Good deal for high mileage truck?

Jtblackram · Jan 2, 2020

On one of my occasional browses through craigslist, i found somebody selling an 03 2500 with the Hemi for 6 grand. Truck looks very clean, im debating if its worth it to actually take a look at the thing.

McBroom · Jan 2, 2020

Good deal?? Hell that's a great deal. I'd ask for maintenance records and hand over the $$$$
And you could start by offering them $5G to start but 6 is still great

Blue Mule

Ohio5pt7 · Jan 2, 2020

Looks like a decent truck. Pics can be decieving though. I recently looked at a 08 silverado 2500 65k miles one owner for 19k was thinking of trading my ram on. Looked like new in pics. Got there and creases in the body panels interior stained from smoke. I was ****** as the listing led me to believe this truck was showroom. But like I said you dont know till ya look.

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Jtblackram · Jan 2, 2020

Ohio5pt7 said:
Looks like a decent truck. Pics can be decieving though. I recently looked at a 08 silverado 2500 65k miles one owner for 19k was thinking of trading my ram on. Looked like new in pics. Got there and creases in the body panels interior stained from smoke. I was ****** as the listing led me to believe this truck was showroom. But like I said you dont know till ya look.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk all grammar errors brought you by fat fingers and auto correct.

Thats very true, i went to buy an 85 w150 that the guy wanted 4500 for, looked clean in pictures. When i got there it was a leaky, squeaky, rusty pile of junk. Makes you wonder why people would ever buy a car sight unseen from the internet, too many question marks

Ohio5pt7 · Jan 2, 2020

Jtblackram said:
Thats very true, i went to buy an 85 w150 that the guy wanted 4500 for, looked clean in pictures. When i got there it was a leaky, squeaky, rusty pile of junk. Makes you wonder why people would ever buy a car sight unseen from the internet, too many question marks

The only time I could see this justified sight unseen is carvana because they will take it back for 7 days. Have a friend that was brave enough to try it. First car smelled like smoke. Took it back then they brought him the same model from like 500 miles away with less miles. That one he kept.

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Loudram · Jan 2, 2020

Nice truck and nice price. Definitely worth a look.

Ldrigg71 · Jan 2, 2020

I'd be leery. Why did the ac system need replaced? And the trans pan? All u joints? To me it says the truck was beat on pretty hard. But its not my money.

Jtblackram · Jan 2, 2020

Ldrigg71 said:
I'd be leery. Why did the ac system need replaced? And the trans pan? All u joints? To me it says the truck was beat on pretty hard. But its not my money.

Transmission pan is a bit of an odd one, definitley worth asking about. Front u joint isnt too suspect to me, air conditioning is worth a few questions as well though.

crash68 · Jan 3, 2020

Ldrigg71 said:
I'd be leery. Why did the ac system need replaced? And the trans pan? All u joints? To me it says the truck was beat on pretty hard. But its not my money.

It's a 16 year old truck with 190K miles, there is a good possibility that either the heater core or evaporator was leaking and it makes good sense to change both since the dash and HVAC system has to be pulled to replace either. Replacing the trans pan with an oversized one another smart maintenance item and the same can be said for replacing all the u joints at once. The original owner probably wanted to head off a problem rather than end up on the side of the road, a bunch of wear and tear can happen in 190K miles. Some people use their trucks as actual trucks, it doesn't mean they're beating on it.

bruce219 · Jan 3, 2020

Probably haggle him down to 5k or less,amazing what a big ole roll of cash does to the brain

Ratket · Jan 4, 2020

The 3rd gen hd”s are known for heavy wear on the front steering/ wheel assemblies. If he’s got records showing they where just replaced then that is a bonus.

Docwagon1776 · Jan 4, 2020

Transmission just serviced and now it's time to put it up for sale? Maybe a deal, maybe someone else's problem you are buying. I'm always suspicious of all new fluids just before listing for sale.

GsRAM · Jan 4, 2020

If this is the original owner and he has all the maintenance records I would not be afraid of it. Fresh fluids with records that show consistent changes shows me a responsible owner.

The overall condition and cleanliness of the truck will give you a good clue about its past

OCDTech · Jan 4, 2020

^^^What he says, and only thing i will add is personally prefer to drive one for at least 30 miles or so if they will be ok with that, lets everything get up to temperature city and hwy drive, trans shifts good. Seems like good price to me too, if its in the shape they say.

I like what Docwagon1776 said also.

tidefan1967 · Jan 4, 2020

Being up North I would definitely crawl underneath with a flashlight and look for rust!

GsRAM · Jan 4, 2020

tidefan1967 said:
Being up North I would definitely crawl underneath with a flashlight and look for rust!

Absolutely. This!

If it's rust free and documented maintenance and runs will it's a good price even with those miles

Frank Smith · Jan 5, 2020

I have both a 2015, 1500 ecodiesel AND a 2003, 2500 5.7 hemi. The 2500 now has over 230,000 miles and continues to run great. I love both trucks and would not sell my 2500 for less than $8-9,000. Buy it, it is a good purchase I think.

Fitz-0518 · Jan 5, 2020

I sold my 03 Ram 1500 QC 5.7 with 235k miles for $3500 to Carmax. I was shocked. BB $1500. The appraiser rated the truck condition as excellent, and it was well maintained. They said that truck will go back east and will sell for $6-7k in one weekend. They want well maintained Ca cars, regardless of miles.

Gerald Sheppard · Jan 6, 2020

I bought my 08 1500 5.7 4x4 Big Horn with 89k at Copart with light front damage for under $6k and have under $7500 total in it. The truck has zero rust anywhere, still has factory stickers on frame, appears to have been garage kept and dealer maintained. Absolutely love this truck. Amzoil 5-20 eliminated Hemi tick.

Blue Truck · Jan 6, 2020

That's a "drop everything" and go see it price IMHO. If it's clean, and the mechanicals check out, it's a "shut up and take my money" price, again IMHO.

FYI, I paid almost 3x that for my '03 with roughly the same amount of mileage, but mine does have a few upgrades vs. that one. Corrosion is probably a bigger consideration for you, as I'm in an area where most '03 trucks are still super-clean underneath, as mine is.

Good deal for high mileage truck?

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