Ever get tired of being mulcted? Yeah, me too. So I decided to stop being mulcted . . . at least a little bit. And decided to spend some of my money on something besides being mulcted… well, some of what’s left over of my money after being mulcted!
Repeatedly – serially – mulcted.
Uncle steals about 30 percent of every dollar the average person earns, in federal (including FICA “contributions”) and state income taxes.
With what’s left over, we buy things – which are taxed again at the time of purchase. Then taxed again – when it comes to vehicles – for a title (to something we already own – at least, supposedly) and then taxed once more to “register” it and again (in many states) for the mandatory privilege of “registering” it with the government, which then taxes every gallon of fuel we buy as well as every tire, brake pad and can of fuel-injector cleaner we buy to service and maintain it.
What was it the American Revolution was supposed to have accomplished?
Anyhow, all this paying is . . . taxing. Less for us – endless for them, the legions of parasites and thieves styled “government” and embodied by the grasping geezer called Uncle.
At some point, we must push back – or else we’ll end up with nothing at all.
I decided to end up with something this time – a new stereo for me. Which I was able to buy because I didn’t waste money on “registering” my old truck. I figure I have paid enough of that already.
How much? About $55 annually for the past 13 years, so $715. It is not small potatoes – especially when one considers the (roughly) $100 I am forced to hand over in addition to that each year – the property tax, aka, the extortion I must pay in order to be allowed to retain physical possession of the truck I paid for (in full – to the seller) 13 years ago.
That’s another roughly $1,300. Many people pay much more than that as the property tax is based on the value of the property. The more you own, the more Uncle steals.
How about gas taxes? It’s about 50 cents on every gallon in most states – so about $8 of every 15 gallon fill-up. Times four fill-ups a month times twelve equals about $290 more mulcting every year. Plus the mulcting for “emissions” and “safety” inspections, which most people are also forced to pay for. But leaving that aside and focusing on just the mulctings for “registration” and property and gas…
$2,305 in taxes – so far – on a truck I bought used for $7,000. It is equivalent to about a third of what I paid for the truck. And the paying (Uncle) never stops!
Well, it did – this once, just a little bit. Rather than pay the registration taxes (they are styled “fees” to make the illegitimate sound less so) I paid Crutchfield – and got myself something much more valuable to me than a stupid sticker to put on my truck’s ear tag (i.e., its license plate).
A new stereo – and speakers, too!
The sound is all the sweeter, knowing I “got away” (to use collectivist-speak) with not renewing the “registration.” It is almost as satisfying as kicking a government bureaucrat in the ass.
Not that I recommend doing this.
One runs the risk of a Hut! Hut! Hutting! for not having one’s papers in ordnung. This risk is greater in areas where there are ALPERs – automated license plate readers – which automatically scan every passing car and take note of any papers not in ordnung.
But, if you are lucky enough to live in for-now less dystopian area (such as my area, in The Woods) it is a reasonable risk to drive around with what is styled a “dead” registration. A situationally aware driver can reduce the chances of being identified as noncompliant by an armed government worker by being careful to avoid armed government workers.
Avoid being the only car on the road; always try to have a car behind you and in front of you – the harder to see your plates, my pretty.
Try not to be stopped at a red light without anyone stopped behind you, to block the view of your tags. Do not “speed” – or drive significantly below the posted speed limit. Do nothing to call attention to yourself. If you see an AGW rolling up in the rearview, casually turn off the road before the AGW gets close enough to see your plate.
Being sure to signal.
This isn’t foolproof, of course. Bad luck happens. And so does tyranny – in the form of a “safety” or DWI “checkpoint” – i.e., a Constitution-free zone where the former rules that prohibited what Gomez Addams once referred to as dirty pool have been suspended.
Ah well. We live in a very dirty pool nowadays.
But the good news is that having out-of-date registration is still a minor “offense” in the eyes of the vicious old bastard and his minions, the AGWs. It is not like not having the mandatory insurance, which will result in extreme repercussions. Or not having plates at all – which will result in the same.
If everything else is kopacetic, the worst that will usually happen is . . . another mulcting. You will be issued a piece of paper demanding more money – and requiring you to pay more money on top of that money for the stickers. But they’ll probably “let you go” without doing more to you, physically.
