Hey guys. I need a little input. I know you will probably be (a bit) biased.

So here is where I'm at. I have owned my 2005 F150 Reg. Cab FX4 for about 11mos. and so far I have had to put quite a bit of money into it. The reason I got rid of my old car (2004 SVT Focus) was past 100k miles it was a money pit. So far I have had the Spark Plugs Changed, Lifters fixed, 4WD hub replaced, and I still have to do the suspension, new tires, and the biggest exhaust manifold either replacement or gasket replacement. At this point it seems as though its heading in the same direction my previous car was...a money pit. What do you guys think?

 

Sell it privately. It sucks that you have had to stick that much money into it, but you'll see no return on your investment by trading it in at the dealer.

 

I just cant believe Ive had this much trouble out of this truck. I dont drive like a moron in it and it just seems everything keeps falling apart.

 

Previous owners care/neglect effects a vehicle strongly. Unfortunately no vehicles are truly bullet proof either but Ford's are some ruggedly built vehicles of this modern day.

My advice to you, is you need to do what do you want. Do you have money to throw at the truck and get it fixed up? Is it a paid for truck and worth while to you? Fix it up and it should be golden. Brakes, suspension, and exhaust manifolds and exhaust systems are weak points of these trucks so that is nothing out of the norm.

Are you like me and more interested in paying for a newer vehicle that does not need refreshed parts? Higher loan payment > fixing up an old depreciated vehicle? Trade it in for a newer car/truck of your taste if it is financially possible for you and pay a bigger payment on a newer vehicle that won't need so much work.

 

Yeah its not paid for yet I still have around 7k to go. My payments are pretty low as it is. I would have to trade it in towards something else.

 

Thing is they'll offer you less than what you owe on it and then you'll still technically be paying on it. I'd just fix the truck and keep driving it until its payed off. You'll lose your a$$ trading it in, and the you might get something worse if you're buying used again.

 

I'm going to assume that a vehicle within three years old is not an option, right? My opinion with this is that any older vehicle is going to have issues and you've already covered some expensive things that go bad. Suspension and tires don't count because those are maintenance items. Manifold replacements suck.

So I think you're in a position where if you trade this truck, all that's going to happen is you've spent a lot of money on a truck for someone else's benefit and whatever car you buy next is just going to be inheriting someone else's problems again. Then you'll be back to square one throwing a bunch of cash at an older vehicle. Plus you'll lose a minimum of $3k by trading and buying a different vehicle, and that's a lot of parts money. It really sucks, but I say to fix it and keep it because most of the high-dollar things that always go wrong with these trucks will have been fixed.

I will say that nice, late-model (2011, 2012) FWD Focuses are available in the $13k range with 50-70k miles. I'm not sure what you paid for your truck, but unless you actually need a truck (and I have zero need for one, just like having one cause I like it and the "sacrifices" are perfectly worth it for me), they're horrible vehicles to have from a financial standpoint. Gas savings alone (assuming you drive at least 10k miles a year) would knock the monthly payments down quite a bit and probably stick them around where you'd be at with a $9-10k truck after paying for gas.

 

Cheaper to keep er.....

 

I forgot to mention I have also already replaced the cats and the VCTs.

 

^That's just even more of a reason to keep it.

 

If you truly want to get rid of it and into something else, it's a better idea to sell it privately and not trade it in. You'd probably get enough to pay for the loan in full, rather than trade it in and the dealer only giving you $4k for it and sticking the other $3k on top of a new loan. Otherwise I'd just stick it out until the truck is paid in full.

Generally most of the items you say the truck needs now are wear and tear items; you'll run into this on any car. However, it is more expensive on a truck. You'll need to make the decision now or in the future whether the extra cost of maintenance items are worth the trade-off of having the convenience and capability of a truck.

 

This is one reason why I stay away from used vehicles never know what your getting. More so on older than a couple years and the body style been out of production for more than a few years. Now my truck is getting to the point do I want to put a bunch of money into or just trade it off. As I had this truck little past 8.5 years and have little over 155kon the clock. If I were to go used it would be a low miles nothing older than a 2011. But plan on waiting til the good deals come on the 2014's late summer before I decide on what I'll do with this truck if I keep it another year or not.