So, I am losing my company vehicle due to a promotion, and my Bronco is right at 270k miles. I am looking to get a reliable 4X4 to drive to work, and maybe some light offroad stuff to get me to the fishing hole/tree-stand on the weekend's. I do pull a boat, so the 5.4L is a must. The Bronco will be retired to weekend warrior duty/serious trail rides.

With that being said, I have found a couple trucks that are peaking my interest. One is an 05 5.4L 4X4 SC that has right at 100k miles. The other is an 05 Lariat 4X4 SC w/ 106k. The first one I can get for around 10k, and I think I can get the Lariat for around 12k.

I know deals are to be had on new ones right now, but I really want to keep my payment as low as possible, and I won't be putting a huge amount of miles on whatever I get (maybe 12k/yr tops), so I'm looking for deals on used. I had a 97 Expy 5.4l that I bought with 199k, and sold with 235k. The thing performed great. I sold it because I was scared it would blow a spark-plug out of the head, which it did not long after I sold it. It seems that Ford figured that out with the 3V motor. I want to know how you guys feel about your high mileage trucks. Do you still feel 100% confident in it? Does it still perform like new? Any issues I should be concerned about? Any opinions, ideas, tips would be appreciated. If you think I'm crazy for even considering this, let me know...

 

I believe that the trucks would be okay; however, with the great deals there are now, I would be hard pressed to buy a truck with 100K+ miles for $12,000 when I could buy a new vehicle for not too much more. But it is your choice.

 

Check to see if the spark plugs have been changed! If you change then at 100K miles, you might run into problems with these motors, changing the plugs out is a crap shoot!

 

I don't think it is a problem but for peace of mind, you might want to make the purchase conditional on the owner replacing the plugs as part of the deal.

 

Exactly!...............

 

I am looking at an '06 XLT for my construction superintendant. It has 102k on the clock, 5.4L, 4.10 LS, PS/PW/CD/AC etc. Nice clean truck. Asking $8995 for it, which I would be willing to pay even with the understanding that I am not buying a truck that will NOT need any maintenance. I just wonder if I would be buying major headaches and/or costs by getting a 2-3 yr old (depending upon in-service date) truck with that many miles. I am inclined to do it and take my chances.

Anybody wanna convince me otherwise?

 

What's the deal with the spark-plugs? Are they just a pain to change, or are there other issues? I changed them on my 97, and it was a pain.

 

OK, I did some research, and discovered the problem. That's some scary stuff. What's the deal with the 5.4L and spark-plugs? The early version blows them out of the heads driving down the road, and it seems this version does not want to let them go. Unfortunately, this is going to make me reconsider an F-150 all together...

 

to my knowledge the heads were redesigned in '05 giving a longer thread depth for the plugs. its not as big a problem as people make it out to be.

 

the problem exists...but it's not as prevalent as it appears. there are millions of these trucks on the road...and only a wee little percentage of those people make their way to FTE.

I personally would say no to anything over 100,000 miles...especially for $10k. You can buy an 06 model with about 30,000 miles for $16-18k right now. I'd love to see more people join us, but...I can't in good faith say to go for it.

 

I just picked up a 2006 supercab 4x4 with only 25,000 miles on it for 14,900. That's only $3,000 more than the lariat you were looking at, only newer with 1/4 of the miles. Look around and you should be able to find a real good deal on a lower mileage truck.

 

How come no one with 100k has replied? I am curious too with how it is running!

 

there aren't alot of 100K+ guys on the forum. I can think of 2 offhand.

MBB ended up forking over $4,200 when his plugs got broken. and the other guy broke 1 plug at the 170,000 (I think) point

 

I'd like to find that deal. I want a Supercrew, but might settle for the Supercab for the right deal. Is yours a 5.4L?

 

Got my 06 FX4 supercab with 62K miles and got my payments at 268 for 60 months.