Used car prices have been in news headlines everywhere in recent weeks. Demand is through the roof, and supply is at an all-time low. New cars sit idle waiting for chips that are nowhere to be found due to the semi-conductor shortage.
Taking Advantage of the High Prices
Fortunately for me, I was on the winning side of this, if there is one. I had been blessed with two vehicles; my farm truck and my F-150 that I drove to work every day. I was satisfied with my fleet, so I wasn’t really looking for a new vehicle, until car prices started going up. Anyone who pays a mortgage or car payment knows the stress that they can cause, and so I saw this as an opportunity. A couple months ago, I listed my F-150 on Facebook marketplace. When it finally sold, my loan plus some was covered. It was a nice feeling to have that big chunk of debt off of my plate.
One reason I felt comfortable selling my truck was because my 17 year old farm truck only had about 74,000 miles on it when I started driving it daily. It gets bad fuel mileage, but the insurance and cost per mile is cheaper because it’s paid off.
I had to make a couple of minor repairs to get it back up to speed for daily highway driving, but it’s doing well now (knock on wood). I even added a few upgrades, like a new radio and backup camera and more comfortable seat covers. One thing that took me too long to fix, however, was the tires.
Using the Right Tool for the Road
As a farm truck, I had large, rugged mud tires to help me stay buoyant during the winter months feeding cattle. It’s easy to get stuck when the ground is soft in early spring, or when the cows have trampled the dead ground into humus. This was great for their purpose, but on the highway it was terrible. They made so much noise that I couldn’t hear the radio. I contemplated wearing earplugs while driving (which is not a safe practice). I worried I could even be damaging my hearing, as often persistently loud sounds like that can be more damaging than short exposures to louder sounds.
Finally, this week, I swapped out my mud tires for some all-terrain tires. My drives are now much more pleasant and the truck handles the highway better. I may even get slightly better fuel economy, but that remains to be seen.
When winter rolls around, I’ll have to swap them back. Maybe by then I’ll have a different daily driver, so I won’t have to worry about the road noise again. However, having the right tool for the job is paramount. I need mud tires in the field and all-terrain on the road. It takes time and money to swap between them, but the result is better performance and safety when using the proper equipment.
The same goes for almost any other aspect of life. I’ve encountered this principle many times when doing construction work. Rarely, if ever, have I regretted taking the time to go get a wrench from the shed instead of trying to loosen a bolt with pliers. Many times you can make things work without the “right” tools, but it usually takes twice as much time and effort.
I recognize that having the resources to obtain the proper tools is a luxury in and of itself that I am blessed with. Sometimes we have no choice but to make do with what we have.
My tire switch was one more example that reinforced the importance of having the right tool for the job. Even though sometimes it may seem cheaper to stick with what you have, often the investment pays off. Time will tell if that is the case for me.
