So I asked Claude AI if it is a good idea to trade my 2021 Ranger in on a new 2026 Ranger...

[TJC]

So, boat or ZR2?

Actually, both would likely include a 3rd option of a divorce attorney

Already skating on dangerous ground as my wife is a Ford girl.

"If she's unhappy, you're unhappy. If she's unhappy long enough, you're unhappy with half your stuff!"​

- Jeff Foxworthy​

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[JimG_AZ]

Your truck is paid off which means you're not having to pay money each month to keep the vehicle from being repossessed. I don't know how much your monthly payment was, but I'm sure your current monthly payment is a lot better now than it was when you still had to make payments. I remember when my Ranger got totaled and all of sudden I didn't have to make payments for it. It was pretty nice

I'm pretty fortunate in that I have not had a car loan in quite a while. When I purchased the Ranger, I thought about taking a low interest 3 year note on it (it was either 0.9% or 1.9%). Looking back, I probably should have taken the loan, but my wife is a Dave Ramsey person and anti-loan. Your right though that no car payment is a good situation to be in. If I end up replacing my wife's Mercedes and I can get a low interest loan, I'll probably take the loan.

 

[JimG_AZ]

I agree with AI… There is virtually zero reason to get rid of your truck. It’s paid off, you have a substantial amount of warranty time/miles left, and it’s already proven to be a reliable truck. Even if something does happen, you have that warranty to cover it. Other than “just because” I can’t think of a good reason to let it go.
Hell, my truck has 75k miles on it and I need a new transmission. I STILL wouldn’t consider selling because it’s paid off. The $7k it’s going to cost me to replace the transmission doesn’t equate to the cost of a new truck payment over the course of 5 years.
I can pay $7k now and get another 10 years/150k miles (hopefully more) out of the ranger, or make $30k+ in payments on a new truck. For me, that’s an easy decision…

I am in total agreement with you. I have no desire to get rid of my Ranger. I don't even have any desire to go test drive a new mid-sized truck.

 

[AzScorpion]

I'm pretty fortunate in that I have not had a car loan in quite a while. When I purchased the Ranger, I thought about taking a low interest 3 year note on it (it was either 0.9% or 1.9%). Looking back, I probably should have taken the loan, but my wife is a Dave Ramsey person and anti-loan. Your right though that no car payment is a good situation to be in. If I end up replacing my wife's Mercedes and I can get a low interest loan, I'll probably take the loan.

IIRC Ford was running 1.9% at the time back in 2019. It usually sounds better to not take a loan but everyone needs to run the numbers for their own situation. When I ran the numbers taking the 1.9% was only (around) $500 more over 5 years so I took that. I'm a huge numbers guy too (I'll research something that only cost $10 to death!) and knew I could make way more money investing my money not having it tied up in a depreciating asset. I'm as anti-loan as they come and haven't even had a mortgage since I was 44 but you're usually much better off investing it when interest rates were low like they were.

BTW I'm not Dave Ramsey but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last week.

 

[Fordup]

IIRC Ford was running 1.9% at the time back in 2019. It usually sounds better to not take a loan but everyone needs to run the numbers for their own situation. When I ran the numbers taking the 1.9% was only (around) $500 more over 5 years so I took that. I'm a huge numbers guy too (I'll research something that only cost $10 to death!) and knew I could make way more money investing my money not having it tied up in a depreciating asset. I'm as anti-loan as they come and haven't even had a mortgage since I was 44 but you're usually much better off investing it when interest rates were low like they were.

BTW I'm not Dave Ramsey but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last week.

I had a car loan for my first new vehicle a 1976 C20 and a 5 year mortgage on our first house in 1980. Since then cash for everything. Did get a loan on my wife's 2010 focus because it gave a large rebate. Then paid it off 30 days later when the first payment was due. Trouble is companies don't like the extra IRS forms they need to file when you walk in with cash now.

 

[AzScorpion]

I had a car loan for my first new vehicle a 1976 C20 and a 5 year mortgage on our first house in 1980. Since then cash for everything. Did get a loan on my wife's 2010 focus because it gave a large rebate.

Then paid it off 30 days later when the first payment was due. Trouble is companies don't like the extra IRS forms they need to file when you walk in with cash now.

