Blackdog.tx

Hello. Looking for positive and negative feedback on potential purchase. I found a "too good to be true" 2004 F150 Lariat 4x4, 5.4 Triton, leather, power sunroof, 3 " body lift.
* 127,000 miles
* 1 owner
* replaced cam phasers - getting recpt
* throttle body/transmission replaced - getting recpt
* oil change records - to be verified
* new tires
* new battery
* new plugs
* no leaks
* underside shows clean, no signs of any offroad (the interior was not prepared for sale, not washed... the truck is in good condition and owner didn't try to clean or hide things to sell his used truck.
The truck drove well. And all researched problems have been addressed.
Mechanics are telling me to stay away from this year because they replace motors routinely. The only caveat, it may be good deal if you trust owner and the maintenance recorder are accurate.

I figure 14 years of bad news on internet only shows bad items, not good items.

What's the general consensus from Ford owners on a 2004 in good condition, as described above?

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Blackdog.tx

$9000

Gale Hawkins

I know I am cheap but that sounds about $3000 more than I expected to be your reply for a 14 year old truck..

The truck may have miles left in but if much happens it have be hard to drive your investment out of it. I think someone loves their truck a whole lot.

Used ones are hard to find for sure in my parts. I just picked up a so so 5.4 2010 F150 Lariat Crew with 205K miles with Max tow rated to tow up to 11,200 pound trailer. Windshield had a major rock crack ($198 to replace) and some body work (mainly down the lower right side) perhaps a side ditch since it was more like from bushes and that quote was $850 but while they had the bed off I had them paint the bottom side and the inside and get the front of the bed straight so it did not rub against the cab and I can install a BAKflip 2G so that will be a few hundred more. I am hoping to get it looking the way I want in the $9000 range including a new set of FX wheels, tires and factory balance with new senors that I picked up a couple weeks ago off of Craigslist.

I have driven it enough so I trust the drive train before I took it to the body shop Oh I also got a clear title from the state before sending it to the body shop since it was from out of state.. Since these old high mileage trucks are a shot in the dark one can never know the outcome up front. It is to pull my 1966 Ford 3000 tractor to tractor shows an to go into hay fields and pick up square bales perhaps. My 2010 Subaru Forester will still be my daily driver and my snow machine. I plan to keep and use this F150 for the next 20 years.so I am going over board a bit its appearance with fixing body damage that did not effect its function and new wheels and tires.

Best of luck. I drive stuff that I can buy in the $6K-$7K range personally and am comfortable with the risks since I am 67 and have not been burned badly yet on high mileage.vehicles. Personally I prefer an 8 year old machine with 205K that runs and drives well than an 14 year old with like 100K miles on it in the same condition. I got the factory owners manual with my F150 and the window sticker was stuck in it so I know where it came from new and the factory price with options was $45K. Personally even if I had money I would hate to but a machine that cost that much and put it in harms way everyday.

nathan3306

Love my 04, 150K miles, not trouble free but nothing to bad. I'm about to replace all the timing components in mine though. Not because they have failed but because certain parts have failed "lash adjusters" so I'm going to be throwing in all updated OEM parts in it.
Did this guy actually fix the phasers or put some band aids on it? Meaning, did he replace anything else in there and did he use OEM parts? Overall, the 04 is not a bad truck at all. Maintenance is key of course, but that is with any vehicle on the road today. I'd make sure this meets your needs more than your wants before throwing down retail on an 04.
I've had mine since 07, not as reliable as my Toyotas BUT all more Toyotas have been traded, the Ford has remained in the family.

HubFord

Body lift!? Wow, brings me back to when I used to mess around with Jeeps (more than I do now), body lifts were generally frowned upon.

Phasers done is a plus, were the tensioners replaced too? For the asking price you can probably go a few years newer.

Here's my 2004 purchase thread 3 years ago.
https://www.f150forum.com/f4/first-t...stions-309250/

Aeromech

replaced cam phasers - getting recpt
* throttle body/transmission replaced -

At 127K miles I have to ask why was this work required? I just did my whole timing chain, oil pump, water pump, phasers, etc job at 185K miles because I was tired of the start up noise. The transmission still works great. So did the previous owner abuse the truck and maybe not do regular oil changes? Did he use cheap oil and ****ty filters?

BadFish523

I wonder if just the phasers were replaced or the whole timing job was done? Phasers alone are not the problem, they are symptom of the lack of oil pressure caused by other problems though out the timing system. If the whole timing job was not done and done correctly I would run away as you'll have more timing problems and soon probably.

Blackdog.tx

Thanks to all advice. I bought it.

Most maint records.... all major, most oil.

2015... 102,500 mi... all timing.. belts, phasers,sensors, gaskets tensioners.

2016...113,000 mi... transmission rebuild.

2016... 120,000 mi... Brakes

Nost oil records back to 2013. All odometer reading cross reference for between dates/mileage for oil @ Ford and 3rd party, trans, brakes.

The underside of truck is clean... no apparent 4 wheeling. Not a scratch on skid plates or frame. He didn't clean the interior out until I picked it up, so it appeared he wasn't hiding anything.

Gale Hawkins

That is all positive. If the transmission shifted up and down well 14K miles after the rebuild it should be just fine and very clean on the inside. The engine work is just the expected stuff so it is good to know that should be behind you and the brakes is a bonus.

It could make you a nice truck for years. Congratulations on you new truck..