There is going to be a bit of text here, if you are in no mood to read then I suggest you carry on.

Alright, so. My dad has a 1995 Ford F-150, onyx white, super cab, 351 Windsor, I THINK a dana 44, automatic transmission, 3:55, 201k miles, and it still runs like a complete dream. Changes gears smoothly, lots of power still (though noticeably less than 100k miles ago.). Interior is worn but by no means in rough shape. Exterior? rust on the corner panel on the driver side (notorious for these things) and and a little over the wheel wells, but not much. Some attention to the rust and detailing would make this thing look beautiful.

This truck has been maintained religiously, never asked to do anything it's not designed to and never missed an oil change. The worst thing in the last 15 years has been transfer case bearings and a fuel pump. (That pump was a pain to replace, but I still enjoyed doing it.) The only seriously bad things that have happened were two accidents, one of which did not leave any real lasting damage on the vehicle (Hit a baby moose! fortunately the frame was not damaged at all) and the other didn't damage the vehicle at all.

Here's a picture:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4381/aaasf.jpg
The step bars or whatever you would call them are aftermarket, just for anybody who would ask.

So to put it simply, I LOVE this damn thing. I am 21 years old, this is the first vehicle I have ever driven, and it's been in my life for almost as long as I can remember. My emotional attachment to this thing is borderline irrational.

So what is the point of all this? My father is considering trading it in for a newer truck with more power (the '95 is struggling a little with our camper trailer.. it was great in the past but it's with this that we know the power is down a bit).

In 1995 we got this truck. At the time, we had a 1983 F-150, 351, stick shift, long bed, no back seats. The '83 was passed onto my brother, who proceeded to beat the ever loving crap out of it and not take care of it at all, which depressed me. in 2005 we traded it in and got a Taurus (Duratec DOHC, awesome car) after my brother got his own truck (Dodge Ram 1500).

Unlike my brother, I would take care of it and maintain it to the best of my abilities. I love the damn thing too much to neglect it.

So.. really, this is just me freaking out a little over the idea that this truck is just going to up and disappear. I drive a POS '91 Automatic Mercury Tracer (with the crappy 1.9 that has no power at all) that barely gets better mileage than the truck, and has so many issues I would love to rid myself of it... even more is the fact that I live in Utah, and in the winter a good 4x4 is extremely preferable to a car.

My parents have absolutely no obligation to just up and give me this truck instead of trading it in, and I'm not going to try and guilt them into it otherwise.. I respect whatever choice they make in the end.. but I would seriously lose sleep if they traded it in.

I don't know that I'm really looking for any form of advice or anything, but I just figured a forum dedicated to F series pick up trucks would be the best place to drop these thoughts.

 

If you truly love the truck and don't want to see it go, Have your father see what it will bring as his trade in and then offer to pay him that price.
He still gets the finical value toward his new truck and you get to keep the old one.
It is a win / win situation.

 

Something you could also do it check the trade in value on your car and his truck, and give him the tracer plus whatever cash it needs to equal the F150, this way you can get it a little cheaper.

 

These are good suggestions, unfortunately I am a broke college student so I can't really go for either of them. Thanks for the advice anyway.

 

You need to speak up man

 

OK Don't guilt them. Earn it. Learn enough to repair the truck now (before it's yours) so it's back to its original power level (that doesn't mean bolting on chrome junk - just tuning it up) so your father doesn't have to lay out the dough for a new truck. Then in a few years, this one will have depreciated even more, you'll have saved him thousands of dollars, and he'll probably give it to you since it won't be worth anything on trade anyway.

 

Well, the issue with that is.. I'm really not allowed to just 'work' on his truck. He's protective of it. I'd be in a world of trouble if I so much as took it for a drive without asking, let alone popped the hood and starting doing things. I guess I need to sit down with him and have a real man to man discussion about this.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Well...it seems to me the first people you should be talking to is your parents. Regardless, if that truck is really what you want, I would look in to a part time job, perhaps on the weekends to purchase the truck. Based on Kelly Blue Book, here are the numbers:

1995 Ford F150 SuperCab 5.8l 4x4 - $1400

Keep in mind, if you are not already aware there is an additional trade-in bonus for your parents. Whenever a vehicle gets traded in, the amount of the trade gets subtracted from the cost of the new vehicle, and sales tax is only paid on the remaining cost. In other words, if your parents are looking at a $25000 truck, their sales tax would only be based on $23,600...assuming a $1400 trade-in on their current truck. Based on a quick internet search, it appears the Utah State Sales tax is 4.75%. That works out to a savings of $66.50 for your parents above and beyond the $1400 trade in.

So, long story short, it sounds like you need to come up with $1466.50.

