Hi Gang,

I am looking at making some vehicle changes. A friend of mine has a 92 250 with the 7.3 non turbo. I it 4x4 with the 5 speed manuel trans. It has 260k on the clock. It has the XLT package super cab. He is a mechanic and it has been his truck for some time. He just put in all new glow plugs, new belts and it has brand new tires all around. He wants $5K for it. I know it has been well maintained. He will not budge from this price. So my question to all of you is...........with that many miles on it, what if any would your concerns be.

Thanks guys!

Tim

 

Sounds a little high to me for having 260k.

 

That sounds high to me also, look at the prices going thru e-bay, you can get a lower mileage turbo for alot less and put new tires on it

 

I wouldn't pay that much for a truck with 260K unless it was flawless and it had lots of new parts on it.

 

Believe it or not, I looked this truck up on NADA, and their middle of the road value is $4,275. They asked for the mileage, and 4wd added $725, but did not ask about the engine. They are usually higher than KBB, but KBB is ridiculously low sometimes.

I just paid $3500 for mine, and the guy had wanted $5000. I felt a little guilty showing him that NADA only valued it at $3500, and I thought I was getting a good deal(1989, f250, 4wd, regular cab, xlt, 138,000 miles). But after I got it, I realized he never took care of it, and I have had the brake lines bust twice(finally replaced them all), the belts and hoses were original motorcraft, I know he never changed the coolant(the radiator is on it's last leg), all the bushings in the frontend were shot, and the factory undercoating has started coming off the frame(I need to pull the bed and paint the frame before it gets bad).

It does have new 35 inch tires, the tranny was rebuilt 2 yrs ago, and I had to put new rotors and brakes on the front for him 2 yrs ago when he ran the brake pads down to the rivets. I will get it straightened out eventually(I just noticed while bleeding the brakes, I have an oil seal leak on the left rear).

 

Ok so other than the high price, does the mileage scare any of you? That is my chief worry is the mileage on the motor/tranny.

Thanks!

 

That is a lot of miles for a '92. I have a '97 with a little over 126K miles. My question to you is, how much do you trust the seller? And will he be around to offer assistance or ideas when problems do arise?

Take a look at this site. Do a "find" on "Buying" and it should take you right to info. Good luck and if it makes you happy, go for it.

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_i...az/index3.html

 

kelly blue book is what dealers use for trade in allowances and nada is what they use to sell them , 5 k is too much 260k it is a lot of wear and tear on everything , it would have to have a lot of new parts before i would look at it , and there is the unknown how much life does the clutch have left if any ,the trans could be well worn and the engine just a few of the major cost items

 

Hmmm, mechanics never sell thier trucks unless there is a storm cloud on the horizon.
Unless he changes vehicles a lot and is simply bored with it, regardless of condition.

 

Well........He also has a 2003 Dodge diesel, and he cant see having two trucks.

 

Well if the truck is in good shape with lot's of new parts on it, then pay his price and drive away.
I've sold a lot of cars in the past that I drove as a commuter car with LOTS of new parts on them. They were all mechanically sound at the date of sale and the buyers drove them for a while before they got in a wreck.
I can't believe how many vehicles that I've sold and then a few weeks later they tell me that it is no more. Most of them are from driver error, turning left from a center lane on a one way street and getting hit on the driver's door post, stuff like that.
1980 Dodge D-50 three weeks.
1984 Audi 4000 Quattro 4 months.
1980 Dasher Diesel DUI pileup 18 months
And the most spectacular:
1995 Ford 460 4x4 Ex cab long bed three weeks after sale the new owner fell asleep while driving. (Sober, just a long day at work and new baby at home.)
Went off the road, head on into a guard rail or something, the guard rail went through the engine compartment, cut through the firewall below the windshield and by the time he came to a stop he had a new armrest that looked like a guard rail. He walked away, but not without realizing how lucky he was to be alive and unhurt.
..
.
.

Anyway, sorry for the highjack.
I think if this guy takes care of his vehicles that you would be hard pressed to find a better truck. It's been in professional hands for the duration of his ownership and whatever it needed it got because it's in our nature to fix things. Sometimes it's worth the extra coin to pay a little extra for an older vehicle that is in above average good shape.
There may be some tired wiring or a clutch that is on it's last leg, but be ready for that sort of thing.
You could always arrange to have the truck looked at by an impartial third party.
If he won't agree to that, walk away.

 

I think when buying a 92 anything -- throw the book away and forget the numbers. Its to old. It becomes a matter of how was it taken care of. What has it been used for. 250K on an oil burner wouldn't scare me a second IF there was proof it had at least average or better maintenance with good name parts (not super tech@ wally world). I'm over 300K on the clock and still draggin' around 13K lb boats with no problem. The other mechnnicals is what would scare me. Ask for reciepts for maintanence (or parts he's bought for it). I can't speak for all but I can speak for me and many other mechanics I've known. Generally you can assume the repair approach has been -- if it aint broke, leave it alone. If you want to buy something good, buy his wifes vehicle (unless of course he's divorced). I bought my 88 from a "mechanic". I've rebuilt or replaced everything you can think of..... now a weld job on the trans has failed (see my post elsewhere) and it has to be replaced. Why would you weld a cast bellhousing? All I'm saying is if its worth $5k to you, buy it. Because he's a mechanic in NOT a sound reason to pay that much.

 

Now that I think about it- I've seen some mechanics that drive ****ty vehicles

I had a friend in high school whose parents owned a Citgo station, they didn't pay their mechanics crap so they never got anyone good. They had a guy there for awhile who drove this old beat up Chevy K10 that looked like an absolute pile. One of the outer bedsides was made out of plywood. Didn't make me have too much faith in his abilities.


BTW- I paid $5000 for my truck. 94K on it. After getting the truck and REALLY looking it over, I'm even almost thinking that was too much for mine. It had rust all over the undercarriage (it sat a lot, the guy that owned it has been disabled for 3+ years and his wife was the only one that ever drove it). There's hardly a place under the body that doesn't have rust, and I mean that big, nasty comes-off-in-chunks rust. Nothing is rusted out, but it's still bad. Also, the front fuel tank leaks (knew that when I bought it), the core support is rusted out at the mounts (knew that when I bought it), and I also found out that the front leaf springs appear to be shot. It's also got the wrong tires on it (they're C load rated), and all the wheelwells were rusted out at one time and fixed at a body shop, except they apparently didn't do the best job and a couple are close to rusting through again. Then on top of all that, it looks like it could use a paint job and some new exterior trim (grille, mirrors etc). In short, I've been surprised at the amount of work this thing needs that I didn't expect. Just be sure to look it over very, very carefully.

 

When buying from mechanics, always remember this simple phrase:
"A maids house is never clean."

 

Well.........

I went and drove it and looked at it very closely.....

I would not pay $3K for it let alone 5K....The power steering pump howls like crazy and there is a constant "tapping" noise coming from the motor


Not gonna touch this one!!

Thanks to all of you for saving my wallet an empting!