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My First Truck?

claycribbs

claycribbs

Fear the Dolphin Swag!
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
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Location
Statesboro, Georgia, United States
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Alright guys. I'm 15 and I'm almost at that age where I can drive. I was wondering, give me some reviews on your current truck! What you like about it, hate about it, ect. I have no idea what I'm getting, so I need your help!
 
Clay, give us a price range you can afford. Are you paying cash or are you financing?
 
let me save you some time...Get a toyota tacoma and call it a day! most reliable, rugged trucks on the road.
 
Before I moved to Ash-Vegas, I was a builder. I only ever owned trucks and I've owned a few. I love trucks, just don't need one anymore to be honest. I liked full size trucks, but mostly b/c I had a job box in the back, and I hauled a lot of things. To be honest, I always liked my Ford's, especially the Diesels.

Are you looking for full size or midsize? 4 x 4 or not?
 
I'm more of the smaller truck. With gas so high, I can't afford the gas for 4X4 or anything. Like a Ranger, Tacoma, Colorado, ect. It would most likely be used.
 
claycribbs said:
I'm more of the smaller truck. With gas so high, I can't afford the gas for 4X4 or anything. Like a Ranger, Tacoma, Colorado, ect. It would most likely be used.
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How much can you spend? That's pretty important!
 
I have a 1998 GMC that has been good to me. I have had to replace a few parts here & there but that goes with the territory. In fact I have to stop by my local mechanic tomorrow to find out what I owe him for fixing my truck last Thursday. These small town country mechanics fix your vehicle and when you pick it up, they say "I ain't figured the ticket out yet so come back later". I have gone two weeks without having to pay for repairs because they keep forgetting to figure up the ticket. Anyways good luck on your vehicle to be. I like the fact that you are thinking truck :D. It's in your blood line and when your doctor spanked your arse at Birth, you were destined to one day have a truck. Born in Georgia, you got to have a truck!
 
Cross the Colorado off, we have quite a few of them for work through GSA and they just don't hold up well. I've had just about every small truck under the sun except a Toyota. I had a little ranger with the 3.0 liter and loved it, pretty fair on the mpg and reliable. While I can't personally vouch for the tacoma a lot of friends have them and I never hear them complaining.

Edit, I love my current truck f150 but @ 21.7 mpg it ain't cheap.
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tapatalk
 
claycribbs said:
I really have no idea. But it won't be 20000k plus or anything crazy.
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You really need to get an idea. There is a lot out there. I was surprised you even mentioned 20K. I was thinking more along the lines of 3 maybe 4 grand tops!
 
Smallville said:
You really need to get an idea. There is a lot out there. I was surprised you even mentioned 20K. I was thinking more along the lines of 3 maybe 4 grand tops!
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A good way to narrow it down is to grab a truck trader from the local gas station. Gives you some averages of what prices you can expect on various models.

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tapatalk
 
I can make you a sweet deal on this one:

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*lady not included*
 
Lucky you said lady not included. Clay loves the ladies.

Kevin
 
A ton of kids at my high school drive rangers. They make really good small trucks and get great mileage. Not to expensive either. That sweet ranger a few posts up looks like a good deal! :laughing:
 
Full size? Mid size? Need details. I drive a Nissan Frontier crew cab, no issues. Powerful, horrible on gas, very stable in snow (you have no worries here), among the top towing for midsized trucks. Preferred in every way over a Tacoma. Tacomas are just not comfortable to me and Toyota thinks so highly of their inventory they won't deal on their vehicles. Rangers were too small, not a fan of the Colorado at all. Almost got a F150, but the financing was superior on the Nissan (0.9 for 60). F150 would have been $44K out of pocket at the end of the loan. Frontier is $28K out of pocket. There are some cherry used Frontiers out there, especially the previous generation.
 
Do you really need to own your own vehicle? Will your parents let you borrow their vehicle when you need it?
Can you make do with public transit?

Look into your financial situation for the next few years - can you afford it in the long run? What kind of money are you making at the moment?
Insurance is an absolute killer with young boys, and between gas and maintenance what you pay now, will probably be doubled in the next couple years without even trying.

I'll be 21 at the end of the month and I have held off buying a car. I can afford quite a nice car right now, but in the long run, there's no way I could pay for school, gas, insurance, and maintenance for anything worth my while. I make very solid money in my summer jobs, and will make a steady livable income in the next couple years after I graduate, but I have my eyes set long term on a house or a condo, so spending $25k on a car now is just not feasible. Even $15k would get me a nice car, but insurance would still kill me.

Props to you if you want to do this to prove to yourself that you can support something financially, and work towards it and call it your own, but you might still be a bit young for your first vehicle.

And please don't take this the wrong way, this is just my opinion based on the research that I have done. There are days though, where I want to just go out and buy a car I found on kijiji (2007 Legacy Spec.b anyone?), but it's only just a dream right now. I prevent myself from doing this by tying my funds up in investments that will actually gain me money instead of drain me.
 
if I could have anything right now it would be a 2011 Dodge Ram or 2011 Ford F-150. I just love being high up on the road and mean.
 
Lukey719 said:
A ton of kids at my high school drive rangers. They make really good small trucks and get great mileage. Not to expensive either. That sweet ranger a few posts up looks like a good deal! :laughing:
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+1 for the Ford Ranger. Had one a few years back. 4-cylinder engine, 5-speed manual transmission, and a fiberglass bed cover. Got really good fuel milage and never gave me any problems.


