97 Dodge 2500 diesel known problems?

4bearhug wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

4bearhug wrote:
OK, here is the update to the story. The truck is a one owner, and does appear to run fine. The paint is really faded/gone on hood and roof. The AC works, but not really that good. All in all it's a decent truck for the age. The real stumbling block for my son is the fact that there is no access to the back seat except thru the two front doors. My son wants to use this for hauling/securing tools for construction and he just sees this being a real pain to get stuff in and out of. He lives in an area where you can't keep tools in the bed w/ a topper/tonneau. Also he is thinking about trying to get a car seat back there will be a real hassle.

So at this moment he is considering whether the good points outweigh the bad points. The price is non-negotiable, but that really isn't the issue for him. I think he was shocked to find this out as he never dreamed that a truck would have a back seat w/o having a separate door.

Really!! :S

a 18 year old one owner Ram Cummins with only 133,000 miles. I think he could learn to live with it.

Yeah, he could learn to live with it, but the thing is he doesn't really need a diesel or a 2500. He just needs an PU with an oversized cab and 8 ft bed that's in reasonable mechanical condition. So the benefit of the low mileage diesel is less useful to him than someone who is towing sizable loads regularly. He might still go for it, but based on his needs it's not such a no brainer as it might appear.