PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Why do you have 'dents and dings'?

My guess is that if you would have paid for the truck, instead of your dad, you would maybe take better care of it and understand his concern.

Yes, trucks are meant to be trucks, but they are expensive nowadays (unless someone else is footing the bill) and need to be taken care of.

 

Hi Charlie,
Have your parents asked you about the "dings & dents" or are you just feeling guilty that you have put them there?
It doesn't sound like you are abusing your truck. Seems to me that you are using your truck like it should be used. I bet that your parents would be proud to know that you are doing a stand up job at work while using your truck.

 

it's a truck and is supposed to used as such as so it will get some dents and dings, if it was a luxury car then it would be different. I agree it does not sound like you are abusing the truck but just using it as it should be so I would just keep doing the maintenance and enjoy it for what it is.

 

The issue here is your dad bought it so he sees it as his money being dented and dinged. Regardless of whether he bought it for you or not, it will always look like his money.

Drive the piss out of it, keep maintaining it, and don't worry about what dad says(about the truck). You're making your own way even if it costs the truck a few scuffs. Buff em out and keep rolling!

 

Who cares - did you major in creative writing in college? Send them a "letter" using the same creative narrative style reflected in your TW posts - LOL

 

You use your daily driver as a work truck. That's what happens when it stops becoming a DD and becomes a work truck. Just tell them you use it for work.

 

This is quite snarky of you.

 

Considering my pops hooked me up with my truck back when my other one took a shit I see some of your perspective. As others have said, the reflection of your truck is somewhat relative to what your father probably feels from buying it for you. My truck is not perfect, but I also have invested a lot in my truck with some sound upgrades and have even had little pieces here and there painted up to try to keep her as much to her glory as possible. I think what matters to my pops atleast, is that you always appreciate the truck and do your best within reason to stay up on things. Its easy for someone to forget the maintenance aspect of your truck if they don't ride in it often and never see you do the work to it. The outside appearance on the other hand can be derived in a numerous amount of ways and dings don't often correlate as a positive thing unless he knows you wheel it a lot. My pops is very quick to notice any "imperfection," with that said though, he knows any mark on the truck bothers me as well.

As others have said, keep on keeping on with the truck. I think what makes the old man happy for me is that I am very involved with my truck in that any upgrade is well researched and the cost/benefits are there in case he ever ponders what has changed. Furthermore, I have done almost all of my maintenance for a 100k service on my truck on my own with my fellow TW buds. That I think has the most impact, because the truck is getting the right service, and Im learning how to do it for the long haul at the same time. Im sure our fathers differ in many ways, but some of my pops concerns might be similar to yours.

Lastly, I think the mileage is about right for a DD that is not in a garage all day. I do think your work could help with some assistance in regards to your truck whether that be a small added fee for service and what not or to possibly provide a "work truck" assuming both you and the business are going to be working together for atleast a few more years.

Coot

 

Only on TW would someone ask total strangers, how to convince his parents that he was taking care of the truck they gave him! - LOL

 

All things aside. OP, dents and dings are part of owning a truck that gets used OP. Try and treat it right but dont fret over the lil things, thats my philosophy

watch out... OP is in tight with mods..... dont be "trolling and flaming", its "against the rules"... ask me how my week vacation was for pointing out the need for threads like these.... even though these stories have ZERO to do with 2nd gens.

Truth be told, there is an off topic section for threads like this that this should be moved to. THE ONLY thing this has to do with 2nd gen tacos is the fact OP has a 2nd gen, beyond that nothing pertains to 2nd gens.

This is going to be my last post in comment to the OP from here on out. Just warning others.

 

I've only had my truck for about a year and a half and I'm at almost 43,000 miles and a decent amount of trail stripes. Take care of the truck as best you can and it'll take care of you in return. I can see where you're dad is coming from. My mom says the same thing about mine (except I'm paying for the truck).

 

If you start paying your folks back for the truck they'll probably even be prouder of you and you won't have the guilty feelings of denting "their" truck. Plus you'll get to feel the pride of actually owning it once you've got it paid off.

 

You're using it for exactly what it was made for. No issues there.

Also...dents and dings add character!

 

Just don't F@%& with the Truck at Puck.

 

1996, I had just graduated from high school. I was so excited to be done with public school and despite the fact that a bunch of my friends had already signed up for fall classes at universities like Oregon State and University of Oregon (GO DUCKS!), I specifically decided to take a year off and just... do stuff not school related

18 years old and ready to have fun, as an extremely generous graduation present my dad agreed to get me my first vehicle. I had not even gotten a license since in the small town I grew up in (Newport, Oregon) I could either find a way to bum a ride or just skateboard or simply walk where I wanted to go. But now that I was free from the drudgery of school and had options open to me to do more or less what I wanted, getting some wheels was definitely a logical choice.