Taaaaap-a-talk....tap tap taaap-a-talk....give it a little tap-a-rooonie...
 
Is there a reason why you need a truck? Or do you just want to drive a truck? Cause at 15, with gas prices what they are, unless you're independently wealthy you'd be better off getting an economy car.
A buddy's kid got a dodge truck, kid was a pretty good golfer, won a few club tournaments, now all his money goes for gas and the only time he can afford to play is is his dad or granddad takes him out and pays for the round.
 
Danger Ranger. I had one of best ones ever built. Sold it with 120k miles last year and only thing I ever needed was timing belt and sets of tires. Dad bought it new for my HS Graduation gift and said it was best truck every made for how I drove it. Guy bought it lives next road over and he pulls trailers and all kind of stuff with it and it's still running. I drove the crap out of that truck. Pretty much wide open everywhere I went. I had 3 front bumpers and replaced both front side fenders. 1 bumper and fender wasn't my fault. :D Ranger or Tacoma would be the route I would go. Sometimes I miss the 4 cylinder and stickshift!
 
It sounds like I'm one of the few that has had a bad experience with Ford Rangers. At one of my earlier jobs, they used Ford Rangers for delivery trucks and they never seemed to hold up very well. The motors did fairly well, but there seemed to always be problems with the A/C, the front end, the transmission, etc...

My vote is for a Tacoma. The 4x4's and PreRunners aren't the best on gas, but the regular 2wd trucks do pretty good.
My 2001 Tacoma has 80,000 rather hard miles on it with not a single issue.
 
griff said:
Full size? Mid size? Need details. I drive a Nissan Frontier crew cab, no issues. Powerful, horrible on gas, very stable in snow (you have no worries here), among the top towing for midsized trucks. Preferred in every way over a Tacoma. Tacomas are just not comfortable to me and Toyota thinks so highly of their inventory they won't deal on their vehicles. Rangers were too small, not a fan of the Colorado at all. Almost got a F150, but the financing was superior on the Nissan (0.9 for 60). F150 would have been $44K out of pocket at the end of the loan. Frontier is $28K out of pocket. There are some cherry used Frontiers out there, especially the previous generation.
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He did say he was looking at a small truck. I don't know how big and tall you are, but I am 5'7" 175# and the Ranger would have worked for me if I was bigger (and taller) than that.



RatFink said:
Do you really need to own your own vehicle? Will your parents let you borrow their vehicle when you need it? Can you make do with public transit?

Look into your financial situation for the next few years - can you afford it in the long run? What kind of money are you making at the moment?
Insurance is an absolute killer with young boys, and between gas and maintenance what you pay now, will probably be doubled in the next couple years without even trying.

Props to you if you want to do this to prove to yourself that you can support something financially, and work towards it and call it your own, but you might still be a bit young for your first vehicle.
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I didn't get a car until my Senior year. I paid cash for the first two (the one I bought my Senior year only lasted a few months) and then I got my Malibu for $600 (in 1980) and it lasted thru 2 years of college and a few months after.



Arkie_3_fan said:
It sounds like I'm one of the few that has had a bad experience with Ford Rangers. At one of my earlier jobs, they used Ford Rangers for delivery trucks and they never seemed to hold up very well. The motors did fairly well, but there seemed to always be problems with the A/C, the front end, the transmission, etc...

My vote is for a Tacoma. The 4x4's and PreRunners aren't the best on gas, but the regular 2wd trucks do pretty good.
My 2001 Tacoma has 80,000 rather hard miles on it with not a single issue.
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I never dealt with any Fords that their A/C didn't work better than good. That was one thing I knew I wouldn't have to worry about when I got my 1999 Ranger in 2001 and it didn't disappoint. Only problem I had with the front end was when I drove over a railroad tie doing 65 at night on I-70. DIdn't see it until it was too late and I couldn't swerve since there was traffic. Didn't even know there was an issue until I went to get it aligned a couple years later! It was pretty messed up. But it drove fine so I never thought there was a problem! I bought it in October of 2001 and traded it in in October of 2010. Gas, tires, brakes (twice) and oil changes were the main thing I did.


I still think Clay needs to figure out how much he can afford to spend right now. Getting all excited about and getting all this advice of what to buy won't mean much if all his advice is for vehicles outside his price range. Remember, you're 15 and getting a loan will require your parents to co-sign. Mine didn't, we had to pay for our own, they didn't buy or help buy one single car we ever owned. Only thing mom did was fill my first tank in my first two cars (and gas was only 50 cents then!).

And think USED. I didn't buy a new car until I was 23 and doubt I will ever buy new again, as you eat all of the initial depreciation. Having a new car is nice, but so is letting someone else eat those dollars for driving it off the lot first! Even the Outback I just got was last year's model, for one (that always helps) plus it was actually owned by a rental company and had 7,000 miles on it when I got it.

And not only think used, think a LOT used! Not a few years old, but even 10 years or more. Get CarFax if you can, or it helps if you know someone who is selling a used car. I wouldn't buy from anyone you know though. If it turns out bad it can ruin a friendship. You would have to decide if it's worth the risk or not.
 
Although not a small truck, I had very good luck with Chevys with the 4.3L VTech engine. It gets good gas mileage and has enough power to pull a small trailer comfortably. And you have the safety and room of a full size truck.........
 
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