Used Truck Buying - help/suggestions please.
#1
11-04-2021, 03:49 AM
Used Truck Buying - help/suggestions please.
In the wise and holy words of Ace Ventura, "Alrighty then!"
Use: I am a traveling laboratory contractor for hospitals, I tend to take 13 or 26 week contracts (3 or 6 month) and I've been traveling light using a Subaru Crosstrek 2015. I put relatively low miles on my vehicle as I tend to find housing close to where I work everywhere I go, my subaru is 6 yo and has about 30,000 miles on it. I installed a hide-a-hitch to do a bit of towing but as almost everyone here can guess it's frame only allows around 1500lb of towing, that isn't much, barely a tiny uhauls worth. The little guy has been a true beast though and as much as i appreciate it's efficiency, it just isn't cutting it for what i need. I need to actually tow more, preferably a good 6x10 or 7x12 fully loaded trailer (3000-7000lb tow capacity) if i want to live comfortably from place to place, otherwise i find myself having to buy and throw away a good $1000+ every trip on just things.
Wants/Needs: Doing a fair bit of research for the past week i've determined there are many good trucks and a few just really great years/models. Currently I'm trying to decide between testing the limits of a 1/2 ton toyota tundra or getting a decent diesel duramax/cummins chevy/ram 2500 from mid 2000's with as few of miles as i can find. I'm back and forth on if i want to spend more but I definitely dont want to buy new, but I am willing to go up to $40,000 if there is enough reason. Also, I'd like to be able to sleep in the back if i can find a top for it or buy one with a top. I'm a fairly big tech nerd and vehicles functions are interesting to me but i have little interest in the truck being fancy.
What I gather is, Gas vs Diesel is always a debate and the more i read the more I feel conflicted; my needs seem to border on decent for both as I will probably be using the truck for some trips to stores and 'in to town' (lots of work in small towns). Ultimately the cost of upkeep and repairs for a diesel much less the fact i dont really need the working power of it more than a few weeks out of a year means it's a bit overkill and that gas is probably a better choice but I haven't ruled diesels out entirely as the majority of the work it will be doing is actually highway towing. Also I intend to get a little 150/250cc scooter (i know, shut up) for small trips for groceries and just basic commuting.
Some of the gas 1/2t trucks I have in mind are the reliable sort, while these maybe older I'm to understand newer models come with plenty of unholy complications:
I know the value in these are pretty different and i would be hard to find anything 2017 in 2500 with low mileage for less than 40,000. A lot of the stuff i research just points to these being some of the older more reliable vehicles that stood the test of time as well as research that shows cummins has always been a simple engine design with just impeccable quality, the ram just never bothered installing a worthwhile transmission until cummins forced them to in 2017, that being said I know the cummins rams are still some of the most reliable even with some of the troubles of transmissions and would be willing to buy early years on them if they proved tested and non-salvage. I also know that my history and simple weeks of research has probably left me ignorant to the fact that some of these are likely overkill, I just like to have my options open. This subaru doesn't have any options lol
What do you guys think, I'm open to suggestions and opinions.
Use: I am a traveling laboratory contractor for hospitals, I tend to take 13 or 26 week contracts (3 or 6 month) and I've been traveling light using a Subaru Crosstrek 2015. I put relatively low miles on my vehicle as I tend to find housing close to where I work everywhere I go, my subaru is 6 yo and has about 30,000 miles on it. I installed a hide-a-hitch to do a bit of towing but as almost everyone here can guess it's frame only allows around 1500lb of towing, that isn't much, barely a tiny uhauls worth. The little guy has been a true beast though and as much as i appreciate it's efficiency, it just isn't cutting it for what i need. I need to actually tow more, preferably a good 6x10 or 7x12 fully loaded trailer (3000-7000lb tow capacity) if i want to live comfortably from place to place, otherwise i find myself having to buy and throw away a good $1000+ every trip on just things.
