"trucks last longer" is an arbitrary measurement to this scenario. If it's broken down and you don't have the means to replace it or buy a new one, you can't operate your business

Yes, but that’s a separate question from how often you really need to buy an entirely new one, which is usually a very optional expense. Repairing will generally be much cheaper.

> Yes, but that’s a separate question from how often you really need to buy an entirely new one, which is usually a very optional expense. Repairing will generally be much cheaper.

I grew up on a farm, you're presuming a lot. Guess what goes into a new heavy duty pickup truck purchase?

Well lets look at the new fuel efficiency, project out 10+ years to figure out how much fuel that will save, figure out how much gas will cost in the next 10 years (fudge it mostly).

And the work that these things do tends to be hard on everything. There is a need for new pickup trucks, and its not because you want it, its because it will save money. Repairing' isn't cheaper when you have heavy use.

Our trucks lasted maybe 200 000 miles of wear and tear. At the end, they were getting to pretty expensive options, like replace the engine entirely or rebuild, both about the same cost. Oh and the frame was starting to rust, or crack etc...

Your day to day car usage in the city does not give you much insight into how heavy duty pickup trucks get used on farms and ranches.

This is pretty close to the poor problem of having to buy $20 dollar boots every year because you can't affort a $100 dollar pair that will last 10 years. If you get behind on replacing things, you end up paying more.

Thank you for explaining it better than I could