Worth it to buy one of these super high mileage trucks?
09-17-2015, 04:47 PM
#1
Worth it to buy one of these super high mileage trucks?
Looking for some thoughts on this... I need something that'll haul more than my little 300 F150 and that looks better, but I'm a poor man. Looking at what's out there, seems you can have low miles and old and cheap, or you can have high miles and looks good and cheap. Old seems to mean looks like crap... 'cause all the 90s trucks I've looked at have had oxidized/chipped paint, dents, etc.. all the stuff you'd expect to find. Welp, I need something that looks better than that, because folks do look at your truck, and some would rather see something that looks nice sitting in their driveway for the duration of the project. Not everyone, but some ones... and every job I don't get is another 2000-5000 farther away from the eventual "nice" truck that I'll someday own.
So in the mean time, I'm considering, more and more, one of these newer, nice looking incredibly high-miles trucks... 200, 250, 300k..... WOW. As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, where 150k was generally considered about the end of useful life for a truck (these things didn't even have 5-digit odometers until '92!), that seems crazy to me. Yet, I've driven vehicles that had closer to 300 miles on them.. so I know it's happening.
So if I can snag a 2004 5.4 F250 with 260k on it for $3100 or so.... that looks GOOD... is that worth the risk? It's not a ton of money, and odds are decent that if it's been taken care of and I continue to do so, I could get another 40+K out of it.. maybe even more... or until I can afford to drop $10-15K on the sort of truck I really need.
Driving old pieces of crap, I generally found it was all the stuff bolted to the engine that gave me grief... water pumps, carburetor, ELECTRICAL, etc... generally wasn't the engine. Are all these components also way better, these days, or are they all just as likely to poop out on you in the middle of the workday also? What's an engine or tranny replacement run these days? Shop replacement - not something I'd tackle myself.
Thoughts?
Thanks
-Ben
So in the mean time, I'm considering, more and more, one of these newer, nice looking incredibly high-miles trucks... 200, 250, 300k..... WOW. As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, where 150k was generally considered about the end of useful life for a truck (these things didn't even have 5-digit odometers until '92!), that seems crazy to me. Yet, I've driven vehicles that had closer to 300 miles on them.. so I know it's happening.
So if I can snag a 2004 5.4 F250 with 260k on it for $3100 or so.... that looks GOOD... is that worth the risk? It's not a ton of money, and odds are decent that if it's been taken care of and I continue to do so, I could get another 40+K out of it.. maybe even more... or until I can afford to drop $10-15K on the sort of truck I really need.
Driving old pieces of crap, I generally found it was all the stuff bolted to the engine that gave me grief... water pumps, carburetor, ELECTRICAL, etc... generally wasn't the engine. Are all these components also way better, these days, or are they all just as likely to poop out on you in the middle of the workday also? What's an engine or tranny replacement run these days? Shop replacement - not something I'd tackle myself.
Thoughts?
Thanks
-Ben
04-17-2016, 04:38 PM
#3
Im in your boat to and had hoped more would have responded. I need to replace my old 2000 xlt with 400k on her may she rest in peace. I need another long bed 4x4 and not sure what year I should focus on as well. A lot of deals out there but I'm not sure what a good one really is. Im spoiled not having so much technology and would like to keep it as simple as I can as well. Oh well, guess I will keep reading and hope I can make the best decision I can. Good luck on your search!!!