I supposed we should be grateful for that – but I’m not feeling it.
I do, however, love the sound of my new stereo!
. . .
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In the past I’ve attempted to write an essay in the manner of “I, Pencil”, where I track all of the taxes and “fees” involved in the production, sale, and possession of something very simple, like a pencil. I’ve given up twice because the cascade of them all is so extensive that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
Excellent going Eric… best of luck.
One of the most interesting things I remember about Steve Jobs was that he jumped all sorts of hoops to never get a registration plate on his car – Even though that meant getting a new one every 6 months!!
Good for you Eric! F**k the bastards!!
Those 385 series Ford big blocks are unsung heroes. John Veermerch in Dearborn has done amazing things with making 385s monsters. Ditto John Kaase in Winder Ga. Next time I’m in Atlanta I’d like to drop in on his shop. It’s a fact that if you want to go fast and can afford it Fords rule. For the $ Chevy power is a better deal, and the LS line is amazing and probably the last push rod engine summit. The DOHC Ford has is a better, but much more complex and still undeveloped engine- at least in relation to The General’s LS program. Ford better get that 1000hp product out there and cheap fast or the Hellafant and LS will eat up all the oxygen in the market.
I went years in California without registering two out of three of my vehicles and my third vehicle (87 camaro) was registered and insured in Michigan and never smogged. I lived out there for 8 years and never got a drivers license there. Eventually they busted me for not registering or smogging my 65 Mustang but, that was because a neighbor called the cops on me for working on the vehicle in my driveway (VW was in the garage). When the cops busted me I had the gas tank dropped, carb off along with the distributor and coil, plugs etc. The magistrate let me off with a warning ticket and a fine I never paid. I had a 72 VW squareback and they NEVER hassled me in that car. I came back to Mi and ran without a license for years.
I eventually did get a license and it was actually after that that I ended up in serious legal trouble over police harassment. That’s a whole other story. But I’ll say this. For myself personally I found it easy to fly under the radar, BUT it did change my driving style a TON. It turned me into clover, LOL. Once I decided to break down and get legal I drove like a maniac again. (I’ve never been in an accident where I have ever damaged anyone else’s property in my life and the only times I’ve ditched my car was because I was totally fucking around “drifting” on dirt or snow.
I didn’t lose my license either, I refused to get a license and register these cars because it seemed like I was paying fines before I’d been caught. So if I didn’t get caught then I never had to pay their fines right? What else is a registration fee other than a Fine for driving, Mandatory insurance too right? It amounts to the same to me.
Over the years I saved a Ton of Money, how much? Who knows but if I added it up, including the insurance money and added interest it easily paid for the very nice home I now live in. (Foreclosed house which I paid cash for)
I’m cheap, or frugal or whatever, but mostly I hate being treated like a child and forced to pay for stupid shit.
Hi Brad,
I like your style, my man! We need more like you!
Thanks Eric and right back at ya.
What did the American Revolution accomplish? A short break from the English Crown Taxation without representation to the American Government version of it. We were “OK” until the War of Northern Aggression, when the terrible dictator Lincoln murdered 700K American citizens. And started the Income tax to pay for this injustice!!! IMHO today’s government is no more legit than the Crown was a before the American Revolution. Today the ongoing Fourth Turning will dictate what will happen in the next 10-15 years. It will be interesting to see what happens. Best of luck to us all, I think we will need it.
The American Revolution accomplished exactly what it should have, but Thomas Jefferson knew what his fellow Americans would do with that when he wrote that “(t)he spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may become persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated that the time for fixing every essential right, on a legal basis, is while our rulers are honest, ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will be heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.”
We are getting exactly what we deserve as a result of our ignorance and apathy.
Yeah, the people will never think of uniting… exactly. If the people would start little civics groups in every county/region they would get to decide on everything and have absolute power, instead of 1,000’s of Hitler dictators across this nation warring upon the people.
Today, that would accomplish nothing different than what we already have…or maybe even worse, Harry. I mean, if you talk to people outside of the small group who think like us- the “average ‘Mercan”- or read their BS on general forums like Reddit and such, almost every freaking one of them wants socialist “healthcare” (Because they got sick once, and almost went broke…so somehow that makes spreading the expense to everyone else acceptable); they say things like “Pure Capitalism is evil; we need a mix of Capitalism and socialism”(LOL); they all want others to provide for their retirement “benefits”; guarantee that *other people’s children aren’t being abused”…..
