A little update on an automotive endeavor
 

So I apologize for having been away from the computer a bit, but I've been down here in Phoenix on my latest project.

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan... and in MI, a nice rust free, diesel truck is IMPOSSIBLE to find, and if you do find one, you will pay for it like none other. I had an uncle out here in Phoenix so I figured I would come down, buy a truck, and bring it back... hopefully sell it and make enough to recoup expenses. Anyways, I flew down here Saturday night, played golf Sunday, and spent Monday and Tuesday looking at trucks. Here is what I bought at 10am on Tuesday morning:

2004 Ford F-250 Lariat ext cab Fx4 148,000 miles. The tires were 75% all the way around, but the fronts were cupped and it was in bad need of an allignment. I bought it and drove it straight to a nearby shop where they charged me $143 to perform an allignment, oil/filter change (15qts :O), and a full vehicle inspection that eventually resulted in a front to rear swap of the tires and the removal of 2 screws and a nail from the right front. An hour later the truck is perfect.

Now you may be asking, "What did he pay for the truck?" and I have an answer for you: $8900 + $450 for a new tailgate (old one was stolen). Yeah, $8900 for a Diesel 4x4 with under 200,000. I'm pretty dang proud of myself. Tomorrow I'm heading to the south rim of the grand canyon, then up to Denver, then back to MI. Hopefully she'll make it just fine!

Good deal man - good luck with it!

Made it from Mesa, AZ to Cortez, CO today and the truck didn't skip a beat. Easy to drive, plenty of power, etc etc. The fuel economy even surprises me. on the first tank I did about 50 miles of city driving and then climbed 7500 feet over the next 220 miles. That tank returned 17mpg! I was doing 75-85 up the hills too! I've since returned to sea level and have been cruising along back roads with a few stops and ranging from 15-55mph. Right now the computer says 19.9mpg for this tank, but will not hit 20

good deal sounds like the truck is a good buy and good flip sale

Great Deal! 19.9 MPG is nothing to sneeze at.

great truck....I will be getting one very soon

Nice find!

Just sold it to the dealer after the high pressure oil pump went out and so did the branch tube. $4200 to fix. I gave it to the dealer for $8000. Never again will I buy a powerstroke

And that is the reason I stay away from diesels period. It seems like in addition to the expensive stuff a gas burner has like transmissions, motor rebuilds, etc. they have other items that are just ridiculous to repair. I have driven them and they are awesome as far as power, but my pockets aren't deep enough for some of the repair bills.

Sorry to hear about your loss, but you did good to get out of it like you did I think!

That's what's stopping me from going with a diesel truck. I had a Jetta TDI at one point and the thing was beautiful, but even on that tiny power-plant when things went wrong, things went quite wrong. And got pricey fast. I would much rather deal with the limitations of a gas engine than that kind of repair bill.