Let's look at some numbers, shall we?

Hypothetically, and assuming that your '02 is paid off, let's say you are looking at a $24,000 car discounted to $22k just to use even numbers, then you get your $2k rebate, leaving you with a vehicle that's gonna cost you $20,000.
They give you $7,000 for your truck, leaving you to finance $13,000.

Now surely, for $13,000 you can find a perfectly suitable, fuel efficient later model used car to allow you to keep your truck and be in roughly the same position you would be in if you traded your truck in on a new Caliber.

I just went car shoppin a couple months ago with a girl I date on occasion and we found her a cherry '03 Honda CRV, front wheel drive, 25/30 mpg city/hwy, with 60k miles on it for $9k. Immaculate shape inside and out!

The only added cost would be to insure the second car (not much as a 2nd vehicle and a lower valued used one to boot) and the added 2nd registration fees. The fuel savings by only using your truck for weekend play and NOT using it as a daily driver should wipe that out or come damn close to it.

I have had a "daily driver" car and a lifted 4x4 of one kind or another for about 18 of my 22 years of driving. Hell at one point when I was married, I had a Jeep Wrangler 4x4 for daily use, a lifted '98 RCSB Dodge 1500 4x4 and the wife's vehicle was a 4x4 Grand Cherokee! Right now my daily driver is a 4x4 Grand Cherokee.

I'm guessing you could be driving around in a nice little 4 cylinder car or small crossover SUV that will save you gas, allow you to keep your truck, and not cost you any more than you are spending now...

 

Yeah i agree with everyone on here. KEEP YOUR truck. about six months ago i had a 2007 dodge ram 1500 regular cab short bed with the hemi, instead of having the full bench seat i had to buckets with a really big dash. i put a bunch of money into it and got it all decked out, intake, borla exhaust, bed cover the works. i babied it out. then my wife and i were looking at jeeps one day because i was trying to talk her in to getting the srt8 jeep but she wasnt having the all wheel drive up here in alaska. couldnt talk her into it. so she saw a 2008 jeep liberty limited leather the works so i traded my truck in and bought her that jeep i was almost crying. god i hated giving up my truck. drove it for a few months and one day i made a smart a$$ comment about how gay i felt driving this jeep. we talked about it and she said she didnt want it, then i said i only bought it for you. well i went back to work i work on the north slope so im gone for three weeks and home for three. when i got home from work she had traded the jeep in on a 2009 2500 quad cab short bed. which i love but am now spending a lot of money to get it where i want it. plus we lost a huge amount of money on trading in the jeep for the truck. so keep your truck man you will end up spending more in the long run. this is just my personal thoughts and i would hate to see another dodge brother make the same mistake i did. best of luck.

 

get a motorcycle and drive the truck on the ****ty days. im kicking myself in the *** for selling my rare motorcycle to get my truck. i'll probably never even see another one

 

Sorry to hear about you selling, Everyone who owns a truck comes back. It's an addiction. Used to get like 18 highway with my 5.9 in the 3rd gen. Until the plenum gasket broke. Just ordered the stuff from hughes earlier tonight. My current average on the overhead is about 6.5-7.5 normally. Can't wait to get this thing running like a champ again, Tune-up, Timing Chain, Plenum, o2 sensors, new cat, costing some money but eh has to be done. Next time around go for the hemi or maybe the 4.7 should make the experience better if you can keep your foot off it.

 

Well, I ended up selling for a Caliber S/T, a very nice one with STELLAR gas mileage. As you said, of course I will be back. I want to wait a few years and see where this truck MPG goes. I really dig the 4th gen. rams, especially the interior. I will also have a place in my heart for the 3rd gen rams, which I plan to buy a 5.7 in the future too (when I'm better off financially.) I would have kept the truck if I could have, of course.. but I'm not in the right place to do that right now. I hope you guys understand! I'll be back for sure though, once a Ram owner always a Ram owner. I definitely have a feeling of sadness having to sell it, but sometimes it has to be that way. She was my baby. All though I like this Caliber, I'll always be waiting till I can drive another ram. I've definitely got something to look forward to.

How does everyone get on the 5.7 mileage?

 

I had a 98 Ram 5.9 RCSB 4x4 with a lift and 35" tires and got about 9 mpg in town, 12 on the highway. My 04 gets about 12.5 in town and right at about 16 on the interstate with a lift and 35" tires, so over-all, 100 HP more and about a 25% improvement in fuel economy...

 

can't fault you at all. i know with my truck EVERYTHING costs 2x what it would have with my old car, gas, tires, parts (4x for spark plugs), even oil changes.

I'm lookin to make some big life changes where extra $$ would really help, so thought about tradin the truck, girlfriend set me straight, i'd be miserable without it.

 

My Ram also likes the gas.. 5.9 with a 5 inch lift with 35s... my solution was to move closer to work .. went from driving 40 minutes.. to about 5 minutes.. saving a ton of money now

 

I know the feeling. I can personally say selling your truck you'll come back. My 01 Ram 5.9 got a solid 10. I traded it for a 300c and now Im back in my truck. i do miss that car some days though.

 

What kind of bike did You have Cowboy?