You're too stupid to... own a diesel small truck

[DarkMonster620]

At some of our dealers that have domestic franchises, their $30+/FRH diesel technicians are being lured away by the oil field or mining operators for even greater pay.

$30/hr?!?!?!?!?!?! . . . . where do I sign?

most I have made in my life is $22.50 and that was overtime pay for working on a holiday !!!!

[duccarlos]

You're in the wrong line of work. Low paid developers (programmers) that become contractors get $40/hr.

[DarkMonster620]

You're in the wrong line of work. Low paid developers (programmers) that become contractors get $40/hr.

coñooooooooo . . . I am averaging $9.35/hr now . . . not bad for Panama, but . . .

[Popeye the Sailor]

coñooooooooo . . . I am averaging $9.35/hr now . . . not bad for Panama, but . . .

I wouldn't roll out of bed for that. 

[ungeheuer]

I wouldn't roll out of bed for that. 

Nevertheless, I still aint gonna pay you $50.

[DarkMonster620]

I wouldn't roll out of bed for that. 

Nevertheless, I still aint gonna pay you $50.

funy you  . . .

[MendoDave]

Your $9:35 is probably the same as $22:00 an hour where Dave lives. He would have to pay the babysitter $9.00 so yea for that money it would make more sense to stay home.

[duc_fan]

Hard to compare numbers... the real question is purchasing power.

Yeah... around here, $9-and-change per hour at 40 hours per week is barely enough to keep a roof over your head and food on the table... and I doubt it would cover transportation, raising kids, etc.

When I worked at the auto parts store while I was in college, back in '04 I was making just shy of $12/hr.  But again... purchasing power.  That was in Portland, and the $3k-$5k I'd earn in summer was barely enough to cover travel and incidental expenses while I was away at college.  I also had a job on campus to cover eating out and movies and whatnot... but that paid federal minimum (which was 5 and change per hour).  It was just enough each week to buy me a meal out with friends, a beer or two, and a movie ticket (at the wonderfully low student rate).

If my wife and I ever wind up in the Philippines, we'd probably be able to maintain an equivalent lifestyle on half our current income (or less).

Which brings me back to small diesels... living in the Philippines, I'd definitely have a HiLux or Fortuner diesel.  Diesel is less expensive than gasoline (and gasoline prices there run about the same as Oregon), and the HiLux and Fortuner are relatively affordable vehicles.  Import taxes in the Philippines are crazy, so you're MUCH better off getting something made in SE Asia (IIRC, the HiLux and Fortuner are made in Thailand and/or Indonesia?).

Still scheming of a way to import a HiLux diesel engine, manual transmission, and associated electronics to the US-of-A.  I'd drop it in a mid-2000's Tacoma.  Out here there is no inspection, so nobody would care.  Wish my grandfather was still around... he had the fab skills to do such swaps with ease.  It'd probably take me a while to get it built correctly.

[ducatiz]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=161096250531

Youre welcome

[duc_fan]

Cool. 

Helluva lot cheaper than I expected.

Too bad that one is a slushbox, though.

Will have to do some shopping domestically to see if there are more of these...

[ducatiz]

About 30 on ebay right now.  Stick, auto, 2wd,4wd

[duc_fan]

Huh... I dug through there earlier, it said there were less than 20 Toyota diesels.  Only 4x4 setups I found were autos.  All the sticks were 2WD.

Regardless, it's not like I have the cash to pull the trigger today.  But now we know that option is out there.    If/when the time is right, I'll still price out getting a complete setup out of a wrecker in the Philippines... having family there I may be able to acquire the setup a bit cheaper.  Wifey is gonna make me finish and probably sell the GTI first... so we're looking at late next year at the earliest that I could start such a project.

[DRKWNG]

Wifey is gonna make me finish and probably sell the GTI first...

Hmmm...

[J5]

Cool. 

Helluva lot cheaper than I expected.

Too bad that one is a slushbox, though.

Will have to do some shopping domestically to see if there are more of these...

thats because thats old old old 2.4L

you want a 2005  onwards
D4D as in hilux and prado

3.0 L 121 kW (162 hp) I4 1KD-FTV intercooled VN turbo diesel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_KD_engine#1KD-FTV

[JohnEE]

This increased the horsepower to 142 hp (106 kW) at 3400 rpm and torque to 343 N·m (253 lb·ft) at 1600-2800rpm