The Truck

I call him Little Beast

I know several people are curious about the details of the truck we were able to buy, so I thought I would write a little bit about it.  The truck is a 2000 Nissan Frontier.  It is an awesome truck here in Panama, often used by farmers, Taxi drivers, and even government officials.  It is considered to be the second best truck out here next to the Toyota Hilux.

This truck can be worth $10,000 or more.  I was able to get it for $7000.  The main reason was because the owner was in a tight spot and needed money right away.  Several others had made offers on it, but nobody had the cash up front, so I was the one who got it because of the generous offerings people gave.

The engine is Diesel, which is pretty standard for these kinds of trucks here.  They are more fuel efficient and last longer.  It was maintained very well by the original owners, however they didn't pay much attention to the outer shell of the car, which allowed me to get another $500 off the original price.  You can't see it much in the pictures, but there are multiple little nicks in the paint, particularly on the back.  Not big dents though!  I can get that fixed pretty easily.  The tires were also really worn down, which are all getting replaced with new tires as I speak.  Those minor issues are the reason I got it for the price I did, and it was a gem of a find!

I plan on using it for a long time to come, but if I wanted to, after fixing it up, I could flip it for much more than I bought it for.  As I have said several times now, another truck like it, same brand and model, one year newer, sold for $11,000 just a couple of days before and another was up for $12,000 when I bought this.  It is likely sold by now.

If this was a face we would all be intimidated by those eyes.

So there you have it!  I have tested it a bit and it has performed very well.  The true test of course is going to be when I take it up to Tugri.  I will be sure to write again and let everyone know how well it performs up there.

In the meantime I have several other things to focus my attention on, like moving into our new house and getting reestablished.  

Stay tuned for more to come!