questions,,,newbie,,,,confused ,,engine issues ?

There are horror stories and there are stories like mine where my '99 F250 never popped a plug. It all boils down to proper maintenance and proper diligence when purchasing. I wouldn't shun a rig because it had 60K if it was properly maintained. A rig with a leaky intake manifold and broken fridge doesn't meet that standard. I bought my 2008 2 years ago with 40K miles on it and haven't had 1 issue in that time. Of course, I paid a lot more than $12K for it.