I am going to TX soon and would like to buy a truck and drive it back. OH winters are not kind to sheetmetal. Will be in San Antonio, San Angelo and Fredricksburg. Been looking on Craigslist, any other websites or dealers to check? Looking for 01-03 F250 or 350. Must be 7.3 diesel, crew cab lariat, SRW. Color not real important, nor is long or short bed.

 

Take a look in Houston or Dallas/Ft. Worth; prices are cheaper than Austin and comparable (sometimes) to San Antonio. I had good luck in Houston.

 

Check Grande Ford in San antonio, That is where I bought mine and got a good deal.

 

You might want to check Ebay also. You might find one on there. I have seen quite a few listings for trucks in Texas. Good luck.

 

Bought mine off ebay and found it in san antonio.

 

your going to pay a premium for the 7.3 in most instances. there are alot of dealers all over san antonio. i would hunt craigslist, yahoo, car trader, ebay etc... and drive the **** out of any canidate to make sure you cant make a issue show up before your 300miles away and stranded

 

I'm in Ohio and did exactly what you are wanting to do, and for the same reasons. I found mine on ebay via Texas Direct Auto. Everything went off without a hitch and I can tell you that they are not some fleabag mom & pop operation.

 

Try northtexastruckstop.com

 

be careful on the Texas Direct Auto in Houston. another user has reported that he ended up with what appears to be a flood damaged vehicle, altho he checked CarFax, and the OASIS reports.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post9582692

Most deals seemed to have been pretty good, and I looked there when shopping for my dually..

Sam

 

I agree, those guys have a top-notch operation, and I was amazed the first time I saw the place and how they operate.
Another place I've purchased form in the past was here:
http://stores.ebay.com/Trucks-in-Texas
They're in San Antonio, and also have a decent operation.
JL

 

Sam, this is not specific to any one dealer-Texas Direct, like any other dealer, purchases from auctions, etc, and will provide the potential buyer with a complete Carfax, etc at NO charge before you make the deal. If it's not in the Carfax, or other records, even they have no idea what "might" have happened to a particular vehicle.
This is part of the risk of buying used. Caveat Emptor.
JL

 

If you cant find any in Texas (which i dont see happening) Arizona is a Another Great place to pick up vehicles rust free.

 

Agreed. I flew into Houston fully prepared to walk away from the deal if I didn't like what I saw. I asked very specific questions ahead of time but there is no replacement for seeing something in person. I went over the truck with a fine tooth comb when I got there, looking for body work, repaints, replaced parts etc. and couldn't find anything amiss. The one item I thought did not work actually did. Operator error on my part but in any case it wasn't a deal killer for me. The truck was in better condition than I expected and actually had a few additional unadvertised options (like a Line-X'd bed) that would have cost me more money after the fact.

I feel for that fella over in the other thread, but the only thing I can say there is don't always believe everything a dealer tells you. The seats may have simply been replaced with aftermarket by a PO, which were removed and then subsequently replaced with something else when the truck was sold. I can't imagine a significant flood repair being done without it being documented somewhere. Even it was a stupidity related accident such as Billy-Bob Dumbnuts out for a day of wheeling gone wrong, a truck of that year and condition would have surely been covered by insurance and repaired by insurance, most likely at a dealership. I'm sure there's a story there somewhere but odds are it will never be known.

 

understood.. just relaying that one should take time to examine carefully, including some less often inspected areas.. carpet, etc..

Sam

 

Absolutely. NEVER take anything for granted.
JL