Time to give up my DW, I mean DT (Dear Truck)?

So you get a new truck yet?? Haha
As mentioned above, the cost of future repairs is significantly different If you do all your own repairs or not too.
Take the $ 5k you may spend on repairs the next year or 2 ? Add that to the $4-5k ish the truck is worth and put $10k down on a $20k low mile f150 and reset the clock back about 200k mi from where you're at now.
Or if you're commuting big miles and have decent confidence in the old truck, use it as a commuter beater and get a newer truck for Sunday's and road trips. Get more $$ out of the old one and have a backup and a newer truck for when you need it.

In March '13, I traded an '01 F150 5.4 XLT Supercrew (12 years, 240,000 miles) for a new '13 F150 3.5tt 6-speed XLT Supercrew. The new one gets 50% better hwy mileage (26 vs. 17) with WAY more power. The only significant expense on the '01 was a new transmission at 160k miles and three coil packs. It was a good truck and was still running well when I traded it. It was using a quart of oil every 2,000 miles. I have no regrets on the trade. Fuel savings will not pay for a new truck, but I really like the power of the new one.

For the 12 years that I owned the '01, I put aside $50 each week into the new truck fund. I did finance the purchase of the '13 through Ford to get the $1,500 purchase price discount, but paid it off in 4 months with little interest. Spreading the cost over 12 years and paying no interest was easier on the wallet.

Yeah the engine May last a million miles but what about the rest of the truck? Daily driver, run er til she pukes. Cross country tow rig, I'd want something lower mile to help my mpr (mile per repair ) ratio. Just me.

Well I had a 2004 2500 Ram Cummins that really needed nothing, had kept up on maintenance (more than needed truth be told) but I just could not see using a HD truck made for towing and work to drive back and forth to work.

If you have not done anything to the truck, trans service, antifreeze, brake fluid and gear lube changes then you are or should be looking to them. As someone else posted, ALL of the rubber bushing are in need of replacement and have been for 150,000 miles now, along with shocks and all rubber brake lines and on and on.

You can figure about $7,000/$10,000 to bring the truck back to it's "glory days" so you have to figure out, do I need a HD truck and if so is it worth putting this much money into it. At this point only you know the answer to this question and if you asking, I would say no.

Don

Just replaced my 1999 Silverado 1500, at 209,000 it got killed by an errant BMW. I had no worries about the life left in that 1500 series truck as I bought it new and it had been maintained good. Due to cash flow and needing a more capable truck, I now have a clean 1988 Chevy C3500 dually with 63000 miles. I dont make my commute in the dually. Only you can decide, but I have worked on fleet vehicles with well over 250,000 on the clock that ran fine.

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the feedback.

I just purchased a 2005 Ford Expedition for $7,000 with 150,000 miles on it. I'm sure the engine is good to 250,000 miles. What hurts is replacing hubs at roughly $500 a pop. I have spreadsheets on all 4 of my cars, and it is always cheaper per mile to hold and repair as needed.

Makes a lot of difference if you have the skills to make your own repairs or have to pay a mechanic $120 an hour for repairs.

So much good advice and good thoughts to think over. I sort of want to see how far I can go with this truck. I just need to get it to where I feel like I can trust it again. I don't want to become the poster boy for AAA Roadside Assistance.

Thanks everyone.

Cheyenps wrote:
My Dad always said that the time to replace a vehicle is when the monthly cost of repairs on the old vehicle exceeds the monthly payment on a replacement vehicle.

That very rarely happens.

Been thinking along those lines, but also want the dependability of a new truck vs the dependability of repairs on old truck.