fix old or save for new?

[kx250frider617]

Im in a dilemma where I can't decide if I should fix up my current truck or save for a newer one later down the road. A lil background about myself. I am 22, currently in school studying Fire Technology and will be in the Academy within the next year or two. I make an honest student income as a Valet. Nothing worth bragging about!

My truck right now is a 2003 Dodge ram 1500 hemi 4x4. To fix it up, I need a paint job, tires, ball joints, cv axles and a few little things. I came up with a sum of $5k to fix it up. To pay for it, I would get a personal loan or a line of credit. I know its bad to borrow money for that but I want to use it more to build credit and be able to keep my money. The truck has 130k miles and is worth about $8-9k on KBB. I feel it is mechanically sound. I have replaced the rear end with a TRU TRAC and have done a few other things. Is it worth dropping another $5k to make it last until I can afford the truck I really want after I start my career?

My second option is to just run the truck into the ground and sell/ trade it in for a 2010-2012 ram 1500 2wd truck. I would only want to spend $20k on it then add the lift, tires, etc. I would be completely satisfied with this truck however, my dream truck is a 2500 cummins diesel.

Im leaning towards fixing the truck up but the thought of spending $5k on a truck that is worth only $8k makes me nervous. I know most of you have gone through various cars and have probably been in the same situation at some point. What are your opinions?

[kx250frider617]

Here's the truck before the paint started turning to s**t.


List of parts I would get:
LMC-TRUCK: tail gate, rear bumper, black headlights, dash cap.
MOOG: ball joints
SUMMIT RACING: wheel bearings
NITTO terra grappler 305/70r17 tires

Paint job!!! looking to spend $3k for black.

[NICKYPOO]

Personally, I'm for keeping things running. The only reason I have the truck I have now is the fact that I totalled my 2500 Suburban. I had just put a new 454 it four weeks prior. I just dumped about 8k into my '04 Duramax. It runs and drives like new again, if not better. All the bugs are out and it does exactly what I need it to do. Ya, it was a chunk of change but, its good for another 100k at least. I'm also very sceptical of used cars & trucks. Too many unknows for me. Therefore, I think you should keep it until you can get that Cummins.

[Joeprunc]

If you need to take a line of credit out for cosmetics I would say don't do it. Fix the items that make it work, and save the $$ for your dream truck. If you get into LA fire your will be able to easily make truck payments on the truck of your choice (and their credit union offers some of the lowest interest rates).

Get tires, wheel bearings, and tie rods. The rest can wait if you have to take a line of credit out. And do your research, I'm not sure if a personal loan or LOC will help with your credit score. I pay off my two credit cards every month in full. When I went to purchase a home my credit score was 790 (and that was the first loan I had ever taken out).