Hi, I am Stephen and I am a retired veteran. Since I have retired, I have really tried to give back to my veteran community. One way to do that was with my big truck and my love for the outdoors. I have volunteered with a lot of non-profits that centered around those exact things. I transported individuals to hunting, fishing, and camping trips. I hauled equipment to events for them so that they could provide for the veterans they were helping. In doing this, it took a real toll on my truck. I put over 250,000 miles on it, it was broken into in order to steal gear, and even shattered the back glass to my camper in doing so.

I saved during this entire time because I knew the maintenance that was going to be needed and it would not come cheap. I left the camper glass be because it wasn't an emergency.

I took that money ($5000.00) with several parts I had acquired to a mechanic that had worked on my truck many times. I knew I needed a top-end gasket replacement because of the amount of oil it was leaking, especially the valve covers and upper oil. I knew I needed a new drive link and pitman arm. My transmission started slamming gears, so I knew I at least needed either a shift solenoid, software update, or a new valve body.

I took the parts and $5000 cash to him and set up a date for when I got back from my trip.

Now, this is a guy that I have gotten to know over a few years. He claimed to be a veteran that had served in the 82nd Airborne as I had. He told the right stories and everyone around the shop were good people.

Long story short, he closed the shop. I found out he was never in the military and he had pulled this crap in another state before. I was out the parts and the money.

I live on a budget. My wife and I live paycheck to paycheck and we save when we can, but this hit hard. $5000 might as well be $50,000 at this point.

My truck is getting worse and I just want to get it fixed.