Buy a new car or restore my truck. I love my truck

"I want a reliable car that wont break down but I would also love to keep my truck as my full time car." You can't have both if your 23 year old truck is one of the vehicles. You can have two older cars so you have something to drive if one breaks. -- You can't (or shouldn't) put enough money in your truck to make it reliable. There are too many parts to cover it all.

you would have to put in about $8000 into your truck. One really reliable truck is the whole c/k 1500 or 2500 truck.I have one and it has 345000 miles on it and its still running like new. Amazing isnt it.

Danny. The body condition of the truck is important. No rust bucket stuff. The time you believe you will keep the truck will be key. And do not thing you will get your money back if you sell the truck, unless it looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Engine and tranny replacement should be left up to professionals. A remanufactured engine (NOT REBUILT) will probably set you back about 3500. Start from there. Unfortunately you are not capable of doing the minor stuff. All new brake parts all around would set you back about 400 if you could do it yourself, but you cannot. Replacing the entire steering and suspension would probably cost another 1000 for a DIY. If it were my truck I would do it because I can do everything (including air) myself if the body were good.

First off. If the truck's engine runs well, leave it alone until it doesn't. If the tranny is ok, leave it alone until it isn't. Your suspension is probably shot. Start out with an estimate on rebuilding the front end completely. That estimate should convince you one way or another which way you want to go.

I have a 1990 F150 5.0L with not one ounce of Rust. I am having the cracked manifolds replaced and valve covers and freeze plugs and it is costing me about 1100 to do that work at a shop. I agree you won't get your money out of it but I have another vehicle and use,this as my cool vehicle! I plan on wrapping it versus painting and updating wheels and lift kit.

The truck belonged to his grandfather and was given to him by his grandmother. He does not know much at all about working on cars and it is sitting in the grass just getting older and older. If price was not a problem how much would it cost for a total over haul on the Ford F150 about maybe 30 years old.

So what is the estimated cost of a rebuild V8 5.0 in a 2011 F150 XLT. I feel like I need to upgrade because it has 120K miles on it The Trans mission might Wear and Engine may fail when I need it the most I feel. I drive the truck like I stole it, but barely use it for Trailer Hauling and I had interest in the 2017 XLT Crew Cab but find out the gas tank is 23 Gallons on a 5.0 and Mine has a 30 Gallon and its a 5.0 and I get estimated 525 Miles on a full tank and this new 2017 Vehicle gets like 325 Miles to a tank. Its like Ford Down Graded and is pushing V6 Power Really? You buy a V8 for a reason. I feel your killing a V6 on Hauling and wearing and tearing it more. I tried out the V6 2018 and they are really crappy to my standards. Slow response time when you need to get up and go

You all hit the important points. At this point, the truck is a toy. It probably has a hell of a lot of parts that should be replaced. The best advice was to buy a younger model. Even that might require some work, but you can shop around and get something that isn't ready to die.

Some good advice here. Your truck is a project - but only if something isn't working. I have a 2004 F150 4x4 with a 4.6 V8 and only 111,000 miles. In the last 3 years, I have only driven it 11,000 miles; however, the torque converter is failing; the tranny sometimes shudders. I keep driving it with the overdrive turned off. Blue book is around $8,500. It's newer brakes and tires. Plugs and coils changed. No rust, nice interior, quiet to drive. Everything works, but a remanufactured tranny and some exhaust repair will be around $3K. I am gambling it doesn't break down on a country road in a snow storm in the middle of the night. I guess I can't buy a better truck for that fix. It just depends on what you need.

I bought a 1991 f250(almost rust free) and have replaced clutch, shocks, brakes, front brake lines, ball joints, front u-joints, steering gear and tie rods ($1500) . I have also had 5 speed transmission and transfer case rebuilt ($3000). I rebuilt the engine (4.9l) ($1000). I am removing gas tanks and "repairing" the sending units and pumps and have added sway bars ($50). When possible I use "pull and save", rock-auto, and auto-zone for parts. Napa for trans & engine work. This does not include tools, solvents, spray paint, oil, grease, etc. Amount spent is approximate since I really don't want to know how much i have actually spent.

My answer is keep what you got and fix as needed ! with the price of new trucks 40,000 plus keep the truck and get a little commuter car. I have a 1977 highboy which I use as a wood getter and to haul hay . It uses fuel but the parts cost are CHEAP and is one of the toughest trucks out there , I have put over 2500 pounds on it and it doesn't care ! you cant beat a older truck especially if you are going to use for a truck .