MotorCity

Howdy gang,

Been in the process of looking for a clean 6.0 or 6.4 Powerstroke for a few months now. After many potential trucks, the CarFax has always bitten me in the ***. Or they just haven't been taken care of. One of my good friends has a grandfather who owns a used car dealership about a half hour away from me. He had ran a CarFax on a really nice 2007 King Ranch F-250 with 80K miles, and a CarFax that showed 8 OWNERS! Long story short, he mentioned that he had just received a 2006 Lariat F-350 with 57K miles on it to his lot that hasn't even been cleaned up yet.

Without wasting any time I drove out to take a look at it since it's at one of the salesman's homes for the weekend. It's a 2006 F-350 Lariat with indeed 57K miles on it. It's fully loaded with I'm pretty sure every option interior wise aside from the auxiliary switches. The first thing that jumped out at me was the fact it had rubber floors and the 4X4 on the floor rather than on the dash. The truck seemed very clean and had nothing wrong that I could tell other than it needed an alignment and a side marker light on the mirror. He's asking 23K but will work with me, I'm unaware of how much.

I'm coming from a 2012 F-150 and this will be my first diesel. I'm pretty well educated on the issues with these motors, and my best friend owns an 07 Outlaw that he's pretty much bullet-proofed himself. I talked to him about it on the phone today and upon sending him pictures, he said he had a funny feeling about the truck and doesn't think I should go for it. I do plan to have a mechanic take a look at it. My plan isn't do anything to the truck other than an exhaust. I'm hoping to just be diligent on maintenance and not have to dump the money into it to bulletproof it.

Here's my concerns:

1. Is the rubber floors and 4X4 on the floor just a custom order?
2. Can anyone tell me what the black box located under the dash by the 4X4 is? Looks to be a speaker of some sort? I know there's a CB on the back window.
3. The truck didn't come with key fobs or factory keys. Just a normal metal key. I don't know where the truck came from, but I'm assuming it maybe could be a repossession based on the lack of keys and fobs.

I wholeheartedly apologize for the long winded post, but I really like this truck and I guess I'm just nervous as hell as it's my first diesel. Buying off a good friend's grandfather made me feel comfortable at first as I would hope he wouldn't try selling me a problem truck, but who knows in the used car world.

I'm going in first thing in the morning to talk price and pull up a CarFax on it. But I trust the forum more than I do any piece of paper or salesman.

Thanks guys for any insight or opinions and I really appreciate the time!

Chris

PS - That's a 17,500 pound trailer that's hooked up to it. One of the salesmen races stock cars on the weekends and is using that to pull it this weekend

GraveDigger85

Carfax will not tell you everything about vehicle accidents and repairs. If it is not reported to the police and/or insurance company the carfax will be clean as a whistle. I've seen plenty of vehicles come my way that have have body repairs and panel replacements with clean carfax reports(the best was an entire left rear quarter panel was replaced on an 06-07 mustang, completely clean repair until you spotted the welds inside the trunk and under the vehicle, clean carfax no accidents reported). Funny is I still have the factory door jamb sticker panel from that car that were cut out from the old body and thrown in the glovebox. I keep good story mementos from my career. But anyways keep that in mind about carfaxs. Also you call your local ford dealer and request an OASIS report giving them the VIN number. That'll show you every repair done to the truck during the time of warranty(I don't remember if after warranty repairs show up, I don't work at a ford dealer anymore so I have forgotten a lot). I'm sure they'd be able to provide you with a printout. Yes the 6.0 diesel is problematic, but once the repairs have been made its a very reliable engine. Most of the 6.0s out there have had their fair share of work done so most of it has been done for you already, and there's some out there that dodged the bullet on all of it. Best of wishes.

GraveDigger85

Also I forgot to mention. Here's some insight on what to look for if a vehicle has been in an accident. Look underneath front and rear bumpers for any frame repairs with fresh looking welds or any signs of heat marks that may have been applied to straighten frame. Open hood and look along fender bolts and hood bolts for wrench marks, good sign hood and fender(s) have been off. Open all doors and look for wrench marks on door bolts, good sign doors have been either simply adjusted or replaced. I was a used car tech for 6 years so I developed a keen eye at looking for body damage on vehicles to be resold at dealership level with the "C.Y.A protection policy" on used cars and carfaxs.

KevFord1993

Run your finger along the hood lines etc make sure they all line up to see if body work has been done.

jb2012

I would look at a lot more than the body when buying a diesel. First things first when you go to look at the truck is it already warmed up and waiting on you? That could be a sign that the owner is trying hide bad glow plugs. The second thing is how well does it start up? Its still warm enough pretty much anywhere in the states it should start up cold no problem with no hesitation, mind you that you give the engine time to prime and warm the glow plugs. Then look underneath are there any visible leaks? Whether its transmission, oil, or anything for that matter. While the engine is running pull off the oil cap and see if it is burning any oil. If it has any smoke coming out of where you pulled the cap I would probably steer away, however I am picky. If all of that checks out nicely shut the engine off and check the oil and tranny fluid. If both levels are nice smell the transmission fluid. It should not have any burn smell to it and should be a red/orangeish color. If all of this checks out well look for a ford logo stamp on all of your fenders and core supports. Look at your body lines to see if they are all straight and equal. Is the truck chipped? If so you probably don't want to get into it, because more than likely if it is chipped the owner at least liked to play with it a little bit, which is too much for me. Some things to ask the owner about are egr and headstuds. Egrs are prone to blowing on these 6.0s and will eventually have to be replaced or deleted. Also knowing whether the truck has new head studs and gaskets is nice to know. It will save you from a pricey operation down the road. Drive it around, does the steering feel tight? A good way to tell whether it really has 59k is to look at the front end parts. Stock ford parts do not have grease zerks and shouldn't have to be replaced for roughly 150k. Does the engine have the power that it should? If everything matches my description you probably found you a keeper. If not weigh your pros and cons! Good luck bud!

Bryson

23k seems a tad high in my opinion. Idk the blue book value but that seems kinda high for a 7 year old 6.0. I could be wrong tho that might be fair. Make sure you see how it starts cold. Check for everything these guys said and get a carfax if you can.

jb2012

Its a little high but if the truck only has 57k on it it's not terrible. Only way I'd pay that much for a 6.0 is for one with arp studs w/headgasket, egr delete, and a set of quality injectors. I think his friend marked up the price so that when the guy buying it talks him down he's still getting the better end of the deal.

Bryson

I paid 24k for my 6.4 that already was deleted,tuned, and with an intake and has a regency conversion. Thats why i thot it was a little high, 57k is low for sure, but its still 7 years old. I understand what you mean tho

jb2012

Damn you got a deal! 6.4s are my favorite engine from ford so far! I bet yours is stupid fast!

Bryson

Oh yes it is lol. I figured it would be powerful but i thot the 38 inch tires would hurt performance. First time i floored it my face was literally :O... even when i turn the mini maxx to no power its still quick which suprised me the most. funny thing is i got the deal in central texas were diesels trucks have sky high prices