Ford F250

Dave Cleveland · #1 (**permalink**) 05-15-2002, 11:01 AM

Gentlemen,
I have the opportunity to purchase from my cousin a 1997 Ford F250 HD SuperCab 2WD pickup with a 460 V8 and overdrive transmission. It was used as a worktruck and has high highway miles, about 180,000. He has all of the service records for it. Not to long ago it had a complete valve job, and new ball joints. He's asking $1250.
But here's the kicker. One of his employees was driving it drunk and got into a chase with the police. He lost control of the truck and drove it through the front window of a flower shop. So there is some damage. Here's what it appears to need. A new front drivers fender, headlight assembly, indicator light, header panel, moldings, wheel well trim, and a new door. (It needs a door because the police damaged it prying it open to get him out.) He also scraped the rear fender and tore off the wheel well molding.
The body is in otherwise very good condition, No rust and only a few small dings. The interior needs a good cleaning (this guy was a slob) and the windshield has a crack.
It's a XLT model with lots of power options and a towing package.
My question for you guys is (since I'm not familiar with the value of damaged trucks) is this a good price for this truck in this condition and are the repairs going to cost more than it's value?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. (I kinda like it as a tow vehicle for my Cobra if it's worth it.)

Thanks,
Dave C.

Back in Black · #2 (**permalink**) 05-15-2002, 12:14 PM

IF you have the ability to make the repairs yourself, AND if you have a 120 point check done at a reputable nearby shop. This can expose latent problemos before you buy it.

DAVID GAGNARD · #3 (**permalink**) 05-15-2002, 03:31 PM

Dave C.;

You did say 1997 did ya...If so I just checked in my NADA used car guide and the "book" value with the $4,000.00 high mileage deduction is somewhere between $8,000.00 and $10,000.00 grand not counting the body damage....for the damage you are describing I would guess somewhere in the 2 to 3 thousand dollar range,so overall the truck should still be worth at minimum 5 grand as it sits, of course that is without seeing it and having the VIN and list of options to run the A.C.V. on (actual cash value)....

If you do have the VIN and list all options as well as overall condition excluding body damage from the wreck I'll be happy to run the numbers for you on the truck.....

David

Dave Cleveland · #4 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 05:39 AM

David,
I also did some checking last night and found out about the same thing you were saying. The truck is worth about $5,000 as it sits. It's overall condition I'd say is "good". There's no other body damage besides that from the wreck and no rust. The interior is filthy but it's mostly just dirt and cigarette smoke from being a work truck, nothing a good scrubbing couldn't cure. I priced out the parts to fix it and not including the door and other non-essential parts (things that are broken but not really in need of replacing) I came up with about $300. So a running, newer truck for about $1500 seems like a pretty good deal to me. Of course I'll have to fix it myself. But I guess if I can put a Cobra together, I can fix a few body panels.

My post was really to get an idea if the truck was worth it. I've never bought a wrecked vehicle before so I had no idea how much to deduct for the damage or how much it would cost to fix.
After some research and talking to a few people I've come to the conclusion that I'd be stupid not to buy it. The value as it sits wrecked is higher than what I'll be paying for it.
Thanks for the reply's guys.

JWheaton · #5 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 06:02 AM

Dave,

I have just one question -- why? Why would you want to buy it. You may be getting a couple thousand off of a truck, but you are getting a couple thousand dollars off of a truck that even with the repairs you just mentioned before and after the accident is a vehicle with LOTS of HARD time. How is the frame? Does it have other "bends" from previous excursions up and over curbing? How are the springs and shocks and I believe the 250 comes with struts up front? IF those are worn you are looking at another 1,000 to 1,200 dollars.

If you are looking form something to tow stuff around the corner to the other side of town -- good deal. If you are looking for something to tow over that you are throwing very good money into the money pit of metal and rubber.

You may get a deal, but if you needed to resell it you will not get your money back, or highly unlikely.

Since the vehicle has also been involved in an accident involving DWI and a pursuit I would wait until all that has settled and over with. You never know when the police may impound the vehicle.

Jim Downard · #6 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 06:07 AM

Dave,

Save a little more of your money and find a diesel with a manual transmission for pulling duties. A 2WD diesel with overdrive manual tranny pulling 7000lbs worth of trailer and car will still get over 15 mpg. Empty your looking at 22mpg highway. As far as maintaining a diesel. You first change the oil at 5000 mile intervals. Next, oh yea. There is no next. Miles between overhauls and valve jobs etc. Probably 300,000 miles at least. A diesel pickup accelerates slower than a gaser, but when you put a trailer behind it, it will still accelerate at about the same pace. Just my opinion, but gasoline powered trucks can't hold a candle to one with a diesel.

