Buy a new truck or fix up my old one?

[86350x]

Have a 96 silverado, has everything but leather, (don't like it)

Just turned over 100 thousand, but I noticed its starting to rust in a few spots underneath, and its spreading. One of the things that really sucks about michigan winters is the road salt. I have a good amount saved up for a house, but was thinking about replacing the truck first. What would you do?

[JKyle01]

This is just my opinion but if it was mine i would keep it and fix it up. That is a sweet truck its what ive wanted forever but still cant afford. But get the rust spots fixed and stuff and maybe some big tires and new rims and it would be a really fine ride but hey its your truck its up to you.

[Flip)(stick]

Get a special addition dodge 2500 4x4 off road xlt

[derekhonda]

at 22 years old i would say its time to lay a downpayment on a house

[Giz400ex]

I think a house is more important than a truck. If it runs good, its all paid for and still gets you from A to B, keep it:cool: I just sold my 96' Dodge Ram 4x4 because I never drove it and I plan on getting a house soon. I will be missing it when the snowfalls but for now, I don't miss paying insurance on it or nothing. Actually, I'm saving money by not having it:eek2: A house never depreciates, but a truck does:eek:

[Glow Plug]

keep it and get your down payment on a house

[Scott-300ex]

yeah man, i would get the house,

but once rust starts......IT DOESN'T STOP!!:(

[4TraxRider]

Your old truck is nicer than my new one.:grr: I would definateltly go for the house.

[stace609]

I agree with flipstick, but make sure you get the new hemi:macho

[honda350r]

A vehicle is the worst investment ever!! Buy a house ,with the interest rates this low you will be very happy you did! The house will go up in value and the truck will go down! It is a no brainer!!!

HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

[tants]

Originally posted by derekhonda
at 22 years old i would say its time to lay a downpayment on a house

[kicken250x]

Originally posted by Flip)(stick
Get a special addition dodge 2500 4x4 off road xlt


thats a nice truck but i cant say i would own one. they dont pull stuff for crap unless dodge has done something new with their trannies and rear end that i dont know about. ive just seen too many rear ends transfer cases and trannies go out on them while pulling stuff for me...so id say fix up the one you got now cant go wrong with a chevy:cool: just my oppinion tho...

[mx400]

ok heres what u do. u buy an older like 76 K5 Blazer 4x4, 6" lift, 35" Mud-Terrains, 4.10s gears, second fuel cell, and you would probably still wouldnt get into your house stash.

[Scott-300ex]

it will get in your stash with all the gas you will be buying, if you would do that you would need to get a tranny with an overdrive

my truck doesn't have an overdrive and it has 4:10 gears but the big tires help, an overdrive would be nice but with the price of it i could buy a lot of gas. my truck doesn't get good milage, but i don't care, its like the only vehicle i can see myself driving, i love it to and everyone thinks its awsome. like my dad tells me, you don't drive a big, big block truck for fuel economy

i wish i had pics but i don't have a digital camera, or a scanner:(

id buy the house , that truck doesnt look to bad if the motor and tranny are still strong

[dwcrash]

My opinion is it's cheaper to fix what you got (almost always!) Thats a good looking truck! By the house, that's a lot better investment. Chevys last forever anyway.

[hawiianpwr]

Save your money and get a house. I'm doing the same thing. My 89's got 202,000 miles on her and she still runs great. Like crash said as long as you take care of it they'll last forever

[jay's 300]

Originally posted by Giz400ex
I think a house is more important than a truck. A house never depreciates, but a truck does

[Castor-426ex]

Originally posted by hawiianpwr
Save your money and get a house. I'm doing the same thing. My 89's got 202,000 miles on her and she still runs great. Like crash said as long as you take care of it they'll last forever

thats an awesome Z71

[SGA]

It depends on several things. How old are you? Are you married? Are you planning on moving around any? Are you settled down? What is more important to you, a house or a shiny new truck?
For my brother in law, a new truck every year is more important. Hes married, with kids, lives in a doublewide. Hes happy with that. It depends on what will work best for you.

[86350x]

Thanks guys,

22, ditched the gf, and have never been happier.

In the 7 month span, I picked up a wr 426, banshee, and had my warrior (trail quad) built up. I might get flamed for this but being single rules:cool: There are no rules for you!

Renting sucks, that's why the house is the way to go. But in the area I live in houses are 120 thousand and up. I only have 30 k saved right now. Your right on the truck, it's paid for, had the tranny rebuilt at 70,000 (it went out) It's my daily driver, and I have 8 other good year wrangler 265's for it. If I ever get into heavy offroading, I'b build up an older one. Gonna shop around next weekend on having the bottom half gone over and painted. Truck has always been well taken care of.

That truck with 202,000 looks awesome too.

Here is why us michiganders have rust issues with our vehicles.......

[2000400EX]

I agree with most of the other guys here......keep the truck!! Since it's already paid for, it's not really costing you a whole lot of money to keep it. I'm kind of in the same situation as you are, 23, single, trying to decide on whether to get a new truck or fix up the old one and trying to save money for a house at the same time. I decided to fix up my old truck, I just went and had the whole bottom half of the truck repainted, had that "stoneguard" stuff put on, and had the major rust fixed (for now, hopefully it don't come back too fast). It's alot cheaper to fix up a decent truck than to pay a ***** load of money for a new one. Although I haven't had to redo my tranny or my motor yet, she's still running strong at 212,600 miles!!! CHEVY RULES!!! :macho I'm not sure where your rust is at, but watch the bottom edge of your doors!! That's where mine was the worst. Gotta love that michigan road salt...:confused2

Here is a pic of my 'ol chevy.....