Per the bolded.... I've done that a few times too but they don't like it because they lose their incentives from the bank. They'll usually ask you to not pay it off for at least 90 days in which I always "oh, no problem".

Also I never tell them up front whether I'm paying cash or financing because sometimes they'll discount it differently. Make the deal first then discuss payment/financing.

 

[JimG_AZ]

IIRC Ford was running 1.9% at the time back in 2019. It usually sounds better to not take a loan but everyone needs to run the numbers for their own situation. When I ran the numbers taking the 1.9% was only (around) $500 more over 5 years so I took that. I'm a huge numbers guy too (I'll research something that only cost $10 to death!) and knew I could make way more money investing my money not having it tied up in a depreciating asset. I'm as anti-loan as they come and haven't even had a mortgage since I was 44 but you're usually much better off investing it when interest rates were low like they were.

BTW I'm not Dave Ramsey but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last week.

I have that illness too of researching things to death. I agree that sometimes to loan makes more sense. Looking back, I should have taken the low interest loan on my Ranger.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

When I bought my Ranger, I had to finance it through Ford for at least 6 months to retain the incentives.

Right now, looking at the ZR2, financing makes more sense than cash at the GM rate of 3.9%.

 

[JimG_AZ]

When I bought my Ranger, I had to finance it through Ford for at least 6 months to retain the incentives.

Right now, looking at the ZR2, financing makes more sense than cash at the GM rate of 3.9%.

I like the ZR2 too. That is a nice looking truck. I'm not big on GM vehicles, but if something happened to my Ranger I would definitely consider one.

 

[awd.nv]

Per the bolded.... I've done that a few times too but they don't like it because they lose their incentives from the bank. They'll usually ask you to not pay it off for at least 90 days in which I always "oh, no problem".

Also I never tell them up front whether I'm paying cash or financing because sometimes they'll discount it differently. Make the deal first then discuss payment/financing.

Bold, 100%.... If they know you are paying cash or using your own bank, they will not work with you as much.

 

[lariat]

I thought you guys might find this interesting. For the record, this all started with asking Claude AI if it was good idea to get rid of my wife's Mercedes GLC 300 SUV later this year before the extended warranty runs out. In that case, Claude highly recommended dumping the Mercedes and getting her something else. This was due to reliability issues and the high cost of repairs on a Mercedes. So, to do a comparison, I asked Claude what it thought about trading in my 2021 Ranger XLT FX4 on a new one. The response seemed to be a firm %^&* no!

Here the question I asked Claude AI:
I own a 2021 Ford Ranger FX4 with 43,000 miles on it. It has an extended warranty until 1/2030 or 100,000 miles. It has been very reliable and has needed under $800 of warranty work. It is up to date on service. Also, it is paid off. Is it better to keep this vehicle or trade in on a new 2026 Ford Ranger FX4?

Now tell it Gemini suggested the opposite.

 

[mtsoxfan]

Wait for 2027 model...where they can shut down your truck if your face is messed up by bee stings and you're trying to get to the hospital...

I did that last year. Got stung by bee, used epipen then 105mph on highway to get to hospital in my safe timeline. Highly allergic.

 

[mtsoxfan]

Only reasons i traded in my Ranger were garage only 19'4" deep. Too little space to get into house door behind truck. Very limited use at new location. Truck can be a pain in highly populated areas, parking lots. Funny, now i know why everyone in neighborhood parks truck in driveway.

 

[AzScorpion]

I did that last year. Got stung by bee, used epipen then 105mph on highway to get to hospital in my safe timeline. Highly allergic.

I found out early on I wasn't allergic to bees. We had a small pond behind our house growing up and one day we were playing there and there was a yellow jackets nest built into the side of it. As we crossed the section where the stream went through they all came out and stung us and I can still remember running home having them stuck all over me. lol There was over 20 bee stings all over and my mom was pulling stingers out all afternoon.

 

[Msfitoy]

I did that last year. Got stung by bee, used epipen then 105mph on highway to get to hospital in my safe timeline. Highly allergic.

2025 last year? Don't think you had this tech filter...The mandatory eye/facial recognition kill switch is on all vehicles 2027 on...

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