I have a 2011 F150 SCrew, 4x4 and 6.5' bed. After a recent road trip I rolled over 90,000 mi. Ive had the truck since new, and have only done regular maintenance besides one leaky coolant hose. It has tires that were changed at 60,000 or so miles. A couple of scratches and dings typical of a 2011, but in good shape overall.


I am still overall happy with the truck, but I am wondering when it starts making sense to consider a new one. With 100,00 mi fast approaching is there any logic to my thought of getting rid of it before the value decreases too much more. The current KBB is $17,253 on trade in and $19,658 to private party. With that I am still putting a solid down payment in on a new truck. Or instead drive it a few more years. A few more notable items, it has a Line-X bed liner, it is Dark blue pearl metallic (discontinued color I get complimented on), it has been paid off for well over a year now.


Some items affecting my decision.


1. Its paid off.
2. There is a high probability that children are coming 2-3yrs from now. Currently married.
3. I know the truck will continue to run strong with reg maintenance.
4. If I were buying a used truck, 93,000 mi sounds a lot less than 103,000.
5. Who wouldn't want a new truck?
6. Company will give out vehicle allowances once I reach the appropriate level. (3-4 yrs hopefully.)
7. My garage will fit a new f150 with a 5.5' bed, but not my current truck with the 6.5' bed. I don't use the 6.5" like I did when I bought, so I could live without it.
8. I love my DBPM color that you cant get anymore.


We are lucky to not have a lot of debt together besides the house, so I have 2 trains of thought. 1. Buy now, so it is almost paid off when kids are around. 2. Keep driving it and saving the payment money for when kids come. All in all a good problem to have but wondering some opinions or experiences from others. Thank in advance.

 

Back a ways, I drove my 1992 Ranger till it crapped out. But in the mean time it was paid after 4 yrs, I had no truck payment for 7 years, I put away 1/2 of my truck payment for the remaining 7 yrs so buying new wasn't such a sticker shock. What an awesome feeling that I didn't have a car payment for 7+ years. It was a sweet looking Ranger STX, Hi-rider off-road package, loaded with a blown 4.0L. The engine finally had enough after 11+ years. So my savings plus the $2000 they gave me on the trade I was in with $18K on my new 2003 Mach1 Mustang. That left me to finance $14K. Best decision I ever made. Now the big ??...do you have the discipline to put that $$ away each month.

 

Everyone is different on how long they hang on to their vehicles and everyone's money situation is different. If it's paid for and still running well and you like it why not keep it a year or two longer and put the money aside for the future for a larger down payment or for unexpected things that always seem to come about. Vehicles now days are pretty well built and with regular maintenace should last a while...the biggie is going to be the transmission that should start giving problems above 170 to 190k mileage wise.

I see your train of thought and all good points...personally I would keep the truck and save the money for at least a few years.

 

It sounds like you're wanting a new truck more than needing one. I was in that position before I bought my '11. At the time, I had a company vehicle, a subaru and a '90 F150. The F150 was giving me a ton of trouble and cost me over $2000 in repairs in less than a year....and it was still in need of repair. So, I consolidated my fleet and got rid of the subaru and F150 to get 1, nice truck that needed less insurance cost and a lot less maintentance. Couldn't be happier; however, I now have payments.

My thoughts for your are below in red.

 

Young children have the natural talent to destroy and interior.
I vote keep the one you have until the kids are old enough not to leave a giant sticky mess in the seat. Buy new after that.

 

I'm in a similar predicament.
2011 Lariat Limited with 80k Interior is perfect even after the kids, now 14 and 7.
Exterior is an 8.
Few scratches but shines. Almost paid off, 10 months to go. My thing, like you, is she's unique and the new ones are nice, but not " special" enough to give her up. Besides, I think my boy peed on the tire and assumed it's his in 2 years.....

I say keep her, stash the money and by a toy in a few years for date night and the weekends.

 

My rule of thumb is when anything starts costing me more then $50 a month averaged over 1 year. NOT including maintenace (oil changes, battery, brakes) unless it starts eating brakes, tires.

Example my wifes Jeep, within the last 8 months we sank over $1200 into the suspention replacing EVERYTHING and its still clunking and rattling, not to mention it already ate a balljoint.

 

I hate payments. After I pay my truck off, I think this will be the last vehicle I make payments on. My ranger went to 288k miles when I traded it in and it was still running just fine. It was a regular cab, had it been an extended cab or f150, probably would have just kept going. I replaced shocks, u joints, other general items on it over time. I would say on average, I spent $500 a year on repairs on items that were expected to need replacing.


And as far as reliability, it left me stranded once. My idler pully bent it's bracket, causing the pulley to shred the serpentine belt.

 

This is something I didnt consider. Thanks

 

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I'll keep running my 11 for a bit longer. We had been putting the truck payment towards student loan and house to pay down more debt, but it is probably time to start having an emergency fund for the truck, that can also be a down payment fund for when I am ready for a new truck.