advice needed

[_luke]

Hey guys, I'm in need of some help again.



I'm looking at a truck in Austin that is in *ROUGH* cosmetic shape & I'm concerned about how well it was maintained mechanically.



here's the link to it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...1831&item=2466779711&sspagename=STRK:MEBWA:IT



they'll sell it to me for $14,500



Does anyone have a shop they could take it to or would anyone be willing to inspect it themselves? I'd be more than happy to pay you for the time.



Cheers,

_luke miller



p. s. crossposted in general and regional forums

 

[JFinke]

I have worked on a lot of pickups that looked good and were treated very poorly in a mechanical sense. But 99. 9% of trucks that are beat on the outside are neglected mechanically also. The only bright side is that the cummins seems to be able to take abuse very well. If it were me I would spend the money it will take to cosmetically fix the truck (2000-4000) and buy another one that you can verify the care and maintenance on. If you don't care about the looks go for it. What you save will go a long ways on bombing and rebuilding. Jake

 

[rholcom2]

Man, I had my truck painted that had 2 small dents in it, and had been keyed. Thats all the body work they had to do, and with the paint, stripeing, labor, and everything it was over $6,000. Granted the paint is probably better than factory.



Dude, it looks like you will have to buy every body panel on the truck. I am guessing you are going to have OVER market value in the truck by the time that you get it done. On the brite side of things you will know it has new metal in it and how everythings done. Just my opinion... . everyone has one.

 

[mikel]

Just my opinion, but there's no way I'd buy a vehicle that looks to have been mistreated like that unless I personally knew the previous owner and there were mitigating circumstances, like an angry EX took a bat to it or something.



To me, that truck looks like it was just plain abused and neglected.



Mike

 

[_luke]

I should note, I don't care too much how it *looks* just how it runs. I'm going to be using it mostly as a work truck.



I am worried that it's been abused mechanically though.

 

[mikel]

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. Most of the time people will take about the same care of the mechanical part as they do for the appearance part. Since the appearance of that truck looks so rough, I'd bet the mechanicals are too.



I'd take it on a long test drive and pay particular attention to any odd noises or vibrations. I'd also take a careful look at all the fluids for any signs of neglect or contamination.



Mike

 

[EBottema]

Ya, I agree. You can tell by the body that it was prob used as a work truck. The bumper gaurd is thrashed. The bed is too, That bed ball hitch shows that it was towed with, im sure a lot. Unless you want to spend a few hundred on getting the body polished and detailed, replace the bed with a custom flatbed, then i wouldnt get it, really looks like hell Also something that looks bad on the outside can not look good on the inside



erik

 

[lmills]

I don't know. I personally think it could be a tough call. I buy my trucks to work them. I don't think I have ever beat them as bad as that 01 looks in the pics, but mine get their share of dents and dings. I haul and tow quite often and when using it to work construction, things happen. However I can tell you this. I do maintain my vehicles. I do not neglect the mechanicals. So I think it is possible that it could be sound, but would definitely want to have it checked out. Cars bought on the internet can either be a blessing or nothing but trouble. Good luck with it

 

[ob1kobi]

Thats a rough looking truck on the outside, and I know we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but that is a reallllly bad looking truck on the outside. Looks like the drivers seat has a tear also. In my opinion, I wouldn't spend 14,500 of my hard earned dollars on it. For just a liitle more you can get trucks that look alot better, and will at least look like they were taken better care of.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Look on Autotrader.com



I found one up in NH that needed a little fixing up for $3500... . ('94 reg cab, 4x4, NV-4500)... that one was sold before Dad could get up there to go look at it.



There was also one in Louisiana for $7900 ('96 ext cab, 4x4, NV-4500)... I'm not sure if it's gone or not...



There were also a few reg cabs in TX for short change... .



Matt

 

[truckstom]

I went and drove that truck today... crawled under, in and on top of it. It's been worked hard, but it's really in good shape. Looking at it in person I believe it's a ranch/farm truck, they prolly used the front end to open swing gates, and some cows rubbed it up pretty good... Drove out real good... no oil leaks at all that I could find,( not counting the pill bottle) The inside was fine 'cept the noted drivers seat. All the glass was flawless... that was a surprise, from the pics I saw. All the gear oils were good. Fuel pressure was 10 at idle, down to about 6 w/ some throttle sitting still... . I'd buy it in a second... if I could get them down some more on the price... . but that's just me...

ToM!

 

[_luke]

Tom,



Thanks a bunch for going to look at it for me! I owe ya dinner



I think I'm going to go for it. It's got a lot of features that I was looking for (01. 5, rear discs, QC, shortbed, 5-spd, vinyl floor, etc. )

and I'm mostly using it as a work truck in the mountains & it's going to get it's share of scrapes & dings.



and it's still got 20k on the warrenty.



Am I nuts?

 

[Bob Wagner]

give me 15k and I will find you a better deal. that truck looks like a POS