Check if your spigot has a separate shutoff valve inside the house first. A lot of newer builds do and if you kill that plus drain the line, the outside part can't freeze no matter how cold it gets. Skipped the foam cover for years on mine and never had a problem once I started doing that.

Man, 400k is a hell of a milestone and I get exactly what you mean about it just being a checkpoint. When you take care of something and it takes care of you back, the numbers on the dash stop being scary and start being proof. My old Ranger crossed 300k a couple years back and I remember sitting in the driveway just staring at it, not because I was proud, but because it finally clicked that old doesn't mean broken. Your buddy's situation is rough, that $700 payment probably stings way worse than any repair bill you've ever had. Good for you for sticking with it, that truck is basically family now.