In order for their to be liberty and autonomy, the religion of statism and belief in government would need to be deprogrammed from the vast majority of the population; and some form of basic “Do unto others”/NAP morality re-established- otherwise, the people are just parroting what they’ve been taught for the last 100 years, and will just keep perpetuating the same crap that we now have- just as they keep voting for the same tyrants and crooks (not that it makes any difference) despite their overwhelming vices in every category being now openly obvious to all.
But the civics groups would get the people to communicate with each other, and I highly doubt the average idiot actually wants our power dams to be blown up so we can all have blackouts, nor do they want useless electric cars, or higher taxes, or to have guns banned. SURE, alot of people are hypnotized by media brainwashing, but if they could read/listen to other real people in their local community they would not vote for the things the politicians are trying to foist upon us all. Plus, the civics groups ensure that the people vote on what they want, instead of dictators making laws without public approval, even if the people vote wrong at least they made the decision. And if the people vote wrong, for dumb ideas, then it will be made apparent to them by other civics members over time, and they’ll fix their mistakes. So, I still think the people organizing is THE solution to all the world’s problems, and is the ONLY way a civilization can even exist, otherwise insane tyrants wreck everything.
Ah, Harry, you’ve never dealt with whacko libruls! Remember, the people who would form those groups, are the same ones who voted for the loons who are now fricking-up this country.
And it would just be ‘democracy’- still not liberty- ’cause liberty only exists where people have a genuine love for it, and a desire to establish and preserve it- and such people are a tiny minority today.
What we need is for people to realize and care enough to say “Screw collectivism! You do your thing, and I’ll do mine, and we’ll stop giving proxy to others to do things collectively in our name”.
What was founded a constitutional republic has become a totalitarian democracy, as AG Bill Barr called it.
Yep, Von- and it’s been that way for a long time.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free”. [-Goethe?]
I hear ya, but at least democracy is on the way to liberty.
Plus, there’s one thing you and alot of other people are assuming which may actually not be true… how do you know the people really voted for the current batch of loons? NOONE gets a receipt (or serial number) on their ballot, so there’s no way for anyone to actually verify/prove that their vote was counted (and not altered). We’re just supposed to trust the loons that they’re being honest. But, the whole blackboxvoting.org expose’, among numerous lawsuits across the country over the past 10+ years, shows that our votes are extremely at risk and at least partly frauded.
Democracy is actually the last step before totalitarianism. Looks like we’re in the transition period right now.
The people voted for at least one of the loons who were running…I seen the bumper stickers…..
We wouldn’t need “little civics groups in every county/region” if we didn’t have massive propaganda and programming organizations (called public school districts) teaching our children what those with the politically correct psychosis are supposed to believe, like good statists.
Proper civic education doesn’t require civic groups or public schools, just well-educated adults passing along the basics of classic liberalism like the founders received and passed onto their progeny.
What started out as a constitutional republic has largely morphed into a totalitarian democracy.
The reason children are being brainwashed with propaganda in the first place is because the people did not maintain a communication system whereby they inform each other of what’s going on and vote on what they want. In the 1800’s there was MUCH smaller populations so people could all just simply have a town hall meeting, plus the newspapers weren’t totally controlled by propaganda. But nowadays, people need to reorganize, use the internet of course, but have a backup newsletter/newspaper for the civics group. I don’t think we can just leave everyone on their own as an individual, because the govt system will take over and lord over everyone, as it has. If the people organize, they can control everything via majority rule, even control the money system too, so if everyone votes to fund something with free money, it can be done. The people can have absolute power if they’d just get together and have a communication system. Hope that makes sense.
After the COVIS-19 silliness is over with and the schools reopen would be a good time not to send our kids back to them because their homeschooling has become well underway.
I was watching a video of a trucker named Sergei who is Russian and lives in Canada. He has a tri-axle KW with a huge VGN type trailer although I don’t really know what they call it but it has moveable axles and a couple jeeps he carried on top when he’s not hauling some outrageous piece of equipment.
