Hello all,

I am new here. I am thinking of buying something to tow my boats with. Having looked for a while, I have narrowed my search to a couple of used trucks, and would like your thoughts on one in particular.

2002 Ford F350 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel 4X4.

The truck looks almost mint, inside and out. But.....

It has 460,000 miles on it. (Per CarFax, 390,000 of them in the last 30 months)

Now, I have driven several of these trucks in the last several weeks, and this one feels as good as any of them and better than most in terms of engine performance, power, smoothness, etc.

What would your thoughts be? If you were interested in something like this because the price is good, what would you inspect in particular? If you were interested in it, how much would you mark off for the high miles?

My thought has always been that after a certain mileage, the mileage is immaterial, and the upkeep and relative condition are what matters. By that reasoning, I wouldn't worry about this truck too much. But still... 460,000 miles?!?

 

I would be worried about the transmission. Its the weakest link in the vehical. Should be good solid shifts. Check the fluid. To me it sounds like it was used for cross country towing. Maybe cars or something. Is there service records from the dealers during those 390k?

 

Find out what has been rebuilt (or serviced) on the truck. Find who did it, how many miles ago, if its warrantied,etc. Post up your results.

 

How much do they want?

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

I will check the transmission fluid. The shifting is very good in all gears as far as I can tell.

As to service records, I got a few leads off of CarFax, but in general nothing too informative.

Steering & suspension work @ 427K
Transmission done @ 299K
"serviced" @ 292K
Glow plugs & computer module replaced @ 259K
"serviced" at 227K

Also, the truck was silver in 2007. It is white now. Decent paint job w/ pin-striping, etc.

The truck was repossessed and sold at auction, so the current seller doesn't know any more of the history than I do at this point.

From looking under the hood, most of the peripherals appear new (ie the alternator, water pump, etc). No way to see inside the engine, but the power as I mentioned above is as good or better than any of the other 7.3L powerstroke diesels I have test driven in the last several weeks, and the transmission does feel smooth & responsive.

I said it looks near mint. Keeping it from being mint are a small scrape in the left rear, a stain under the center armrest / console, and a 1.5" tear in the side of the driver's seat.

The asking price is $6500.

 

Try to find out if the truck was used as a pilot car for following oversize loads, or used for hotshoting...The reason I say ask this is because these trucks tend to idle alot!!! and check around the fuse boxes for alot of external wiring or maybe butch wiring in general...One thing that catches my interest is that 390k in 30 months?! Holy cow thats 13k a month, at 3250 miles a week according to my calculator...i drive OTR in a big truck and average about 10k a month...No doubt the truck was used for some kind of commercial use. Good luck.

 

I paid $300 less and got half the miles, I wouldnt stop looking at this point.

 

Welcome to FTE bud!!! forgot to add in previous posts...lol

 

Welcome to FTE! I bought my 2000 with 306k miles and dont regret it one bit. I do think the price can be a little better though. Best of luck to you on your search.

 

Welcome to FTE!

You don't mention some important information needed to determine value:
Regular, Extended, or Crew Cab
Trim level and extra options
Wheelbase (Short or Long Box)
We are assuming that it is an automatic transmission. Is this correct?
Is there any rust underneath from being driven in areas that salt the roads? Look closely at the engine oil pan. If it has rust scale and pits, that is serious. The engine will have to be removed to fix a rusted out pan.

Does the engine have any blowby? Remove the oil filler cap and run it at idle. If it puffs vapors/smoke out the filler, then place the cap upside down over the opening. If it pushes the cap off (not from vibration, but from pressure/flow of gasses) then the rings are worn out.

You mention a small tear in the driver's seat upholstery. Is the seat in good shape otherwise? Is there any indication that it has been replaced or recovered? The foam padding wears out after 200,000+ miles, and a truck with this much mileage would have a pretty beat up seat if it has not been fixed/upgraded.

What do you intend to do with the truck? Daily driver, tow your boat, tow a travel trailer all over the US and Mexico? Intended use affects purchase decisions.

In general, a high mileage truck can be sound and reliable if the owner has kept things up. The problem with high mileage vehicles is that repairs become less predictable. There are two reasons for this: 1) you don't know when the previous owner(s) fixed anything, and 2) you are getting past the design life of components like springs and axle bearings. A high mileage truck is fine for an owner who does his own maintenance and keeps close tabs on the truck. It is not a good choice for a daily driver or for someone with little or no mechanical experience, tools, and skills.

I bought a 2001 Regular Cab auto, XL trim with cruise and air, with 260,000+ miles in great shape (known history, 1 owner for the first 258,000 miles, used for freeway driving between two tire stores in a chain, Ford maintenance contract) for $5,000. This was sold by a used car dealer who wasn't experienced with Superduty's, and had taken it in on trade for a Toyota pickup. Since your prospective truck came from an auction with no history other than the Carfax, I would discount it quite a bit. Knowing auctions, the seller likely paid half the price he is asking.

When I bought my truck, I figured that the price allowed me to replace the engine or transmission and be back near a reasonable price for a lower-mileage truck. Always keep a reserve for a major expense like that. By reserve, I mean cash, not a loan from the bank! The good news is that these are very durable trucks, and they hold up very well to highway miles. They dont shake apart or fall apart like some of the competing brands.

 

Thanks for all of the welcoming messages.

The truck is a crew cab lariat long bed 4X4 with the off-road package (whatever that means). It does have the automatic transmission. It has power heated driver's & passenger's seats, running boards, cruise control, CD changer, engine block heater, etc. It doesn't have a navigation system or a sunroof, but otherwise it is pretty well equipped.

And....

I did decide to buy it. I got it for $6200 + tags.

I gave it a pretty thorough going over (no blow by on the engine, transmission shifts smoothly into all gears, no rust anywhere underneath), and debated the pros and cons for a while before figuring that at that price I could do a full rebuild on both the engine and transmission and still be in a reasonable range for a lower mileage version of this truck. Hopefully they'll hold out for another 50K to 100K miles.

The driver's side seat has clearly been sat in, but doesn't feel worn out at all. I've been in these trucks where the seat just disappears underneath you and you need to bring your own cushion with you to be comfortable, but this certainly doesn't have that feel.

I'll cross my fingers and hope it does me good.

Oh, as to the use, I will be using it as my third vehicle. I have a daily driver, a minivan for the family, and this to tow a couple of boats. Unless I find some new and cool things to do with it, I'll probably drive it in the range of 5K miles a year, give or take a couple of thousand.

Thanks again for the welcoming and informative messages.

 

Now that you've found us, stick around. You'll be amazed at the information we can give you about these trucks, just for the asking.

If it has a sound frame and body on which to sit, you're going to end up LOVING that engine. We all do!

Welcome to FTE! Where in Oregon are you located? We've got lots of members up there that are willing to lend a helping-hand to another in this brotherhood.


Pop