This is assuming the trade in matches Kelley Blue Book. The amount could be a little more...could be a little less, but will probably come close to the numbers I have shown you.

One option, assuming your parents are willing, would be as suggested earlier for you to sell your car and put that money towards the truck. Assuming you got around $1000 for your car you would only need about $500 to make up the difference. Perhaps your parents would be willing to wait until you have a summer job next summer to pay them back.

Do keep in mind, both the license plates and insurance on that truck with you as the primary driver will be more expensive than the car you are currently driving...all these costs add up.

Mike

 

We have a 95 5.8 and it is the best truck ever! Owned it since brand new and still on the original engine,tranny,rearend. 317,000 miles and still going strong.

Talk to your dad and see what he can do, maybe he thinks you dont have a interest in it? Good luck and hope you get to keep it

Here is ours



and the mileage as of yesterday

 

I was in your position 10 years ago. The first truck I ever loved is my new project vehicle. 86 F150 XLT Lariat 302. It was my Aunt's. She was my favorite person in the world. Which is probably why I love her truck so much. She bought the truck to haul her horses around. In 92 she was killed on one of her horses and my dad got the truck. Fine no problem I was 12 and couldn't drive it or anything else. Over the past 18 years I have watched the truck deteroirate and 10 years ago my dad seriously wanted to trade it in for something better. That is just the way he is. He can fix anything he just doesn't want to. So I had to talk him in to keeping it and fixing it. Well he did the bare minimum and the truck continued to fall apart. But it was still ours. 2 months ago I finally talked him in to giving it to me. I realize there is a financial side to your problem, but if you love the truck as much as I do mine I hope you can find a way to make him keep it.

 

Mabye you can have him read these posts and see what resources you have found to make the truck run like it used to.

 

Sorry to hear about your loss, and I'm glad you got to keep the truck. If I recall '86s are the same body style as the '83 we once had. I liked that truck, too. I went on a lot of trails with my brother after the truck became his.

Even if we fixed it up, I think he'd still want to get another truck.

Honestly, if it's trade in value is only as what mrainey889 has described ($1400..)... then I really don't see it happening as easily. He mentioned his thoughts about what he was looking for in a new truck, and mentioned how even though he'd like to trade in the '95 towards the new one, he doesn't think he'll get enough to justify giving it up.. so.. basically, I think the odds of it sticking around just went up, which is relieving to me.

Wow, 317? Amazing. Ours is running great at 201k, but I guess that's nothing haha.
Good looking truck man. Arhg I love this body style so much.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I would also like to note, that I am NOT interested in doing stupid crap with this truck. No lift, billet grille, tinted windows, putting chrome everywhere, obnoxious exhaust, etc etc..

My sister used to date a guy who was way into Chevies (nothing wrong with that perse) but he was the kind of guy who lifted his truck up past the legal limit, put chrome everywhere, huge tires, obnoxious exhaust, the entire truck is completely pristine, and it never does any truck work. It just gets used as a commuter in the city. oh and stickers that bash on Dodges and Ford. Even when I was like 14 I rolled my eyes when I saw that.

He personified everything I wont do to this truck.

 

Your truck is not worth $1400 to a dealer as a trade in... and the tracer is worth nothing.

Talk to your Dad about it and work out a deal.

 

UPDATE:
So my dad pulled into the driveway about 25 minutes ago... in a beautiful, blue, 2005 F-350 6.0L diesel with 70,000k miles on. He is thinking about buying it, not 100% sure. This thing is nice.

As for the '95? "Not a chance in hell" when I asked him if he was going to trade it in. He's just going to give it to me and help me fix some of it's problems.

Heh, I stressed over nothing. Oh well, thanks for reading folks, if I have any problems we can't solve, I will surely bring them here for help!

Update:
He bought it. The '95 is mine, and I couldn't be happier.

 

Congrats man, sounds exactly like me with my 89 f150. When I was 4 my grandpa brought it home from the lot and put a pop up camper on it. Then over the summers of me growing up, we drove it to well over 20 states (they took me to 38 total, but I flew to a few). Every 2 years he took it to our family mechanic and had it flushed, and anything rubber replaced, its really clean. Over the years as he's gotten older (83) he's sold the camper and let the truck sit(had 3 blow outs in one week, but yet all the tires had full tread). For my 21st birthday he gave it to me, with 55,314 miles. I have it today, and actually have been reviving it here lately, it sat for awhile in my garage too. 66,320 miles on it now, and I had to put a new distributor in, new shocks, plugs\wires, 2-way remote start, new stereo/speakers, FPR, fuel filter, tint, etc. Nice to see someone else thats as attached to a truck as I am lol! Congrats man!