BillW44 wrote:
Hi folks. Someone I know wants to upgrade their Class A and they want to get a TT (hopefully something newer $7500-$15000) and they're wondering what a good pickup might be to get. Something that's typically available. Doesn't have to be diesel. Something not too old. Maybe $8500-$10000. It would be nice if it was easily worked on and not full of this newer engine compartment stuff where you have to take the engine out to change the oil.
Thanks for any suggestions! Probably been asked before but perhaps not in this way. Hopefully it hasn't, and hopefully I'm asking in the preferred category.
Thanks.
Bill
Gonna burst your bubble a bit on the expectations..
To get anywhere near your price ranges you ARE going to be looking at trailers late 90's to at best 2000..
Trucks, well lets put it this way, trucks HOLD their value..
What that means is $8,500 - $10,000 won't buy you much at all and you WILL be looking at extremely high mileage vehicles from early to late 90's. RUST and mileage are what you are going to be dealing with..
Heck, I have a 2003 F250 5.4 gas super cab 2wd with 200,000 miles and it is worth easily $6K-$7K. In the last two years I have had transmission lines rot out twice, brake lines once, repaired bed wheel well rot, one starter (and those are a bear to change), parking brake intermediate cable.. Easily have spent $4K in repairs over the last two years..
The 5.4 is a solid engine and and the 4 speed transmission keeps going, however, spending a bit more on say 2006 and newer you get a lot more engine (our 2003 has 2V 265 HP engine and our 2006 has 3V 300 HP engine). You also will see advances in the transmissions, our 2003 has a 4 speed transmission and the 2006 has 5 speed PLUS Tow Haul mode). Tow Haul, really makes a huge difference, it alters the shift pattern and has automatic downshifting when you are descending hills.
The only reason I have kept the 2003 is my DD started driving a yr ago and keeping it and fixing it up was cheaper than buying a 5-6 yr car then dumping money into a used car..
You WILL be fixing the older trucks, they will have considerable mileage, wear and tear, you will be spending some money to make it reliable.
Sure, there may be some deals to be had, but keep in mind, be very leery of any "too good to be true" type deals on the Internet.. There are a lot of scammers just looking for the desperate deal seeker.. And they are plenty happy to take your money and you end up with nothing.
Words like in a warehouse, will ship, someone died and many other sob stories walk away..