the truck story

Hello loyal readers! I have really been slacking on the blog lately, just haven't really been in the mood I suppose. Anyway things are going well. We decided to trade in our old 5th wheel and pick-up truck on a new truck, I am going to miss the trailer this summer, as I was anxiously waiting for the cold, grey winter to lift its' chilling grip and allow us to enjoy our wonderous habitat without first wrapping up with multiple layers of wool. We will still spend alot of time out and about, but may have to haul the big tent out of the closet and go back to roughing it for a couple camping trips this year. This should give us the motivation to pull out all of our old camping gear and decide what needs to be upgraged, and what needs to be tossed or recycled. I have restored our old 12' aluminum boat, it has a fresh coat of paint, new wood in the transom and I replaced the rotting plywood seats with some knotty pine that I clearcoated. I also replaced all of the rusted out bolts and screws. The boat looks looks much better and will get alot more enjoyable use in its' refurbished condition. So what about that new truck you ask? Well most of you might know that I am a pretty loyal GMC fan as three of my vehicles have been GMC, the other being a Chevy. For those of you that don't know my previous vehicles have been as follows, '86 GMC s15 Jimmy 4x4, '88 Chevy Scottsdale 3500 regular cab long box 4x4(i loved that one!), '98 GMC Sierra SL 1500 reg. cab short box 4x4 and a '91 GMC Sierra SLT 2500 ext cab short box 4x4. All of these vehicles served their purpose quite well and I must say they were mostly reliable for the crap that I put them through.This time around I decided to broaden my research base and gave the other manufacturers a look. I knew that with the higher payload and towing capacities out there in the half ton pick-up sector I no longer had to look at purchasing a three quarter or even a one ton. We can easily tow a new 23' travel trailer with any of the new light duty trucks and the HD models are a little more money than what I wanted to spend. I had already driven the new chevy, and the dodge, both trucks were comfortable but their options packages didn't really fit my needs and the salesman at the chev dealer was uncertain of the towing capacity of their truck. The new f 150 was a nice driving truck, with plenty of power and good numbers, except for the price tag, and it lacked a few important features, like a bed liner and the stock tires were crap. I knew some of the guys at the local Nissan dealer so I took a trip up there to see what they had to offer. I was on my way to the airport and didn't have much time so Brandon was quick to grab a D plate and introduced me to the Titan. The truck we took out that day was a 2012 Titan SV crew cab long box 4x4. I had been attracted to the Titans stocky stance and brawny design since they were first introduced in 2004, but never really saw myself ever driving one. This truck impessrd me right away. It had all of the features we need as a family and it handled very well for its' size. The test drive was short and sweet. A great truck, however not the one for us on that day. A month or so passed, Was this something we really needed to do? Well the old truck was almost at 300,000km, it had no modern safety features and the lack of rear doors was getting very frustrating for everyone. Yes, it was time. So, on another trip to the airport I stopped by Comox Valley Nissan to see what was on the lot, by this time I had already given their service department a trial run with our Honda Civic, just to see how they handled their customers and to get to know the staff. Turns out one of my high school buddies is still turnig wrenches in their shop! They met all of my expectations. This time Brandon had a used model to show me. This truck looked really nice, a 2011 Titan Pro-4X. It was also a crew cab model, but had almost every option. Power heated leather seats with red stiching and embroidered badging, and new BFG all-terrain tires, a Reese brake controller and tube steps. The stock 350 watt Rockford Fosgate 10 speaker stereo is awesome. This was the truck for our family. I have to thank the love of my life for doing all the paperwork and cleaning all of our gear out of our old truck and trailer while I was away at work. I was totally surprised when she texted me the news that it was ours. We took it done to Victoria for a day trip last week and it was an absolute pleasure. The kids don't even fight in it! I am looking forward to many new adventures in Titan, and will keep you posted as they happen!