I have a 2004 Ford Ranger FX4 with only 24k miles on it and a 4 year, 100,000 mile warrenty that I love. However, the dealer close to me has a 2005 F150, brand new thats been sitting on his lot for almost a year now (along with a few others) that I really want. Its the FX4, flareside in blue. Ive wanted a F150 as long as I can remember, but I have "settled" for Rangers because of the economic factors(gas, overall price, etc.)

The Ford dealer is asking $26,000 for it, and thats with the A plan, and he told me over the phone he could pull some strings to get me that deal at a loss for the dealership because of all the left over '05 F150's on the lot.

The problem is, if I trade in my Ranger(which the dealers always screw you on) and buy, my payments will go through the roof. Im wondering if it would be better to do a trade in and lease the F150 for 3 years and take the option to buy. I never liked leasing because you pay and pay with nothing to show for your $$$'s and the end of the lease. I want to eventually own it.

I dont really want to have a truck payment for 7 years, but If I try the lease option, my current montly payments may go down. But when I opt to buy will I get screwed on monthly payments?

Pro's:
The truck Ive always wanted.
More power and room.
Bragging rights.
Possible 1 time chance to get this truck so cheap.
Con's:
Bad gas millage(compared to my Ranger)
Payments forever(7 years? Ive only got 4 1/2 left on my Ranger)
I like my Ranger. Its been good to me.

Please share your opinions, I wil post this under the F150 board too.

 

I think it all boils down to financial considerations. You have to figure out what you can comfortably handle now as well as look into the future a little bit. For example, if you told me that you were recently married and your wife is now pregnant, and that you hope to obtain a mortgage in a few years for your first home, and that your employment situation is currently good but looks unsettled going forward, then my answer would be "don't do it."

 

If you've got a good, stable job and really want the F150, get it. I know how you feel, sometimes you just find that perfect truck. I found my perfect trucks, but they both got away while I was pondering buying them. An 1988 Ranger and a 1993 Ranger Splash, both equipped exactly like I wanted. I have kicked myself about 10 times for letting them go.

Things turned out okay, though. I couldn't be much happier with my current truck, plus I have money to spare. If the job is not looking so well, or you have plans to get married, have kids, or buy another house in the near future, I'd hold off. But then again, the F150 Crew would eliminate any problems like having to get another car to haul kids around in.

 

Agreed. Sometimes you must sacrifice comfort for what you really need. You love the Ranger. I think you'll be just fine. Think down the road.

 

I think you answered your own question when you listed the pros and cons. Gas at $2.50 a gallon (and won't be any cheaper as long as Exon is making such a profit), 7 years of car payments (for one vehicle) is a tad bit insane (think of what portion of that is interest), and your Ranger has been good to you and "that you love" (as they seem to have for most people here). To me, these combined out weigh the pros. Really, it would depend on you income. But I think if you are forced to finance it for 7 years to get the "monthly payment" down... you are ultimately paying much more to the bank... I was always told that if you plan to own the vehicle at the end.. never never never lease to own (you will end up paying much more at the end when compared to if you were to buy it through the traditional way).

If you really really really want the F150, why not try to sell your Ranger and than purchase the F150 (of course, it probably won't stay on the lot for very long..).

Just my opinion... but I would say stick with what you love

 

and like the ole song goes.. if you cant be with the one you love... love the one your with :P

 

Btw, I love your taste!! '05 FX4 F-150 with the flareside in blue? Yikes! That's a good looking truck.

 

One other note - push for a really good deal when buying a vehicle that's been sitting on the lot for a year! Chances are there's a lot of rusty parts (like the exhaust system!), dried up seals, etc. 'cause it's only been started and run long enough to move it around now and then. As most folks can tell you, the worst thing that can happen to a vehicle is for it to sit unused!

 

I'll tell you something from experience.

My wife had an 02 Tracker convertible. She got suckered into a 4 year lease, after I had already told her to BUY it. If that wasn't bad enough, to "save" even more money, she got restricted mileage. We had to go back and see the business manager to make an adjustment to the contract, so she could actually drive the thing back and forth to work, rather than to the grocery store on Sundays.

Then, to make it worse, after 2 years of leasing it, I ran the numbers, and figured out that if she kept driving it the way she did, at the end of the 4 year lease, she'd still be way over on mileage, and the penalty would be almost the same as a buyout. So, we had to take a hit on it.