Jim Downard
2002 Dodge 2500 w/Cummins diesel, 5 spd. , Dana 80 rear axle 3.55:1 gear ration, 4WD, 20 mpg average cityand highway.
Just food for thought.

Dave Cleveland · #7 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 06:17 AM

The issue with the police has been settled. It was a company truck that has been maintained extremely well. I know because my cousin is the boss, he's responsible for making sure the fleet is in working order. As I mentioned before, all of the service records are available to me. Yes, it was wrecked, but it's not nearly as bad as I might have made it sound. Mostly it is cosmetic. The inner fender and everything attached to it are undisturbed. The headlight housing is smashed but can easily be replaced. The header panel that holds the lights only needs to be replaced because the plastic bosse that the screws go thru to hold the lights on were snapped off. There's nothing to mount the light to.
The frame is in good shape, the only thing damaged underneath is the drag link which hit the wall below the window and got bent back. Mechanically and structurally it is quite sound. Cosmetically it needs work.
As to why I'd want it. Well, that's easy,......to pull my Cobra. I never go more than a few hundred miles from home anyway and this truck could easily pull it. Besides, have you priced trucks lately? They don't give them away.

Lastely, my cousin is the type of guy that wouldn't sell any vehicle to his family that he thought was going to be a money pit. He knows these trucks well. The questions really was..is it worth what he was asking taking into account the work it needed.

Dave

Dave Cleveland · #8 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 06:26 AM

Jim,
I agree totally on the diesel issue. In fact he just sold another work truck to a friend of mine. it was a 1997 Dodge extended cab long box diesel 4WD with 260,000 miles on it for $4800.
I missed my opportunity on that one, but he is going to have a Ford 4Door 4WD dualy diesel coming up for sale in about 18 months. It was his personal truck that put back into the fleet. They'll use it there for about two years and then sell it. My cousin bought one of the trucks for himself as well. It was a 1997 Dodge 4WD extended cab shortbox with a 360. It had about 150,000 miles on it but he bought it for the unbelievable price of,......are you ready....$500. No, I didn't forget any zeros. It's a REALLY nice truck and he got it for hardly anything.
As for this Ford. I think it would make a decent pickup for pulling my Cobra around since I don't go too far from home. But, yeh you're right, a diesel would be better.

wadesdad · #9 (**permalink**) 05-16-2002, 09:11 PM

Dave,

I have a few friends who have trucks with that engine. They perform flawlessly with regular maintenance into the high 200,000/low 300,000 mileage range.

I have seen POORLY maintained versions perform well also. It sounds like a heck of a deal. Even if the engine blew up tomorrow, you could part the truck out for at least what you bought it for.

-wadesdad

Dave Cleveland · #10 (**permalink**) 05-17-2002, 05:42 AM

After much thought and discussion with my cousin, as well as you guys, I've decided that I'm going to buy the truck. Last night I was given the complete story as to how the truck got wrecked. It was not driven through a flower shop as I had previously mentioned, but a greenhouse. The damage to the fender and head light was done when he struck, or should I say skimmed, a parked truck inside the greenhouse. It wasn't a direct hit, but more of a rub along the side. This eases my concerns about the frame. When I asked how then the drag link got bent he said that that was caused not by a brick wall, but by one of those cement blocks that they use to hold up signs. It was just high enough to reach the drag link and he hit it square with the middle of the truck, thus bending it. He also told me that the valve job had been done at around 140,000 miles, so that's relatively recent.
Lastly, based on it's value even with damage, I think the asking price is more than fair. Over the last couple days I've been able to get together some prices for parts, and if I do the work myself, it isn't nearly as expensive as I thought it might be.

Thanks everyone
Dave

Don Post · #11 (**permalink**) 05-17-2002, 11:22 AM

Just to add support for the diesels, I have a 93 F250 XLT with 7.3L diesel, 5spd, 130K miles. Always started in the winter (-14 not plugged in one morning), have yet to have anything go wrong with the engine except a couple of glow plugs. I still get 15-17 highway MPG. Next summer I plan to pull everything off the frame and have it blasted and coated and then put it all back together. Figure cheeper then a new one (30K+) and this one has been so good.

-Don