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Best place to find a used, beater pickup truck? (1 Viewer)

E

eoMMan

Footballguy
I'd like to get a used, beater pickup truck with a long bed. I would be using it sporadically on the weekends for transporting kayaks, bikes, supplies, etc.

My plan or goal is to find one for $2500 or $3000. I would pay cash.

What's the best place to find something like this?

This might be too low of a pice for a used car dealership and I'd rather not buy off Craigslist if possible.

Suggestions?

Maybe I'll talk to my buddy who owns a towing business...

 
Craigslist

Newspaper (If you live in a city of 100k+ old people still advertise in the paper)

Facebook, join the _________ City Buy, Sell, Trade group. People sell vehicles on there all the time, you can even post requests.

Obits

If you live anywhere near an oil patch (NM, CO, TX, OK, LA, ND, PA) you could probably pick up a 2012 Raptor or F250 for $3k from a broke and desperate rig hand.

 
Not sure where you live but honestly your local newspaper classifieds section is your best bet for this. Typically these days the classifieds are online on the paper's site but I would just pick up a paper.

 
Craigslist. Has the highest volume and the most desperate sellers. Obviously, you always run the risk of buying a lemon, but exercise some diligence and have a good sixth sense for reading people and you should be fine. I'm two for two buying cars off craigslist. Both well below blue book and in fantastic condition.

 
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A lot of the trucks I see, both on CL and at smaller used car places, are either Dodge Ram 1500 or Ford F150s. They are usually 1995 to 2002 and all have at least 100K miles.

Any experience with older Ram or F150 trucks?

Big deal if I find automatic or manual transmission?

 
My F150 has 100k miles and runs like a champ. Love that truck.

Id still try craigslist. It's gotta be the best option.

 
Where you at? I'm in MN. I have an 80's Ford 2wd, manual 3 speed with less than 100,000 miles on it that I could sell. Has a topper.

 
I have a buddy who runs a Quick Lube and Repair shop. I told him I was looking for a used p/u and two weeks later, he called me on a Sunday am and told me he found the perfect truck. 1995 4x4 F150 with 110K miles for $2500. He also gave it a quick inspection and seal of approval. The truck has been a warrior.

 
mark

I may do something like this for hauling the boat instead of getting a big SUV that I don't really want

 
Mookie said:
I have a buddy who runs a Quick Lube and Repair shop. I told him I was looking for a used p/u and two weeks later, he called me on a Sunday am and told me he found the perfect truck. 1995 4x4 F150 with 110K miles for $2500. He also gave it a quick inspection and seal of approval. The truck has been a warrior.
Click to expand...
That's awesome to have a friend like that.

 
1998 F150 was one of the best years for reliability, judging from Consumer Reports. I just sold my 1998 F150 with 150k to a buddy to tow his boat, he got rid of his 2001 F150 with 300k miles on it. My engine, same size, 4.6, had a little more power, his had hard duty. If you can find one under 150k that had both exhaust manifolds recently replaced (they always rot out) for $2500 or less you got a good deal, that engine will go to 300k. There will be some front end work required on that truck but it's not too expensive.

 
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UPDATE:

I bought a 2001 Ford F150 long bed for $3k. It's got 156k miles on it but in pretty good shape. No bells and whistles but has a good radio and super cold AC. It's got the 4.2 V6 and it looks like this year/model got great reviews. I'll probably only put 4k mIles or so annually on it so I'm hoping it will give me several years of service. I'm getting the local Ford dealership to give it a full inspection next week.

 
eoMMan said:
I'm getting the local Ford dealership to give it a full inspection next week.
Click to expand...
They're obviously going to point out endless stuff... On this list, I guarantee they recommend at least 2/3 of it:

  • 150k mile service
  • Some kind of flush
  • Brakes and or rotors
  • struts
  • control arm or bushing
  • fix some type of seal that is leaking and labor intensive to repair
  • some sensor needs replacing
  • a few more blah blah blah items
 
Update Update:

This all was a horrible experience for me. The truck stalled out last week going about 30 mph. Had to get it towed home. Took it to the Ford dealership and they said something about an intake runner control repair for like $1500......but.....this was just an estimated guess because the truck was running fine for them! Long story short, I sold the truck today and after you consider the new tires and maintenance, I lost about 3 racks on the whole experience in about 2 month. I didn't even drive it 200 miles.

#### Ford.

#### used trucks/cars.

 
James Daulton said:
As in every used four wheel drive truck I looked for with somewhere around 100k miles was $20k or more. Stupid.
Click to expand...
supply and demand :shrug:

EDIT: THIS is why you should never buy a 2WD truck... resale value for 4WD is night/day. 

 
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if buying used, take it to a mechanic you at least somewhat trust (if you don't know one, someone you know will) and have them give it a once over. may cost $50-$100 but well worth it. If the seller doesn't agree to let you take it in, move on.

 
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