Sorry to say the big offenders have been my kids:
1) Son borrowed my '70 f250, 390, holly 4 barrel, headers, glass packs - told him no racing- heard him light it up 1 block from the house. (He was 27 at the time, no teen)
2) Daughter in law borrows the 2014 f150 to pick up a mattress somehow puts a deep scratch in the side that no amount of rubbing could take out.
3) Son in law loading for a dump run drops an arm load of boards with nails against the closed tailgate.

60k IS a substantial amount of money on a teachers salary, so I take care of my stuff.
I use the truck to haul things, camp, hunt, dump runs, etc. but I don't think others use the same amount of care as I do. And the worse part of the above damage was the kids telling me about it - they felt bad, I felt bad.

BTW - We don't let the kids/grandkids wrestle in the front room, wear muddy shoes in the house or color on the walls either.

New Ford Witheld may be the new mantra

 

When I was a kid (15 - 17 years old), my dad would borrow a truck from his friend. He frequently brought the truck home and would throw me the keys and tell me to get to work. I'm not sure my dad's friend new I was driving the truck. Funny as I look back I never minded doing that work whether it was a dump run or load of manure. That big old orange GMC would spin the rear tires effortlessly from every stop sign. Hence, I don't loan my truck to non-family. I'm always happy to hook up a trailer and help out though.

 

I help my *real* friends move whenever they need it. Nobody ever gets to 'borrow' any of my vehicles though. I didn't sign up to provide the 'village bicycle'.

 

So what you're saying is don't have kids...got it.

 

I often remind my grandkids that they will never be in trouble with me for something that is truly an accident. (Carelessness/negligence, though, is a different matter.). My part of the deal is doing what I can to help them to not have accidents, such as helping their parents teach them to wipe their feet and/or remove muddy shoes when they come in the house, and that there are some activities - such as wrestling and rough housing - that are not suitable for the living room. Another important area is to help them stay out of situations where accidents can have serious consequences, such as injury to themselves or others, or unnecessary damage to expensive or irreplaceable items - such as $60-80k trucks - by not giving them the responsibility for said items until they're ready for it - as determined by me, not them.

Seems like common sense to me - but, then, as we all know, and observe countless times every day, common sense isn't nearly as common as it used to be...

 

Gave my daughter the keys to go pick up her son. The new truck only had 600 miles on it. She was as surprised as my wife. All in all I wouldn't give the keys to just anyone. By the way this is my first diesel and it has less than 800 miles on it today.

 

THIS ISN'T Joke.

Last week my friend's wife asked if they could borrow my new $65000 5th wheel RV and my new 2017 F-350 for a week. They knew nothing about camping, towing and never drove a truck before. I said I never lend my vehicles to anyone and I had a hard time to keep from laughing.

 

Back in 1967 my car blew a water hose at night on the interstate. I was traveling from SC where I was stationed to NY. I had left the AF base still in my military fatigues.

A Semi pulled over and gave me a lift to a gas station about 5 miles up the road. I explained my predicament to the older clerk on duty. He filled up a 5 gallon gas can with water and gave me a roll of duct tape to repair the split hose. Then he said, here are the keys to my car. Please be gentle with it as its only 2 weeks old. This was outside of Norfolk, VA. I was in shock.

Not long after that I was at the Atlanta airport traveling home before being shipped to Viet Nam. Back then you traveled in civilian clothes. A man came up as I was ordering a meal and asked if I was in the military. When I told him yes, he said thank you for your service and told the cashier to put my food on his check. I get tears in my eyes every time I think about it.

Ever since then I try to pay it forward by thanking every serviceman I see for their service and if at a restaurant or bar I pick up their meal/bar tab. When service men/women say I don't have to pay for their meal I tell them back in 1967 someone paid for mine while I was in the service and I'm paying it forward. I tell them in 50 years perhaps you will remember me and be lucky enough to do the same for a service member.

Today my wife and I had breakfast at a local restaurant. There was a Florida Trooper sitting by himself eating breakfast. I went up to him and said "Thank you for your service". His immediate response was "my pleasure". I had the waitress give me his breakfast tab and let him know that an anonymous patron had paid for his meal.

Every day is Memorial day for me.

 

The first day I had my truck this past March my 16 yr old grandson asked me to drive it. When I threw him the keys his expression was worth millions to me. He just drove it around the block but now I let him drive it every now and then. Good way to get him to help me wash it and help me hook up the trailer. Big kid...good driver and tech savvy!

 

I have let people borrow my truck in the past. Most times I am asked to help someone move is because they want my manual labor!