How to know if a vehicle is worth putting money into?
I bought a 2005 Ford Ranger 4x4 5 speed and it is mechanically sound except for the timing chain rattle.
The underside truck is rusty due to being in the North for 13 years of its life. I want to get rid of as much rust as possible to paint and protect the frame, but I don't know if this truck is worth putting money into.
Any tips to decide if it is worth it? Or should I look into buying a new truck?
Only an engineers inspection can tell you that, if the frame is rusty it may be so rusty that it isn't worth anything
First check how much the timing chains ( there's 3 of them on the 4.0) are to replace.
If a chain fails, the motor's junk, and the noise/rattle is warning you.
Make sure you're sitting down when they give you the price.
Then make your decision on a purchase and body work.
New truck is by far the best idea.
Trying to decide if it's worth the money to invest in repairing a car is simple.
If the cost to repair the truck is more than the value of the truck after the repairs are done than you're throwing money away. When you decide to repair a vehicle you are "adding value" to the vehicle by making the necessary improvements. If the cost of these improvements doesn't increase the value of the car above and beyond the money you've spent on the truck than you haven't added any value and you're wasting money on a project that you will eventually lose money on.
At that point it's best to replace rather than repair the old truck.
In other words if it costs you $3000 to repair the rust and repaint the truck but the value of the truck after those repairs is still less then $3000 you just wasted your money.
If you buy a car for 10k and you have to pay more then 10k to replace it then its a money pit. Its a 13 year old car anyway. If you can afford to replace it I suggest you do so
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