Lumin🩸🩸🩸

Dave's making a meal of a cracker here. First, he's not a boomer, but a GenXer born in 1968, meaning he bought that truck sometime in the mid 80s. I'm a GenXer. I lived it. Getting a running truck in the 80s, regardless of brakes and heating, for $50 (US or CA) was a smoking a good deal. A friend of mine bought a '67 VW Bug in the early 80s for $1,300. That truck was easily worth $500. Looking at the body condition, probably more. The brakes and heat are red herrings. Most trucks in that time had rear drum brakes. A common repair would've been new brake shoes. Brake shoes today range in cost, but $50 is reasonable price. In the mid 80s, let's say 1/2 that. You can do that job yourself, so no labor. (Remember, we're paying our dues.) It could've been something worse, like the brake master cylinder. Still, not an expensive part, and you got the truck for $50, so you're way ahead of the curve on expenses. Let's talk heat. The most common reason for heating problems is the thermostat. That's a $10 part today. Perhaps the same then. You need a gasket, so another couple of bucks. Again, no labor costs because we're paying our dues. Both jobs are easy, not a lot of skill required if you can turn a wrench. I changed a thermostat in parking lot on a cross-country trip in about 30 minutes. Bleeding brakes is a bit more challenging, but nothing you can't learn from a book, or more likely, your father. That's how I learned it. Best case scenario, $50 + $25 + $15. You're in for $90 on a vehicle that should've cost at least $500. Worst case scenario, you paid $50 and spent another $450 on parts. How long did it take to get that money? Minimum wage in the mid 80s in the US was $3.35/hour, $4/hour in Canada. If you're working half time, in the best case scenario, you own that truck, with repair money, in 5 or 6 days (depending on US or CA minimum wage). In the worst case scenario, 32 - 37 days. If you work a summer job, full time, you own that truck with repair money in 3 days in the best case, 16 or 17 days in the worst case. Payroll taxes might add a few extra days to those calculations. Maybe more in Canada. Double the days in that case. Still not a big deal. For context, $50 in 1987 is about $140 today. You're not buying a working truck for $140 that only needs another $140 in repairs. If you find one, it's a unicorn, which is probably what Dave found. Even if we go for a fairer price for that truck of $500, finding a running truck for $1,400 is not easy. Where I live, nigh impossible. It's still a unicorn. Sure, work hard and pay your dues, but let's not kid ourselves. It's not as easy as Dave makes it out to be.