Car shopping – Finding the best rig

Okay guys, lets all pile into the truck and head on down City Motors or Bison Ford to buy a new car.

Sounds so simple … Right?

Not so fast.

Car shopping, at least for us, is anything but simple. Car shopping for us requires a bit of reserve in that we don’t just jump up and run right out to buy something we might have seen in a commercial somewhere.

We might spend literally months, driving around town during our regular activities noticing all of the rigs around us in the process.

What rigs look horrible when they’re dirty, or look rather terrible even when they’re clean … and what rigs are used for various different things. Looking at a rig that’s a bit banged up can say a lot about the rig itself.

Then we notice which rigs there are out there that do poorly in town during winter conditions. If I buy that, am I going to have to park it for 4 months out of the year? Sure, it looks all cool and all, but just how well will the bumper cowling that’s only 4 inches above the street fair when the ice ruts form in the middle of February?

When I look around town throughout the year, I come away with the notion that there are a large number people that are driving mostly what they’re able to afford. If the heater and the radio works, then it’s a done deal.

There are also those who drive around in rigs that are totally impractical for the area driving conditions. Those who might still be ignorant of just how bad the weather can get here, or those who don’t care about the conditions because they’re too busy showing off to their buddies.

Then we’ve got the guys that are literally 7 feet tall … I mean who in their right mind is going to put a tool box on a truck that has a 12 inch lift kit with 18 inch tires. Surely the owner of that truck has to be at least 7 feet tall, or he just likes to climb into the back of his truck via step ladder just to get to his tools, because … you know … he’s cool and all.

Most of us around here all pretty much drive what’s practical. 4 wheel drive trucks (that we actually get into without the use of a ladder) and all wheel drive SUV’s are common place.

Our son will be driving himself to school next year, and he’s already got our F-150 4×4 in his sights — Good for him I reckon, because I wouldn’t want to put him behind the 8 ball with a 2 wheel drive.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single car commercial for any of the rigs we have now.

The rigs we have now … sold themselves … in the wild … long before we considered stepping on to the lot of a dealership. Ours is basically the process of elimination when we do our car shopping. If it sells by just driving down the street, then who needs a car commercial or a dealer to tell you about it?