Hi everyone, never written on a forum before so sorry if this is not the right section.. Just looking for opinions on a truck I'm looking to buy.
It's a 2011 F150 Ext Cab 4x4 with long bed auto with the 5.0 motor.
The truck is a one owner, seems to have been well and regularly maintained at local Ford dealer here and it has 204,000 miles on it. It's very reasonably priced in my opinion at $4500 runs and drives spot on, has no leaks knocks or bad stuff going on... Just wanted some opinions on whether this would be a decent buy, or how long it would probably last considering mileage? No check engine lights, very minimal rust etc. Needs a good clean and a set of tires but no biggy there. I have an 05 Suburban 5.3 that's still going on like new with 260k miles so this would technically be an upgrade from that... Just.. But it will be a daily driver and $4500 for me is a pretty significant chunk of change since I sold my house, quit my job last year and am living off grid in the woods of Northern US/Canadian border.
Any opinions would be greatly received thanks

 

You just never know with something like that, could crater tomorrow. But sounds as if you've checked it out well, and the price is good. It could go 400,000 with no problems. I would do it if it were me.

 

I'd take it to a good shop or a Ford dealer and get it inspected thoroughly. You may have to throw some significant cash at it soon, not necessarily the engine.

I would suspect this may be the case - I ran the private party book value for that truck in "fair" condition in XL (lowest) trim level and came up with $6000.

 

If you can afford to repair what might need to be repaired and buy with your eyes wide open, go for it. If you have no resources to repair it, don't do it.

Back in the day I bought and sold a lot of cars. It was almost a disease, fun disease. I bought many Mustangs, Chevelles and the like with V8 engines and 4 speed transmissions. I bought them knowing that I may need to rebuild the engines which I could do myself. It was fun. There was that one 1969 SS396 4 speed Chevelle that I kinda got burned on.

 

I would look closely at the front end. [balljoints, tierods] If its never been repaired at 200k miles its way past its service life, to the point its probably very dangerous.


I think for 4500 it would be worth the gamble. If something catastrophic happened, the rest of the truck could be parted out and make some decent money back

 

Appreciate the replies. It seems like a deal to me. I looked over it pretty carefully and it seems pretty straight and tight still, balljoints, tie rods, and steering joints look solid and has had some front end work at some point fairly recently.
It has no seeping or leaking on engine, trans or diffs which seems a pretty good sign to me. No rattles from the motor either, but I'm not familiar with this newer 5.0 lump at all, never even heard of it until I saw this truck. I expected it to be a 4.6 or 5.4 honestly.

Am I right in saying this is a fairly new motor and not a derivative of the older 5.0's they used in the 80's vehicles? I have an 87 F150 I picked up for next to nothing that I run at my camp for hauling firewood and even though the body is shot, the motor is really good and coupled with a 4 speed granny box it does me real well. I also have a 1999 F250 with a 5.4 that was a Canadian government plow truck. It has 288k kilometers and still bulletproof apart from the customary bad exhaust manifolds...

I may well take on the 2011 and see how it goes.
Thanks again,

 

The current 5.0 "Coyote" is based off the 4.6/5.4 "Triton". It is the latest "Modular" engine built with the same tooling in the Essex plant. It has nothing in common with the pushrod 5.0 "Windsor".

It's a 4 valve DOHC engine with twin-independent variable cam timing. It was introduced in 2011 in the Mustang and F-150.

The transmission is a 6 speed 6R80.

 

I loved the 4.6 DOHC 4V engine in my 95 Mark VIII Lincoln.

 

So being such a new engine do we know if they're any good yet? Are there any pros and cons that have come up from 6 years of use do you know? Or anything to watch out for?
I took some of your advice and went over the truck really well today and found that almost all of the front end components have been replaced somewhat recently. All 4 shocks are aftermarket, so have also been replaced and there is no oil or fluid leaking from anything at all.

The only 2 issues I've found with the truck that I'd appreciate your thoughts on are: the rear diff has a fairly noticeable whine when the truck is going up a hill or accelerating, but only when it's pulling, not when you're just freewheeling with foot off gas.. And there's quite a bit of engine oil leaking from the oil filler cap and spilling down the valve cover and onto the front wishbone. It's obviously been doing this a long time, as it's all gunked up and dirty around that part of the valve cover.
I'm wondering if that could be caused by blow by maybe? Or worn rings? But surely it would smoke? Or maybe a blocked PCV?
Other than that, the thing is tight, smooth, responsive and sounds great!

 

I think you are correct about blowby probably causing the oil to blow out the fill cap. The engine probably has a fixed oirifice instead of a pcv. I think the new 5.0 V8s are solid engines but it is a high miles unit. Most modern day engines have low tension rings. Many of the Dodge Hemi owners put catch cans on the engine vent line to prevent oil from getting into the intake when they drive them hard. I haven't bothered to do that on my 05 Magnum Hemi and it uses less than a quart of oil in 5k miles when I change it. 108k miles on the car.

 

Does that mean the engine is on its way out then you think? Or will it run ok like that for a good while yet? I've not encountered blow by on a vehicle before, I just know about it from other people's experiences.

 

The Rock Auto catalog does show a PCV valve for a 2011 5.0.

The only engine I've seen with a fixed orifice is the 5.4 3 valve.

If it's blowby, the engine probably has seen better days, but it might just be sludged up. If that's the case, perhaps an AutoRX treatment may help.

 

If it is sludged up, the most likely cause is not changing the oil. Modern oils will keep an engine clean if it is changed on shedule. Then there are those engines like a V6 that Toyota sold for a few years that had too small cooling water passages in the heads so they would be hotter for emissions reasons but they were so hot that the oil turned into sludge and the engines blew. Toyota denied warranty claims for a good while before they finally owned up to their mistake.

 

Thanks. I've actually got cash in hand finally, so I'm going down there today and give it a final going over. I'm going to check to see if there's much air being pushed out of the oil fill when running, and I'm going to check out the breather lines and pcv and see if it's just that that's gummed up. The guy selling the truck says he's pretty sure it's had regular oil changes and there is a fairly recent sticker on the windshield, so hopefully it's just a clogged PCV and an easy fix.
What do you all think of using Seafoam in the crank case right before an oil change as a de gunker? I've done this before in older cars but never on one this new... Is there anything on the market that works well for de gunking?

I'm really in a fight between heart and head at the moment.. The heart says I really like it and should go for it, but the head is saying it's probably too big a gamble...

 

One other thing.. What would you guys use for oil in something with this high mileage? Full synthetic you think?
I may throw some Lucas oil stabiliser in there for extra protection too.