Should I purchase a 2001 v10 with 310k miles for a grand? Just needs an alternator but the seller says the motor runs strong. I just need something to drive for a year or two, all the extra horsepower isn't necessary for work or towing. Just need cheap truck

 

I'd buy it but would go into the deal knowing it could last forever more or blow up in a few hundred miles. Plug a scanner in, set a few parameters to monitor and take it for a test drive, review the recorded data and make a decision on that. If the service has been kept up that mileage wouldn't scare me a bit. I would suggest connecting fuel and oil pressure shop-type dedicated diagnostic gauges--if all that checks out there shouldn't be much to worry about.

When I've bought "cheap" beater vehicles I've almost always ended up trying to improve what I think could be suspect reliability, more often than not exceeding the cost of that vehicle. Its in our nature I think........?

 

How many more miles are you planning on putting on it?

 

Keep in mind also, 9mpg isn't going to feel cheap if you're driving it a lot.