[2000400EX]

here's another pic for 'ya.....

[86350x]

Great looking truck!

How much did the repairs and paint cost you? On another good note, my tr6 pipes are finally on the way too:cool:

Could you take a close up of the stone gaurd paint job for me?

And how far down did you have it applied? How far under the molding? And how much would a new tail gate emblem/molding set ya back? Just wondering incase anyone knew.:confused:

Thanks for the pics too.

[SGA]

I owned my first house for 12 years, this house for 4 years, so I am not new to home ownership. OK, single and 22 years old. My next question I would ask you is: Did you inheret the money or save it your self? (I pegged you had 28-32 grand from your first question) If you saved it, you are probably mature enough to own a house. If you just got it, and its burning a hole in your pocket, you are probably not ready for house ownership. Most 22 year old men are not mature enough to own a house, they still have to figuire out a solid plan for their life. Women, well, thats different.

[heavy_d]

you have a nice truck there, a new vehicle is the worst thing to put money into

[2000400EX]

86350x,

I paid $700 for a local collision shop to repair the major rust, put on the stoneguard, and repaint from the moldings down on both sides of the truck. The collision shop actually repainted the entire lower silver portion of the truck though, they said it was easier to tape it off that way. The stoneguard was applied from the moldings all the way down to the bottom lip of the sheet metal. I took a few pics for ya, but it's kinda' hard to see the stoneguard since my truck's a little dirty. The stoneguard finish has kind of a "wavy" or "dimple" finish to it. I hope this helps you. I'm not sure about the tailgate emblem....:ermm:

[2000400EX]

here's a close up of the stoneguard......notice the "wavy" finish in the reflection of my nerf bar.

[2000400EX]

here's one of the truck (a little dirty from all the rain we've been having) :blah:

[Woodsrider]

This really is a no brainer:ermm: Get the house. intrest rates havent been this low since 1967. I bought my house at 23. Im 35 now. If you can get a starter home for $120K you would be a fool not to do it. If you have 30K to put down your P&I would be less than $700 a month. I don't know about in Michigan, but out here a three bedroom house with a 2 car garage will run you $1200 a month or more in rent. Why in the **** would you rent?:huh

[Nausty]

Originally posted by Giz400ex
I think a house is more important than a truck. If it runs good, its all paid for and still gets you from A to B, keep it:cool: I just sold my 96' Dodge Ram 4x4 because I never drove it and I plan on getting a house soon. I will be missing it when the snowfalls but for now, I don't miss paying insurance on it or nothing. Actually, I'm saving money by not having it:eek2: A house never depreciates, but a truck does:eek:

what he said:D

[JD400exrider]

It is a no brainer. Buy a House. Houses in most areas will go up in value. If you get one that needs a little fixing you build sweat equity (spelling). The interest rates are lower than they have been in 30+ years. You may regret it latter not buying one If you have eneough to buy a house Buy it.
Real Estate is one of your best investments.

When buying Real Estate Remember This
Location Location Location. ;)

[Honda4trax250x]

def. buy a house, that truck is really nice imagine if u just did work to it how cool it would look

[86350x]

Thanks for the pic's, did you have to get new molding's after they took them off?

I was figuring around 700, would you make it a two tone or stick with green? I'm deffinantly gonna get stone gaurd put on, I need the truck to last, and hopefully if will hold up in all that wonderfull michigan road salt.

I've been looking for a house, or property at least for about a year now. LOL , saved up the money, nothing was handed to me. Not sure if I'll ever be mature enough for anything serious:cool: But we shall find out. I'd like to have a big arse down payment, so the house payment stays on the low side. Trying to play things on the safe side righ now.

I hate the rain too, everytime I ride the 426 after work, I have to spend a half hour or longer cleaning the bike up!

Thanks for all the repies everyone, helped me in my decision making.

[2000400EX]

86350x,

The moldings were never taken off when the work was done, they just taped them off. I would stick with the solid green green color. If you go two-tone it's probably going to cost you more $$. Good luck with finding a house, I having a hard time trying to find one that's not so expensive!!:blah:

[86350x]

Well it's being painted right now. I decided to have it two toned with a sliver grey to match the 4x4 emblem. Only costing me 375 with the stone gaurd. Man I sure hope it turns out good. I'll post up the pics when I get it back, probrably 2 or 3 days from now.

Anyone else have any of these older body style trucks? Where would you suggest getting fancier tires and rims for the summer time, and how much $$$:confused:

[86350x]

It's back, I like the new looks of it too.

[86350x]

Wish I had my banshee back though.......:ermm: Electrical issues

[SGA]

It looks great!

[2000400EX]

look good!:blah: where was the rust at to begin with?

[Glow Plug]

your truck looks awsome good plan with keeping the truck and having a huge arse down payment on a house :)

[TheRedRebel17]

Nice..i gotta ask thoguh..any pics of the 426??:D

[86350x]

The rust was just starting underneath, I noticed it was pealing when I was changing the oil and greasing it. I caught it right away though, before any major damage was done.

I don't have any action pics of the 426 yet but here are a few. Thanks for the advice guys, I think I made the right decision.

[86350x]

When it's clean in there................................

[crazybuffalo]

think of it this way even if it rusts to the ground, they still make bondo, its like a rock, and since it looks good keepit and buy a house:)

[86350x]

This is one from the first day I brought it home. It's gonna be street legal soon. I need to find some fold down mirrors that don't look dorky though.:ermm:

I also have blue and white acerbis hand gaurds/spoilers to put on it yet.

[crazybuffalo]

oh and just get new seats if you want leather.