this is gonna be long.
so i have had some major issues with the truck the last week, i got my gears changed and found out about some broken stuff in my front end! so heres the list:
1. broken ear mount that my subframe bolts too. $2000
2. bent front drive shaft. $250-300
3. need a new drivers side CV. not sure on price yet probably $200+
4. i need a tuner to recalibrate my tires and gears $450
5. i need a new gauge cluster cause mine led screen which shows the mileage is broken. have no idea on the price.

so basically im in the hole! im 19, i dont have half the money to fix all this crap. so i may sell, fix all the stuff and buy a car with the money left over, and get some thing with better mpg, what else should i do?? thing is i have over 12k invested in after market parts, i feel like all my money is flying out the window. i could dump all this stuff on my credit card and suck it up or sell and buy something i can really afford. what do you guys think

my dad thinks i should sell and buy a car and an offroad beater so when i break my offroad beater i still have a car to get me from point A to point B.

 

A bent driveshaft is not something you fail to notice. Whats wrong with the drivers side CV? They are usually extremely **** about any wear to get you to shell out more money. Also, take a pic of that broken ear mount and how bad it is. Hope all will be alright but don't trust the first opinion, get a second opinion elsewhere and see what others say.

Let me know. Also, what is broken on the cluster? You might not need the entire cluster, but thats the least of your worries at probably $250 for a new one.

 

I would not sell..........your truck is awesome, and if you sell I garuntee down the road you are gonna regret it.

I sold my first 04 F150 to get something with metter MPG and it might of been one of the worst decisions i ever made. Now i had to start all over and buy another one and take the loss of selling the first one and then buying another......

Going from a truck like yours to going to a car will be a very depressing time...And the money you loose on all the parts you have money invested in will take years to make up for with a better MPG vehicle

Just my thoughts, but what do i know

 

i have gotten two opinions, that mount is F*CKED! ill post a pic ASAP. i do have to replace the entire cluster its the little led screen that shows your mileage and compass. and my CV is grinding away it slips like crazy. the drive shaft doesnt look bent and i havent noticed anything wrong with it but thats what 4wheelparts said. idk.
i know once i sell ill hate myself but it might be the only way out of this. i just dont have any cash right now lol i just bought gears and im a broke college student! DAMN IT!

i would get an older audi s4, so not a bad down grade but still sucks that i would lose my truck.

 

I don't think it's as bad as you might think. You don't NEED a tuner. Seeing the mileage isn't a needed either. What you need to do is get the drive train repaired and the ear welded back together. How much of this can you do? I would think the CV would be a easy drive way fix. Getting the ear welded back on surely that can't cost $2000 but I'd have to see pics as well to be sure I'm thinking of what your talking about.

What I do know is as soon as you put your *** in that audi your going to wish you stuck with your truck.

 

I suggest you throw caution (and common sense) to the wind and jump some more dunes and what not. Ya gotta PAY to play and now you're finding out what all that abuse amounts too. Mark this down as an important life lesson. If you don't have the funds to pay for broke ****, then perhaps you should ease up on the jumps. I don't have the time to whittle through all the vast threads here, but you once told a member here to "...drive it like a truck"....Bet you wish you knew then what you know now.

At 19 you have your WHOLE life ahead of you to "play". My advice, fix the broke stuff just enough to sell a safe vehicle. Ask yourself if you have to have a truck at this point in your life (perhaps you have a job which requires you to carry LOTS of stuff???). If you really don't need a full size truck, get something smaller until you know what you want to do in life. Gas is insane which is why I have only 11,000 miles on my 2006 Lariat. I have a little fuel efficient car for the days I drive into work and then I have my Mustang for "play" time, which by looking at some of your picks is what your truck was too. Not saying you shouldn't have FUN with your truck (it IS a truck right ;-) ), but if you don't have an alternate mode of transportation, then a "play" vehicle is not such a good thing.

If my mustang breaks at the track (which it has!), I don't really worry at all. I just winch it back onto the trailer and go home and fix it when funds and (more importantly) time permits. Seriously, don't sweat it. You might have to drive a ricer for a short while. Big deal. Time may seem so desperately long at 19, but trust me, it sweeps by faster than you could possibly imagine.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing with your truck.

PS: I have to admit, it is a very, very nice truck (i know coments like that don't make it any easier on you)

 

I say the first thing you should do if you are seriously considering selling is to get rid of some of your aftermarket parts. After you've done that you can use the money to fix your truck and get it into better working condition. Once your truck is fixed and performing the way it should; you can decide if you really need to get rid of your truck.

