Hi all - first time poster. New to owning a truck - not a maintenance savvy person, so looking for some advice from seasoned owners of Ford F150s to make a decision.
Backstory - straight out of a country song. My best buddy passed away a little over a year ago - he owned a 2013 F150 STX, 5.0 V8 engine. He was the 2nd owner, bought it used with low miles back in 2015. His wife kept the truck for about 6 months after his passing, but needed to sell it so she could get their son a good daily driver. I bought the truck in April 2025 with 126,000 miles on it. Intended use was for general hauling, potentially to tow a travel trailer (not a daily driver). I paid $5k cash for the truck, and felt comfortable with the deal since I knew my buddy took care of it. I did take the truck for a used car inspection prior to buying and it passed with flying colors - body/frame is solid, no signs of leaks (oil, transmission, or otherwise), everything checked out and my mechanic said he believed I got a fantastic deal on a great truck. He did recommend at the time that I consider a tuneup to replace spark plugs. In July, the truck did start running rough, check engine light came on and ended up being a misfire on cylinder 5. I had my mechanic do the tuneup to replace all plugs, and fuel injector 5 was replaced as well. 2 weeks ago I did have to start using the truck as a daily driver, as my Corolla is sitting in the shop to have some work done on it. Check engine light came on again, this time the code was for VVT solenoid. Took it to my mechanic and got the quote to do the work, which I can't necessarily afford right now with the issues I'm resolving on my Corolla. I go to the same shop for all of my auto needs (we have 4 total in the household) and I trust the shop, trust the owner and mechanics - they regularly do their best to make things affordable and "help out" where they can. When talking to the mechanic about how I can't afford this repair right now, he told me that the quote was to do both VVT solenoids on one side - only one was bad, but might as well get both while they are in there (agree about that). He then said they can't tell until they get into it if the timing chain has any additional issue. Then warned me of the potential that the VVT on the other side could fail, at which point I'd have the same bill again to resolve. He then said that these trucks once they hit 130k miles and beyond do seem to have intermittent issues like this that could stack and add up to a lot of maintenance cost. Mentioned the lead frame is notorious for failing around 160-180k, and that is a $3k repair if needed. He then said if he were in my shoes, he would try to part ways with the truck now if possible as the repairs could start nickel and diming and add up very fast. I am fine with maintaining a vehicle, but now I am spooked that this truck will turn into a money pit. I know there is no way to know the future or what could fail, how much it will cost, etc. I am inclined to sell the truck as is and try to get what I paid out of it, but to say the sentimental attachment is making me question the right path forward is an understatement.
Looking for advice from seasoned owners or people more familiar with these trucks than I am. Everything I read when I was considering buying said that these trucks and this 5.0L engine was "reliable". If I felt that I could make this repair and then get a lot of life out of this truck I'd do it in a heartbeat - but I feel so uncertain about what is the right or best thing to do. Anyone have any advice or knowledge to share? How to make an objective decision about a vehicle that is more than just a vehicle to me? Should I follow my mechanic's advice? Help me out, please.

 

Id maintain it as a recreational vehicle, focus on the Toyota get it running and then slowly dive into the f150.