get lots of looks......Not that I crave atention or anything:rolleyes:

Yes, I know photos...but it is still stock, you can see it on dodge.com

wait a few weeks until I have it blinged out properly, then the pics will be all over the place.:yes: