Need work, don’t know what to do

[MichaelTalbot]

Hey all, I’ve had my ‘93 12 valve for close to ten years now and I completely love this truck. However, it’s at the point now, 344,765 miles, that all the little things are failing. My mechanic is a great guy, completely trustworthy, thinks I should sell it because in his words ‘it’s going to nickel and dime me forever’.
I’ve considered selling it, and currently have it listed but don’t want to sell it. My logic is if I’m going to have something more reliable it’s going to require financing. Why not put that monthly financing payment towards my Cummins.
Any one else ever find yourself in a similar situation?

 

[DavidC]

Fixing is usually better than $400-$600 monthly payments. Learn or do a lot of repairs yourself and it's a no brainer.

 

[bcbender]

Depends on you usage, plans, desires, and goals...

I just let my 04 go after 10+y of "nickel and diming me" nothing wrong when I sold it in fact just put a new exh manifold gasket and cooling lines the day before selling it. Did all the work my self over the years, but I generally put at least 1k / year into it when things when wrong, excluding rebuilding the drive lines, rear axle, T/M (yes 4.5k in the NV5600), new clutch, front axle, radiator, and many more..

Simply put, It would've been cheaper to keep the truck and accept that it "may cost" me more / year (it was paid off and so is the new one) but I decided that I "wanted" a new truck and at 50y old was tired of having to fix my DD truck, as I would rather work on my toy Bronco, or my old Chevys as hobbies ; not requirement's, I also plan on taking a big cross country trip with my family and my 5er so I decided to get one...it was that simple....... good luck on you decision I've been at and seen both sides over the years, either way don't look back

 

[mweiman]

A little tough to answer without knowing your situation as far as usage/miles and if it’s your only vehicle how downtime affects you. What kind of shape is the body of your truck in?
My opinion is the newer you go the more it costs to maintain as far as diesels. Even if you go 20 years newer a 2013 would be out of warranty and most likely be over 100000 miles. I think anything in between unless you were able to find something low mileage and well maintained you may end up with a payment and repair bills. If you like the truck and don’t mind some repair bills it’s probably a good decision to keep it.

 

[Timd32]

Any one else ever find yourself in a similar situation?

All the time.......

I wanted to keep my last personal truck for a long time.

The nickel and dimes turned to quarters and silver dollars.

But yeah the overall condition and safety of the vehicle would need to be looked at. Some of these northeast trucks are just so far gone from the road conditions not worth fixing.

 

[Wiredawg]

If it's your daily driver, may want to get rid of it, but if it's a toy keep it.

I had to get rid of my '93 AND my "02 in 2013 both standards, because had to have my left ankle removed and a prosthetic implanted. I pretty my cried about not being able to drive a standard any more. Both were toys.

BTW, here's my new money pit:

Anyhoo, hope this helps decide.

Cheers. Ron

 

[Dl5treez]

rebuilding is usually less expense than replacing. HOWEVER...the caveat for that is doing it yourself, or having a network of affordable help. To pay a shop to do all the work on an older truck can get very expensive, and the infamous "it was just here for brakes, now it needs bearing/ball joints/power steering box, etc" return trips get frustrating. So do breakdowns at the most inconvenient time.

I like older trucks and their simplicity so I keep them rolling doing all the work myself... The new ones sure are comfortable and powerful, though.

 

[RWherley]

I personally would keep it, I have three 3rd gens here i have to keep after and i much prefer working on my 93 over the newer ones, as far as brake downs, I give my trucks a very good inspection every time i change the oil so i dont really get hit with on the road failures, but every once and a while i do pull it in for major work, like right now its in my shop for new rocker panels, exhaust system, and it wasnt shifting like it should so i had the trans rebuilt. But once its done itll be good to go for a long time again or until i have a idea

 

[Capt. Methane]

What does a new Cummins powered 3/4 ton Dodge cost, $65-75000?

You can do a lot of repairing/rebuilding and nickle and dime stuff for Seventy-Five Grand!

And the purchase cost isn't the end, there's the fact that you're saving probably a couple of payments a year worth in reduced costs for tags and insurance...

I'm done buying new trucks with their damned computer interconnectedness of everything and I'm not going to drop that kind of coin so that I can pay more to the gubbermint and insurance cleptocracy-the heck with those thieves, may they be cursed to drive hybrids-First Gens Forever!

 

[SnoKing]

So the sale price in Sept 2015 was $53555 for our 2015 Laramie noted in signature and $2435 for a 8 year/120K max care. Sold it to a broker for $46500 two weeks ago and I am getting $718 dollars back on the cancelled Maxcare. Never spent another dime on it in 5.5 year. 6 Recalls, installed the new style drag link myself and FCA paid me for it, 1 safety item and one trip for 5 software upgrades early on. I do not feel bad that we never used the Maxcare! Having had three RAM trucks, each got better than the one before.

 

[endoscott]

Don't worry SnoKing, I used up your Maxcare allotment on my truck.