I've had a 1989 Ford F150 4x4 xcab for about the last 3 years. Another payment or two and it'll be paid for. It had about 125,000 miles on it when I bought it and has about 140,000 on it now. I've had to put a lot more repairs into it than I originally expected. So far, I've changed all three fuel pumps, power steering pump, water pump, distributor, all the ball joints, brakes, exhaust system (added a split cat-back--my only customization so far), and some engine seals.

I'm torn now between continuing to invest more in my current truck or trading up to a new (or newer '00, '01, or '02) truck with less wear and tear on it as a starter for some customization.

If I keep the current truck at a minimum I'm going to need to paint it (the body is pretty good except for a bit of rust around the rear wheel wells and a few small dings), lift it (new wheels, tires, etc), probably change seals on the transfer case and rear end (they're leaking a bit), and whatever other repairs come up typical of a truck with 140,000 miles (it hasn't had any internal engine, transmission, or transfer case work yet that I know of--and isn't showing any sign of need for these things at the moment).

I like the truck, I like 4x4 F150s, but am worried about sinking a bunch more money into a truck that has considerable wear on it (kind of a throwing good money after bad thing given how much repair I've had to do so far). Perhaps it would be a smarter investment to sink the money into a much lower mileage vehicle. Or, maybe I'm just into the current truck too deep to make it worth starting over.

I'd welcome any and all thoughts or suggestions!

Cheers!

 

ive got the same problem
ive got a 1995 with about 400 000 k on it now
still runs great gets me everywhere i need to go
but once i started looking at newer trucks like you describe i see how much ill have to spend
i figure at least 500 to 600 a month for a new payment
well if i put 500 to 600 a month into this old truck itll last me a long time
but i dont have to do that
im in the process of spending some money on it now as i am gonna keep it
not only that but on a trade in imm not gonna get any more then 6000 for my old truck
i may aswell keep it and make it the way i want without the high payments

 

Sounds like the truck doesn't need anything but cosmetics. Why worry about the paint? It is a truck! A newer truck will cost you for sure. This one only every now and then, if it needs attention. A hefty truck payment on a newer one can be around $500 a month. That is 6 GRAND a year. I bet you for half the money you can go through your entire truck over the next three years!

It is practically never less expensive to trade up. Main reason for trading up is because people just like new stuff. That is good, that will keep the economy going, however, I usually rely on others to buy stuff on a payment basis.

Personally, I'd say keep the truck. This is a good era trucks and they will last forever.

Cheers, George <- never had a car payment, never will have a car payment.

 

get a newer one u'll be happyer with it more so than a money pit!





01 sport trac 4x4 black
97 explorer xlt AWD v8 blue
91 f-250 xlt lariat 4x4 blue/gray
84 ranger xlt 4x4 black
94 explorer xlt 4x4 purple/gray
96 explorer limited 4x4 green

 

Well, heres my take...

You can purchase a fairly new truck, however there is NO guarentee that it will be perfect. As a newer truck, it should have a warantee, but the problem is, it's only for 3 years, if you buy a 2001, it will end in less than 2 years.

I've come across a few lemon trucks that are practically new.

Don't forget depreciation, extra insurance cost, taxes.

Neither of my trucks are perfect, however they are far from being lemons too.

You won't get back the money you've put into it, and a repaint is considerably cheaper than a new truck.

 

keep the old truck. like it was stated above, the new one will depreciate a whole lot in a short time. as far as making payments on a new truck compared to fixing your old truck, you could do a whole lot of fixes and modifications to your old truck for a fraction of the cost of a new one. and you know what you have now too. when you buy another vehicle you have no idea what you are getting, even if it only one year old it still might be a lemon. you have all them new parts in it, might as well keep it for now.


chris

 

If you can do it buy new ,pretty much zero percent financing available. Just think oil changes and washing will be it for a 5 years minimum 3/36 warranty . I had and old truck 78 F150 spent at least 1 weekend a month fixing something whether I wanted to or not. I ordered my 94 got what I wanted and it's been routine maintainence for the last 9 years. Think about it a 1 year old truck even two years old is someone elses lemon was wrecked or someone who couldn't afford the payments so it wasn't cared for.

 

Thanks for the comments. It looks like about 2 to 1 in favor of keeping the old truck, which is probably what I'll do, at least short term. I put some new tires on it today, stepping up from 30x9.5 to 32x11.5. The truck's still at stock height but the bigger tires give it a bit more of an aggressive look.

Cheers!

 

I'd say go get a new one if you plan on doing alot of customizing there are more aftermarket parts for the newer trucks. sometimes its hard to give it up but maybe you can find a new one you like for cheap so that you still have the old one??????/
just my $0.02

real men don't like bowties

 

 

i have a 94 xl with the 4.9 and 170,000 miles. the trans is (has been) acting kooky and i'll have to get it rebuilt soon. otherwise, i'll keep this stump pulling ox for a while longer. it's the most reliable vehicle i've ever had, except for the '76 with the 4.9 i had before it.

keep it, it'll be a lot cheaper in the long run.

 

Actually, one thought I've been playing with is that my daughter will start driving in a couple of years. I may keep fixing the old truck up a bit as a starter vehicle for her and then buy a new(er) one for me. I sort of like the idea of her being in a larger vehicle just for safety purposes.

Cheers!