steely34

Back in '83 I bought my first Ford new - an F-100. Kept it till '96, when I bought another new one - an f-150 XLT. Then in 2002, I gave that one to my son and bought another '96 that only had 40,000 miles on it and it has been a good truck for me although there has been a few minor issues with it lately - nothing real serious though. Anyway I've been a Ford truck man my entire life. Recently, an opportunity came my way that I am seriously considering, but I thought I post here to get some answers first. A friend of mine has a '04 Lariat with 49,000 miles on it that he is trading for a 2010 Lariat. He is meticulus with his vehicles and this truck is absolutely like new. The dealer offered him a trade in value of $18,000 which he told me he'd sell it to me for that price. I already had an offer a month ago for my truck for $6,000 so I'd be putting out $12000 for the Lariat. Seems like a good deal to me. Questions are: I know my way around the 4.9 and the 5.0 pretty well but never tinkered with the 5.4. Are there any issues that I should be aware of? Also, and this is to the other '04 owners out there - in general how do you like your trucks and how have they been running for ya? Like I said - the Lariat's condition is like no other used truck I've ever seen. Showroom new. Just wanted to get your thoughts on '04 Lariat's before I make up my mind. Told the wife, it would last me till retirement!

05LariatMatt

Price sounds reasonable.

Lenn

You should get no more issues out of this truck than the good ole 4.9L. The only issues really somewhat inherent to these engines is the spark plug issue (search for this, TONS of threads on it) and the cam phasers. The cam phasers is not even really that big of a deal since it didn't really seem to effect nearly as many vehicles as the plugs. Not to mention, the cam phasers are just a sound thing, nothing mechanically wrong other than it causes the engine to sound like a diesel engine when the get older.

In all, I had one but I sold it (stupidly) at 67k. I looked at one the other day, albiet not drove it, that had 135k on it. I am stationed with a guy who has 150k on his '04 Lariat and everything seemed to be in great working order.

PJB

Im surprised the dealer was willing to give $18k on an '04.

It seems like you should be able to buy an '04 at a dealer for less. I just looked up the trade in on KBB for an '04 SuperCab Lariat and it was $13,650 in excellent condition and an '04 SuperCrew Lariat was $15,975.

Maybe I added or didnt add certain options but even then it wouldnt add up to $18k for a trade in.

Lenn

^ Were you spec'ing out a 2wd or 4wd? That pricing sounds right for a 2wd PJB.

PJB

4wd actually

CrashTECH

Did you check the NADA value? I haven't bothered with KBB because dealers don't use it. Neither do banks. I bought my 04 FX4 for ~$700 under book value, and I paid $18,500 for it. So offering $18k for the Lariat with lower miles doesn't seem that off to me.

BJV269SS

It's a piece of machinery. Anything could happen at most any time but I'd say you would do ok with it. 18K does sound a bit steep but I guess if it's that much a puff it may still be worth it. My 05 cost me 15K with a 2800.00 stereo system in it from the dealer.

Has he changed the spark plugs yet? They tend to be a problem with breaking in the head on removal and the injectors can get stuck and hydro lock the motor.

My truck has been pretty much trouble free

PJB

NADA:
Supercab- $16,025

Supercrew- $17,775

I paid $7k below retail and $2k below trade in value at a dealer for my '06 Supercab XLT 4x4 with 48k.

steely34

Thanks for the replies. I'm still not really sure what I'm going to do. I did a search on the truck and did read the input on the spark plug problem. Seems like it would be something I'd have the dealer take care of. Thanks again.