He was in Amarillo Sat. at the Flying J and was all freaked out because everybody is just acting like there’s nothing going on. Meanwhile, even in his cab, he’s wearing rubber gloves which if I were wearing out in the public and believed what he does, I’d be leaving them out of the cab…..but that’s just me. I noticed he had a can of Lysol in the cab.
There’s a couple articles on LRC today and one shows the CDC has somehow forgotten to test in red states since Trump cut about $6B out of their budget. A doctor(obviously a non-Trumper)claimed Covid 19 was 10-12 times as lethal as the Spanish Flu. Wow, we’ll all be dead in a month.
LRC is becoming as bad as the MSM…… I made the mistake of looking at the site today…. Read the article by Brownstain…… He’s complaining that the CDC dropped the ball by not doing enough, soon enough. Of course, had they implemented some draconian preventative policies, the very same bitches complaining that they haven’t done enopugh, soon enough, would be complaining [Hopefully- and rightfully so] that they were over-reacting and imposing tyranny on us for some made-up cause….
You can’t win- and it seems that there is little true Libertarianism even on sites like LRC which once were the beacons of such.
Just like Republicans have now become democrats-lite…it seems the alternative news/Libertarian sites have just become MSM-lite sites- just shadowing the same stories and same mentalities one sees there 🙁
Thank goodness there is still sanity HERE, on Eric’s site! But the lack of it everywhere else just shows how EVERYTHING is breaking down in a world that has gone truly insane. It’s not just the government or the media or institutions or libruls…..it’s everyone and everything- It’s just a Babylon of confusion, even where ya expect to hear some sanity- I mean, WTH is wrong with LRC when even HE is pimping articles complaining that the state hasn’t done ENOUGH?! WTH kind of Libertarianism is that? Are actual Libertarian authors so rare that he has to spam his own site with such crap?!
Where I live, you would get stopped. I’ve been stopped a few times. Tax, Inspection, and insurance proof are all tied together. I think my tags cost $50/car.
Back when I lived in VA, That “personal property” tax grated on me. Back then, there was a floor if you drove a beater. But if I recall, they assessed me on value the last time I registered there. So even on a free, or super cheap beater, you’d pay tax on the value.
Ridding the populace of that tax got Jim Gilmore elected. And in typical fashion, they raised other taxes and fees to compensate, then left the tax. It’s especially punishing if you buy a new car. You’d almost have to do an escrow like a house.
For other readers benefit – that tax is applied to everything – trailers, boats, motorcycles. You have personal property tax, on it’s assessed value, then the cost of the tags, and inspection. Another one that’s an eye opener is BPOL tax – Business and Occupational Licence tax. Businesses pay tax on their office gear.
Glad I left.
I think the feasibility of this passive resistance depends largely on what each state’s policies and penalties are. Isn’t it the true that in some states, the cops can tow and impound an unregistered vehicle, and then stick you with the registration fee, the fine, the towing bill, and the impound lot fees???
My thoughts exactly, X. Many states- like my former one of NY; CA, NJ, etc. will do just that- If you’re stopped and your reggie is expired, you can not move the car, nor even park it- it will be impounded immediately- and between the towing charges, impound charges, several tickets, it will be costing you over $2K. -so not even worth it, even to avoid their outrageous registration fees- which can easily be $600-$700.
Also, in every state I’m aware of, if at some point after having an “expired” reggie, you have to go and re-activate that registration (Which may happen if you get a ticket; get impounded; end up in court; have an insurance issue, etc. they will charge you all of the back fees and taxes for the time period i=between when it originally expired, and when you renew it.
The way I see it, in a case like Eric’s, where the only thing being avoided is a $55 mulcting- it’s not really worth it. Would be different if one were avoiding being in the database, etc. but in this case, one is not. And it may well end up giving the tyrants an invitation to mess with ya.
Yeah, that can happen; in fact, it happened to me! I was in college years ago working on a STEM degree. That involves serious study; we’re talking 3-4 hours a night, giving up Saturday nights out at times, and so on. I was so fried on Calc II or III that I’d forgotten to register my car.
I was parked at the old roller rink one night. It had closed, and its fate was uncertain. I was reminiscing about times past when the cops rolled up. I was “suspicious”, don’t you know? Never mind the fact that the building was gutted and had nothing of value inside. They asked for my papers, which I handed over.
