Thanks, RS. It's uncanny you bring up transmission concerns because that was the first thing that went out in this truck after the 1st or 2nd year I had it (I bought it back in 2013 or 14). For me, it cost about $1,500 to swap through a small shop (they used a Jasper Transmission and it's been flawless). It was my fault it broke, too, because I got my truck caught in a snow trap in my driveway after a really bad winter storm and when I tried to get it out, I kept putting her in reverse-then-drive-then-reverse, etc. I guess I burnt up the sun gear because a few days after that, I couldn't put her in reverse no mo. Ha! That sucked big time. But yeah, replacing transmissions isn't fun. I did a quick look-up for your vehicle's tranny replacement cost and without knowing the year or type, it looks like if you were to do it through a dealership, it could go as high as $3,500x. Thing is, they used to say that exact kind of thing about my truck's tranny replacement cost, too. I even once heard someone claim it would run me $6k to do... So if that ever happens to you, try to find a small'ish non-dealership shop because I can't imagine that it should cost that much to do since it's really just unbolting the thing from the bell, etc. and then dropping it, and then loading up the new. Only a dealership would charge $1,200x+ for labor on a job like that. Worst case scenario might be a rebuild if you can't find a new or re-manned tranny, but I doubt you'd need to do that if it's a fairly recent model. You might consider taking her in for a tranny service at an actual transmission shop. Have you ever had that done? It might extend the life a bit and buy you some time to either proactively replace it or maybe hold off until the economy gets a little better for a trade-in.
And you hit the nail on the head about new used vehicles today. It's insane what's going on out there. When I first started dealing with this truck situation, I considered a new used truck (despite not wanting to give my baby away!) and the best deal I was able to find in my area was a 2008 Silverado 1500 with about 175k miles for $17k, as-is. No thanks. Don't get me wrong: I love Silverados, any year, really...but since I got this truck that I have now (which is paid-off) for $8k back in 2013/14 with ~88k miles on it (with it now having 147k in 2022, pfft), I just couldn't justify getting rid of her and I'm going to do everything I can to hang on to her for as long as possible. The frame does have a little rust on it, but nothing that can't be repaired or re-fabbed (it's mostly surface with the worst being on the leaf spring hangers, which I can refab if I ever need to) and if in 5 or 10 years the frame does rust away, I know a guy who can re-fab a brand new frame and another guy who can do the whole body swap. Grand total would probably be no less than $15k to do, but by then, I'm confident I'll be out from behind this financial 8-ball. I mean, if you love your vehicle, you move mountains, and everyone I've taken this truck to for a rust assessment has said I have years of life left in the frame before I ever need to consider something as drastic as that. Not many people do something like that. Ha.
Hey man, here's to hoping that things turn out better for us both (for all of us). Let's be hopeful they will. We all know that stuff like this comes and goes in life and we just have to keep waking up each day doing our best with what we got. I can tell by your post that you have a good head on your shoulders, so I'm confident things will turn out okay for you. We have each other on here, so if you're ever in the doldrums like I've been lately and need a place to unload, you know you can always come on here to let it all out. At the very least, it's at least looking like it's beginning to head into fall season now, which I always get really excited for. I love sweater weather. The coffee tastes better during this time, too. I'm in Indiana and we just finished going through a rain / cold front. Once the rain stopped, the temp FINALLY fell to about 78-degrees, and boy-oh-boy does it feel so awesome compared to that wretched, stagnant, bug-ridden, humidity-saturated 95-degree average our HVACs have been fighting for the past 2 months. Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. I can sense that it's on its way. With the kiddos going back to school and the air losing its humidity, you can almost feel that cooler high school football air. We'll be smelling those burning leaves and drinking apple cider lattes in no time.
Hang in there, man.