As it turned out, my dad was friends with a GM at a dealership in Albany so we drove the 100+ miles over there with the intention of driving back in two vehicles...

Long story short, I had my sights set on something with 4wheel capacity. There were only three vehicles on the lot to choose from that were the price range (less than $5,000) and had the features I wanted:
1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport
1982 Jeep Wagoneer
1986 Ford Bronco II

The Wagoneer was initially what I was attracted to. It was big, had a big V8 (POWER) and really cool wood paneling. I mean, wood paneling!?!
Thing was mechanically a piece of shit though and just from being parked in one spot on the lot for a week or two had a nice oil spot and when we looked under it, looked like someone sprayed oil all over on the entire under carriage.
Pass.

The Cherokee Sport was tempting but I forgot if it was too expensive or we figured out something else was wrong with it...
Pass.

So I found myself going with the 10 year old little Bronco...

It was sweet. The original paint on those things usually got really bad oxidation so someone had just had it painted a really nice solid dark metallic blue.
It had front wheel locking hubs. High ground clearance. Could fold the seats down for fun with female passengers in the back , and a modestly economic V6 engine.

My first 4x4.
Also my first manual transmission.
I didn't know how to drive one so my dad drove it home and I followed in the minivan (by this time I had my license but it had only been like a month) and the next day got a crash course in how to drive a stick.
I never did get the clutch looked at but I'm sure I put a LOT of wear on it that first month or so. Funny side story was the first day I took it out by myself a cop pulled me over because while on a hill I popped the clutch at a light and he was behind me. Literally told me he was "just making sure I hadn't been drinking..." What a dick.

Anyways, that little rig WAS my dad's. He put the cash down and he made the payments to the bank although I did pay him back for the loan.
I had a couple "incidents" with it that came close to rolling it over but in the two years I had it, I never got in an accident and never did anything major to it.
I was also on my dad's insurance. I have a great dad. The thing is though, he never told me "now, don't you get any scratches in it!" He knew. He knew because he had been a kid once and abused his fair share of vehicles.
The thing is, even if I had rolled it, he would have been upset but eventually gotten over it.

A car/truck/etc. is just a material possession. They can be used for work or play but it's still just a "thing". You can get attached to it but what's more important is the bond you have with your family.
The fact that your dad bought the truck for you doesn't indicate he loves you. Of course he does! What it does indicate is that he's generous and trusting, obviously.
Will ANY vehicle get wear and tear? Uhm, yeah. Unless you garage it in a climate controlled warehouse, it will get pooped on by birds, hit with shopping carts in parking lots, maybe scratched by a belt buckle or pocket knife clip and in general, beat up on.

Think of it this way: You dad has an excuse to give you shit. It's his truck, even if you're making the payments on it until the time comes when it gets sold or he officially signs the title over to you.

Enjoy it and don't stress on the small stuff. "Mint Condition" is for comic books, baseball cards and '57 Chevys. Not your truck. Get out of that mindset. Besides, we've seen the interior when you posted your stereo mods so we know it sure as hell isn't clean...!

Long story short: enjoy the truck.
Oh, and...



/by the way, until I got my current Tacoma, I have not had a 4x4 since the Bronco II

 

Couple things

1. what exactly are you running that damages the truck like this? Are all of these from work?
2. If you are running errands with your truck for work, mileage reimbursement should be part of that, or they're not doing you a favor by giving you a job

 

Just depends if you plan on keeping it until the doors fall off and the floor rusts through. Then wear the dents and dings with pride, and each one tells its own story of utilitarian dedication. A man and his truck bonded like the sheets of rough-hewn plywood it carries.

If you plan on re-selling it in the near future, then its better to baby it.

 

I have a 2002 farm truck and its pretty much in mint condition. But thats because I've replaced or fixed damaged parts. Hey, accidents happen, but I would never deliberately treat a truck like shit and get dings and dents in it.

If its bad enough your parents are saying something... its probably bad.

With these dings and dents, make sure everything that goes through the paint is repainted to avoid rust. Once panels start to rust, you could be effed.

 

Our farm truck gets abused pretty hard. It gets mechanical repairs, but aesthetics are not its thing.

I still remember uncle Neal using his new Ford Ranger to drive cattle and ending up with a blue door on his new red pickup. Those were the days.

 

Ha, well... the only truck I ever got out of *my* dad, was already covered in dents, scrapes, gouges, and rust holes... by (1) First owner: my uncle, and (2) second owner: my father.