First truck for son - age vs mileage

Get him a decent beater!
Unless he’s super responsible and has no friends!
The vehicle will get trashed.
My son killed my ride and his in the first year on the road.
My daughter parked with the wheels turned on my impala and smacked a concrete light pole backing out with the front end.
My kids would had been off road if they had gotten trucks.
20k isn’t a cheap first rig in my opinion and if it lasts them more than a few years is slim.

 

Not to thread-jack but.. looking for a girlfriend for my brother (he just turned 40.) Age vs mileage?

 

These are very good odds, OP. I was in your sons shoes my senior year of high school with the same mindset. Wrecked the shit out of my father's first gen before I even started college. And then I had to take the bus to school for three years.

 

ill skip on the life advice since its probably going to be ignored.

you got 19k to spend so why are you even looking at anything older than 2015.

 

this is what I was thinking.. a teenager and a retiree drive and treat their vehicles very differently, know the vehicle history before you buy

 

I would really like to know how someone saved $19K before graduating high school, without owning a vehicle. Here’s the only ways I see.

1. He’s a lot smarter than me and did some kind of innovative creation. Like Facebook or fidget spinners or something.

2. He’s into something very illegal.

3. He’s a gigolo to the rich bored housewives.

4. He gets 1 Helluva an allowance.

If he made that kind of money without paying taxes...

 

5. That's his max line of credit, at a completely reasonable 15% fixed interest.



I agree with others, get the boy a 1999 Ranger, single cab, 2WD. Never give a high schooler a 4x4 or he will find himself walking to prom.

(my first car was a clapped out caddy fleetwood, and i was still dumb enough to take it off-road.)

 

Bought my daughter a 16 yr old Wrangler 5 speed 4x4 when she was 16 - learned to drive a stick and loved it.
Bought my son a 10 yr old Ford Ranger 5 speed 4x4 when he was 16 - learned to drive a stick and loved it.

Neither wrecked them ($4000 each at the time) but I had no great investment in either in case they did. And had minimal issues with each. Moved on to newer Wrangler and Ranger a few years later - college aged. Daughter now has an '11 Wrangler - auto tranny - as she lives in Pittsburgh....manual/clutch wouldn't make it long in my opinion. She is looking to get a second vehicle - Subaru SUV - and keep the Wrangler as a weekend toy. Son bought a NEW '20 Ranger after starting his new job (mech. engineer) and his '11 Ranger starting to crap out on him. It is an auto, too as Ford doesn't offer this truck in a manual.

 

Get him a bus pass and call it good.

 

I actually would recommend for college that your son get a compact minivan.

Now hear me out, I had a brand new 2009 DCSB SR5 4x4 when I started college in 2008. It totally wasn't worth it. Yeah, its a great lifestyle truck, got me to decent places where I wanted to go hiking and camping, but MPGs were poor for a college student only working 11 hrs/week, so I didn't have much spending power beyond buying gas for it, and when I did have fuel for the truck, I didn't want to do the weekend trip anywhere since I wanted to stretch my dollar. I couldn't afford mods such or accessories like a lift, tires, and a tonneau cover. The cabin was cramped for putting all my friends in it. I didn't have a locking tonneau, so I couldn't store stuff in the bed when the cab was full of people.

With a minivan, you have room for all your friends and their gear. A lot of other college students don't have a car, so you'll be chauffer and get invited to all the fun parties, excursions, and after class hang outs. He can go camping places and stay inside the vehicle instead of a tent. Get's decent mpgs, definitely a lot better than a Tacoma. A minivan in college is perfect.

That being said, once I was out of college and in industry, I had $$$ to buy decent tires, a locking tonneau cover, and a lift, plus all my co-workers wanted to go hiking/camping, I got invited to all the camp trips since I can haul firewood, bring the climbing matts and pads, get to the bouldering locations, etc.

I say in college, spend $8k on a decent minivan, and put the rest towards his education. Out of college and in a secure job, revisit looking at getting a truck.

 

Looking at lots of options and too many details to go into here (obviously). The question came up about which was better at same price: an older one with less miles or a newer one with lotsa miles? I figured I'd ask "the experts". Who knew I would learn so much more?

 

Haha.. yes we at TW love to get off topic. How have you been able to raise your son without us?! : )

Low miles and well maintained.

I've paid more than double market rates for low mileage old cars because you know what you're getting. The downside is that if someone totals my garage-queen 1st gen Toyota Sienna then the insurance company is going to stroke a check for 1/3rd of what I paid.

 

I'm gonna leave this here....

 

This 1000%

get a 1998 Toyota truck and let him beat the sh*t out of it, fix it, repairs, etc. Can probably get one for a few thousand. Then when he’s ready after high school. Buy a newer Tacoma.

 

.......not just that but if the minivans a rockin’ don’t come a knocking’

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/d/manomet-2012-toyota-tacoma-pick-up/7232234271.html

not sure what cab but looks like might be access.

 

Prior to covid you could probably find a newer 2nd gen with average miles for a good price. They’ve sort of inflated a couple thousand since beginning of the year across the board.

I had a 3rd gen 4Runner in high school and into college, then drove my dads 1st gen Taco as we shuffled cars around, then ended up in a 2nd gen. I think your doing right to pick a reliably Toyota. Now contrary to some of what’s been posted, my parents philosophy was I didn’t need to worry about some beat up pos breaking down on me instead of getting school work done and making good grades. In high school it’s one thing to have free time to repair said pos, in college that shits for the birds. And there really isn’t any place to work on it at college.

 

We picked up this one for my boy for $7k. Don’t have to worry about him loading it full of people with bad ideas. 2003 180k miles

 

That’s awesome he has that much saved but I second this. I picked up my 05 T4R 4.7 limited 4wd, 1 owner, 136k for $6k. It’s rides great and you can find them for 6-10k.

 

Tacoma's hold their value and your son will benefit from having a reliable truck & transportation for those college adventures.

If you spend the coin ($) your son can use the Tacoma to sell off after he graduates.....To buy his 1st home and for a down on a 2025 Tacoma Pro !

*** 5 year college plan is the BEST ***

fun fun .....then real life kicks in Amigo !