Dead truck

So, my ghetto truck that I pull my horse trailer with died this week....while I was trailering the horse. Grrrrr....

Luckily, it died at the end of Ruth's (my trainer's) driveway. So, Ronan was ok.
Unfortunately, the truck, was not. The engine died.... (yes, I truly have bad engine karma, but I'll save that for another time.) We've only had his truck for 2 years (bought it used) and only put about 20,000 miles on it. It only had like 97,000 miles on it total, but I guess that the guy that we bought it from must have just trashed it, since we've already replaced the transmission, the wheel bearings, the fluid brake system, something with the axle, and some sensors. Sooooooo, when we found out it was going to be like, $4500 to fix the engine, I was like THAT'S IT!

Besides, this was not the truck that I wanted anyway. When I first started looking at used trucks, I got my father to help me, because I am terrible about knowing what's in good shape or not, and my husband's not much better. So, we looked at several, and my dad found this really nice truck with 80-something thou miles on it, that I really liked. It looked to be in really nice shape, etc. So, we were leaving the next day to go to Disney World, so my Dad said that he'd go make an offer to the guy, and get the truck stuff all settled. I was like Great! (What was I thinking????)
So, my dad calls me the next day in Florida and says, the truck that you wanted had already been sold.....but, I got you a different truck instead! I was like, WHAT??? My Dad said, actually, it was in so much better shape than the other one, and that it sounded better, and he thought that the transmission was in better shape, and it had a bigger engine, etc. So, I was like....oooook?
So, we get home to find our new truck, which was definitely a lot more stripped (not really that big of a concern) and had dents all over it! I swear! I was like, Dad!!!! He then told me that he didn't realize that it was that beat up, but it runs great. (Like a year later, he made fun of me, and said, what the heck did you back into? I could have killed him, and loudly reminded him that the multiple dents were there when he bought it!)

About a week later, the top of the dashboard started to crack and break off in huge chunks. It kind of looks like Peanut Brittle. I told people it was "distressed" (like in an art way.) So, then everyone who has ever ridden in our truck was like, "Sarah? What's with the dashboard?" and I have to explain the whole ghetto truck thing.

But now, even though I hated it, I am very bummed that it's dead. Especially since it was paid for. All 3 of our vehicles were paid for. They may all be on the older side, but that was lots better than a car payment.

I started looking at used trucks again, and found zilch. The ones that were in good shape were the same price or more than a new one! I couldn't believe it. Now, the American car companies are hurting pretty bad, so they were offering some kick butt deals, but still!

So, we decided to buy a new truck. Especially when we heard that Dodge was offering a lifetime warranty on the power train (engine, transmission, differential) as long as I owned the truck. I'm thinking...that should be able to combat my bad engine karma.....Groovy. Oh, and my Dad talked me into going and test driving one. Boy is it nice! and so quiet!
We really love it! I hate it that I'm paying on a vehicle that is not our primary vehicle (I only really use it to pull the trailer, but I do that at least once a week now.) but after getting stranded with the horse, it sure feels a lot better to be in a new truck, plus it's really, really powerful and fun to drive! Did I mention my environmentally friendly, itty bitty car loving husband hates trucks? (He even likes this one, but probably not driving it!)

So, that's the saga of the truck. I got a gooseneck hitch put in right away, and drove it everywhere all last week, because I had to put 500 miles on it before I was supposed to tow anything, and successfully towed Ronan out for my dressage lesson
yesterday!