Thinking about buying a friend's 2004 and selling our 1999...

[Reluctant Mechanic]

Our friend is offering up his 2004 Ram 3500 QC 4WD auto CTD with flatbed but is asking us to do the research on price and make an offer. It's a clean SLT, cloth seats, no upgrades other than the flatbed (original bed gone) with 90,000, very well maintained.

Ours is a hard used 1999 Ram 2500 QC 4WD auto LB auto CTD with 188,000. Body has cosmetic issues. Upgraded with a new FASS DRRP

I have a few questions since the Buyer's Guide has a broken link and might have answered these:

1. Best method to evaluate worth on these trucks to come up with that offer. Edmunds and KBB have differing opinions. Can't go by what people are offering their trucks for, of course.
2. Given these are both 20+ yo trucks, is the step up to the 2004, whose owner I trust to have maintained it well worth the price tag since so far I'm seeing $17-21K? We are at an age where we shouldn't be spending our retirement dollars on big ticket items, but the peace of mind of a reliable, more lightly used truck is tempting.

Sorry to see that the lift pump is still a known issue with the 2004 as with the 2nd gen. Also saw that the brakes are wimpy given the heft of the truck. Any other known issues to be on the look out for? Transmission hunting has been one to plague our '99 along with the necessity to do the FASS lift pump.

Thanks in advance...

 

[CharlesinGA]

Mopar has an intank lift pump kit. Cab and chassis was not available until the 4th gen models so yours is a truck they removed the bed and installed the flat bed on. I installed the intank pump on my '03. a buddy had an '04 3500DRW model he installed the FASS pump on and it was terribly noisy. I did the pump conversion fairly easily. The kit contains all wiring with connectors needed, ready to install. It connects to th existing wiring harness at the back of the front LH wheel well behind the plastic liner. From there back the wiring is already in the harness. I removed the bed to do this.

Charles

 

[slowmover]

Mopar has an intank lift pump kit. Cab and chassis was not available until the 4th gen models so yours is a truck they removed the bed and installed the flat bed on. I installed the intank pump on my '03. a buddy had an '04 3500DRW model he installed the FASS pump on and it was terribly noisy. I did the pump conversion fairly easily. The kit contains all wiring with connectors needed, ready to install. It connects to th existing wiring harness at the back of the front LH wheel well behind the plastic liner. From there back the wiring is already in the harness. I removed the bed to do this.

Charles

I’d be happy to find another like mine (w/NV5600).
Very happy to find low miles/minimal rust.

Lift pump isn’t an issue. Low price and EZ DIY.

The rest “might” be a PITA, but that’s a function of age.
This is where you’ll have to spend.

The pre-2008 4WD have defective steering geometry issues you’ll need to research as to cost.


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[Matt42]

Mopar has an intank lift pump kit. Cab and chassis was not available until the 4th gen models so yours is a truck they removed the bed and installed the flat bed on. I installed the intank pump on my '03. a buddy had an '04 3500DRW model he installed the FASS pump on and it was terribly noisy. I did the pump conversion fairly easily. The kit contains all wiring with connectors needed, ready to install. It connects to th existing wiring harness at the back of the front LH wheel well behind the plastic liner. From there back the wiring is already in the harness. I removed the bed to do this.

Charles

The in-tank lift pump was a good retrofit for the 204 I used to drive on the job. It was a necessary retrofit, since the repair shop 1,000 miles from home couldn't get an OEM style pump to work.

 

[Ozymandias]

Brakes on the Gen3 are a HUGE upgrade over the Gen2 - who consider them wimpy? But it's twenty years old anyway. So it isn't new truck, it will have it's fair share of problems like the older Gen2. But it is much more comfortabel and roomy then the Gen2. Gen3 was a big leap forward, much more then between 3/4.
Rust is by far the biggest enemy of these trucks.

 

[AH64ID]

Is it an 04 or 04.5?

Both came with a block mounted LP, but that doesn’t mean it’s still there. Many trucks have been converted to in-tank pumps.

The 03-07 steering has been hated by many, but it worked very well for me an all kinds of road surfaces. When the time came to replace the steering in my 05 I intentionally stuck with the Y style.