My license and insurance were good, but my registration had expired. The cop called his watch commander, who ordered them to impound my car. They impounded my car! It wasn’t like my registration was months overdue; I think it was 2-3 weeks past due. The cop didn’t care that my mind was fried, and that I’d simply forgotten to renew my papers. They took it to a local Ford dealer, where I had to pay $200+ to get it out. I’m sure they had a deal with the town to do that in order to make extra money.
But yeah, in NJ, they can impound your car for expired registration. It’s just cheaper to keep the car registered, not to mention much less of a hassle.
Couple of years ago, I had paid for and received my car’s registration sticker. But, I didn’t put the sticker on the plate. Just one of those things that didn’t get done.
9 months later, I’m stuck in rush hour traffic, downtown. Windows down. Going nowhere. A guy pulls up next to me and say loudly, but friendly like say, you better put your registration sticker on your plates. I’m guessing his buddy, a policeman had run my plates, because he thought an easy ticket was at hand.
I appreciated the verbal warning. I put the current sticker on the license plate, that evening.
Government vehicles have permanent plates, and do not need to put any sticker on their plates (they used to have to do this like you and me, but no longer).
Can I get served what they’re having?
Most/all police cars have plate readers which can tell if you’ve paid up (or) not.
The readers can’t tell, but they can and do automatically access a database that alerts the officer if the plate is expired.
They have apps on their smartphones that can do the same thing by taking a picture of your license.
Some states are doing away with the stickers ostensibly to save money. The fact of the matter is that, with ALPRs, they’re no longer needed.
I live in Ontario and here it is $120 to get the annual registration sticker to put on your license plate.
Because I have three cars this costs me $360 a year. But at least there’s no “property”tax on the vehicles.
(But my home property tax is costing me almost $5000 a year, despite the fact that I live out in the country (with a well and septic system) and have ZERO services from any government.
Hi Robert,
I consider the tax on property (homes/land/possessions) to be even worse than the tax on income because it eliminates any possibility of ever truly owning anything more than incidental things, the clothes on our backs, etc. Absent the tax on homes/land, one could stop paying income tax by not earning income – which wouldn’t be necessary, if one owned one’s home and didn’t have to pay endless rent to the government for the privilege of being allowed to live in it.
In Wyoming, the tab is proof that the property tax on the vehicle is paid up.
I drove my 2005 Tundra for the last 6 years without renewing tags or registration.
It wouldn’t pass the “emissions test” and the honest fix was about 2K.
The illegal workaround was about $150 if you purchased the online kit.
I decided to wait for my first ticket before attempting the illegal workaround.
I never got a ticket.
Sadly, the old blue ox died in a 4 car pileup on the freeway.
Nobody was hurt, but totalled front and back.
Hi Under,
Excellent! These passive acts of resistance are a sound beginning. The more of us who do this sort of thing, the harder it becomes for them to enforce such things.
I give them the Nixon Salute!
eric, you pay $55 for tags? That’s cheap as hell in Texas where everything is larger, govt. being the largest since it represents bankers and their side cartel, insurance and nice retirements for those predators that stalk the Capitol bldg.
I don’t go much of anywhere and when I do it’s almost always to haul something even if I have to leave a sack of feed in the bed. My “farm use” tags save me “some” money and every little bit helps as you know and more and more people are beginning to understand.
Wages for working at the courthouse in all those non-productive(except for the “state”) jobs go up every year but I see nobody else getting a raise.
Just think about this. The job I recently got fired from paid $10/hr, the same wage I quit a job because the pay was too low…….in 1988. Damn, we’re getting rich now. But one thing I am doing is draining my bank account which is more like wiping up a spill on the counter than draining something. But at least when everyone gets their accounts taken by the banks, most everything I have will be “banked in the pasture”. Thanks Igloo, for making those water jugs water-tight from the outside in. And everyone understands cash like the store I got a big discount from last week cause it went into one pocket from my pock and only two people know.
I was born and raised in Copper Hill. I like to watch your videos because I recognize all the places. And I also like the content. 😀
Hi Red!
I love hearing from fellow in The Woods people; holler/swing by sometime!
ALPERs are at a saturation level in the Northeast, to the point that I got stopped multiple times for having a NY driver license and an NJ tag.
