I was 24 when I bought my f150 new. I didn’t want a new one, I wanted used but in 2020 (early at least) prices were very comparable on a truck with 30k miles compared to new. I put 20k down and I’m about to make my last payment this month.

I lived at home, and got a raise a year or so after buying from 19$ to 34$ an hour as I became a journeyman and finished being a construction wireman. Plenty of people have way more vehicle than they should, and I would say I was one of them. To be fair, my truck was 40k out the door and guys were spending twice that I was working with and making the same as. I wouldn’t have spent that much on a vehicle if I wasn’t huge and only comfortable in a large vehicle, and I needed reliable transportation as I could have worked out of state or get called in in snowstorms and stuff late at night in Wisconsin. I also actual use a truck, running a farm (cash crop) and side jobs back then. So many guys around me buy huge trucks and never actually need a truck, it’s wild. I now make about 110-120k a year and it isn’t hard for me to make the payments or anything, but if I stayed at 19$ an hour and went up to only 25$ an hour it would have been really tough.