I have had this 2009 F350 Diesel truck a little over a year and it has taken LOTS of repairs. I have decided to sell it and get out while I can. But it needs yet another repair. The fuel recycle pump is making noise and will cost $640 to fix. The noise is very noticeable at idle when the truck is warm. It sounds like a rhythmic whistle and can be heard inside the cab.
Will the resale value be more than $600 lower due to the noise?
We will likely trade it to a dealer but if it makes a difference, we could private sell.
Your opinions?

 

I’d fix it and show the prospective buyer the repair receipt. You’ll make a good impression that you take care of the truck and when a repair need has arisen you fixed it promptly.

— Dave

 

You need to fix it,If you dont the dealer is going to give you the side eye if your trying to trade it in and it will effect what they will give you for it. Now what the salesman tells you he can get your for it and what the sales manager says they will give you can be too different things, the sales guy will tell you whatever you want to hear but the sales manager is the one who will give you a number, trick is getting a number you can live with especially if your moving up to a different vehicle, becuase the dealer enver wants to give you more than they have to.

So You have three options trade in, selling it privately, send it to the auction.

How your truck runs, what it looks like, how many miles it has is going to be a big factor at the dealer, now the dealer is going to want this as cheap as possible and depending on the condition and mileage they will either take the trade and sell it or they will send it to the auction. Your challenge will be can you get enough from the dealer to make trading it worth while.

Selling it privately might net you more money than trading it at the dealer, but it once again is going to depend on the condition, how it runs and the mileage, then it will be the trick of looking at what the market is for trucks like it and what they are going for with similar mileage etc like yours and then the challenge of how quick will it sell and how fast your want to get rid off it.

Sending it to the auction you want the truck running the best it can and looking as good as it can to entice buyers. Now could you get what you want for it. That all depends on what auction it goes to and what they are routinely selling them at. You could put a reserve on it or just a sell order but with a reserve you have to hope it is priced right to sell and that a buyer meets your reserve, with a sell order it goes for whatever it sells for. The only thing with the auction is you have what ever their book in fees are and then the commission they take once it sells and depending on the auction how mnay days it takes them to cut you the cheque for your end.

 

Thank you. I guess I'll fix it. That is what my gut told me anyway.

 

I believe your making the best decision because as it is the dealer never wants to give you what you want for the truck they always want to get you to take the least that they can, and having the truck not running well isnt going to help you, but if it sounds good and runs well that will be better for you than if it didnt.

Just remember that their initial offers are going to be low, so dont exactly take their word that it is the best they can do. When you look at the numbers for a new or used truck and the price they will sell it to your for and what they will give you for your trade, dont be afraid to tell the numbers arent where your comfortable with and say you have got to go home and crunch some numbers and think about things. Do that, dont be all worried that your going to lose out, they want to make a deal but it's always at their numbers and believe me they have wiggle room even though your never going to hear that. I can guarantee you that you will get a call within the next day from them to see if you thought about it, or what they can do to get you in that truck or car or whatever. The important thing is to get a number for your truck that you can live with.

 

If you are going to trade it in to a dealer then forget about fixing it. Anything that old any dealer around here would just wholesale it out.... Now if your going to try and sell it yourself then yes you should get it fixed...

 

This. Never fix a car you're going to trade in if its more than 3-5 yrs old or over 100K miles. Unless there's major, obvious damage or mechanical issues, they're just going to go off wholesale book value. My mother spent almost $700 putting tires and doing minor body work to trade her car in, after I told her not to, thinking she'd get more for it. They gave her $1200 for it. Already knowing the answer, in front of my mother I asked the salesman if it had bald tires and rot holes, how much would she have got, he said $1200, didn't matter the condition. So she essentially threw $700 down the drain.

If you're going to private sale it, it's up to you. I'd just advertise it at a grand under book and let the new owner deal with it. Personally, I'd rather pay a little less and fix it myself then pay full price and question what repairs were done, but I'm kinda OCD about repairs on my vehicles.

 

Well, for good or ill, I am having the truck fixed. I hope that was the right decision but it is too late now.

One more question. It is rigged with a $2500-$3000 fifth wheel hitch. If I remove it I leave 4 holes in the bed (can be covered by bed mat).
If I leave it I reduce the potential buyers of the truck to a much smaller crowd.

So again, leave it in or take it out?

The new truck I will buy will need this same hitch installed so I imagine my best bet is to remove it. Unless for some reason the truck has value with the hitch in it.

 

youre not gonna get a penny more for it with any extras. take off any bolt ons that you might want for the next truck, or to sell outright and recoup some of your $. if it fits your new truck, you just saved a couple grand