That’s not illegal. But when I exchanged an NJ license for a NY license, NJ incorrectly noted me as an “unlicensed driver” in their license plate database. NJ also advised that they couldn’t change the database, so I would just have to “live with” getting repeatedly stopped, as indeed happened in several different suburban towns.
On a different note, GM shares are down about 30% this year. Ford shares are down about 36%, and will become unmarginable if they fall below $5.
Uncle bailed out GM and Chrysler in 2009, though Ford squeaked through under its own feeble power.
This time round, GM and Ford both may cry “Uncle … save us!”
If I lived in a state like VA or some other that charges exhorbiant annual fees to “register” your vehicle, I would maybe try something like what you suggest. I live in Oklahoma. For my old cars, registration is $35.00 a year. Car insurance is half of what I paid in Texas as well. So, if anyone needs a “legal” set of plates let me know and we can get it handled.
I’m in Oklahoma too. I’ve been driving around my classic car for 5 years with a vintage OK tag I bought off of the internet. I’ve even had AGW’s behind me for a while and never pulled over.
Just for fun, I also do not put the sticker on my plate for my 2005 Stratus. I have them. They are in the glove compartment just in case I do get pulled over, but the old sticker that’s on there now is from 2018. Haven’t been pulled over yet. And I was even in a minor fender bender and the AGW didn’t even say anything about it.
Here’s to hoping the trend continues.
Love the article Eric! Now for my audiophile rant. With a proper stereo and proper speakers, a CD should be able to give you at least 3 times the fidelity of any ipod or phone (either streaming via bluetooth or auxiliary cable). The sound cards in these digital devices are total crap! iTunes mp3/m4a whatever is about 1/6 CD quality to start and 1/3 CD quality for “premium” music downloads. The new speaker system is awesome but don’t be hating on those bulky discs! A sony walkman with the right headphones can produce better sound than most any ipod or smart phone. The walkman was a little before my time, but some of us still have young ears that can tell the difference. 🙂
Thanks, Mark!
And, yeah – I’ve heard similar about CDs and don’t dispute it. The good news is you can go both ways; it’s possible to get a modern stereo rig that has a CD slot and the Bluetooth. Best of both worlds!
Better yet if you got a 10 stacker cd like I have in my 2000 Holden Statesman. Almost 800 minutes of music to listen to and never touch the change dial….
A deaf dog can hear 5 times as much audio spectrum as a CD contains.
Until the 1990s, I could hear the difference between a CD and vinyl record, and I didn’t buy any of the former until it became more difficult.
The highly deficient CD sampling standard has been adopted as the new recording studio standard, completing the dumbing down of our hearing.
Vinyl records are coming back for DJs who like them far more than CDs.
Cassettes are being made again, by a single company in Missouri, that kept the equipment.
With a little bit of luck, Starlink will bring back vinyl fidelity with studio s/n ratios. Since most of the original analog master tapes are still around, it could be like sitting in the studio, for those who aren’t too deaf to tell.
“What if” when George Washington sent troops into Pennsylvania to collect the whiskey tax, the troops had correctly determined that doing so was immoral, and had instead turned around and marched back to put George Washington and Alexander Hamilton up against a wall and shoot them? I can dream can’t I?
There is actually a pretty good book about this scenario you propose. It’s called The Probability Broach, by L. Neil Smith.
Those troops hadn’t any more knowledge of the illegality of what they do than our current traitor/heroes do.
Alexander Hamilton didn’t have anything go do with putting down the Whiskey Rebellion because he was busy undermining the banking system with the creation of the central bank.
There used to be a State Policeman that lived in my neighborhood (rural) that wouldn’t update the plates on an old camper trailer that he only used a couple times a year. He said that if he got caught , the fine was the same price as the tabs.
Texas is going authoritarian on us again, they never let up actually, by making you bring your birth certificate in to renew your DL now to comply with the Federal Real ID Act. The Xterra could use some digital upgrades in the dash also but for now CD’s are still my main music choice.
How does a state become authoritarian by kissing the federal government’s ass, as Texas has since statehood?
Most modern Texans hold LBJ and the Bushes in higher regard than Stephen F. Austin.