At 90K and 20 years old I wouldn’t be surprised if injectors are around the corner. They may go many thousands of miles more, or they may already have leak issues.

All the aside, 3rd gen trucks are far more capable and comfortable than 2nd gen trucks.

How do you plan to use the truck?

 

[Turbo Terry]

Very good question

 

[Topzide]

@Reluctant Mechanic, The buyers guide doesn't have a broken link, you have to be a paid member of TDR to have access to certain features of the site.

 

[bcbender]

I never had issues with the steering either. My injectors were still original at 195k when I traded it in, but I did have upgraded filtration added when I purchased at 90k/6y old.

 

[Matt42]

Brakes on the Gen3 are a HUGE upgrade over the Gen2 - who consider them wimpy?.

I echo Ozymandias' comment on the brakes. The 2004 1 ton 4x4 I drove for work had great brakes. Combined with the upgraded shock absorbers, and the added-on exhaust brake, the four wheel disk brakes saved my life more than once.

 

[GSP7]

..............................

Ours is a hard used 1999 Ram 2500 QC 4WD auto LB auto CTD with 188,000. Body has cosmetic issues. Upgraded with a new FASS DRRP

........................

The local North/Central Idaho facespook marketplace ad posters would think that '99 would be more valuable than Gold . . They'd probably ask $25-30k for it LOL !

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I have a '99 and a '05..... The 05 bigger brakes are definitely a Plus+++
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[Matt42]

The local North/Central Idaho facespook marketplace ad posters would think that '99 would be more valuable than Gold . . They'd probably ask $25-30k for it LOL !

It seems to be universally true that sellers think their second generation CTDs are as valuable as gold. Flat paint, shiny paint; high miles, low miles; don't seem to matter. Asking prices range from 20K to 30K. A colleague in Wyoming described my 1996 to her mechanic. Needs paint, dashboard exploded, 4x4 5 speed, club cab, under 80K miles. He said it would sell for $30K in the Bighorn Basin.

But I don't know what they end up actually selling for, if they sell at all.

 

[bcbender]

Asking and selling are two different animals... lots of people thinking they're gonna make a killing, but what are they actually paying is the key. I've seen all kinds of absurd prices lately, not one of them seems to be going anywhere though. At the end of the day its a personal thing and the price is only what someone is willing to pay, heck throw a price on it and see what happens, never know..

 

[Tuesdak]

Our friend

Understand that is is an AS IS WHERE IS Deal and if you complain 10 seconds about it there may be a different title for someone "formerly known as Our friend." That is if the price heartburn "I could have sold it for how much more" isn't settled first.

I believe your price range is for a 2WD. "Sold Items" on Ebay can help understanding it's auction prices. List the truck on CL or other ads and if phone is blowing up the price is too low.

IMO Flatbeds appear to hurt the value as I am willing to pay more for a pickup bed over a flatbed. YMMV.

 

[Turbo Terry]

Before I sold my 99 175 k dodge ram everybody thought it was gold plated also . I had one person look at it and bought it for 12.5 k A 23 year old truck is not anything special

 

[GSP7]

Asking and selling are two different animals... lots of people thinking they're gonna make a killing, but what are they actually paying is the key. I've seen all kinds of absurd prices lately, not one of them seems to be going anywhere though. At the end of the day its a personal thing and the price is only what someone is willing to pay, heck throw a price on it and see what happens, never know..

Very true, They are just searching for a sucker, not serious sellers.

Everything on Facespook Marketplace is a joke.

I had some old dirty socks full of hundeds of foxtails you would not want to put in the washmachine... Before throwing them in the trash can, I was thinking of putting them of facespook marketplace for $100 just to compete with the rest of the joke junk


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[Regcabguy]

I don't miss anything about my 98.5 2500 auto especially the brakes.
My 2007 handles better, brakes much better, is much quieter and gets at least the same mpg.
My buddy's FASS is noisy but a great system. I prefer the stock in tank one. I bought a Mopar in tank pump for $140 delivered from a guy. I have triple filtration and 20K later it runs great.

 

[GSP7]

I'll never sell my 2nd gen