I've been perusing this site for some time but this is my first actual post.

My father in law recently bought a 2004 F350 Supercab long bed 4x4 V10 3.73 gears at an auction with 385,000 miles on it. Before the auction it was owned it's entire life by an excavation company in New Mexico and all maintenance was documented. Everything appears to work perfectly and it is not burning any oil.

My wife and I have two kids and plan to have more. Currently I have a regular cab 2.4l Tacoma 2x4 and though I love the little truck it can't tow hardly anything, we can't go anywhere with the family in it, (and minivans can't get into the woods) and it is absolutely awful in the snow.

In addition to regularly hauling firewood we will be moving to eastern Idaho next year from Arizona and will be hauling a much bigger trailer than the Toyota can tow. We will be moving several more times within the next few years and are leaning towards getting a bigger truck over paying $1100 a trip for a uhaul.

We will likely be able to get the truck for between $4500 and $5500. Given the mileage would that be a good buy and considering its condition how long would you trust it for?

I understand that fuel mileage is somewhat poor for these engines but we want something that can haul anything we throw at it when it's needed.

 

My opinio

if I bought an f-350 with half a million miles on it for 5k, I would consider it a project truck.

I would not put my freinds or family in it for fear of embaresment during the stranded on road side senerios.

I currently have a 2008 f-350 v-10 CC LB 4.1 rear that currently has 57K miles and based on what I have been reading on various forums will be unloading it around the 75K mile point. I'm sure it will still be a good truck, but i would rather have worry free driving.

 

If you decide to unload yours at 75k miles then be prepared for the line of people willing to buy it . Forums are where people go to ask for help with problems, not to check in and let us know they had another worry free day of driving their truck. Plenty of these mod motors reach half a million miles with no issues, which is more than I can say for any diesel in the last 15 years.

As for the OP, it depends on how the truck was driven or used. Excavating crew that drove it like they stole it, beat it to death, left it idling all day, etc. Or a family owned place that treated it right because they had to pay to maintain it? Body, paint, interior in good shape or look heavily abused? Without pics it's hard to say if that price is good or not.

 

can you tell how many hours are on it with a scanner?

i ask as an addendum to what Josh was saying. Our work truck might only have 120k on them when they go to the auction, but in that time they may have almost 7,000 hours on them. sometimes miles isn't everything.

i work with contractors for a living, and i can tell you they don't buy a v10 unless they need it. the truck might have been maintained very well, but it was also used for something a v8 or a half ton wouln't do -- otherwise they would have bought something cheaper to operate.

i'd be fine to buy somethign like that as a backup or a dedicated workhorse, but a family truckster ... not so much.

JMO.

 

Yes, but it will be traded in like the last f-250 I had when it hit 90K miles and I weighted the cost of the ticky tick phasors, manifold leak that could lead to head issues and the question of dealing with the approaching spark plug change, rattle tat tat tinny sound in the tranny, etc. I learned from the forums that the dice would not roll in my favor and rather than sinking money into the project....trade it in to the dealer and got more than what I paid for it.


So yes, forums are helpful in making these kinds of decisions....main thing is to take thee conservative risk taker approach and assume your pending repair will go bad and the worst case senerio will be your testimoniy. learn from the mistakes of others, etc.

 

Too much $$$ for the miles IMO.

 

I bought my sd with 15k miles on it because it was exaexactly what I was looking for, but I usually don't even buy a vehicle until it has over 100k miles on it. As long as it has been taken care of it will still have plenty of life left after that. My van is at 150k and my bronco is at 250k and I wouldn't care to drive across country in either one of them. Different strokes for different folks though. Nothing wrong with either way

 

Thanks for the advice, we will have to look into scanning for the hours. The body is in great shape for the most part and the interior is great as well. I may be weird but I appreciate the manual windows and seats. I just wish it had a manual transmission.

If 5,000 is too high what would be a good price? If this truck doesn't work out we may go to some RB Auctions in search of another one.

We have another vehicle for the family so we won't be taking any long trips in it by it self with the kids and it's main purpose will be towing, hauling, and the occasional snow storm (it has the FX4 package). The trailer brake controller and exhaust brake are already installed which I see as a plus.

 

The only way I would trust a truck with that many miles on it is if I were the one to put them on...
Exhaust brake on a gasser? That's a new one on me...

Let your father in law keep that one and go looking for a diesel if you want it to take whatever you throw at it...

 

I saw a 2002 f350 v10triton superduty supercab long bed dually with 220,000 miles for $4000 and I passed that up, these trucks are at these miles more problems then they're worth, search for a diesel it'll be a few extra thousand maybe 6-7k for a 2000 diesel with 150k miles and it'll cost you a lot less in the long run and last much longer engine life wise.

 

That many miles the engine isn't the issue it is everything else and I mean EVERYTHING. That truck is all but wore out. The little things that will need to be replaced will start to add up to a nice monthly payment on a much newer much lower mileage vehicle.

 

Totally agree. I drive a lot of miles per year...30,000+ and although I've got almost 300K on one of my vehicles, the mileage was mine from Day 1...as was all the maintenance performed. You "may" end up with a real jewel, but conservatively speaking, I'd steer clear if they were someone else's miles.

And as another noted earlier, I've never heard of an exhaust brake on a V10 gasoline engine. By their very nature, they have compression braking when letting off the accelerator. No exhaust brake required.

Good luck in your decision...!