2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission buying used: 1st or 2nd gen?

[theferalkid]

ok, i am planning on buying a used dodge diesel, 3/4 ton, 4X4; i want a reliable vehicle and will pay good money for it, but i am having a hard time finding a 12 valve with reasonable miles (under 150K) for under $17K. $17K is a lot of $ for me, so... are 1st gen ctd's reliable? will 1st gens. have rubber fuel components (i intend to use biodiesel); why even consider a 12V if i can get a low mile older 1st gen for $5-10K cheaper? btw, i will mainly be using the truck on a farm and for construction projects, only occasional pulling... any advice would be appreciated.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Don't know where you are looking for trucks at, but that price is way high for 98 and older trucks.



I bought my 98 24V dually 4x4 CTD at a dealer in Las Vegas for a lot less than that just six months ago. It was real clean and near perfect condition. Have had no issues at all other than with almost 95K miles it is almost ready for a set of tires.



eBay has several listed for under 10K "buy it now"



http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=772

http://www.gibsontruckworld.com/Gibson Truck/dodge.html

http://www.cars-on-line.com/trucksmenu.html



This one has several lower priced trucks

http://www.trucktraderonline.com/adsearch/trucksearchprocess.html



$8995 1996 DODGE RAM 2500, LONGBED 4X4, 5. 9L V8 ENGINE, 8800 GVW RATING, AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, AIR CONDITIONING, TOW PACKAGE, 40/20/40 SPLIT BENCH SEAT. …



1997 DODGE RAM 2500, Stock# 7775, Class 1 Pickup TRuck, SLT X/C 4X4 TEAL, DIESEL 5-SPEED 102K, LOADED. …





You just need to do a lot of searching. I turned all of these up in less than 10 minutes using only Google... ... ...

 

[Tom Trujillo]

John is right, unless you happen to stumble on to one EBAY is probably the way to go - but of course its buyer beware. I have a long bed/club-cab/sport '97 that I have been hemming and hawing about selling or trading it. It has 65,000 miles on it and has not worked a day in its life - other than an occasional load of mulch. I took it to the dealer a couple weeks ago and towards a new CTD he offerred me $17K so I figure I could probably do a little better in a private sale - then again, the truck is in beautiful shape and not having worked the truck you pretty much know what your getting.



I suspect that pricing can be very geography dependent. Here in New England, trucks are big sellers.



Tom