Now I know a lot of these threads pop up, and it's more of the person's thoughts and opinions that count. I've gone over it in my head time after time, but I'm at a standstill. I have the opportunity to obtain a 2003 F150 Heritage in burgundy and black. 114k miles, leather, power seat, and a sunroof. One of the biggest things is that it has the 5.4 and is mechanically perfect. The conundrum here is obviously trading in mine. I'll have to give mine up and $3,000.

The Pros:
I'll be building credit.
Getting a limited build heritage.
Moving up from a 4.2 V6 to a 5.4 V8.
Getting a better mechanically conditioned truck.
70k less miles.

Cons:
Stepping into a truck I am not as familiar with.
I will have to leave the truck as is. I cannot take anything off my truck and put it on the new one. including the retrofitted headlights.
Sentimental value in my current truck. I've owned it for over 4 years and will have a hard time letting it go.

I'd love to have the stronger, better truck, but I know I'm going to have a super hard time letting it go. The decision will be mine, and mine alone in the end. I'm mainly curious on a few others thoughts on it.

 

Sounds like a nice upgrade if you have no desire to go to a different style or make/model of truck.

 

obviously like you said the decision would be yours in the end. and since you asked for opinions ill give you mine. now, if it were me personally i would do it and ill give just a few reasons why.

it looks as if the heritage is the nicer truck (more options)
i for one really like those heritage in that color
significantly lower miles, (i know anything can break down at any mileage, but i feel if it was taken care of the lesser mileage is better)
its always good to try to build credit as long as you know you can afford the payments
personally am not a fan of v6 motors in trucks, not saying its a bad thing, just personal preference so the bump up would be great

i could prolly go on longer, now, the only reasons i wouldnt do it would be:
gas mileage will not be as good as the v6
3000 is a good chunk of change, is it for sure worth the extra 3000?
and it would suck to not be able to take your mods with you, i know retrofits arent cheap
and i understand the sentimental value part

sorry if the post is too long, just giving opinions like you requested. and also. would like to see some pictures of the heritage just because i love those trucks

 

I really dont. I grew along this body style, so definitely one of my favorites. Honestly though, the sound and power of a 5.4 is much better compared to the 4.2. It's a big sentimental thing with me, and I'm pretty sore about the headlights. I got lucky with these, but next I'm I know it's going to be easily $700 or $800. I know I don't need retros, but I've become too accustomed to them. I can definitely see the huge benefits out of all this though if I go through.

 

just let us know what you decide to do

 

No, no, you're fine. I prefer them to be long and open.I won't deny it would be a great upgrade. Heck, I'd be going to a truck with 70,000 fewer miles. But with the mods and effort I've put into mine... I don't want someone trashing the truck like what happened to my last one.

 

I guess my question is, is the new truck coming from a private party, or dealership? I would be looking at what can you sell your truck for to someone else, and if you do, are you still 3k or more away from the other truck? If you are the trade and cash is a good deal, but if not I'd try and sell the truck first so you don't owe as much / in the long run it will save you the money you will spend in gas with the new truck lol.

This is just my mind thinking, but are they really going to notice the headlights aren't retrofitted if you bought another set of the aftermarket headlights just don't retro fit them and put them on your current truck so you can put the retrofits on the new one?

 

It's coming from my dad's small dealership. He bought the truck, and is essentially giving it to me what he paid for it. $3,000, and he'll try and sell mine for $5,000. That's what he told me he'd do. Yes, I know what he paid for it as he showed me the original listing.

 

Something's not right? Your trading in your truck and have to pay 3k on top, while your dad is going to sell yours for 5k? Sounds like you should just trade trucks with him and let him make his 2k by selling it.

 

By doing this, he is breaking even. He has about 8k in the heritage. By me giving him 3k and my truck, he'll end up netting out. He's just giving me an opportunity to build credit and get a nicer truck. I'm going to talk about it a bit more tonight and probably make my decision soon.