Help me decide...........My current 2004 FX4 now has an expired warranty and is starting to ding me in ever increasing amounts. It is like new inside and out and has been meticulously maintained. It has 75k on the odometer. It is also paid for..................My dilema is.............

Sell it/trade it for a new 2008 as it will never be worth more than it is today or wait for the 2009's so I at least am getting a different truck.Ford is now offering.....again........0% for 60months or 4K$ cash back. Or drive it into the ground hoping it will not nickel and dime me to death but then at the end have nothing to trade.......thus a big downstroke.

It's nice not to have a car payment but that dark shadow of expensive repair on a 4X4 looms large!!

Any thoughts??

Thanx
Greg

 

If you plan on running your next truck until the tires fall off, then I would trade now and get a deal on the 08's. Otherwise wait and get an 09.

 

Well.....that is definately a delimma. I'm guessing that you recently paid off your truck. It would be nice to drive around in a paid for gas guzzler. Not having that payment makes it easier to pay for the gogo juice. But if the repair expenses are increasing in amount and regularity, then you might as well make a regular payment and drive a new one with a warranty. Maybe another way to look at it would be to lease an 08 for one to two years until the new trucks are out and then see if you would want to go that route. I don't know, i guess it is a hard decision to make and you know your finances better than anyone else! I know that as of right now, I like the body style of this generation and from what ive seen of the new generation, i don't like them as much. I would probably go fopr the new 08 with 0% if my credit and wallet would allow. Heck you would have your warranty back anyhow.

 

There's a lot to be said for driving a paid-off vehicle -- especially if you've owned it since new, and have kept it well serviced and in good condition. I feel a lot better about running a vehicle long-term if I've owned it from "Day 1" since I know how I take care of a vehicle -- better preventative maintenance almost always = better long term reliability.

As far as economics go, you are almost always better off to drive a vehicle into the ground, as you can pay for an awful lot of repairs with the money you would otherwise pour into monthly payments.

However, with a higher mileage vehicle come the hiccups that go with the higher mileage -- more "nickel dimey" stuff that can be annoying, more "down time" for repairs and ongoing maintenance, and a higher risk of being stranded miles from nowhere because of an unforeseen failure. You have to kind of balance the economics of it, with the reality of how you use the vehicle.

In your situation, I might be tempted to sell your current truck outright, and then snap-up a good deal on one of the '08's come summer when they really try moving the vehicles off of dealer lots in preparation for the new bodystyle in '09......

 

All my vehicles are paid in full, including the 05 Roush.

Think about it. Assume a $30K loan for 5 years. You're talking around $500 per month or $6000 a year, not including higher insurance and registration.

I doubt seriously you're paying half that in repairs. Even a transmission would be around $3K.

 

x2

I really need a SD towards the end of next year.. but I'm going to try and make my F150 pull what I need to pull. But I know it's not going to like it.

I really don't want to get rid of my F150 I got now... it's a really great truck.

But I'm a long way from making my decision.

I want to give the truck to my dad... but he wants/needs seating for others. So my reg cab is going to be sitting around.

Who knows, I might end up keeping it, and getting the SD. Would be interesting... next thing I'd know is that I'd have a used truck lot out in my front yard.

 

Your 04 will have far less depreciation than a new one so the argument "it will never be worth more" is not a reason for trading. Keep your truck and put the money difference in a savings account plus the projected increased insurance, taxes, etc. The repairs will be far less than the money you save. If your truck is nice, 99% of the people who see it will never know if you have an 08 or a 04. People still ask me if my 04 is new.

My cousin has over 209,000 miles on his 05 XLT and the only breakdown has been an altenator at 200,000+. I plan on keeping mine a long long time.

 

FORD has more trucks on the road with over 250,000 miles than anybody! When I work construction details, I see some very abused F-150 trucks that are company owned & way more abused than you would ever do to yours with over 200,000 very abused miles on them & still going strong! They may not look good! Keep your rig! You have taken good care of it! Now let it take good $$$ care of you!............

 

I just went through the same decision....I have an 04 with 160,000 miles and decided to go with a new 08. I dont really like the new stlying on the 09's...though I am sure it will grow on me. The new deisel isnt going to be worth it in 2010...a few miles per gallon and barely any more HP aint worth a 5000 dollar option and 4.25 a gallon. The 5.4 may be getting old....but its got plenty of power for me to pull my 25 ft. boat and my 6 place snowmobile trailer....what more do ya need??
I know there are alot of guys out here who just want to spin the tires more or race a Hemi....who the hell cares. If you want to race, buy a car. Makes me sick to see all these trucks treated like cars....if you never haul anything, tow anything, or go through anything deep....then buy a mustang....you can spin the tires all you want.

 

Seriously, to me it just sounds like you want a new truck and you're trying to get us to help you justify it. There is no way in hell you'd pay as much in repairs as paying for a brand new truck. 76K is nothing. That's what I have as well, and it still runs perfectly. Just mod the ***** out of it. Every time you add something it feels like a brand new experience anyway.

If you want to do it, then do it. If you have to think this much about it, you probably shouldn't. Just my $.02.

 

This guy speaks the truth. Paid for vehicles are the best vehicles; you'd run out of things to do to keep your 2004 running if you used the money you'd be spending on a new truck payment/registration/insurance on your '04.

 

If gas wasn't so expensive, I'd have 100k on my truck already...