I'm considering purchasing this truck with 129,000 miles on it. It has a 5 speed, AC, runs fantastic, and is owned by a nice man who used it to tow a 5th wheel south for the winter. No rust, but the paint is faded a lot. I was thinking of jumping on it for his $4000 asking price, then I looked up the private party Kelly Blue Book price and it is a lot lower than that, even if I'm being generous about its condition. The book price is about $2200. That seems really low for this truck that I expect will last many more years. I won't go into the details, but mechanically the truck is excellent for the miles.

 

i just did a check on mine (1991 f250 7.3L xlt w/55k miles)
kelly private party value is: $4130
it's a matter of what you want to pay. i bought mine from my father in law 2 years ago. he was asking 8000. but let me have it for 4000. of course, mine has really low miles, but when taken care of, these trucks will run a long time.
i'd show him the print out from kelly blue book and ask him what his rock bottom price is. also, having CASH in hand makes the offer more tempting.
good luck.

 

at the price he wants it is not very far out of line.it costs more then 4k just for the motor .seems resonable

 

I just bought an '89 from my neighbor with 160k on it and paid $3500. A friend of mine who owns a diesel shop said if I decided I didn't like it, he'd put it in front of his shop and could get $4000 easy.

I'm sure you've seen all the threads on cavitation. Ask the seller if it's been maintained for this. If he doesn't know what you're talking about, maybe you can use this as a bargaining tool to get a lower price if you still think you want to buy it.

 

As a point of reference, I paid $3200 for an '88 F250 with 184K on the clock. It sounds like it was exactly as the truck you described except mine is a 4x4. $4000 seems a tick high, but there is no way you're gonna find a comparable truck for $2200.

If it were me, I'd try to maybe get him down a couple hundred, but $4000 isn't that bad either. The guy I bought mine from originally wanted $4000, but I let him sit on it for a few weeks. After that he lowered the price to $3500 and he took $3200 when I offered it.

Hope this helps.

 

I just bought an 86 6.9 with 137k on it. Had newer canopy and paint is faded. Cosmetically its fair, mechanically it looked great. This guy had miles and dates written on fuel and oil filters, newer c-6 trans, new rear tires. He was asking $3750.00, I said $2700.00 is all I could scrap together, handed him 27 $100.00 dollar bills, he said let me get the keys to your truck. Good luck.

 

there can be a 20% difference between the kelly blue book and the NADA bluebook.kelly is always higher. dealers use both books and usethem to their advantage. ha

 

Showing up with cash in hand is always persuasive!

 

i agree entirely. it makes an impression with me.

 

Update: I really would love a truck with a super or crew cab and trucks seem to be plentiful and cheap with the rising gas prices. So, I've been dragging my feet on this one. It is never far from my mind. I drove past it the other day and it has been removed from the road and is on the side of the guy's driveway, like he's not going to get too excited about selling it yet. I expect he didn't have a lot of interest from potential buyers. On the plus side, I've done quite a bit of research and this is an excellent truck. I could always get most of my money back out of it when I sell it. Maybe I'll make a lowball offer, like $3200 cash.

 

I'd sure as hell pay 4000 for that truck, but like others have said you can probably talk him down a bit. I'm looking for a early 90's 250 with the 7.3. I have lost faith in the value of book prices. I find them to be almost always off. Hope you can snag it!