That's standard, I just keep fixing stuff, till something breaks I don't care about, then leave. Breaks the chain.

@OP: Sure, you have more invested in your truck than you will ever see out of it. I think that's fairly standard too. BUT! In the case of the truck that you HAVE, you already know what's wrong with it, and what has been fixed. On a newly acquired truck, you don't have that advantage. It's a gamble. You might buy it, and never have to sink a dime into it, aside from maintenance. Then again, the motor might blow up on the way home.... 177K on the original engine? Getting on toward retirement territory there, especially if the truck was used hard in it's previous life. (and given that it was a fleet vehicle.... it probably was.)

 

I know it can be a depressing situation, you get one thing fixed then something else has to be fixed, I've been there before on vehicles in the past, but it will get better.

And there are plenty of things I WANT and a few things the truck NEEDS, and the needs are at the top of the line.

Welp, good luck in whatever you decide.


P.S.

If or when you do sell or buy another vehicle, don't get a rundown POS, you'll end up in worse shape then before.

 

My Dodge is the newest vehicle I have ever owned or currently own.... it is also the most expensive to own in both gas and repairs... some of it I chaulk up to the previous owners mistakes.. some were signs I overlooked when buying.. some of it is poor engineering... There's usually enough threads on here to show whats which... I have only put about 10,000 miles on mine in almost three years and it seems like every time I use it something else fails I still love the damn thing reliable or not and have given up on putting any logic behind justified ownership... at this point I've already spent so much I'm going down with the ship regardless....
My advice to you? look at your income. If you are having trouble affording it now maybe you should considered a vehicle with a cheaper cost of ownership. there's nothing cheap about these things...some people have had great luck with these trucks (On that note there are those that had great luck with ford Edsel's as well.. just kidding) Bottom line its an old truck and theres more old trucks out there that have had hard lives than the pampered ones.
If your going to keep it you would be wise to save up an emergency fund for when something like transmission failure rears its ugly head.... at 104,000 miles if it hasnt been done already there's a 50/50 chance it will soon. having the fluid changed as preventative maintenance might save you a bundle down the road...

If it makes you feel better my dads 2005 f150 only has 42,000 miles and he just had an injector fail due to lack of use and ethonal damage..cost him almost $300 to repair..and at 34,000 miles he had to spend big bucks on new brakes because the ceramic ones sometimes burn the rotors up almost instantly if they wear wrong.
And I have 3 friends with 90's era chevy trucks.... two are down right now, one needs another transmission and the other needs front hub work for the third time... the newest one had to have 4wd control mechanism replaced last year.... Its the same story just different engineered weaknesses in different areas..

 

I have no income right now, I'm 16 in high school and no job. The only income I have is a weekend job sometimes and the car I just sold. That's one of the reasons I'm looking into buying an old beater, I can expect somethings to go wrong, but one I won't have a real lot of money sunk into with "want" stuff.

 

I would of sold the truck first and drive the accent around while looking for another truck.. Hell might even find someone with a newer year even nicer truck they can't afford payment or gas for anymore and looking for a low mileage gas sipper to trade with cash. People are getting rid of trucks left and right now a days, but used low mileage gas sippers are getting a premium.

 

The ONLY way you are gonna be able to get away without having to pay to fix sh*t is to buy something new (or almost new) with warranty. If you're not prepared to sell/trade your truck and get something no older than about five years old with less than about 60k miles on it, then IMO you're better off keeping your truck and taking care of it and the issues that may come up from time to time...

 

solution is simple.... Your 16 so sounds to me like your at the point where you need to grow up and get a job..... This is a case of putting the cart before the horse so to speak. correct way to do it is get job .... then buy money pit dodge to use up said money from job and start you into a lifetime of debt

Seriously though, In any case you have a vehicle to get to work so I see no excuses why you cant work? you can possible expect to own a vehicle with no steady source of income?

 

I'm trying to find a job, I worked all summer, but I stay at my grandparents during the summer, so I'm an hour and a half away from my job, but I work on weekends up there during school.
And as of right now, I'm doing fine with owning a vehicle, I bought the truck, I pay the insurance, and from the money I made this summer, I have enough money to fill my tank.

 

Gotcha,
But if you really were doing fine with it you wouldnt have started this thread stating money was the cause? Right?
At 16 its tough because usually most want something badass and arent really thinking from a practical standpoint...like those rims... they are sweet but where they on the truck when you bought it?.... If not how practical do you think it really was to buy and add them when you are having concerns paying for things long term? I dont mean to lecture... I did the same thing but I had a job and worked crazy illegal 60hr work weeks while going to school sometimes to pay for the "sweet ride in the lot" outside of school..
I guess I'm just trying to say if you want to roll in a ram or any truck really at 16 instead of a Hyundai you gotta pay the dues and work for it.
But you probably already have that figured out by now.

 

I agree, and as I said before, this truck did teach me a lesson, choosing between "wanting" and "needing" I put too much "want" into this truck.
Which also as I said before I "want" a diesel (kinda for the sweetest ride in the lot idea" but I'm trying to talk myself out of that idea for a while, so I could drive something cheaper and save up to maybe buy a diesel, but something better then what I could afford now.