Truck costs then Vs. Now

[mcheath]

So I ran the numbers on what my F250 camper special Sport Custom would have cost new. I used the sales charts in the factory literature library, and added up all the options my truck has.

Came up with a new out the door price of $5838 with shipping. No idea what tax, license and all that would have been, so I'm sticking with the retail price of the truck and shipping.

F250.jpg

Ran that number through the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator to compensate for the years and see what that money would be in 2012 dollars. It came out to $31,997.83.

72' money in 2012.jpg

Hmm.

Then I went to Ford's website and priced out a new F250 with close to the same equipment. Used an XL Superduty, gave it the camper package, appearance package, and power package. Shipping is listed as $995 dollars to my hood.

The price came out to $30,710.00 dollars without shipping and $31,705.00 with shipping.

F250 2012.jpg

Almost an exact match for the price of my 1972 truck!

Very interesting. Would never have guessed that the prices are essentially the same 40 years later.

[fireguywtc]

Good post with a great perspective. I was involved in a very similar conversation a while back when it came to new car prices vs. a person's income. In reality, the price for a car compared to income has changed very little over the years as you have shown. However, modern cars and trucks have many more options that come standard with for the price. Today we get air bags, better seats, A/C, and stereo standard. Many times our bump sides didn't come standard with power steering or a spare tire. Just something to think about.

[popeyes71]

Thats a neat comparison, I always wondered about that. But Fireguy is right, the modern trucks have many other options that are included that our old Fords did not have or better yet did not even offer.

[adrianspeeder]

Yup, and even my sticker price 33k '08 F-250 I got out the door for 19 because no one wanted the super rare manual that you can't even get anymore on the '11+ trucks.

Go build yerself a big dick F-450 King ranch with every option and watch that number tip 74k. For my well qualified finance quote, it came to more then the rental payment on my house!

Adrianspeeder

[69timemachine]

Great detective work! I too would never have guessed that the expense of things today are still on par with things from back then! That's amazing!

[mcheath]

Yeah the modern F250 Superduty that I priced is a much better value than my 72' was, given all it's included features that come standard now. And in only 40 years we will be able to pick them up for a mere 1200 bucks!!

One of the things that intrigues me about running cost comparisons is noting my parents lifestyle vs. my own. Let's pick 1972 as our target year. Dad was a pipefitter, mom a homemaker, and off his one income they were able to buy a new 71' F250 CS with all the goodies. That went with the new ranch style house they bought in 70', the bought new Galaxie 7 litre they got in 66', and the bought new late 60's mobile home up at the lake that we went to on weekends. Not to mention the 66' Honda CL 77 scrambler, the 71' Honda CB175, and the 65' Honda trail 90 that was my sisters.

Hmm.

Anyways, it seems that car prices in relation to income have been fairly steady for quite a while.

[kf7mjf]

I think in productive economies we always see the same easy prosperity. It is easy to pick a time in history and look at it with rose colored glasses. I'm 32 and the glorious time in history is the era from the dot com boom to the start of the great recession. Those are the glory days, and I imagine I'll be sitting around in the 2040s talking about the days when trucks were still built and driven by people, and we could barely get into low earth orbit without a government subsidy.

Modern trucks are better values to our bumps the same way they were a better value than a model A. Improved manufacturing techniques always lead to more options for less. Robots build an f150 cheaper per hour than my grand parents built an f100, which means more goodies at the same inflation adjusted price.

[Whateverman]

this brings up the question "how much would a 40yr old truck go for in 1972?"

[adrianspeeder]

Hmm, no idea as I wasn't born till '86.

Adrianspeeder

[69timemachine]

this brings up the question "how much would a 40yr old truck go for in 1972?"

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't think it would fetch more than $100 to $400 in 1972. Just my guess.

[1970 Hi-Boy]

There may be another perspective to look at besides cup holders and the like in new trucks. Just think of all the steel and iron that is missing in the newly made versions of trucks. If looked at in this manner, your getting a lot less truck vs the old ones. Might be a partial reason for the near equal price comparison. But interesting none the less.

[Whateverman]

this brings up the question "how much would a 40yr old truck go for in 1972?"

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't think it would fetch more than $100 to $400 in 1972. Just my guess.

...$100 for a 32 ford/chev/misc. p/u eh?.... anyone have a time machine handy?

[rjewkes]

I have had older people comment on how they wish they had made 7.25 an hour back in their day. Of course they forget that the same tax rates mean more income more tax.

[Florian]

My basic F100 is supposed to have cost around $2,500 in '71. That would make $14,142.22 in 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. The most basic F150 with V6 starts close to $24,000!

[kf7mjf]

Now look at the packages the most basic F150 has, and start adding them to your base F100. Radio? Air conditioning? Spare tire? Bet the most basic F150 has a trim package on it too. I had to do that when I crunched the numbers for my Camper Special. Just adding the radio was equivalent to several hundred dollars of today's money.