True story: My wife has a full coverage policy on our 2004 Excursion which is maintained with an open checkbook and mint. (side note Powerstrokehelp.com sold one this month much like hers for 44K! Apparently people will pay up for the biggest baddest SUV ever built). I bought a 2011 F250 for 22K. I called the insurance company and was informed that adding it would cost $1300 more per year. DMV website informed me that tax and registration would be just under $500 and $250 year thereafter. Gee, thanks goveco! Now the interesting part. I didn’t have the money to add the truck nor did I feel like standing in that long smelly line at the DMV only to be told some stupid form was wrong and “come back when you are in compliance” by some smug, otherwise unemployable typical government hire. My solution: drive on the CarFax plastic tag for the 45 days I was allowed by law before registration. Well, that turned out to be almost 2 years. Ironically the late fee for title change was a one time $75. By my calculation I saved $2,525! I got “pulled over” while parked in an O’Reillys parking lot where the nice AGW told me my tag had no “date” on it. I explained I had no idea plastic tags had dates on them. The AGW proudly told me that a new law passed in October that required a date on the plastic tag written on by the dealer the has to match ze papers. (I was reprinting my “papers” every 44 days) So I complied 3 months later to avoid the annual property tax for 2018 and now I’m “legal” again but including tax almost $3K to the good. It was my little way of sticking it to The Man.
Excellent!
We need more like this; a drop becomes a rivulet becomes a stream becomes a torrent.
***”our 2004 Excursion which is maintained with an open checkbook and mint. “***
That’s why I love my V-10 !!
Yo Nunz!
What’s you V10 in?
I’ve got an ’04 EX with a 6.0L in it and had to replace the entire engine at 210K miles. That was my fault as i failed to inform myself of the recall that replaced TTL bolts with ARP studs and mine died of drowning in Cat ELC. I “dealerproofed” it (ironically at the same place the above guy “Enemy” gave a URL for) 2 years ago for 18K. That included some hotrod stuff that makes the beast a rocketsled. At it’s age 14 I repainted it in single stage jet black and blacked out all the chrome. At it’s age 16 I replaced the front hides and re-leathered the steering wheel. All in my cost of ownership over the 14 of it’s 16+ years of life excluding oil, fuel, filters has been $22,400 or about $134/m.
I’m saving up $ for an Excursion rebody on a modern F250 6.7L sprung suspension frame from these guys: http://www.customautosbytim.com I’m about $50K away which will take me ’till the end of 2021 to save for if nothing blows up on me. Man I LOVE the 6.7L engine and the new soft ride F250s. If Trump manages to delay the loot the Infernal Revenue Scions want me to puke up next month I may have a shot at an earlier trigger date.
I have wondered many times if the V10 would have been a better buy. I don’t tow, I don’t work out of it, in fact my wife uses it more than I do. I also drive it like I stole it. Why go slow, no? I love the Ford V10 and have seen it used in heavy applications. I also like how quiet it is.
I had a 2003 V10 F350. Also still have a 1994 460 F350.
I sold the V10. Just did not seem to have the low grunt of the 460. Would have liked the V10 in a Crown Vic or Town Car I suspect. It did spin up nicely, but felt like a car motor, not a truck one.
Hey Auric!
My V-10 is in an 00 Ex. 4×4. It’s got 4.10 gears- sucks for MPGs…but the darn thing drives like a sports car! Paid $4500 for it 4 years ago with 180-something-thousand miles on her….and other than having to do exhaust manifold gaskets due to rust (it came from MA.) haven’t had to do a thing to ‘er except erl changes, filters and brakes.
Wish my F250 had the V-10! (it’s a 5.4).
I stay away from the modern diesels. Too much crap to go wrong, ‘specially when they get older- even the 7.3’s. To me, if it ain’t got an injector pump, and can’t run without a battery, it aint a diesel! Gimme a 12V Cummins or one’a the old 7.3 IDI (simple, old fashioned) and I’d be a happy camper.
Love my Ex! And 00 was well before VVT and all of that crap- so still simple enough to be durable. Parts are cheap; plenty of room to work on ’em….I’d really like to find me a rust-free V-10 one from out West- but who knows what they go for. I know clean ones with 7.3’s are going for ridiculous money these days. I love Ex’s though…finest vehicles ever made! (Just wish they had simple work interiors, with vinyl and rubber mats instead of all the fancy-schmancy sissy leather and carpet and all!)