Wants/Needs: Doing a fair bit of research for the past week i've determined there are many good trucks and a few just really great years/models. Currently I'm trying to decide between testing the limits of a 1/2 ton toyota tundra or getting a decent diesel duramax/cummins chevy/ram 2500 from mid 2000's with as few of miles as i can find. I'm back and forth on if i want to spend more but I definitely dont want to buy new, but I am willing to go up to $40,000 if there is enough reason. Also, I'd like to be able to sleep in the back if i can find a top for it or buy one with a top. I'm a fairly big tech nerd and vehicles functions are interesting to me but i have little interest in the truck being fancy.
What I gather is, Gas vs Diesel is always a debate and the more i read the more I feel conflicted; my needs seem to border on decent for both as I will probably be using the truck for some trips to stores and 'in to town' (lots of work in small towns). Ultimately the cost of upkeep and repairs for a diesel much less the fact i dont really need the working power of it more than a few weeks out of a year means it's a bit overkill and that gas is probably a better choice but I haven't ruled diesels out entirely as the majority of the work it will be doing is actually highway towing. Also I intend to get a little 150/250cc scooter (i know, shut up) for small trips for groceries and just basic commuting.
Some of the gas 1/2t trucks I have in mind are the reliable sort, while these maybe older I'm to understand newer models come with plenty of unholy complications:
- '03-'06 chevy/gmc 1500 LS 4.8 or 5.3 (without active fuel management)
- '02-'03 F-150 4.6 or 5.4 (non-3valve)
- '02-'03 Ram 1500 5.2/5.9/5.7Hemi
- any year toyota tundra
- '17-'18 Ram 2500 6.7 cummins
- '06-'07 Chevy 2500 Durimax LBZ
I know the value in these are pretty different and i would be hard to find anything 2017 in 2500 with low mileage for less than 40,000. A lot of the stuff i research just points to these being some of the older more reliable vehicles that stood the test of time as well as research that shows cummins has always been a simple engine design with just impeccable quality, the ram just never bothered installing a worthwhile transmission until cummins forced them to in 2017, that being said I know the cummins rams are still some of the most reliable even with some of the troubles of transmissions and would be willing to buy early years on them if they proved tested and non-salvage. I also know that my history and simple weeks of research has probably left me ignorant to the fact that some of these are likely overkill, I just like to have my options open. This subaru doesn't have any options lol
What do you guys think, I'm open to suggestions and opinions.
#2
11-06-2021, 11:37 AM
Warranty coverage
Hello,
That is quite the decision you have to make there. When you do make the decision I sell extended service contracts to a lot of people on these forums for less/better than you can buy from the manufacturer or from whatever product their finance manager can get you. Message me if you have any questions. Thank you
That is quite the decision you have to make there. When you do make the decision I sell extended service contracts to a lot of people on these forums for less/better than you can buy from the manufacturer or from whatever product their finance manager can get you. Message me if you have any questions. Thank you
#3
11-14-2021, 07:20 PM
For my part, I've only ever bought one new truck. My other trucks have been pre-owned, and bought at five and ten year intervals across my adult lifetime. That said, I've bought a butt-load of motorcycles (5 Hondas, 5 BMW's, and 3 Suzuki's). Purchased five years ago with 76,000 miles on the odometer, my present motorcycle is a 2001 GL1800 that has just turned over 90,000 miles.
Based on some transferrable lessons from the above experiences, my contribution to the pre-owned truck-buying answer is to say look at the following:
Carfax: you can register at their website, do a search, and save the criteria. After that you can get an email when additional vehicles are listed, or when something changes on those you are watching. Likewise, some of the topics and questions seen below will be covered in a Carfax report.
Other considerations:
1. Maintenance history and records: Ask the seller how often the oil was changed. What about the other fluids? if the guy (or gal) has receipts and invoice on oil changes, etc., that's gold. A documented maintenance tells a lot about the vehicle, and the owner. More on that in a moment.
2. Mechanical history: ask if there have been major items repaired or replaced. On two different truck I owned, the thermostat housing was an issue that Ford repaired at no cost.
