Robert Goodale wrote: > > It's nice to see this topic of piano tech vehicles has come up, as I > have been kind of thinking about a purchase sometime soon myself. It is > interesting to hear others talking about what they drive. > > Currently I drive a 1987 Honda Civic, by far the most reliable car I > have ever owned. With over 123,000K on the clock it still runs smooth as > silk and gets over 30 MPG. Being such a small car, however, and in > anticipation of eventually getting into more rebuilding activity, I'm > starting to think "truck". The used market for small pickups seems > hopeless, as they are so popular that few reasonably priced good ones > come up for sale. The dealers only seem to have former lease trucks and > they cost barely over a thousand less than a new one. So what kind of > new truck to buy? My thought is to get a shell to cover the back and > then customize the inside to fit tools, equipment, a place to transport > an action, and so on. If I get to the point to where I want to buy some > pianos either the shell could come off or I could invest in a small > trailer. > > I test drove a new Nissan Fronteer a few weeks ago. It seems like a very > nice truck, very comfy inside and has some reasonable power. I can get > the extra cab version including A/C and AM/FM cassette for about > $11,000- not bad. I was getting pretty excited about it until the > following week when the national insurance safety crash tests came out. > They found the Fronteer to be the second worst truck on the market in > terms of potential driver injuries (35 MPH off-center front end > collision). The Dodge Dakota ranked worst, and Toyota ranked third. The > Ford Ranger performed better but also costs about 3K more. The S-10 > falls somewhere in between. > > Of course then there are the other expenses that go along with a new > vehical. I called my insurance company and discovered that my rates > would go up nearly double what they are now. And of course, registration > fees also go up. I have also grown acustomed to the great gas milage my > current car gets, something that trucks notoriously fall short on. > Nobody ever said life was cheep but it sure gets you wondering. > > So, has anyone else looked at, purchased, or test-driven a small truck > recently? What conclusions have you come up with? What positives and > negatives have you heard about? > Just curious. > > Rob Goodale, piano dude. Hi Rob, I currently drive a Dodge Mini-Van Long wheel base. I remove the seats, put some carpet over the origional, put a unit that was a childs room chest of drawers. (From when my kids were young, they are 36 and 37 now) I can clamp it, using the seat brackets. The drawers can store a lot, and the large space in the one side I store my player tubing, my 1/2" drill etc. On the back of the cabinet I have a couple of multi drawer cabinets installed, with ready use parts. I cover an area about 1 1/2hr. radius from home. I want to be sure to have what I need, to save having a double call. I have plenty of room to bring an action or player assembly home to my shop. The seats are only used if it is a family occasion where the extra seating is required. They are easy to remove or install. I have about 60K miles on it now, and the only trouble I have had was the A/C. It drives like a car and has the room for the extras. I was interested in the comment about the fellow that drove the Cadillac, may'be my vehicle is too good. But I do like it! Regards, John M. Ross Windsor, N.S. Canada P.S. See you all in R.I.
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