Hey guys. Im looking at a 2003 Ford F350 6.0 from a dealership near me. Ive bought from this dealership before and its a ford dealer. They had a guy turn in this truck and purchase a brand new one. Here are the details

2003 F350 6.0 Lariat
Interior is perfect
113,000 miles
no mods
not bulletproofed
4 owners ( last owner had it like 6 years )
Pretty good maintenance records on the car fax. Didn't see any major fixes done. At least not in the dealership



I got them down to $15,000 out the door after title, tax, plates. Im just nervous because Ive never owned a 6.0.. Ive read nightmare things about them but one of my best friend has owned a bunch of them and loves them.

Im curious if you would buy the truck for that and if its never been modded, does that take away a lot of the issues with the 6.0? If down the road something did happen, how much does it cost to bulletproof the truck? Its got low miles but thats not always a good thing either. Any thoughts or direction would help greatly. Thanks!

 

Trade in value on a crew cab 8 ft is between 8 and 10 and that's more than a short bed or super cab , so they are gonna make 5 grand on you at that price.

 

I wouldn't even consider a 6.0 unless you test drive it with a pressure gauge T'd into the small hose from radiator to degas bottle & TorquePro with a Bluetooth obd2 adapter.

You'll want to do extensive reading on the 6.0 section if you are considering purchasing one. A headgasket & oil cooler job with all the updated parts while you're in there runs around 6-8k or more for a dealer to do it.

Low miles & 4 owners could mean that there's an issue with it that nobody wanted to fix. The 03 6.0s have a weak HPOP pump & the ford remans are garbage, so if it goes bad an adrenaline hpop is $1k.

 

That truck is getting to the "normal" mileage for a HPOP, as Bumblebee04 said the OEM pumps have a very bad rep, the Adrenaline at $1K for just the pump is the only way to go. If you can do your own repairs I would consider that truck a possible but I do think the price is too high. If you can't do your own repairs then you need to figure the possibility of eventually having to invest a lot of money in repair, anything between $2K to $10K and possibly more, you can get a fair idea by scanning live data from the OBD port and checking coolant pressure but unless you have a working crystal ball you will not know if and when you will have trouble. I have seen some '03's and '04's go to over 350000 miles in heavy tow hotshot service and other than the already mentioned HPOP never have any other problem, I have also seen them that never towed or hauled anything blow head gaskets and crack heads before ever hitting 100K. I like the 6.0, if you understand it and can fix it your self they can be a very good option, but like any of the newer diesels they are/can be expensive to maintain and repair.

 

Not true. I traded my 04. 350 cclb 4x4. 6.0 with 126k last September and dealer gave me $13500. Two days later advertised for 16995. Sold three days after that. Although it was kind of rate being a lariat 6 speed manual.

 

Do you need a diesel? I came out of a 2006 bulletproofed 6.0 to get into a 6.2 gas a year and a half ago because I was sick and tired of my 6.0 nickel and diming me to death. I can still tow everything I need to tow at less mpg's of course but none of the headaches. It was a great truck but at 140k miles I was spending more and more to keep it going. Don't get me wrong it's a great motor but you'll need to learn to turn wrenches if your gonna own one.

 

That may have been the # they wrote on paper, but in reality it's not what you got for the truck. You can ride in on a flat-tired unicycle and the very first question will be "Are you going to be trading in your unicycle?". If the answer is "yes", all deals will be done using the price written on the window as the starting point. If the answer is "no", expect to be able to get that # down a bit (my experience has shown me that it's usually 5-10%).


I bought a new SD back in '08. Of course, they asked first thing, was I going to trade in my Dodge that I was driving. I told them "no", and that I already had it sold to my second cousins, step-dad's, neighbor's, maid's, brother-in-law's, boss's nephew. After we had settled on a deal, I said "What the heck, shoot me a trade-in price on my Dodge." They ended up offering $1200, and the salesman actually told me that they could have given me more, had they not discounted the price up front. So, the bottom line would have been the same, just the other #s would have been on different lines.


Of course, I kept the Dodge and sold it later for $4500.


I hate dealing with car dealers and I'm sure they hate dealing with me. I take as many bullets out of their guns as I can. In my 59 years, I have never traded in a vehicle. I haven't financed one in over 30 years, and I never buy an extended warranty. There's not many #s left to run around in circles to confuse me with. On my last truck, it was a long-distance deal. Everything was done by text and e-mail. That made it very easy to catch them when they tried to slip in an extra $600.


BTW, my wife worked in sales for a while and was quite good at it, but gave it up because she wasn't comfortable doing the slimy things that were expected of her.


Sorry for the rant, but the car business really pushes my buttons...

 

This question is asked all the time across this forum and the other diesel sites. A simple "should I buy a 6.0 powerstroke" google search will fill your day with reading. Here is a link from this section a few weeks ago:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-6-0-post.html

If you are buying this truck to rely on daily, I would have a back up vehicle of some sort available. Don't buy a 6.0 or 6.4 unless you don't mind spending some time and money on them to keep them on the road.

Do you need the 6.0? If you pay 15k, and spend another 5k in the near future going through it you're at 20k. At 20k, you can find a 2011+ 6.2 and have zero worries.