I do believe that 1996 model Chevy S-10 will live forever! Friday when Vince went back to work, something happened to it and it didn’t quite make it back to work. When Vince called to tell me, I said “Oh, good! I’ll pick you up and we’ll go buy a new truck!” Really . . how long do you keep patching on a 16 year old truck? Oh, no! It can be fixed! Vince and his buddies decided it was the alternator, got the truck started and drove it home. Then, he decided he would work on it himself. Vince is not a mechanic!
Saturday morning we ran some errands and bought a new alternator.
Most of the day, it was storming . . lightning and thundering and pouring rain so I sat in the house and knitted and hoped he could get it fixed because he really wanted to fix it himself. He did get it fixed. After charging the battery for a while, he made a run to the landfill. The back of the truck was loaded with our trash from the past week and as many boxes as he could stuff in there.
Off he went. I wondered if I would ever see him again.
I asked him to take his cell phone. He didn’t. From here to the landfill isn’t far so I figured if the truck broke down, he could walk back home.
He made it back! His truck is fixed. He’s so proud of himself. I think I’ll keep him but do we have to keep that S-10 pickup?
Sandie says
Judy… I know you don’t wNt to hear this, but that truck will probably outlive you both! I bought an ’85 S-10 brand new. Ran it for 14 years, rolled the odometer over TWICE, did not change the oil for the last 3 years I owned it, (was trying to kill it, hubby didn’t think I needed a new vehicle, cause that one ran like a champ!) and still it would not quit running! Hubby finally agreed I needed a new vehicle when we “inherited” his niece and 2 nephews and had no car big enough to transport us all at the same time.
Sandie says
P.S. The guy that bought it from me, drove it for another three years and passed it on to his son, and it was still running when they used it as a “Cash for Clunkers” trade-in!
Angie says
Those older trucks run forever—it looks like Vince keeps it in excellent condition. I would find it hard to part with too. Even for a new one. I’m sure Vince has a special bond with it. Glad he got it fixed. At least he can still work on his own truck. You can’t do that with the new ones!
Angie says
Judy, why don’t your pictures enlarge anymore when I click on them. They did once upon a time? Just curious.
JudyL says
Not really . . we had to put a new engine in it 4 years ago and paid more for the engine than the truck was worth. I voted against the new engine but you see how much my vote counts! 🙂
Judy in Michigan says
Good for Vince!! I’ll send my hubby for some lessons. He isn’t a mechanic either but Vince is far ahead of him!! Give Vince a big hug from us!
Helen Koenigl says
lol – FWIW – my dad kept his truck (I don’t remember the model) that he bought USED and got in 1966 until 3 years before he passed on (2003). If you have any hopes of the truck finally breaking down and giving it’s last gasp – let me know how it works out for ya!
Just sayin’
carol fun says
It is very hard to pry men from vehicles they love. My son will not part with a ’93 Dodge Intrepid that is faded and creaks and has over 200,000 miles. My DH has a ’72 Porsche that has not been on the road for over 15 years. Every year or so he pushes it out of the garage and starts it (sort of). Last time when it finally turned over it smoked up the neighborhood so badly I thought someone was going to call the fire department. Now these are not the only vehicles they have. Our driveway resembles a used car parking lot! And they think I have too much fabric – I don’t understand this logic.
Linda in NE says
That old pickup is just like my ’91 Buick…it will run forever!! It looks pretty good in the pictures. Any rust? My old Buick doesn’t show a speck of rust yet. If it was me I’d probably drive that old pickup until the wheels fall off. LOL I’ll admit though that I’d like something that sits up a little higher than my old Buick…it’s getting harder to get out of it. Am I getting old?? Perish the thought!
Judy D in WA says
Our truck is a 90 and it still runs good, although I won’t drive it because I was told there was a mouse in there. There is nothing that terrorizes me more than a mouse. But he still drives it because I figured out how much a day that truck costs us and how much a day a new would cost us. We are very lucky that he doesn’t have to drive a personal vehicle to work. If he did, we would be paying for a new truck.
Susan says
I am driving a 1993 Sanoma. Last year we had a bad winter. The truck had not moved for 3 weeks. It was in an unheated garage. My brother stayed overnight and his car would not start the next morning, but the old truck did. He was able to drive it to work and get his car started later in the day. That happened twice last year. I’d love to have my van back, but it bit the dust two years ago.
Lorraine says
We have a Mitsubishi truck…it is only used for moving stuff (wood) around the yard. It sits all winter and hopefully will start in the summer when we want to use it. We were all shocked last year when it started right up. Great little work truck!
Roberta says
S-10 do live forever as long as there isn’t salt on the roads. Did ours in. Wonder if the alternator went because of the solar flare, it’s the second one I’ve heard about in the last few days. More flares to come.
Hugs!!!!
marion usborne says
Why don’t you write Chevy and maybe you could appear in an ad and, of course, drape a quilt over the back thus giving you both commercial exposure! You might make big bucks.
Lee says
There truly is an attachment men have with their vehicles. Marty had an old Isuzu Trooper 4wd (he may have used that feature half a dozen times in all the years he owned it, but it was important!). When I was pregnant with Nick, we were on a southern interstate headed to a big lake to meet up with his family. About 30 miles outside of the closest town, the transmission went out. It was June and thankfully not as hot as it could have been. Eventually a patrol officer came by and radioed in for a tow for us. It spent a couple weeks in that town before parts were located to fix it. It was kept about another 9 or 10 years and finally he relented (it was getting driven only a couple times/year) and we got a nice state check for turning in that clunker!
Helen Koenigl says
I do think you’re right! My son had a sporty little red car – had it repaired umpteen zillion times. finally the head gasket blew. So he “temporarily” parked it in my driveway. That was over 3 years ago. The car apparently had a leak in the roof – and is full of mold and mildew. I’ve threatened to charge him rent (difficult to follow through when he has just done something really REALLY great for me!), have it towed at HIS expense (see prior parentheses statement), park it out front and let the city zing him on illegal parking (but then SOMEONE would have to drive it out of my driveway – not happening!) He did finally find the registration for it though.
JudyCinNC says
I finally learned that until my husband thinks it is his idea, there is no convincing him. I do try to tell him what to think sometime though. LoL JudyC
Mary says
It still runs – I say keep it. I have a 2001 that isn’t running and a 1975 that looks like it’s about to fall apart but it still gets to the landfill and back every weekend.
Linda S says
Good job, Vince!