I understand being 18 and wanting something real bad but agree with others about the debt issue and all the havoc that can create. Especially on your budget and how prices are these days. If you're dead set on it I'd say get a job - work, work, work - find a good diesel farm truck that's mechanically sound and pay cash. Nothing beats closing a deal and getting the title in hand. You'll definitely appreciate it more that way. Payments are frustrating especially when things go wrong. So dad can go get his gasser you get your diesel and remove the "dependant on him" factor completely... It's harder this way and slower but best sort of like a good roast comes out of a crock pot that's been cooking all day not a microwave that nuked it in 5 minutes...

 

I can see it from both sides, and can talk from bitter experience. I paid cash for my first vehicle, an old 6.9 Diesel Ford. 8 years later, I wish I still had the truck, and hadn't spent so much money on other stuff. Right after college, I 'had' to have a new truck, and wound up getting a 3 year old Super Duty, that I got rid of 4 months later. Ever since it's been musical vehicles, up until now. To say the least, that 4 month stint in the Super Duty cost me for quite awhile, as well as everything since.

I now have two CTD's. Why, I still don't have a clue on that. Both were excellent deals, run tremendously well, and I've gotten good deals modding them. I keep justifying the 95 by saying it will be my daily driver for when I blow the 97 up.

I was into diesels when diesels simply weren't cool. I bought my first one just before turning 16. It got twice the mileage than all my buddies trucks, and fuel was around $1.50/gallon. My CTD's get twice the mileage than my 01 gas job I got rid of, but fuel is way more now. I turn 24 tomorrow, and regret most everything after getting rid of that old truck, simply because I had to borrow to get it. I'm now looking to buy a house, and since both trucks are within $500 each of being mine free and clear, really helps make things easier. I would still have rather paid cash. And if I wouldn't have spent so much on vehicles, I would almost be able to pay cash for a house. Not trying to tell everyone my life story, but it all adds up very quickly. Take it for what it's worth to you.

BTW, 4 1/2 years out of college, and my 'new' vehicle was the 95 I got in November. I like the older stuff more now.

 

at 15 I got a 87' 1/2 ton 2wd chevy auto SB 305 $300 cash + $400 auto trans rebuild sold at 18 for $900

17 76' 3/4ton 2wd chevy 4spd stick SB 350 $500 cash + $700 SB 350 sold at 20 for $800

19 67' chevy SS 396 ElCamino 4spd stick SB 400 $4,500 cash Still have

20 92' 1st gen 4x4 SRW W350 5spd Cummins $6,500 Note for 2 years paid off 6mo early. Still have

24 96' 2nd gen 4x4 2500 X-cab 5spd Cummins $5,800 cash Still have

Had to work for every $$ but they were all mine and could not be taken away ( but I could be told I couldn't go anywhere) and if I broke it I had to fix it and pay for parts no help from parents ( trust me had to ride school bus a few times when truck was down) Its good for you to buy your own.

 

I bought my truck with my own money too... But nothing wrong with having your parents buy you (or give you) a reasonably priced vehicle. It keeps you focused on school instead of on working a part-time job just to pay bills.

 

That's what my wife's parents said so they just loaned her and her sister a car and would not let them get a job and paid for collage. There plan would have had them 22, fresh out of collage, no car, no credit, no job history or experience, and out on there own, I didn't think that helps. Luckily I talked her into getting a job while in high school and she got here own car less than a year later. I understand wanting them to be able to make good grades and go to collage and maybe get a better job by not having to spent to much time working but that's part of life. Right now I have to be able to do my job, pay bills, keep my truck going, take care of things around the house, and be a husband and soon to be dad, all at the same time. I will help my kids with a down payment and maybe a payment or 2 at most. I know the thing about you have to have a job to get a car to get a job and a job to get a car. It may not be easy but that's life. Most of the people I know that had a car (truck) given to them rode it like a rented mule.

And lets not talk about 8 year olds with cellphones.

 

Where in Canada are you?

My plan of attack would be this. Get a part time job until school is done. With a loan with a co-signer, you can get a loan with about 3 months of employment with a letter from your employer. Do your research on the vehicles you want. Some will say get a beater and run into the ground, others will say get a nice one right off the bat that you can take care of and get a lot of years out of. Thats up to you. Once you find out what you're looking for, find some options and prices. Then look south of the border. Trucks are around half the price there. You will pay GST and inspection fees at the border, and you can save a lot of money. If I were to get another vehicle, it will likely come from the states because we are getting price gouged up here plain and simple.

Lastly, do not rush into a vehicle. I rushed into my 98 and I've paid because of it. Take your time, and you can find a good truck. Look at a 12v, will be cheaper to bomb if thats what you're gonna do.

