My son's looking at a 2003 fx4 with 266,000 miles, other then miles it looks and drives like a new truck. He's in high school so it won't see an addtional 5,000 a year for the next couple years, but that mileage sounds scarry. It's a pretty much loaded XLT extended cab and can be bought for around $7,000, Kelly Bluebook says $10,000 which I can't believe with that many miles but that's what it books at. How many miles will the 5.4 go without running into major expenses and are there any other things to look out for? Thanks for the input.

 

Cant you find one with half the miles for the same money? Book value is kind of a joke, since the book doesn't own any vehicles, and they wont buy it from you if you feel like you paid too much later

To me, that is a $3000 truck with that kind of milage. It may last a lot longer. It may drop the trans tomorrow. My '99 5.4 in the company truck has 256k on it, so not too far behind. After $3-4,000 in front end and brake work, it drives pretty good. Still, with that kind of miles, it is a crap shoot.

I would just find a slightly older version of the same thing with half the miles for the same money. Clean ones are out there. I personally would never buy a truck like that without expecting the possibility of a catostrophic failure any day. That is what would drive the value down for me. If I am going to take that kind of risk, that risk has a value as well. I bought a clean, one owner, 115k mile Expy for $5k as an example.

How long can the 5.4 go? Hard to say. I think 3-400k is possible. Clearly there are good running ones with 250k, 350k should be do-able.

 

I'm looking to sell the vehicle in my signature here. I would love to get what the truck you are looking at with twice the price for mine, probably won't happen.

I wouldn't buy a truck with that many miles on it. Only exception is that it was taken to Ford's for routine maintenance with the maintenance records to prove it. Even then I wouldn't pay $10000 for a truck with so many miles. If you check out craigslist you will find many trucks on there with half the miles and cost either equal or less than that.

When searching for a truck to buy it's obvious to check the body out. Check fluid levels, at least I would, before buying, the trans fluid should be red, oil shouldn't be black unless they state it needs an oil change or creamy colored. Antifreeze should be green if it looks dark or black there may be a leak in the system somewhere causing oil to get in it. The same goes for creamy looking oil. When on the drive see if the truck shifts smoothly and there is no clunking coming from anywhere on the truck. Front end will be chassis component, towards the center or rear could be u-joints which isn't bad but it could be something wrong in the rear end which would not be good. See how it steers and if there is any clunking sound that would suspect a steering component problem. Also, could look at the tires, if the wear is not even then it will suggest something wrong up front.

 

All I can say is that around 250K miles I quit driving mine the 30K+ a year and it now gets 5K-10K a year, this is when failures have started to happen. I've had a plug blow out, hub bearing fail which also ruined the ball joints. I also developed a small pinion seal leak that seems to come and go as well as the radiator starting to leak a second time. The torque converter is also starting to hiccup. I think it is better for the truck to be driven a lot then sit after being driven a lot. Mine also looks and drives new but with that many miles things are getting near their end of life.

 

Thanks for the replys, you've all said pretty much what I was thinking. I've not had or know anybody that has had that many miles on a newer truck so I wasn't sure. A good looking truck is like a good looking wife, if they're sitting at home not doin' s***, then I have no use for them!

 

Hey galaxie,check your rear axle vent.My 97 exlporer,my 01 F150,and my friends 03 F-150 all had seal leaks on the rear axle.All 3 trucks had totally plugged vents.After cleaning the vents all 3 trucks stopped leaking.

 

I agree with everyone else. Just on friday I purchased a 1998 with 139000 miles for 5,900. While I was searching for f150's, there were plenty of lower miled trucks for $7,000.

Hope this helps

 

you can buy the truck for maybe two or three grand....... but i would only do this if i went down and bough all of the parts to do and engine rebuild or swap, the same for the tranny, rear axel, front axel, and transfer case. then once things started going bad, you and your son could share the experience and learn some things along the way. but i would be scared to death to buy that truck and then depend on it. and again i woundt go over three for that truck.

 

Just keep looking, last month I bought a 97 Lariat 4X4 5.4, with every option and everything works great for $3,000. It had 212,000 miles and drives like a truck with 50,000 miles, I have drove it about 1,000 miles with no problems and use it every day as my run around vehicle. I must add it was a local, two owner truck that has been serviced on time it’s entire life. Good Luck