((Oh, and the F250’s no slouch either…. Hehe…don’t want it to get jealous!)))
I’ve always wanted an Excursion, but I’ve never been able to find any XLTs with cloth that are reasonably priced. You see how well leather ages. And damn, the prices for ones in mint condition are nuts!
I remember how much I hated hearing those 7.3 IDIs because they reminded me of the yellow prison buses.
The leather in mine is in nice shape- just one hole/crack….which I can fix, but still haven’t gotten around to. Good leather- like in Ex’s and Town Cars actually holds up much better than cloth- but I too do prefer the cloth- but yeah…good luck finding an EX with cloth!
I’d just prefer a simple interior, like vinyl, ’cause ya don’t have to worry about it- if ya get grease on it and stuff- I mean, after all, these things are trucks….
Gee, ya had to spoil the IDIs for me with the indoctrination-bus reminder! 🙂
I’d love to nigger-rig an IDI with a 5-speed and manual transfer case into an Ex or F250….. That’d be one sweet truck, and get at least 20MPG! (I had an F350 car-carrier – weighed 11,000 lbs- and got 14MPG all day on local streets with the 6.9)
Nunz: I love that old 7.3. Just a good ‘ol dumb workhorse that can go half a million miles. The racket is a little much but it’s a neutron bomb proof engine like the early Cummins 6. It seems like a smart idea to have one as a get away vehicle- doubling as a work truck. A 5 speed manual with a tail shaft overdrive would be the berries. I think 20 MPG or better is possible given the gobs of torque that thing makes at 1200RPM.
Morning, Auric!
Back in the ’90s, I was invited by Ford to Montana to test drive the then-new Excursion. What a trip that was! Imagine a choreographed line of 12 of those beasts running 90 on the highway. Got-damn, we had fun….
Hell Yeh!!!! I’d love to have been in on that. I guess that was too long ago to have gotten video. If by chance you have any pics I think all us diesel heads would love to see them.
Auric, those IDI 7.3’s could actually get 20+ MPG in a pick’up. I loved the sound….I used to find it very soothing….addictive! Like a purring cat! [Now I’ll have to go and pet Ralph- one of my cats]
Auric: We’ve got several[s] gen1 and gen2 cummins, and the manual versions all get over 21mpg with the best being 22.5. All stock 4x4s. The autos get 3- 5 mpg less.
I’m surprised that the friction loss in the automatics is that high. I guess the massive weight that is being driven plus all that low end torque makes some real indian burn in those clutch packs. I love the interaction between man and machine with a manual transmission. I hate to see them being phased out.
Auric, my Turbo Diesel in a one ton 4WD got 18mpg with 5.10 gears. Imagine a 2 or 3 speed Brownlipe gearbox. You could have Another under-drive and another overdrive. I found one in good shape but was scared it wouldn’t handle the torque of a big V8 diesel.
Being an old trucker, I would take off in my 93 Turbo Diesel and before I got to 70 I’d be reaching over and going for another gear when I was already in OD. But it could have used one and a Brownlipe with .8 OD would have been great. They’re still in bidness but you can find New Venture Gear boxes of all sorts since that’s what nearly every Jeep has had since they changed from the old Brownlipe models.
I’m in process of rebuilding my Turbo Diesel pickup(nothing wrong with the driveline)and can’t wait to do the old NVG4500 thing again. I hope to find a 2 speed to bolt behind the transfer case and have that double OD.
Friend O’mine who used to regularly tow 20K lbs all over half of the country with a pich-up, would average right near 20MPG with the old Cummins…..trouble was, the stoopit Dodges that contained ’em would fall apart in no time- even if he used relatively late-model ones at the time- so he switched to the Fords with the 7.3’s- Didn’t get as good’a MPG….but the trucks would last….even under his abuse (Like this:
https://imgur.com/ZdFFM6N ).
He had had an IDI before the Dodge, which got every bit of 20MPG- but he claimed it was dogging it on the hills on the PA. Turnpike with no turbo, with big loads.
I love my V-6 because it still runs as well as it did when I bought it second hand, half of the 300,000 miles it just turned.
Wow – that’s a feel good story for the morning….