3. Appearance: does it look cared for, or has it been used as a rolling garbage can?
4. Listen to it: are there (odd) engine or transmission noises?
5. Check the oil cold and the transmission fluid hot.
6. Crawl underneath and look for leaks and damage.
7. Test drive: Does it shift smoothly, track true at speed, and do the electronics work? Back to the noises question: do you hear anything that causes concern?
8. Shop referral: ask the seller to tell you where he/she had it serviced and then visit the tech for his read.
9. Carfax again: if you get serious about a particular truck, ask the owner to provide you a Carfax report. Also, if buying from a dealer many of them now include one in the sell process.
In motorcycling we also say that we "buy the owner." Do you have a good sense when talking with this person and asking questions/getting answers, or do you have the sense he is peeing on your leg and telling you it is raining? If the answer the latter, excuse yourself and look elsewhere.
Finally, do you sense the vehicle has been well cared for, or dogged out? If the truck has been dogged through the woods and hills, scratch it off the list. Likewise, if you get the sense it has been raced from traffic signal to traffic signal, scratch it. Over the course of our marriage (40+ years) my wife and I have bought a half-dozen vehicles coming off lease with ~ 35,000 miles on them. Several came with remaining factory warranty. My 2019 Frontier is a CPO vehicle with a Nissan backed drivetrain and engine warranty.
And high mileage is not automatically a problem if the vehicle has been cared for. In graduate school (1982-85) I had a friend who drove a Mitsubishi with 500,000 plus miles on it. He maintained it himself. It did not use oil. The high mileage was accounted for by the fact that he and his wife were from New York, but doing to graduate school in NOLA.
At present I have a work colleague who has a 2006 Taco with 220,000 + miles on it. Naturally it is not showroom clean, but he has driven it responsibly and treats it like a "kept woman." Back in 2019 he bought a new one and now only drives the '06 to the hunting club and back. If he ever sells it someone will snag a great deal. The same kind of deals are out there on other trucks if one is patience and ready to pounce when it appears.
Finally, what about the price? While pricing is dropping, this is still a challenging time to buy. However, as we said in the USMC, "cash talks and b...s...t walks." If you are financing, many dealers in the current market will hold out for a jacked up price. However, if you are paying cash, you have a lot more power in the transaction. My personal negotiating tactic is to know how much I'll pay, and not budge on that amount. When I bought the Frontier last June, I bought from a dealer and went through the steps above. When we got ready to talk money, I wrote the amount I would pay out the door on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. He groaned and carried on like I was stealing it, but I got my price. Realistically I probably paid a bit more than I might have say, a year ago, but I got a pristine, low mileage vehicle that had everything I wanted in a truck.
Good luck in the search, And remember, if there are no pictures, it didn't happen!
Based on some transferrable lessons from the above experiences, my contribution to the pre-owned truck-buying answer is to say look at the following:
Carfax: you can register at their website, do a search, and save the criteria. After that you can get an email when additional vehicles are listed, or when something changes on those you are watching. Likewise, some of the topics and questions seen below will be covered in a Carfax report.
Other considerations:
1. Maintenance history and records: Ask the seller how often the oil was changed. What about the other fluids? if the guy (or gal) has receipts and invoice on oil changes, etc., that's gold. A documented maintenance tells a lot about the vehicle, and the owner. More on that in a moment.
2. Mechanical history: ask if there have been major items repaired or replaced. On two different truck I owned, the thermostat housing was an issue that Ford repaired at no cost.
3. Appearance: does it look cared for, or has it been used as a rolling garbage can?
4. Listen to it: are there (odd) engine or transmission noises?
5. Check the oil cold and the transmission fluid hot.
6. Crawl underneath and look for leaks and damage.
7. Test drive: Does it shift smoothly, track true at speed, and do the electronics work? Back to the noises question: do you hear anything that causes concern?
8. Shop referral: ask the seller to tell you where he/she had it serviced and then visit the tech for his read.
9. Carfax again: if you get serious about a particular truck, ask the owner to provide you a Carfax report. Also, if buying from a dealer many of them now include one in the sell process.
