I currently drive a 2001 Dodge Ram, 1500, 2 wheel drive, 5.2L v8. It’s a salvage title and has over 150k miles on it. It’s leaking oil like crazy (1 quart per week) and has some other problems. I don’t have the cash up front to pay for all the repairs but am able to make a comfortable monthly payment. My dilemma is should I buy another used vehicle? People keep telling me I should buy a car because of how much I commute but with the highway speeds of 75 mph and the insane drivers, after driving nothing but trucks for 10 years, cars make me nervous.
But I am a single mom (4 doors are a must), I have 3 horses and a small horse trailer (need to be able to pull what I have and possibly something larger soon), and I’m commuting on average 60 miles per day (Safety first but mileage is a close second in my book).
My thought is I should look at a used diesel, something I can put a ton of miles on and will last for another 8 or 9 years. Ideas? Thoughts? Thanks!!
Some oil pan leaks are caused by loose oil pan bolts and there will be a lot of oil lost. Sometimes people don’t put things back on properly. Sometimes it takes two complete turns to get them finger tight.
Before I bought a car, the man told me a service station wanted $3,000 to “fix the oil leaks right”. They didn’t even check the job right. The oil pan bolts were almost ready to fall out. I tightened them and there were no more leaks. Hope you get lucky.
Don’t even glance at a diesel, fuel leaks are everywhere. How far away can oil leaks be?
Find your oil leak. You may be good to go. 150,000 isnt time to say goodbye. Do yourself a favor and crawl underneath and look for the leak…try to pinpoint it by looking for “wash” this were the oil is coming from. it will appear clean as thats where the oil is washing(leaking) Check it and get back here. Theses guys know what there stuff.
Some other problems… im sorry. i tend to engage mouth b4 brain. Can i ask what other problems
I think you should keep the truck and buy a small used compact. Bring out the truck when needed. If you don’t feel you can live with a car after a year, trade both for another truck.
You’re commuting 60 miles a day in a Ram 1500 5.2L V8? Dag had the best idea. If you can find an econobox that you’re comfortable in to commute with, you’ll probably save enough in gas to cover most of the payment, maybe even all of the payment.
Gas is pushing $3/gal (in NH), and climbing. Do you really want to keep commuting in that beast…or any beast big enough to pull a horse trailer?
If you can afford the insurance on 2 vehicles, this is the way to go.