Well, I'm 17 and have a steady $2000 a month at the moment and me and my fiance are going to be living with her father for a good 4 - 5 years still because we need to babysit her little brothers.

I figure that not that I have a steady income I should probably get a vehicle, and decided that since I always wanted an F-150, and there has been countless times where we have needed a truck, that I should get one.

I was thinking of getting a super crew since when we go to the beach and stuff like that I usually have to drive 5 people around, and it would be nice to have that space in the cab so no one complains or anything, not to mention that my fiance likes the 4 "normal" doors, as well as the fact that we can put down the seats and throw groceries in the back (since we usually have to do grocery shopping) and she doesn't have to worry about anything flying out of the bed.

She is not really a fan of trucks all that much but the 2009 model has definitely won her over, so I'm going to be looking into 2009's.

What I need help with is picking which 2009 F-150 would be right for me, I already know that it pretty much will need to be a super-crew, but what I don't know about is the XL, STX, XLT, etc.

I would prefer having the 4.6 or 5.4 3 valve for the extra horsepower over the 4.6 2 valve since there will be times where I will need to tow heavy trailers since we are rebuilding an old Pontiac GTO.

Thanks for reading and possibly helping, oh and also if someone knows could you tell me the average monthly bill for a new 2009?

Thanks,
Xydin-

 

Your monthly bill is determined by what you put down or trade on the vehicle, as well as how good of a deal you negotiated for yourself! If you have never bought a new vehicle before your credit or lack of it may also be a factor! Just don't do something foolish........Consult an adult before you purchase!

 

This may not be the advice you are looking for, but don't buy an '09. It has nothing to do with the truck, but has more to do with the actual purchase and spending that much money. At 17, $2k/month sounds like a lot of money, but let me tell you, it won't go far. By the time you take taxes out, pay your truck payment, insurance ($$$$$$$), gas, etc., you won't have anything left.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just make sure you think it through. If I were in your shoes, I would try to find maybe an '04 XLT (XL and STX didn't come in SuperCrew then, STX still doesn't), or even older, SuperCrew.

Definitely wait on the new truck purchase...you will thank yourself later, especially if things don't work out 100% like you have planned.

 

Yeah... right now I me and my fiance live with her dad so we can help take care of her brothers etc, and we are both finishing up high school online, I am definitely having her dad come with us when I am buying, and I'm not going to rush the buy, I'll take my time and read the contracts and make 100% sure that everything is good. Sadly from how it seems nowadays everyone takes advantage of teens' lack of experience when buying things (such as houses/cars) so I read up on everything I can and ask questions (like I am now) so I don't get ripped off or anything.

I wish I could get a credit card to build up my credit, it would be nice, but sadly I can't until I'm 18. =\

Any suggestions on the type of F-150 I should try to get?

Thanks



EDIT: The only thing I need to pay for right now would be the truck, and I get $2000 after taxes, and I'm not going to really be spending more than $300 a month on gas, and that number is probably way over what I will be spending ;x. That leaves a solid $1,500 for the truck and insurance my insurance monthly is $700, or $2,700 all at once for 6 month coverage, so that leaves $800 monthly for the truck, which I kind of hope is more than enough, keeping in mind that I have nothing else to pay for.

 

I'd have to concur, tread carefully here and watch out for unethical salesfolks who will try and sell you the most expensive truck you can afford. Better to stay within your means and get an '06 Screw Lariat or XLT and be able to have more breathing room in the monthly budget and save some $$'s every month. I had an '05 Lariat and it was a nice truck - you would probably forget all about the '09 if you can find a nice, low mileage, clean '05 - '07 F-150. If you are determined to get the '09, first of all, decide what you can afford, the trim level, options in your price range and an approximate price that you want to pay and STICK TO YOUR price. The more research you do and better informed you are, the less likely you will be to get ripped off by unethical sales folks. My g-friend worked with a woman who just had to have a new Infinity Coupe but didn't have much down and not the best credit...well they laid her away and when she traded the car 24 mos later she was several thousand dollars UPSIDE DOWN...don't let this happen to you. Good luck and please feel free to post your intended deal before you sign - the members here will not steer you wrong!! Good luck and (of course) we will want to see pics once you do pull the trigger

 

I'm going to put my .02 in just for the hell of it. I am 23, married with one kid on the way. I bought my '05 F-150 back in 2006, had low miles with a bunch of good stuff on it already for 18,000. My note is $425 a month and as of right now, I REALLY wish I didn't have it. In 2006 I could afford every penny and then some on the truck, but now we are kind of feeling the pinch with the baby coming. All I am trying to say, really consider whether you NEED a brand new truck right now or if it would be better for you to get something a little cheaper now and upgrade when you're better on your feet.

