If you decide to get rid of your truck, I'd sell it to a private party. Consider offering your used rig at $100 less than low book (retail). That price will catch the eye of a person looking for a good used rig. The dealer will offer you way less than what its actually worth so they can turn around and make some quick money on it (note brannon1's comment above). I don't think it matters much if you live in a big city or small town. The only real difference is how many prospective buyers you have in given radius.

Case in point. Just bought an 05 S Crew. Asked the dealer what they would give me for my beater....they say $500. No big deal to me, since I have gotten my moneys worth out of the beater and $500 was probably fair. However, the beater is in great shape and has been very well maintained. I sold my beater to a private party after one day of listing it on Craig's List in Seattle for $2,450. High book was $3,500 & low book was $2,500. Sold it to the first person who showed up to take a look at it. I received 75 emails from interested buyers and set 5 appointments for a test drive.

Fact is, the dealer makes good money off of people that don't want to mess selling their used rig.

Shawn

 

Ahh, I see, so the build date is Oct 2004?

That certainly helps to lower the milage deduction some, but I'm gonna have to say that your best bet is still to sell it out-right.

Keep in mind that this could take quite a bit of time, and you could be with out a truck for a very long time if you decide to park the truck on a consignment lot.

 

I may be a rare case, but I just purcahsed an '04 F150 with 6,000 miles on it... that isn't the point though.

I actually searched the classifieds for about six months before finding the truck and the deal I was looking for. I knew every dealer and classified site and what was added daily. Anyone that is doing this is going to know your asking price is below retail and I would think you will get a deal done within a reasonable amount of time.

I would love to have purchased from a private party personally. Namely because you only pay half of the tax here in Ontario.

I would definatley advertise a few months ahead of the "must sell" date if you have to sell...

Honestly though, I like the idea of the cheap grocery getter for the kid and your wife if she doesn't already have a vehicle.

I have a 94 Accord as well, with 380,000 kilometeres on it (237,000 miles), loaded with all the options (including rust, lol), I bought it for around 3,000 about 110,000km ago.

It is amazing, my wife loves it and when the kid gets here, we are good to go...

And I just bought a new (used) F150

And when this accord is done? I will buy another high miles one to run into the ground... they are amazing cars and roomy enough for anyone under 6-5 to drive, Im 6-3 and enjoy driving it, if I HAVE to drive a car.

 

i was offered $15000.00 on a trade from a chevy dealership. it was over the phone, so i just hung up on him.

i like my truck. so, i have decided that i'm going to try to trade with the ford dealership that i purchased it from. i just want a 2004 or 2005 with roughly the same amount of miles in a crew cab model. don't really have a use for the 4x4.
2WD XLT or Lariat Crew w/25000 miles. A truck such as that should be very close to the actual market value of my truck.

 

I bought my 2004 regular cab short bed XLT 4X4 with almost all available options in October 2004. It stickered for $31,000+ but after rebates and negotiations I paid $22,549 new. NADA, KBB & Edmunds had it retailing at arouind $27,000 at the time I bought it. The actual selling prices and books are out of sync. due to rebates, gas prices and other factors.

 

I purchased my 04, FX4 in Dec of 2003 5.5 bed, pretty well equipped and stickered @ 31K. I returned to the dealer in Dec of 2005...looking to trade for a comparable 2006 model with a sticker of approx 32K. Mt 04 had 41000 miles and was in EX condition...no scratches or dings, no accidents or repairs...only routine maintanance.
The best trade off er I could get was $14250.
Ive owned Ford PU's since 1977....NEVER had one show THAT much depreciation......
This will be my LAST Ford!

 

Well where does that offer compare to KBB or similar benchmarks? Many people do not realize what is going on in the auto industry, and its major impact on residuals. When you say stickered, you are talking MSRP? Have you compared similar builds for the other truck manufacturers to see if they also took hits like your Ford? I would be willing to bet they did. I will refer back to my first post I made in this thread.