In motorcycling we also say that we "buy the owner." Do you have a good sense when talking with this person and asking questions/getting answers, or do you have the sense he is peeing on your leg and telling you it is raining? If the answer the latter, excuse yourself and look elsewhere.
Finally, do you sense the vehicle has been well cared for, or dogged out? If the truck has been dogged through the woods and hills, scratch it off the list. Likewise, if you get the sense it has been raced from traffic signal to traffic signal, scratch it. Over the course of our marriage (40+ years) my wife and I have bought a half-dozen vehicles coming off lease with ~ 35,000 miles on them. Several came with remaining factory warranty. My 2019 Frontier is a CPO vehicle with a Nissan backed drivetrain and engine warranty.
And high mileage is not automatically a problem if the vehicle has been cared for. In graduate school (1982-85) I had a friend who drove a Mitsubishi with 500,000 plus miles on it. He maintained it himself. It did not use oil. The high mileage was accounted for by the fact that he and his wife were from New York, but doing to graduate school in NOLA.
At present I have a work colleague who has a 2006 Taco with 220,000 + miles on it. Naturally it is not showroom clean, but he has driven it responsibly and treats it like a "kept woman." Back in 2019 he bought a new one and now only drives the '06 to the hunting club and back. If he ever sells it someone will snag a great deal. The same kind of deals are out there on other trucks if one is patience and ready to pounce when it appears.
Finally, what about the price? While pricing is dropping, this is still a challenging time to buy. However, as we said in the USMC, "cash talks and b...s...t walks." If you are financing, many dealers in the current market will hold out for a jacked up price. However, if you are paying cash, you have a lot more power in the transaction. My personal negotiating tactic is to know how much I'll pay, and not budge on that amount. When I bought the Frontier last June, I bought from a dealer and went through the steps above. When we got ready to talk money, I wrote the amount I would pay out the door on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. He groaned and carried on like I was stealing it, but I got my price. Realistically I probably paid a bit more than I might have say, a year ago, but I got a pristine, low mileage vehicle that had everything I wanted in a truck.
Good luck in the search, And remember, if there are no pictures, it didn't happen!
#4
11-19-2023, 09:32 PM
Unless you will be towing real heavy loads often, such as a pc35 escavator, I would not go near diesel. IMO only when load weights require the pulling power, there is no choice but diesel. I have had powerstroke, and Cummins, the cost is so high and they mess up a lot, hard to fix. If I had deep pockets, and no worries, I would love a new 3500. In reality, that gas burner at 17 miles a gallon is just easier. Your post was a thesis, I stopped at gas or diesel
#5
11-26-2023, 03:46 PM
If you are buying a full-size truck you prolly won't need a trailer, A cap for the truck maybe. If you're going up to 40k you could buy a newer truck with low miles. The Silverado's 2.7 turbo is a good gas milage motor. And can still pull a trailer to if needed.
#6
12-03-2023, 10:57 PM
Hi
Thank you for reaching out for assistance with your used truck buying process. I'd be happy to provide some guidance and suggestions. To better assist you, could you please provide more details on the specific aspects you're looking for in a used truck? This might include your budget range, preferred make and model, desired features, and any other considerations that are important to you.
Once I have a better understanding of your preferences, I can offer more targeted advice to help you make an informed decision. Additionally, if you have any specific questions or concerns about the used truck buying process, feel free to share them, and I'll do my best to address them.
Looking forward to hearing more about your requirements and assisting you in finding the perfect used truck!
Thank you for reaching out for assistance with your used truck buying process. I'd be happy to provide some guidance and suggestions. To better assist you, could you please provide more details on the specific aspects you're looking for in a used truck? This might include your budget range, preferred make and model, desired features, and any other considerations that are important to you.
Once I have a better understanding of your preferences, I can offer more targeted advice to help you make an informed decision. Additionally, if you have any specific questions or concerns about the used truck buying process, feel free to share them, and I'll do my best to address them.
Looking forward to hearing more about your requirements and assisting you in finding the perfect used truck!
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