 

The part I made bold is the key to your entire post. You really need to be thinking long term on this. If you do buy a new F150 then you'll be committed to making payments for the next 3-5 years depending whether you leased, financed or got a loan. Hopefully things work out with your fiancé, but if it goes sour and you go your separate ways, you'll still need to make those payments while supporting yourself as well. Of course you could sell the truck, but if you don't get enough to pay it off in full then you'll be stuck still making payments on a vehicle you no longer have.

 

The best advice I can give you is to NEVER finance a vehicle. Save your money for 2 or 3 mos and buy like an 02 or 03 cash. Save the rest of your money. You are 17. Finish high school then go to college or a trade school. Hopefully things go well for you and your fiance but again you are young. Take it slow and easy. 2k a month is a lot to you now but it isn't anything when you have to fend for yourself!

 

If you have no credit your going to get screwed on the loan rate that means a huge monthly payment. When I was looking at the 09s it was around 900 a month for me. So I found my 06, got my mom to co-sign with me and now I pay $350 a month.

 

I think this is the operative phrase here...do you need a new vehicle, or do you just feel like you should get one because you have the money? Do you or your fiance have a reliable vehicle right now? Will the truck be your only vehicle? This is a big thing to consider...gas isn't too bad right now, but if it goes back up to $4/gallon, it sucks to have a truck as your only vehicle. Your brand new '09 will also drop tremendously in value.

Also, do you pay your fiance's dad anything in rent? If not, I'd say don't buy an '09, and save your money for a while, while you still can. $2000/month at 17 is good money (more than I ever made at that age), so congrats on that. BUT...there are very few times in life where you will be able to save a high %age of that $2000 every month. Figure if you were living on your own, half of that would be going to rent/utilities every month.

If I were you, I would try to save as much as possible. You're engaged, so you have a wedding to think about...maybe kids in a few years...you probably don't want tied down to a big truck payment for the next 5 years. Especially if you would want to move out of her dad's place earlier than you think you will...that truck payment will really limit your options when you start thinking about where you're gonna live.

If you really want an F150, I'd save save your $ for a while, and try to buy an older one with cash (or at least make a sizable down payment and finance a smaller amount).

Most importantly, whatever you do, let us know! Good luck man.

--------------
Just saw your edit...Man, with $700/month insurance, and only $800 left, that's rough. You'd be committing yourself to 5 years of never going out to eat/see a movie/whatever you do for fun, and definitely not moving out of her dad's house. You don't want that much of your monthly income to be fixed costs. It's a bad situation just waiting to get worse if you lose your job or take a pay cut for any reason.

 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade (as another respondent put it) but let's be realistic here. You're 17 yrs. old, you make a small monthly income (granted you are only 17), your insurance is going to be extremely high, and you'll likely get an APR of 16-18% on a truck that you can't honestly say you can afford now or in the long term. Here's some useful info for you, let's say you go out and finance a new F-150 (XL model, 2wd, RegCab) the average cost is about $17,000, that's after rebates and adding in taxes and fees your monthly payment is going to be $368 at 16% APR (because even with a co-signer you're still going to have a high APR, the bank extends credit to you with the understanding that the co-signer agrees to pay the note should you faulter) now factor in your insurance and gas and factor in saving $20-30 a month for future maintenance costs and you're looking at a number somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000-1100 a month. That's over 50% of your monthly income. If you ask me that's crazy. And this is based on a regular cab XL 2wd. Now let's look at a brand new crewcab XL 2wd, let's say after everything the total cost is $24,000, now your payment is $520 a month. Now factor in all the other costs and your now looking at $1200-1300 a month. This is now getting dangerously close to 75% of your monthly income.

So with all that said I think you should look for a nice used 2004-2006 STX or XLT Supercab and save as much money as possible. Saving money is the hardest thing to do for young people but once you get used to saving your money you won't want to spend it. Nice new things will come in time so don't try to rush things and what ever you do just be realistic. Think about what negative implications could come from having a truck payment that you really can't afford. You could have late payments or possibly even allow the truck to get repossesed, these types of things only hurt you and for what a nice shiney new truck in the drive way. How about just being ok with a nice shiney used truck in the drive way and saving the rest of your money. What ever you do just take your time with it, good luck.

 

Thanks everyone, I really didn't realize that not having a credit record would raise the monthly cost that much, from what I have seen people were paying 300 - 400 a month for theirs if they didn't buy it in cash, I guess I should continue saving money and buy a used f-150 from an earlier year.