We traded it in on an 05 Hyundai Tucson. Bought it. The penalty of breaking the lease was basically pay what would have been paid through the remainder of the lease, which was about $7000 if I remember correctly. Tack that on to the end of a $24000 Hyundai, plus taxes. So by the end of the day, we got a new car that my wife loves, but paid $7000 extra for it, and financed for 5 years instead of 3.

Now, if you really want to own that F150, do you want to end up screwing yourself?

Something else to think about, say you do decide to buy it, finance it, however you like. When something else comes along and catches your eye, it's easier to trade in something you've got equity in than something you're "renting".

Another thing, say you get married, pop a couple kids, get that mortgage. My wife has her name on our house, and when she first signed the lease, her name was on it. She had to transfer the lease to my name to get the house. Just too much of a financial drain in the eyes of the bank. But, if you finance the truck, you can (not smart, but possible, very doable) talk to the bank, and have them pay your truck off, and tack it into your mortgage. One less payment, and realistically, $50 a month more. But the "not smart" part is it takes you now 20 years to pay that truck off at $50 a month.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is, if you really want the F150, suck it up and buy it.

 

FYI update....

I went to the dealer near me and told him IF I could have monthly payments that would be the same or near what Im paying now, Id take the F150, even if it ment extending my loan by a couple of years. Over the phone he told me it was "do-able". When I went there it was a whole different story. He ran the numbers through the computer, and told me he was only going to give me $11,000 for my Ranger on a trade in. I know for a fact that if I sold it outright i could get at least $16,000 for it. He then told me my payments would be $690 a month for 72 months. $50,000 for a F150? Yeah right.

Needless to say Im keeping my Ranger, and Im still happy with it.

 

$690 a month for 72 months plus and $11,000 trade in? That's $61,000, not $50,000 - right?. Find out what that salemans is drinking and order me a case, will ya? And you wonder why car salesmen get a bad reputation. Wow...

I'd offer him $15K for it, then when he chokes tell him you can "pull some strings" and get him 15.5

 

I believe you made the right decision. As for "$50,000 for a F 150", did you multiply out the Ranger to see what you are paying for it?
Dono

 

I was going to say - figure the savings keeping the ranger, and the odds of picking up a real cool project truck with the cash you will have in your pocket.

This is NOT the time to jump into a lower mileage truck just because it looks cool.

Does: "PAY YOURSELF FIRST" ring any bells?

You made the right choice, brother.

 

Thank you all for the replys.

To make a short story longer, here is the number break down and my thought pattern.

-The 2005 FX4 F150 Flairside selling price : $25,000

-What I still owe on my 2004 FX4 Ranger
with only 23,000 miles on it in mint condition: $21,000

-What the dealer told me what my Ranger is worth: $12,000(load of crap because it sells for at least $16,000. I know this because Im a dork)

-So if you throw in a few bucks for taxes, round the price of the F150 up to $30,000. If I took the hit on the trade in, which is what I'd do, If I owe $21,000 even, and got $12,000 for my Ranger, I'd be rolling over $9,000.

So..... $21,000
-$12,000
--------
$9,000
+$30,000
---------
$39,000 divided by 84 months(7 year loan is what I wanted) =$464.28 a month.

But somehow the 2 dealers I went to gave me a average monthly price of $690 a month for 84 months . Thats $57,960 for a truck on sale for $25,000!

Ive heard of finance charges but, yeeesshhhh! Thats $18,960 in finance charges!!

So please beware of scams like this. I have great credit and didnt need to make a trade in, and Im happy with my Ranger so Im in a good position. But please pass this on and warn others who maybe dont watch details like this, and have to purchase a new car or truck out of nessisity.

 

Well among other ways they're trying to screw you, add in the finance rate - $690/mon for 84 months to borrow 39K comes out to about 12% by my calculations. 12% for a new vehicle? That's outrageous. They should be offering you 2%, or even 0% to move that vehicle, not 12.

My CU lists 7.2% for 84 months (5.2% for 48) - but even at 7.2 you're "down" to $10,700 in finances charges.

A good rule is *never* buy a car based on the monthly payments - ask for and look at all the numbers.

Sounds like you definitely did the right thing walking away from this one...