I had my 04 in High School and let me tell you if it wasn't for my engineering intern ship i would have been taking the bus because gas is expensive and none of my friends had cars until the end of senior year so i drove everywhere and was too nice to ask for gas money.

IMO get an F150 here are some reasons why.
-Cheaper for a nicer truck
-Cheaper to fix
-Rides better (than leaf sprung SD's)
-More room than you will find because crew cab SD's are usually a lot more $$$
-Will still haul your landscaping trailer as good as a gas SD will
-better on gas etc.

I bought my truck off my dad and he got a Ram 1500 which obviously is basically an F150 and his truck pulls the same trailer equally if not better than my truck but mine can haul more in the bed without squatting.

Also take rust into consideration, the F150's don't rot out in the beds where these do and trucks that may look fine could rust out on you within a year if it had cheap body work done. If it's a short bed basically forget it your stuck footing the bill for some good body work to make it last because new take of beds are more expensive than it is to repair it usually, long beds are a different story though.

Also coming from the New England area in Mass, 99-04 Super duty's are cheap usually but the same priced F150 is usually newer and has more options and features and usually they have more pick up because the Super duty is meant to be used as a work truck.

FYI I got my 95 F150 for $200 and it needed brake lines and now that's my offroad project. If your talking serious offroading I would reconsider a full size truck but if your talking screwing around in a field or what ever then an F series should be fine, trails are most likely out of the picture though.

Not trying to single Miles out but he has had both an identical truck to mine in my sig and a crew cab long bed diesel and he has had some issues with it. Diesels can drain your savings quickly if they need a lot of repairs. (i guess Mile sis popular on here now lol).

As far as fast...5.4l is not fast V10 is kinda fast but sucks down gas and you will fill it up a lot, a 7.3 is like the 5.4l of diesels i guess if you want to put it like that..they are not fast but damn reliable and will go anywhere and tow anything you throw at it. The 6.0 is fast but can be a headache and drain your accounts (lots of info on these in the 6.0 section) the 6.4 and 6.7 trucks are probably too expensive because they are still newer trucks where are 99-04 maybe some 05-07 trucks are probably the most affordable range you could manage while working part time.

 

I think you really need to look a overall cost of ownership. I know you want a big 4X4, I understand that.
IMO, you need to look at something that is good on gas, reliable, easy and cheap to maintain & repair, and won't kill you and your parents with insurance premiums. You may purchase a fairly decent truck and the insurance cost more per month than it does. My son is 24, his insurance just dropped this year, no tickets, no accidents. He was paying almost as much per month on insurance as the truck payment, it sucks, but that is reality (he drives a 1/2 ton Ram 4X4)
Also, unless you have been driving / towing with a larger vehicle for sometime, I don't think that a SD is what you want to "learn" in. A SD with an attached trailer with equipment is long and very heavy and can present challenges that you aren't ready to deal with. Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide on, Be Safe!

 

I agree, I completely forgot about insurance. I have no accidents, tickets etc. and if the truck was under my name it would be $1800 per year but under my parents i pay $875 so until 25 or what ever age it is that it drops I'm stuck on my parents insurance.

Also I commute to school now roughyl 50 miles a day and when i drov ethe truck granted i have a lift and 35" tires i was filling from empty every 4 days so that was $95 almost twice a week which is almost $400 a month in gas alone.I ended up buying my parents expedition which gets way better mpg than my truck and even with the car loan its much more manageable because it gets such great mpg compared to my truck. This is also with my truck payed off btw so i have no loan on the truck at the same time as my expedition.

 

A lot of good advice on here. Ultimately this is your decision. I have an F250 V10 and drive it everyday to work. I've made sacrifices in other ways so that i can use it everyday and still be able to afford it. To put it in perspective, I filled up today and paid $89 (and that's with the small gas tank).

I was originally looking for an F150 but older super dutys were actually a little cheaper in my area, so shop around when looking for a truck. If you are less picky, you can get a great deal.


Any vehicle will cost you money. I learned the hard way that almost every vehicle is a money pit in someway. Insurance isn't cheap, neither is gas or repair parts. Every car will need repairs at somepoint, so factor that in.


If you want it bad enough, you can do it on a high school budget, just know that you'll be working on it yourself and it wont be as nice as some of the other cars in the high school parking lot.

When I was in high school i bought a wrangler and lifted it. I lost a ton of money, but had a ton of fun and learned a lot about cars and how quickly you can blow money. Now Im in my mid twenties and have learned to budget better for my toys.

Ok im done rambling. Ultimately its your money and choice. Good luck man.

 

I think insurance rates depend where you live. I bought my truck at 22 and paid $230 a month for full coverage on my truck and infiniti g35. Now I am 27 and pay $160

 

Forgot to add...i also have commercial insurance on the truck

 

Insurance companies have all kinds of criteria, everything is different evreywhere, but for the most part, your age, vehicle age, vehicle color, vehicle use, engine size, 4x4 or 4x2, and on & on & on, insurance is the biggest scam there is, gotta have it though.

