I'm thinking about buying a 1984 F150 XLT 4x4 with the 5.8 HO engine. Gas mileage is not a concern. It has 150K on it, is clean as a whistle under the hood, no knocks, no ticks, AC works well, 4x4 works well, all new brakes, tires, coolant is clear, never wrecked, never off road other than light work duty, always garaged. Minor surface knicks, but chrome is flawless, drives well, minor drifting, no more than expected. From 30 feet, it looks brand new. Price is $3200. Seems high, but as I said, it's not a beater, it's been owned by one guy who has treated it perfectly. Anyone think it's a bad deal? Not mint, but a 4x4 that is presentable to wife's friends is a good deal no? Sorry no pics.

 

I've seen them go for quite a bit more in great condition. When I bought my 86, it was in great shape, just like you describe, and I paid $3600. So I'd say go for it if it's in that good of shape.

 

That would be hard to pass up. I'd jump on that one.

 

I'd try to get him down a few hundred, but then I always try that on a vechicle purchase. I think most people start at a price higher than they are willing to take. But hey, a vehicle is worth to them what the buyer and seller agree on. Go for it if it's what you want and your wife doesn't exercise VETO power.

 

I would say that was a fair price. Not being able to look at it is hard to judge however.

I had my 1981 F-150, 2wd, 300-I6, T-18- 4 speed. apraised a couple years ago at $3500. I was surprised to be honest. I only paid $2700 for it in 1991.

It is no where near mint either. Needs paint for starters and has minor "Parking lot" dents. Needs a seat cover etc...

Looks good at a distance though, 10 to 20 feet!

I try keeping her real clean though.

It is also a limited edition. "Explorer" and I had the pamplets to prove it at the time of apraisal.

What type of options it has etc...

All that stuff can factor in on how much it can be worth.

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First thing I would do is check for leaks. Rear end, Transmission, Engine. Check the rubber around the truck. Is it cracked? Check the cab mount bushings, weather striping, rubber pads on the pedals for wear and the like etc...

Then check the heater and A/C, make sure it works properly. Check the door hinges for wear. Operate all the controls make sure they work smooth.

Get the highest blue book value you can, with the options you have, then start taking off the prices to fix the certain problems etc...

Here is a loose example:

If High Blue Book is $3500.

Bad seat, subtract $200
Bad Weatherstriping, Subtract $150
Bad Paint, Subtract $1000
Bad Tires, Subtract $500
Bad Light Switch, - $10
Bad Wiper Blades, - $2
Broken ****, - $8
Broken window Handle, - $7
Cracked Dash Pad - $500

Then your true value would be around $1090 Etc... You can estimate the subtraction values by looking up the parts and see how much it would cost to fix the individual problems.

Keep subtracting all it's problems until you get to it's scrap value. Say around $700.

But as I said, the above is only an example of how that works.


hope this helps

 

Sound like a good truck. I'd jump on it too, hard to find these in any decent condition anymore. Long or short bed? Regular cab? Automatic? What's the trim level?

Sounds like a decent deal anyways. I'd throw $3,000 at them and see if they'll take it.

 

Yeah id go for it if he was asking only 3500 for a truck thats in good shape and if you got him down more thats better

 

I'm thinking about buying a 1984 F150 XLT 4x4 with the 5.8 HO engine. Gas mileage is not a concern.........

Quote from Scott Burns, well-known personal finance and investments columnist......
"Even the alarmingly large crowd of people who would rather show off than conserve will change their habits when energy consumption becomes an instant indicator of stupidity and social indifference."

 

And the point of this quote is..................?

 

The point might be that you won't find many people towing 10,000 pound trailers with Honda Insights on this forum.

Scott

 

Thanks for all the replies. All I need is to get it past the wife, who does not see the need for a 3rd car, especially a "nasty old truck that will look junky in our driveway". It doesn't leak anything. It is a little slimy around the transmission seal, but it's been sitting in one place for a 2 weeks, and moved for test drives, and there's nothing on the ground.

 

I slapped an new rear tranny seal on mine yseterday. Fixed her right up. Except for finding the front u-joint was bad, replaced that too, then it was fixed right up.

I'm lucky, my wife let's me have about anything I want. I don't even have to come up with lots of reasons. Hope you're able to get it, sounds like a good ol' truck.

 

It's an XLT, has a chrome strip down the side that curves over the wheel wells. Tailgate has the silver plate across it with the F O R D Chrome ind. letters. Cloth int. in tan, the paint is white. I'm picking it up today. I'll be back with more info. and some pics when I get into it this weekend.

 

OK, here's the first thing I've got to fix on the truck, and my first real post for help. It failed emissions for the first time about a month ago. It had a catalytic converter installed 5 years ago, and it has worked fine. 6 months ago, he had a temp. gauge sensor go bad, and he thought the truck was overheating, so he changed the thermostat to a 165 degree. When that didn't work, he changed the sensor and that worked, and he left the 165 degree thermo in. My first thought is the engine is running so cool, the CO2 and CO won't burn off, and those are the readings that are high. Is there a consensus that the best thing to do is to put a 185 degree thermostat in, clean the carbons, and test it again? I figure if this doesn't work, there's a warranty on the converter, and I'll go to them and see if that's the problem. I want to start with the cheapest, do-it yourself solution first. In 3 years, I won't have to worry about this anymore, b/c once it's 25 years old, no emissions test necessary, and goodbye catalytic converter.

 

You definately need a 192-195 t-stat, especially to pass emissions testing. You're exactly right, it need to be that hot to combust more effectively. Plus it will probably make the rest of the emissions parts work better as well, as everything is designed to work around 200F.