ok, we have a dodge caravan, which everyday my mom drives to work. Then a Ford ranger 4x4 4.0l auto sc, which sits during the working day because my dad drives his police interceptor to work. Since its a work vehicle, he cant take it anywhere unless its work related. There are days when my dad bowls for league, he takes the ranger, and my mom takes the minivan wherever she wants to go, which leaves me stranded. This happens alot, like if i have to go to work, i'll take the ranger, and then they use the van. somtimes, i get done with work and i find that my favorite vehicle is gone, due to my parents took it because they needed to do two seperate things, needing 2 seperate vehicles. so someone always winds up getting stranded. Driving downtown today, i saw basically another ranger that was practically the same as mine. It was a 94 (same year) 4.0l 4x4 sc but with a manual transmission. Which is exactly what i'm looking for. now i menchaned that to my mother, and she totally flipped out saying that I dont need a truck. My dad was ok with it. I was just wondering what other people thought on the subject? I am 16 and i have job working at the local hardware store which i like alot. They are asking 3200$ for the ranger. I would plan on payiing for the vehicle and insurance. and chances are i can probably get them down to 3000$ or lower

 

If you're paying for it, I don't see what the problem is.. It seems like it would be less trouble for them.

 

I think you should be fully . . . allowed, to purchase this truck with your own funds (as long as they are not already earmarked for College!).

~however~

They sure enough own your booty, for a while yet. What they say is law regardless.

What I recommend you do is check the truck out. I mean really check the truck out right. If you have a "family mechanic" spend the bucks and take the truck to him. If not, YOU do the inspection and literally make a written report of what you check and what you find (!! BE HONEST AND IMPARTIAL !!)

The object being for you to *demonstrate* good judgment and responsible decision making. You will also be demonstrating respect for them by doing careful homework instead of APPEARING TO "go ahead regardless".

Trust me on this one; I am an old guy who knows these things (besides, I have raised a teenager or two).

. . .oh, and one last thing; that list you make will be worth 10 times it's weight in gold when it is time to actually wheel and deal on the truck!!

HTH

 

Hey thanks for your input, i allready stopped over there and talked to the people. They said their grandson owned it but he's in the military and got shipped out somewhere. So he's gonna sell it and buy somthign new when he gets out. I did look it over, its pretty basic, no a/c which in mn can be a bad thing, but the ac doesnt work in the other ranger anyway, and we've lived with that, so....no tilt wheel, which isnt a big deal. I'm not sure about power locks/windows, but from the other ranger i've learned to live without that. Otherwise there's no rust, some nicks on the fender flares, which the other ranger also has, the only big thing with it is theres a little dent on the rear, just to the left of the tailgate above the bumper. It looks like its had the topper on it since it was bought, because there's no rust inside the bed. It must have had problems with the auto locking hubs because there are warn manuals on there now. I didnt get a chance to look at the mileage, but i'll ask about that. But thanks alot for the info......

 

Hey again Peter,

well, it sure sounds like you are competant and capable of assessing the vehicle. But remember - there is more to it than the vehicle it's self.

It is the issue and how you deal with it - also. You need to really show you are "big enough" to make sound decisions on your own. Because no matter how old you get, you will always be their BABY and they will do everything in their power to protect you (even if they have to use dumb excuses like "you don't need it").

FWIW.

 

Hey, thanks again for your input, I just hope that i dont wind up being 18 and not having a vehicle to call "my own". especially when i'm goign to have a brother that will be able to drive in another year. 4 people with drivers licences and 2 vehicles just wont work out, i know it wont, its allready a pain in the butt.

I was also wondering what some problem areas are to look out for with buying a truck, I'll probably take it for a test drive before i buy it, (if i buy it). I am sort of new to manual transmission, are there any signs of a bad clutch or a worn out one. I can just imagine how good it would be to get the thing and have the clutch be bad on it or somthing.
Thanks again for all your advice.

 

Funny you should ask

https://www.ford-trucks.com/How_To_Buy.html


HTH.

 

IMO - I think you should get it. Like others said, your parents "own you" untill you are 18 years of age. I just turned 18, and we HAD 4 cars (my truck, my moms car, and 2 car's my dad owns) Welll, my dad blew the engine on one of his cars, his second car had a turbo problem, and my mom's car had an engine problem. BANG down from 4 cars, to 1, MY TRUCK (AHHHHH) Needless to say, on the bright side of things, my dad was given a rental, and my mom's car was done later that day. My point is that things change. You guys may only have 2 cars now, but give it time, you'll have more

 

Yeah,which brings up another point, some guy pulled out in front of my dads cop car, smash, he was driving the ranger for a while, minivans fuel injectors got clogged, then the truck was the only vehicle we could drive for about 10 days, cause they couldnt get the van into the repair shop cause everything was booked up. The van got hail damaged, now were only going to have 1 vehicle while they take 3 days to fix that. my brother in the cities has 3 vehicles and its only him and his wife. He probably plans on 1 or more breaking down though since they are a chevy and 2dodges!