When to give up on repairs
 

Obviously this is a personal decision based mostly on finances. While I'm not hurting for $$ I try not to waste it or just throw it around. I own the 2001 F250 in my sig line. It's looking at about $4,000 in repairs from a local trusted shop. (I have no time to do it myself)(All 4 ball joints, brakes, some exhaust work)

I have no idea what the truck is worth but it probably isn't far from $4,000. The dealership wanted to give me 5,000 two years ago on a trade. (I know it the dealership) The truck has some rust issues on the doors and bed support rails (Underneath). This would be in the northeast with lots of road salt.

Gotta make a decision in the next 11 days before the inspection runs out.

Just here picking some brains. Any advice?

Everyone has their pain thre$hold, but what price would you pay for a new/new to you truck? Probably a little more than $4,000.

$4000 for ball joints, brakes, and exhaust? that's like double going rate, and I'm being generous.

do some shopping around.... smaller shops have smaller prices... or should.

Might be time for a new or newer truck.

For me, it was knowing I had to have a heavy duty truck (150 will not work for me), and if I dumped my 06, I would have had to get something else. For $11K in my case, I would probably get a POS, or spend over $65k for a new one. So I had to bite the bullet and spend the money. Starting point was, do I need a truck this heavy? If yes, then you have a decision to make.

I really think it depends on how much you have sunk into the truck the last two years and what repairs you have done to it since you owned it.

Reason I ask what repairs you have done since you owned the truck is so you can look at the overall picture of health of your truck. If the repairs are getting more complex and more expensive then that should be taken into consideration
as to whether it is worth while for you to keep it or not.

The biggest thing that hits you in the wallet when someone else is doing the fixes to your truck is that they have a mark up on parts and then there is the labor they charge per job on the truck. Some parts depending whether they are after market or OEM would still be considerably less than what a shop charges to supply a part, a shop has a mark up on the parts and then they charge a certain rate for each job whether they job takes that amount of time or not.

It really boils down to how much you have put into it the last two years, and whether those repairs have been major or minor and whether there are other issues your truck has in the major or minor category coming up down the road (this is where all your past repairs needs to be factored in)

Depending on your trucks condition and the mileage and what you have put into it ought to be a factor in as to whether it is still good to go on the road or good to go out the door and either a different new/used truck is a better option.

My cousin recently dumped his Dodge Dakota due to the fact that he got 11 plus years out of it but it's problems were getting bigger and bigger and the repairs more expensive to fix. Eventually he came to the conclusion that all the money that was going into it was allowing the truck to plug along, but it was starting to not be economically viable from a finacial standpoint and from a reliability standpoint, so he sold it and Bought a used 2012 CC F150 XLT with the 5.0 v8 and he has so far is very happy with it.

It really is going to be when YOU decide that the truck isnt worth pouring more money into it. It may be even more of factor if you have state inspection or emissions testing to go thru every year.

For me it was this weekend, I had to call it quits on my 04 Excursion 6.0, it started intermittently blowing white smoke..and not its cold out white..like fogging the whole street for mosquito's. I bought it with 167k on it, traded it just shy of 293k after 5.5 years. Too much rust on top of the smoke, couldn't keep going.

I got 4K on trade for a 13 F250 6.7, other than the payment and not being a suv anymore, this thing is awesome, quite far removed from 04 technology.

All good posts. First off I was quick to type my first post. Dinner was ready and we were going out truck shopping after. The $4,000 included tires, a leak in the steering box, side marker bulb, a binding e-brake cable, a tie rod, maybe a few other things I can't remember, as well as all four ball joints, the brakes, and the exhaust. I'll probably take care of all of it with the exception of the suspension and exhaust if I go the repair route.

Other than that the truck has only had the tranny worked on once, a cheap less than $100 fix, a fuel pump, a couple of front rotors, and one set of calipers. I don't think that is too bad for 16 years. It still has the original battery!

Still looking but it seems like repairs might be the way to go. I was expecting a $500.00 for the right ball joints which turned into $4,000 shocker. I'm starting to calm down and think a little more clearly. Looking at new and newer trucks was a little exciting though.

I will tell you the experience I have had with the trucks I use for business, the last one being an 2008 f-250. I am assuming you probably don't use yours as heavily as I do mine but the same logic applies. At 115,000 miles I was facing more repairs after already dumping 5 grand into it over the last year so I took a good look at what else was wrong with the truck. The ball joints were going bad again, ( this would be the fourth set in 7 years) the radius arm bushings were shot (that is the big arms that go from the frame to the front end), all of the cab mount and bed mount pucks were falling apart, the brake rotors, the calipers were sticking, there was a small oil leak from the head or valve cover in the back on the pass. side, the fuel economy was down to 9.2 mpg's, of course the normal wear and tear on the interior (and the smell which I did not really notice until I went looking at new trucks and got back in mine after a test drive), and probably some other small things. Now each one in itself was not major but if you add them up it was approaching the value of the truck. So I decided to sell the truck while it still had some value because I am sure other issues would pop up, and of course who does not like a new truck? I did not want the note but I would have spent a lot on repairs anyway, and I got a 20 percent increase in fuel economy to help offset some of the cost. If you have trouble making the decision just go look at a couple of new trucks and weigh it out. P.S., the newer trucks also have all kinds of cool electronics and crap the older ones don't.

Sorry, I was typing the last post as you put yours up. How in the heck do you get 16 years out of a battery?

Recently had to make this decision, back in June of '16. It came down to the value of what I had, how much $ it would require to keep it going long term, including time off work or cost of rental vehicle while it was down, etc etc. The truck I had, '01 F-350 V10, was worth apprx $4,000. I knew of at least that much in parts it needed, not counting an inevitable engine replacement.

It's a tough call, I wrestled with it. If you sink 4k into a 4k truck, thats 4k you'll never see again, and with a 15y/o truck, there's always another repair around the corner.

Having a $40k note out on a vehicle hurts also, at least it does me, but in the end, the monthly payment is predictable, and I know when I take off across the country with my camper heading to a new job, I'm not a nervous wreck wondering if the truck is going to get me there or not.

Well said.

I figure if the cost of monthly upkeep and repairs exceeds the cost of a monthly payment its time to kick er down the road...but thats just me. Good luck, I'm sure whatever you choose to do you will be happy in the end :)

It really all depends on your personal preferences. For me, I don't need the latest and greatest this or that toy that all of the new vehicles come out with - just more crap to break.

My daily is a '94 Mercury Villager with 350,000 miles on it roughly valued at $1,000 on a good day. It's been pretty reliable over the last couple years, so I'm not really scared if it will get me here or there. Now, if I were to blow the motor and tranny simultaneously (about $1,000 repair), I could either drop a grand and keep driving it for several more years; or I could buy a Fusion for $20,000 to replace it with. Obviously, dropping $1,000 in it, even though it's 'totaled', would be the cheaper option - plus, there is value in knowing that particular vehicle's 'personality' and history. It all just depends on what your priorities are.

From reading your posts, it sounds like a lot of those items are just regular maintenance items to be expected with any vehicle ownership (tie rod ends, ball joints, tires, brakes, etc...). Replace those bits and you should be fine on those parts for another handful of years if you can stand the rust. You can save a TON of coin doing the jobs yourself though. Shop rate is usually between $80 and $120 / hr and often accounts for AT LEAST 1/2 of the total service bill. You don't have to do them all in one shot either. You can tackle your brakes one evening, do your tie rod ends another evening the next week, etc...