I live in northern Indiana where the salt has destroyed my 2003 F-150 (single cab, fwd, 4.6l v8). Rocker panels rusted out, bumper rusted out, etc. I only have 104,000 miles on the truck, and my mechanic services it regularly, but the rust is just getting worse. Engine and transmission run fine, but I need a new front end ($1200) and the frame has a lot of rattle. My mechanic said the frame is still fine and that the truck is cleaner than any other truck of that age he has seen.

I came across a 2012 Tundra TRD Pro (double cab, 6.5 bed, 4.6v8, 4wd) that a dealership is selling wholesale. 182,000 miles, seems to run well (drives much better than my 2003 F150), has almost no rust, but it has cosmetic damage. It looks like they backed it into something. They want $12,900 for it.  Without looking at it, my mechanic steered me away from it because the mileage is high and he said things will start breaking and Tundra's are expensive to repair. However, I like these older trucks that actually have knobs (I hate the new digital everything).

I don't really want to spend $25,000 or more for a lower mileage Tundra. I would rather just buy a new lower end model. I have had my F150 for 19 years, so I tend to keep a truck for a long time.

I could try to get the rust repaired on my 2003 F-150 truck, but that would probably be another $2000-5000.  And most places don't want to do rust repair. I do like my F-150 if I could just get the rust problem taken care of and the suspension worked on, I am fine keeping it.

With the price of trucks these days, is it better just to try and fix my old rust bucket F150? Buy the high mileage Tundra? Or buy a new truck?  I drive about 5500 miles a year.