 

Once I went to work and could afford payments I bought a '96 F150 XLT fully loaded with a 5.8L 4x4 auto. Had 58' 000 kms (35'000 miles) on it in '97 when I bought it. Expected the insurance to be similar to my car. I was wrong. Paid 14'900 for the truck (good deal at the time) payments were $313/mo. Insurance cost me $4600 first year I had it. Insurance payment was more than the truck. Sold it to my father for 14000 the next year. Bought it back four years later when I could afford the insurance on it.
I have had several super duties. They were work vehicles all were write offs for my business. As such I could hardly keep some of them on the road. With the exception of one they were all very good vehicles. I never abuse them except for towing overweight now and then. Never run them off road, spent enough on my F150s and Rangers doing that. Routine maintenance and fuel on my F250 and F350 last year ran me about $25'000.

If I were looking to play off road some like I did when I could afford it I'd have a 92-96 Ranger 2wd 3L 5sp with a locked rear diff and a four inch lift with 31s or 32s. Mine would go way more places than I could ever think of putting my Super duties and didn 't burn much gas. The big plus was you didn't need a D-9 dozer to tow it out. Just my two cents.

 

Around here 95/96 broncos are dirt cheap 1500 to 3000 and they are in really good shape. You can find them as cheap as 800 driving but beat. Awesome off road and a good daily driver. Cruise, AC, power windows etc and parts are pretty affordable.

 

I drove a pickup in high school. Mine was a 1956 F-100 short bed, straight 6, 3-on-the-tree, arm-strong power steering. It looked awesome, but underneath it was a beater. I was always trying to fix something (usually electrical).

Unless you have a specific reason to have a Super Duty, I also would not recommend it as your high school commuter. They are not fast, they are maintenance intensive and expensive to drive.

Get an F-150 or a Ranger if you want to stay Ford.

 

I didn't drive a pickup in high school. After my first year in college, I bought a Super Duty because I was sick of piling tools in the back of my station wagon and strapping wood on the roof (for the record, it was a sporty little subaru). I drive my truck daily and commute to school and back twice a week, not to mention driving it for work when I'm home. I fill up once a week at about 95 dollars, I have a monthly truck payment, and I am on my own insurance. Luckily I was grandfathered into all the deductions Amica offers since I came off of my parent's insurance (good driver, loyalty, good student, paid in full, etc). I worked part time in high school and I work two jobs part time now. Couldn't have afforded it in high school, but I can definitely afford it now, but it's because I work for it and I use it for work.

It sure sounds like from what you're saying, a smaller truck would be better for you, an older F150 or a Taco would be great for a daily driver (gas wise and maint. wise) and WAY better for off-road use. You said something about using it for welding or something like that, chances are your uncle already has a welding rig, and generally welding rigs are bigger than your run of the mill super duty, so don't worry about it. You'll be able to afford a smaller truck on a part time high school job way easier than a big truck, and then down the road you can trade up to the truck you want. That's my advice.

 

When I was in highschool I drove a 96 ford ranger extended cab XLT 2wd. That was 7 years ago, I was working full time and I hated having to fill it up every two weeks! I still have that truck as my around town runner and it's been the most reliable truck I've ever had.

I had lots of friends who drove SD trucks to school, I may have had a little truck but they were always broke from gas and repairs. Yea it would have been nice to roll up in a big SD truck and get all the attention from the ladies in HS. I'll tell you one thing I learned early on, spend your money on having fun before a real life sets in.

Trust me I'm 24 and I wish I would have made smarter choices with money and vehicles in the beginning. If you need to tow anything a ranger or F150 is in your best interest.

Save money now, it will pay off huge down the road!

 

I am 26 and drove my 4 cylinder Ranger from 17 all the way until I was 23. Then I bought a SD a few months after getting an engineering job.

There is absolutely no way I could've afforded an F250 until I had a good paying job. I worked my way through college and feeding a 4 cylinder 4x4 Ranger allowed me to have a lot of fun. A SD would've emptied every pocket and put me in the hole. Right now, my gas budget is $400 a month and I am usually at $450 or $500. THe tank is 39 gallons in mine so that's $100-$130 every fill up. I can get the Ranger through a month on half that and fill it for $45. And other expenses such as tires.... The last set of Ranger tires (31x10.5-15) set me back $75 a tire new. Last set of E-load rated SD tires.... $140 a piece (265/75R16). That just one example. Everything on a SD is more expensive because the are built strong to work hard.

As for diesel, friends have repeatedly talked me out of it. What you gain in fuel mileage, you lose in maintenance costs. Diesel hold 3 times as much oil as a gasser (roughly), so there goes more money in oil changes. And when diesel break, repairs are expensive. I'm sure some guys on here will testify to that.

So unless you are an entrepreneur or a trust fund kid, spend time learning about these trucks and hanging around this forum and get a small and reasonable 4x4 and hone your skills on modifying and repairing that

 

I started out with a Ranger as well. 1989 with the 8 plugged 4 banger. Ran it quite a bit and it only cost me $20 to fill it up (mid 90's). I followed up with a '93 and a 91 Ranger before joining the 250 crowd. I now use the 250 as needed and a 150 as a daily driver.

 

They are great trucks. I will never get rid of mine. I've poured too much time and effort into it and now all the bolt are not rusted and seized. I even brought it to work today



It's not that pretty after 203,000 hard miles, but I love her and all 90 of those ponies under the hood. I couldn't imagine having anything else as a first vehicle, not even a SD