 

thats realy good advice ^^^^

 

Not saying I don't agree with a part-time job during high school though. I think that teaches you a lot, builds your credit, etc...

 

This is one of those situations where beggars ain't choosers.

My parents bought my truck about a year before I actually got it. It was a used red 94 S-10 regular cab 4 cyl 5 speed. They ran it for a while more before letting me have it. At first I was a little dismayed about the whole affair. However I quickly grew to love that truck. I paid to get air conditioning installed and bought me some wheels off of a newer S-10. I also put a radio in as the stock radio was long gone and the one that somebody put in wasn't great at all. My parents knew a lot more about my vehicle situation that I would let on. They knew I really didn't need a 4x4, anything bigger than a 4 banger, an extended cab and other stuff. I drove that truck all through high school, through college and to work every day up until 2 months ago. I got hit head on by a guy who was passed out. I respected that truck and didn't mistreat it like some of my friends did to their new vehicles that their parents bought. At the time I wished I had a new one but now I'm glad I didn't. I miss that little truck.

Finally after I busted my rear in college for a bunch of years I landed my dream job and after about a year of busting my rear at that I decided to get what I wanted. I got the truck in my sig and have never been happier. I have always wanted a Cummins since I was about 13 or so and finally got mine. I really don't need it, at the moment, but it is a lot more fun in the end when you get your own.

I can roll through town, look around and know mine is one of the very few there that wasn't bought by parents. That right there is the best feeling of all.

The next best feeling is lugging it in 3rd and letting Smarty envelope the crowd in a black cloud.

So if you end up driving a gasser or something you really don't want just use that as an impetus to do well in school and work hard in life. Treat the vehicle you do get with respect and be very glad you were allowed to drive it!

 

Very well said. I wish others would think/speak/feel this way. Too many kids abuse what they get.

 

Save up, buy your own. be a man! thats how you learn in life. I know thats not what you want to hear, but thats how it is. My father never bought me a vehicle for my own or to share. He taught me that hard work pays off! If your Dad does buy one to share thank him for his kindness. When your are ready to purchase on your own pick the diesel you want.

 

I'd go for what your Father wants. Diesels aren't cheap to buy or operate, maintain, especially if you start bombing. You are looking at a 24valve, do you know how to install a fuel pressure guage if it doesn't come with one?
Do you know the importance of a Fp guage for 24V's? I'm on my 4th lift pump! werkenmans post lists the price of a VP-44, not a cheap item. Get the gasser and use the truck to help out your family, haul things, go to the dump, cut firewood, whatever. Later buy what you want and bomb it if you want. I like my truck but if it were stolen/totaled today don't know if I'd go diesel again, I'd take a hard look at gassers.

 

I am back I christmas is such a busy time, I picked the wrong time to start and thread and I left it.

Tate I am in Edmonton Alberta, Canada.

I have a little bit of knowledge of the vp44 trucks. I am able to drive a stock truck for a while and slowly bomb it, yes i know the importance of the fuel pressure gauge. Working part time is not the best but it is all i can do with school, and it being my last year until post secondary I am working very hard for my diploma and trying to keep my marks high. I love diesel so much I dont want to drive anything else but it always doesn't work that way. and working for a performance diesel shop helps when looking to get the bombs.

I have looked into getting a loan, but not just to sure of getting into something like that at this young of a age with no credit, and the amount of interest the banks charge on a used vehical. After high school I have thought about going to work in the oil patch, which would help pay for the truck and the bombs.

 

I had a loan for $11k two weeks after I turned 16. I was making $6.50/hr at the time. Parents had to cosign for me to get it. The interest I paid on my truck then was around 6%. It was only 4 years old at the time. It's 8% on my dodge. But I don't know if thats from it being older, or just higher interest rates in general.

You'll never get credit if you don't have some form of debt and pay it off. Everything my dad has bought has been done in cash, and as such, has very little credit. Never defaulted, never missed a payment, never been bankrupt. But because he has never taken a loan/had a credit card, he has low credit.

FWIW, there is a 98 12v for sale right now. If you check in the Alberta DTR forum, there is a thread about it. $13.5k isn't too bad. Its in Claresholm, which would be about 4.5hrs south of you on the #2.

 

I'll be 24 this August, and I pay for my truck by myself(as it should be) but I work my *** off working atleast 65 hours a week. Its not all fun and games, black'n out highways and beat'n up on slowstrokes... they are as everyone else said; expensive to operate and maintain. Honestly, you probablly won't fully comprehend that until you've got to fork over the cash to pay for something yourself. I know you won't because you've yet to have a vehicle of your own, let alone one like a diesel pickup. You should wait until after all your schooling is done to get a CTD Ram, in my opinion. Then you can work a full time job with nothing else holding you back from making money and paying for your new truck.