The only diffrence is the truck isnt what it used to be, but atleast you can keep it. At 19 you really havent had to make too many sacrifices, but you'll get there. As much as i want to slap on some 24 inch wheels and drop a supercharger i cant. Ive learned that you have to put money away for things like this. How did you waste 12k in mods and not have anything to back it up.

 

What is the financial position on the truck? Do you owe money on it? If not, simple answer, do not sell.

If you do owe money on the truck, that is an entirely different ball of wax. However, I still don't vote for selling unless you can get a serious chunk of change for it. There is little to be gained by getting rid of the truck at this point. My votes are to keep it and fix it properly and drive the thing till the wheels fall off.

On a side note, you may consider (at 19) purchasing the Dave Ramsey Book "The Total Money Makeover." I didn't read it until I was 23 but wish someone in high school would have given it to me as my parents did not teach me any financial repsonsibility. It changed my financial life.

Jesse

 

No offense Jesse,

But at 19 years old, Bud8817 is much better off with something he can AFFORD to drive and (if need be) fix at this present time. Unless he has a really good job and lives with his parents, he's better off without something that gets at best 12mpg. We all need to face up to reality and accept the fact that $3 gas is here to stay. So, in closing, unless he can AFFORD to pay for gas AND broke parts on a very modded full size truck, he would be much better off selling it. Whether that means parting out the add ons or not is not for me to say since lifted trucks are not my forte.

FWIW, you have to have one of the most beautiful understated trucks on this site!

 

Lesson learned, hopefully. You'll have a tough time selling it for anything near what you have in it or owe. Aftermarket parts don't mean much at sales time, so you're correct in money out the window. Hopefully a carfax won't show all the damage/repairs. At 19, you shoulda been driving a beater anyway. Honestly, no offense intended whatsoever. It's that at 19, you're almost certainly gonna thrash anything you own. You're now upside down on this thing. That being said, ya got forever to recover. Suck it up, fix it, and enjoy it. You could fix everything to sell it, but that sucks too. Stop doing whatever it is you're doing to your daily driver.

Just looked at the pics. Good looking truck. I see why it's getting thrashed though.... lol nice air.

 

Sell the truck! I am assuming it is paid off if you put all the aftermarket parts on it. I can not see putting money in to a truck that is not paid for, it should be put towards the balance of the truck. Vehicles should be left stock until paid for! Otherwise you are just throwing away money to the bank in interest.

You are probably getting killed on insurance at 19, not to mention gas milleage. I like Audi's, I think you will be happy with one of those. Insurance should be cheaper and you won't be breakin' stuff jumping it.

Good luck on your decision!

 

RMS8,
I think you and Jesse agree, you are just looking at it from a different angle.
Correct me if I am wrong Jesse but I think what he is getting at is does BUD have positive equity in the truck. If he owes more than it is worth he would have to spend money to fix it just to sell it and loose more money on top of that.

This is no crack on bud8817 but it is a major problem in this country that people buy what they can't afford. It does take some stones to realize you are in over your head and then figure out the best way to cut your losses. DO NOT put yourself further into debt by using your credit card.

My suggestion would be, if you can easily sell your truck for more than you owe get it in a safe condition and sell it. If you have negative equity, get a couple more opinions on getting the critical stuff fixed at a reasonable price and do what you can to save every dime.

When I was your age, which was not very long ago, I paid for EVERYTHING for my truck (gas, insurance, registration, taxes, etc.) for 3 years by hauling stuff for my friends parents. Picking up furniture, taking stuff to the dump, picking up mulch from home depot. I was working and going to school and every dollar from my job went into savings because of my little 'side jobs'. Something you may want to consider.

 

Thanks

 

You are 150% correct brutha! 150!!!!!

The VAST majority of this population is SOOOO consumed with CC debt, it's painfully ridiculous! It seems the mentality is "If I don't have the cash, I just charge it". This is when you start seeing people with little crappy houses with a bling-mobile parked in the driveway with $15k worth of charged audio equipment installed. Real smart.

This is also why the housing sector is in such turmoil right now. There are so MANY idiots out there who get an ARM and blow that extra cash they now have due to having a lower mortgage payment. It's also those same morons who now have to default on their loan since the interest rates are soaring

OOPS, Guess i got a bit off topic....:o

 

Your dad is a smart man. Sell it.