Truck discussion

[Evan]

sure, but might be something that someone else could use since we are on the topic.

[Dave]

that is a good find Evan. Chad's right, I'm looking for something newer, but if I would buy something of that age I'd be looking really hard at that one. Anybody else looking for a good tow vehicle, this one has a lot of potential.

[Dave]

Alright gentlemen. I'm pre-approved for a truck priced up to 110% of NADA or KBB for the next 30 days.

If you see an truck that is reaonably priced and not beat to hell, post it up here. I've listed what I WANT below, but I'll look into others if they are an exceptionally good deal.
I'm aiming to spend no more than 17k, so if you see something a little higher, post it up anyways, and I'll see if cash in hand talks better. Additionally, the cheaper I can get it, then obviously that is better; I'd love to not go into massive debt over this and have some leftover for modif... er, maintenance.

-2000-2003 Ford F250 or F350
-7.3L diesel with automatic trans
-4x4 is nice, but not a big deal
-preferably extended cab, no standard cab
-preferably short bed, long bed isn't desirable but isn't going to kill a good deal
-less than 160k on odometer preferably
-prefer cloth interior with the split bench front. Captain's chairs up front is OK, leather is OK, neither are preferred.

[Dave]

the search is over!
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For the record, these trucks are all over the place. If you want one, you will be so much better off defining for yourself exactly what you want so that you can immediately rule out anything you don't want, and how far you are willing to travel to get the right one. I made a spreadsheet to keep track of all the trucks I looked at/considered, and after 3 weeks I had already looked into 100+ trucks, although I considered anything on the eastern half of the country to be a viable option.

[HAULN-SS]

Any thouhgts on a truck I was looking at online. Seller said that the truck does not smoke except a little bit at startup, but the turbo was wet with oil on the bottom of it. I have not been able to inspect the truck yet, but anyone have any ideas what could be causing that?

[CaptainHenreh]

Bad turbo seals.

[WRXtranceformed]

Could be a leak at the oil supply line or it could be a small crack in the turbo. IMO that doesn't bode well for the longevity of that snail in either case.

[HAULN-SS]

I thought maybe the supply line. What're the consequences if it was oil starved or something? Just a matter of getting a rebuilt turbo?

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah you'd probably want to replace or rebuild the turbo if possible. Other than that I doubt it would have had a huge impact on the engine... but you may want to double check on that.

[HAULN-SS]

Truck looks good otherwise, 106k on the clock. It's a 98 extended cab silverado. Two problems listed, but I just checked on a rebuilt turbo - $1200, and if the rearend shit out it wouldnt be too expensive to fix either. Thats a pretty decent price for it too - even at the buy it now price. Guy said he'd knock off some for the plow if I didn't want it.
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[Dave]

Plow = the truck has probably got some extreme wear on it, IMO. If you're not going to drive it a lot and stress it out constantly, that's not something you necessarily need to worry about.

As for the oil on turbo thing, is it a whole lot of oil? If it's a small mist of it, check the intake piping. On my 7.3, that's normal b/c the PCV valve vents right before the turbo and doesn't have a catch can (one of the small things I want to fix eventually).
Looks like a good price, and the seat is definitely well-worn :-). Do you have any use for the plow? If not shop around and see what you might be able to sell it for, or see how much of a discount he'll give you (probably the better route now that winter is almost over).

[HAULN-SS]

Plow = the truck has probably got some extreme wear on it, IMO. If you're not going to drive it a lot and stress it out constantly, that's not something you necessarily need to worry about.

As for the oil on turbo thing, is it a whole lot of oil? If it's a small mist of it, check the intake piping. On my 7.3, that's normal b/c the PCV valve vents right before the turbo and doesn't have a catch can (one of the small things I want to fix eventually).
Looks like a good price, and the seat is definitely well-worn :-). Do you have any use for the plow? If not shop around and see what you might be able to sell it for, or see how much of a discount he'll give you (probably the better route now that winter is almost over).

Well, according to the guy, he only hooked the plow up from second-hand parts in November. I really don't want a plow truck, but I'm assuming that's not going to be too big of a deal. He said he'd knock off 500$ from wahtever the price ends up being if I didn't want that shit, which I don't. And yeah, I have been shopping around, and that's a pretty good price. Its a little older than I wanted, but it also has lower miles than most of the other ones that were in the upper end of my price range.

[Dave]

Yeah, sounds like a pretty good find.
For the comment about it being old, I feel like I should add that part of me wishes that I had gone with a truck from the previous generation. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love mine, but I could have gotten one 3 years older and just as reliable for 1/3 of the price. I took the nicer one b/c it was going to be my daily driver and don't regret that, but I could have gone the cheaper route and gotten a nice, efficient daily driver (which I will be doing anyways). If you're just looking for a tow/extreme winter vehicle that you'll drive a couple times a month, save the $$$ and get the older vehicle.