I spoke to a guy in Minot North Dakota about a 51 F5 Extra Cab flat bed he had for sale - he's a dealer and only wanted $1200 for the truck in running condition and (almost) no rust - certainly a lot less than I had on my F1 when I started. He sent me about 20 pics and a video of the truck running and driving.

He said he would ship the truck to me from Minot, North Dakota to San Diego, California - 1750 miles for $1100!

Moral of the story is it's better to buy an $8000 truck for $8000 just about anywhere and ship it for another $1000 than to spend $3000 too much for it locally because they are scarce! Caviate: Local sale you see what you are getting.

 

I don't mean to rub it in,but Dan is correct.Buying an Eastern rust-bucket will never save you one dime.With all the nice western vehicles, and FTE members who will be happy to do a little footwork, there's no reason to throw bad money after good.

Whether using a shipping company, or buying a 500.00 plane ticket and having a leisurely road-trip back home,you could be enjoying an already restored/refurbished truck immediately,instead of thinking about driving it "someday".Heck, there are still some members referring to their "project" - the same ones they were discussing when I joined this site in 2003.It all too often devolves from "I Have a Dream" to "I've lost interest and it's for sale" within a couple years, after trying to find funds to complete a project.

Not too subtle,but those are my thoughts on over-paying just because that's what is available locally.Really,I'm no hater - buy what you want.

 

I'm a bit confused because first you said you're interested in getting a 53-56 f100 and then it sounds like your trying to sell one, or did you paste an add that was on craigs list or something. At any rate I think $11,000 is far too much for the condition of that truck. I couldn't get anywhere near that for my 99.

 

I Live in Michigan and could not find what I wanted in the price range I wanted to spend. I bought my Truck out of Washington site on seen. It was a very scary process. I talked to the owner on the phone several times. He sent me pictures of everything I requested. Then I put a wanted ad on another forum I belong to asking if someone that lives in the area would be willing to go look it over and test Drive it for me and give me there unbiased opinion. In the end it worked out very well. I had the trucked shipped to me and haven't regretted a thing.

As far as what is that Truck worth? To me that's a choice only you could make. Most people want a Truck that looks as Good if not Better then when it rolled off the assembly line. Me personally I would love to have a Truck like the one you posted. It has great Patina look. But that's just my opinion.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

That brings up another point. Do you want a project or something finished? When I bought my 48 F-3 for $500 in 2002 I wanted a drivable truck AND a project. It took me 4 years to get the truck on the road but I enjoyed every minute of it. I drove it for 4 years after I got it drivable but really never finished it. Knowing that I would would want ANOTHER project about the time I got the F-3 running, I bought a drivable 49 F-1 for $3900 because I thought I wanted a stock truck. That changed, however, and so now I'm in the middle of another PROJECT!

Yay, let's hear it for projects! Here are both of my projects to give you some idea of what projects and finished trucks cost...

My $500 48 F-3:



...and my $3900 49 F-1 (sorry for the fuzzy picture):



Had to leave it outside the first winter because I had no place to store it inside...

 

Oh you're exactly right. As a matter of fact, I had one on ebay from California and let some sniper take it with 2 seconds to go (glad they did now). Had the transport quote and everything. That put a bad taste in my mouth right off the bat. I did shop nationally. I had people from California to Arizona to Washington state on the line at various times. I ended up buying my 50 in Georgia and hauling it back for much less than the California vehicles at the time. As far as your statement about using members of this forum as scouts, I totally agree NOW and would do it in a heartbeat with my next one, but there is no way I would have felt comfortable as a newbie to ask somebody to go look at a truck for me then. Call me naive, shy, or whatever. The plane ticket option was also considered, but I never found one to justify it.

 

Really,the wisest advice ever given me - and I have ignored it,to my disadvantage - is to buy the very cleanest example of the vehicle that you can afford,even waiting a year or two, and you'll be money and head-aches ahead.Let someone else put all the time and money into it and then they have to sell it at a loss.Because you WILL normally not make back your"investment", unless you pay yourself for the pleasure derived.

 

The pictures shown look like a truck you could buy here in Sac for about $4K. Keep shopping until you find a good deal. You'll feel very bad if you jump too soon and then the great deal comes along a week later.

The people that put that price on the truck may think it's worth more than it is. It is possible that the original owner passed away and the family is just trying to get as much as possible for the truck. Eventually, they will keep dropping the price until they find a buyer. I actually prefer that method to starting out with a selling price that is too low. Once somebody takes you up on your advertised price, it's very difficult to negotiate the price higher. Jag

 

I agree that you should shop around and buy the cleanest example you can find. You'll probably save money in the long run. However, I personally enjoy working on the truck myself rather than buying someone else's completed project. I don't expect to make money in the long run. It's a hobby. When some people question my approach I ask them how much they expect to make when they sell their golf clubs.

 

im definetly gonna shop around for awhile, might take awhile but as someone said its better to wait for the good deal than to go for the over priced one and have regrets...
to answer the question of project or complete, i love projects.
thanks again for the help guys