Maybe when I get better credit and I'm not working for just a bit over minimum wage I will be able to get the new '09... err, probably will have a '12 or '13 by then, but yeah.

Ah, and I just went to a lake and watch a tundra struggle and actually backfire pulling a relatively small boat out of the water (it was a kinda steep slope though) and then after that saw an F-150 do the same task with a slightly larger boat flawlessly, was definitely inspiration to go with an F-150.

Right now from a quick look though I'm seeing some used '02s for ~$8,000, which wouldn't be too hard to save up right now.

 

Sounds good to me. Here's some hints on how to build some good credit, well once you're of age of course. Go to a bank preferably a credit union type of financial institution and open a checking and saving account. Once you do this save your money and once you have $500 open a secured credit card. Be sure not to go buck wild and blow all the credit in the first month, as a matter of fact do what I did and only make one charge to it a month, once a month I would go to the store and buy a pack of gum. Only keep the credit card for 180 days and then cut it up and cancel that account. Congratulations you've just started your first line of credit and showed some credit history. Next apply for a small personal loan (no more than $1,000) through your credit union. Yes they're gonna hit you hard on a APR but you have to pay for credit so in the end it's worth it. DO NOT spend the money you got for the personal loan. Put it in your savings account and pay your monthly charge using it. Also be sure to continue saving and adding to your savings account. Try to pay off the personal loan as fast as possible. Not too fast though you want to show some payment history so take maybe 6 months or so to pay it off. Next step is find a nice used F150 at one of your local "Buy here, Pay here" car dealers. Be sure to ask if they report to the credit agencies if they don't go elsewhere. Or you can try to finance the truck through your credit union. The credit union is the preferred method here but the buy here, pay here dealer is fine also. Be sure not to exceed a 36 month loan. Now you've got three lines of credit reported with one currently opened. Next step is to once again go and open a credit card account with your credit union. This time apply for a regular credit card, not a secured one. DO NOT use it, I repeat again DO NOT use it, people get themselves in way over their head with credit cards and it's a revolving account which means the interest compounds onto itself. So basically your paying interest on interest. Just open the account and 3 months later close the account and cut up the card. The credit union reports an opened account onto your credit, that's all you need. Now your headed in the right direction with minimal risk.

A few other key things to look at. Once you turn 18 check your credit report, you never know what kind of crazy stuff will be there that's not suppose to be there. You can dispute these things online and in about 90 days those things will disappear. Don't be surprised to find stuff on there though. Be sure to check your credit report at least every 6 months. Again things have a way of getting on your report and you didn't open the account so be vigilant, check your report and check it often. Once you have established good credit you'll find yourself in a position to get higher lines of credit and credit card companies will be beating down your door with pre-approval offers, just ignore them. Also get yourself a shredder and anything that has your personal information on it begin shredding. There are people out there that want to steal your idenity so just be aware of that. Next and possibly the most important, DO NOT EVER CO-SIGN FOR ANYONE. And this includes friends and family. I'll give you an example real quick my mother fell on real hard times and needed a new car. So me being the good son decided to co-sign for her and we went out and bought her a small Kia car. Well 1 1/2 yrs later, while I was in basic training for the Army, she missed three payments and the car got repo'd. Sad thing is I had the money to pay the payments but nobody ever let me know. Do you have any idea how a repo affects your credit. I fought that situation for years and just recently it came off my credit report, after a long and hard 7 yrs of rebuilding my credit. Also my relationship with my mother took a turn for worst when I tried to encourage her to pay the balance due. She refused to pay it so the bank came after me for the balance. I ended up having to take her to court just so she would pay the remaining balance. Crazy I know but things like this happen, just be sure you don't fall victim to this type of stuff. Good luck and be responsible with your finances you have no idea how important good credit is and how it affects your daily life. Hope this helps and take it easy.

 

$300 per month usually means they put money down or had a trade in.

With no down payment:
XLT crewcab 4x4 5.4 with no added options is about $36000.

Minus a 20% discount you're looking at $29000.

Add 6% sales tax at 5% interest for 48 months = $707.92 per month.
Stretch it out to 60 months = $580. per month.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/financ...c/loanCalc.jsp

 

But good luck getting 5% interest with no credit history and being 17!

Sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders there. Save up for 5 months, then go put about $4k down on an $8k F150. You'll have some money left for an emergency fund, then you can build a little credit with a $4k loan. Get a 12 month loan, pay it off in 1 year, and then continue socking more money away for future things (house/wedding/family) that are more important than a truck.

Good luck!