Greetings,
Currently, I'm looking at a 2005 Lariat 4x4 extended cab. The cosmetics of the truck are good to very good in certain places. There are a few dings and a couple of light scratches. There are a few rust spots under the rear fenders caused by stones and there is some light bubbling around the hood's grill.
It has 140,000 miles on it.The black interior cosmetics are very good to excellent. This truck is being sold through a dealer for a private friend of his. The private seller has informed me that he's in a financial bind and that's the reason for selling it. The dealer will sell me a warranty that has several levels. The dealer and the seller let me take the truck to a mechanic who's worked on my vehicles for the past 10 years or so. The mechanic has done alright by me. I was with him when he did his inspection/drove it a few miles. His findings: no spare tire, tires need to be replaced before winter, all rotors are scored lightly/brake pads should be changed, seal between motor and transmission needs to be replaced, passenger side drive shaft has a leak, oil leak on the upper part of the block, 4WD works no leaks at all. His evaluation of the body was favorable: one rocker panel shows slight rust, oil levels look good, tranny fluid/filter should be changed. He said a few of his customers have the F150s and they have 2 hundred thousand plus on the them. He stressed that the preventative maintenance is imperative on these trucks. As far for me, the underbelly needs a good power washing and future rust prevention but that's just me.

The dealer shared with the seller that since he's selling the truck, he has to include a warranty. There are several tiers: 3 months, 6 months and 12 months or 14,500 miles. The warranty is through Guardian Service with deductibles that haven't been determined yet. The asking price by the seller is $10,000 but he dropped down to $9,600 with the $400 going towards a warranty at my expense. The seller said that he doesn't want to lower the price anymore when I talked to him.I've researched online for prices but they vary from seller's price to dealer's price. At this particular time, I'm just feeling out the dealer and seller. I haven't asked about the title yet.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Kellsey

 

Well, the owner was sheepish about the title when I questioned him about it. He still has a bank lien on it. Also, he jumped right on my offer of $8800.00 with an excited voice. I informed him that I had to think about it over the weekend. I figured that the expense of tires, brake pads/rotors plus to fix the oil leaks was ~4 grand. The final price of $12,800 give or take wasn't worth the price of a truck that has 140,000 miles on it. Oh yeah, when I asked him about the missing spare tire, he said he bought it without on the truck. He accidently said that he bought the truck from the dealer that I mentioned about in my first post.

This morning, I'm going to look at and test drive a 2006 Ford F150 Super cab STX 4WD w/74K on it along with a price of $13,900.00.

Thoughts?

 

The STX seems like a better buy and a better truck.

 

I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a 74k mile truck than the other truck.

 

Long story short:
After running around Monday, I ended up buying the 2006 Ford F150 Super cab STX 4WD w/74K. Needless to say, I climbed over and under the STX before and after test driving it. You serious truck owners know exactly what I was looking at and for. It may lack a few of the luxuries but it didn't matter that much to me.The dealer knocked off 400 bucks after talking to him about the truck. I was able to slide plates over to the truck and the dealer was faxed a new insurance card without any complications. The dealer included the 60 day or 3000 mile warranty. Yesterday, I took it out for a ~40 mile trip and I enjoyed myself. Yes, I got my fat ___ under the truck and inspected it again.

http://www.morseautosales.com/products.html

Your thoughts?

 

It looks nice and seems like a good buy!

 

Agreed. Good choice.