Beware if Selling or Buying a Used Truck

[Gale Hawkins]

After working to help spot a truck for a neighbor who has no online means of searching I have been shocked at the prices and demand for even junkers.

Beware before you set a price you will sell for or a purchase price do some serious pricing research. If selling yours may be worth more than you think and if buying you many be paying more than you think.

It seems any solid truck be it a compact or 1-ton will move quickly even if the price is on the high side.

I looked at two Ford Rangers and a 1996 Chevy 3/4 ton. The Chevy had 250,000 miles on it w/350 automatic and beat to death needing new tires and brakes for only $2500. The 1987 and 1999 Rangers had around 200,000 miles for bottom line prices of $1200/$2100. All three had major body damage but still being driven.

I was taken back by the mess under the hoods.

If selling do NOT set the price until you do some looking. If it is clean and solid in most parts it will sell even if the price is on the high side.
When you ask around the tire shops, ect if anyone knows of a used truck for sale the most common reply is NO but they know someone looking for a good used truck.

While the goal was a cheap truck in my searching even the nice trucks were going well over what the same year condition was selling for three years ago.

 

[two_bit_score]

And Mexicans will quickly pay cash if the inspection sticker and plates are current.

 

[creekbend]

And Mexicans will quickly pay cash if the inspection sticker and plates are current.

That definitely happens in quite a few cases in Florida also. When I lived there, my neighbor across the street bought a new truck and brought it home. He then pulled his old Ford Ranger out of the garage and parked the truck in his front yard, placing a For Sale sign inside on the windshield. I was looking at his new truck while he went in to get us a beer. By the time it took him to come back out with our beers, a truck had pulled up. Three Mexicans offered him cash on the spot. He was paid right then and there with crisp $100.00 bills. No ethnic pun intended. Just relating an incident that I witnessed. Hope everyone has a good night and a better tomorrow.

 

[two_bit_score]

That definitely happens in quite a few cases in Florida also. When I lived there, my neighbor across the street bought a new truck and brought it home. He then pulled his old Ford Ranger out of the garage and parked the truck in his front yard, placing a For Sale sign inside on the windshield. I was looking at his new truck while he went in to get us a beer. By the time it took him to come back out with our beers, a truck had pulled up. Three Mexicans offered him cash on the spot. He was paid right then and there with crisp $100.00 bills. No ethnic pun intended. Just relating an incident that I witnessed. Hope everyone has a good night and a better tomorrow.

Yeah, you are right. When you sell a vehicle in Texas and leave the license plates on it you run a risk of getting tickets from every parking meter in town and every toll gate within 800 miles. You may be able to legally disavow responsibility if you can show that you sold the vehicle but if the plates list your address you will be getting the tickets and notices in the mail. Also, red light tickets.

 

[creekbend]

Yeah, you are right. When you sell a vehicle in Texas and leave the license plates on it you run a risk of getting tickets from every parking meter in town and every toll gate within 800 miles. You may be able to legally disavow responsibility if you can show that you sold the vehicle but if the plates list your address you will be getting the tickets and notices in the mail. Also, red light tickets.

I agree. My neighbor went with the buyers to a DMV office close by and closed the transaction and made sure the paperwork was done in duplicate--in essence he made sure that he retained a copy of everything for his records.

 

[mjncad]

And Mexicans will quickly pay cash if the inspection sticker and plates are current.

I hear they love red followed by blue Chevies the best.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

There was a time when a vehicle hit 100K miles that there were no buyers to be found then it was 200K mile.

It is nothing to get a total net of $400-$500 if a full size vehicle is scrapped out .

With new Ford F-150's selling from $25K to $50K one is not going to find much under the $5K in clean older trucks. It is the price 'beaters' are bringing that caught me off guard.

As was pointed out if you are a serious buyer you leave home with a stack of $100 bills tall enought to close the deal on the spot or watch the one with the cash get the vehicle.

This hot of a market means the dealers are NOT seeing trade-in's like once.

A few years ago a guy at the office bought a used KIA SUV that looked great for $10K. The other week he went back to the same dealer (not Ford) and got a good price on a 2010 Ford Focus that is really sharp. The kicker they also gave him what he paid for the new like KIA SUV some 2-3 years before.

With the kind of inflation we are seeing in motorized goods if one is looking for anything with wheels on it he needs to move fast if he finds it. When I got home tonight I told the family all of our old stuff is worth more than I thought so if something happens to me to hold out for top dollar.

 

[jeffsw6]

I have been watching my local craigslist for a year. At least I have an idea of what things go for now. Sometimes I see what I think is a bargain but I have had to save money for a new trailer first, so I couldn't get a new truck yet anyway. But often I later think, yeah, I am glad I didn't go buy that on the spot. Might not have been the best thing.

Today's is a '95 Chevy 3500 dually 454/auto/4x4/ext cab for $4200. That's right up my alley as far as what is useful to me, but without even knowing if it has any problems, I am pretty sure I don't want a 95 4L80 to deal with and the 454 is thirsty.

If I didn't need that bigger trailer first I bet that C3500 would already be in my driveway, and I'd already be having buyer's remorse.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have been watching my local craigslist for a year. At least I have an idea of what things go for now. Sometimes I see what I think is a bargain but I have had to save money for a new trailer first, so I couldn't get a new truck yet anyway. But often I later think, yeah, I am glad I didn't go buy that on the spot. Might not have been the best thing.

Today's is a '95 Chevy 3500 dually 454/auto/4x4/ext cab for $4200. That's right up my alley as far as what is useful to me, but without even knowing if it has any problems, I am pretty sure I don't want a 95 4L80 to deal with and the 454 is thirsty.

If I didn't need that bigger trailer first I bet that C3500 would already be in my driveway, and I'd already be having buyer's remorse.

Like they say you do need to know before you go. :thumbsup:

A truck like that can be worth a lot or its weight at the scrap yard. There are a lot of expensive moving parts in a truck like that. We have that drive line in our 1992 MH and the best we have done fully loaded (its only option) is 9 MPG. Now at 108,000 miles it still goes the 3000 miles between oil changes before needing a quart of oil.

On older used stuff like that I tend to limit my buying to 2WD manual transmissions vehicles with a clutch that stills feels pretty smooth/strong. Looks, AC, etc is nice but not required to move a load.

Limiting future repair bills carries a lot of weight when I am buying used trucks.:thumbsup:

 

[two_bit_score]

Anyone ever used this?

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