Price might reflect panic at the pump. People are great at making long term decisions on short term problems....

Polarbear is right in everything he posted on this, even though he quoted himself...

Carfax is great, wouldn't buy a car without one, but there are several ways to con them. I ain't explaining it in an open forum, but trust me, there are people making a living fooling carfax. (can tell you privately a couple things to look at, but I don't think they are evident here. Watch for Carfax cons on 3-10 year old low mileage trucks.)

Drive it, have a shop inspect it. Then, if you like it take it.
Chris

 

Yes, carfax is great; we used it on our last purchase - dreaded minibus.

I will not buy another vehicle that has been used in a "Lease" or "Rental" program. I was told that our 98 Bonneville came from Detroit and it was part of their Executive Program, "Leased" vehicle per Carfax. Too much to list, but the car had to be mechanically abused during the break-in time. I like to buy used vehicles about 1-2 years old, but knowing the original history and owner is a must.

I have not had a chance to drive the truck in question yet, but did stop by the local Ford Dealer to discuss my options. Amazingly the sales man was VERY aware of the F150 vibration issues - with very little prompting from me - scary. He reported that there have been several vehicles that have come through their shop that have been nearly impossible to resolve the vibration issue. Tire changes, vibration dampeners, you name it, they’ve tried them all. I also thought that the F250 was out of my price range, but it appears that I can pick up a 2004 for about the same price as the 2004 F150 (crew cab, 4x4 for both). It appears that Ford made some significant changes in the 2005 F250, coil over front springs versus leaf springs, which may result in the lower '04 F250 used price tag - plus the massive rebates they were offering last fall.

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I know I'm starting to go deeper in this thread then originally intended, but I've been a long time Chevy man until my current Ford Explorer has treated me well and I just can't get over the new Chevy appearance. The F150 took me way off guard when introduced and I thought they had a winner all around. More later on my decision and more research on this site..... Awesome to have a resource like this website with actual experience reported.