In a couple months my best friend is leaving the country for a few years. He's got an F250 Lariat that he cannot take with him but it's been such a great truck for him that he does not want to sell it. He has asked if he can leave it with me until he comes back and if I choose to do it he encourages me to drive it as much as I like. I don't really need two trucks in my yard, nor do I have room to park them both, so I am seriously considering helping him out and just trying to sell my truck. This would get rid of my truck payment, I could clean up all my other debt, and when he came back I would be in position to get a much newer truck if I choose. It would be strange not to have my Cummins truck but if I was to get my debts paid off and put myself in better position for the future I think it would be the smart choice. My truck is great but but I'm really not that attached to it and over the past year I have thought a couple times about selling it. If I do decide to do it somebody will be getting a great truck with very low mileage. It's only got 64,000 miles on it...

Anyways, I'm just thinking aloud here...

 

Your friend said to drive his truck, but does that mean rack up the miles on it? I'd be a little miffed if I was your friend, expecting you to occasionally drive the truck, only to come home and find 20 or 30 thousand more miles on it than when I left.

Maybe it doesn't matter to him, but you don't say in your post exactly what 'drive it as much as I like' means. It might be a quick way to lose a friend if you don't have it spelled out right from the get-go.

 

I have 2 friends that I would do that with and for. If he honestly does not mind you driving it daily then go for it. If it has a 6.0 in it the one thing he does not want to do is let it sit, they need to be driven.

Good luck either way.

 

He truly doesn't care but he also knows I'm not going to drive it everyday. Last time he left the country he left his 5.0 convertible Mustang with me for the same length of time. I probably only drove it ten times in the whole 3 years he was gone. I'm sure it would be the same with the truck. I'd only drive it if I really needed a truck. Otherwise I would be driving my Hooptie Ford Focus wagon....

It IS a 2005 with the 6.0l so Yes, he definitely does not want it to just sit for three years...

 

Bring it down to Casa Del Shovelhead.
Plently of room to park it........ 320 mile round trip once a week to 'keep the oil circulating'.

Tough decision, but you HAVE had your latest truck for awhile........ time for a change.

 

I'd make double darn sure that it is fully insured to a point that anything that happens would be then care of without question.

 

Valves in the 6.0 tend to seize in the head from sitting for long periods of time, then once you go to start it you launch the motor. You do need to drive it a few times per week, and get it hot, no short trip driving.

 

Something my Dad taught me;

"Never loan something you're not willing to lose, and Never borrow something that you can't or aren't willing to pay for"!

 

This guy is like a brother to me and is the ONLY person I would ever even lend my own truck to. I would add his truck to my full coverage insurance if I was to do this. Now, if something on the truck breaks then he would pay for it especially since I would hardly ever be driving it. If I do drive it then I would not be off-roading or anything. More like trips to Lowes or Home Depot for stuff that wouldn't fit in my car.
The whole point of this whole thread was really to say that I would probably be getting rid of the Cummins if I did this. Not to get a lesson in borrowing/lending stuff. I've been around the block and fully understand the pros and cons of that...

I DO appreciate the replies though.....

 

Road Trip!
Disconnect the speedo and have a blast while he is gone. J/K
You know what ya gotta do and if the opportunity is there to help you while it helps him...do it. You will always get to do a favor for someone else or even him.
Now, back to the Road Trip...head this way, lets test in on the lake here...ice is on but not very thick.

 

Bring it over here and I'll bury it till spring.

 

Good advice right there.

We let a 04 King Ranch sit for a little over a year and the turbo corroded and would not do the variable geometry thing. $3500 later its gets driven once a month. The Ford Mechanic said it shouldn't sit for more than a week!

Dad's neighbor had free use of our Jeep for a couple years when he was watching the place. Put over 40K miles on it! I was kinda surprised my dad didn't have a coronary, but said it was ok as long as he watched the place.

I'd get outta debt any way I could.