Buying a 3500. need opinions.

[19Ram150098]

I found a VERY clean 04 ram 3500 4x4 cummins turbo diesel (5.9 i believe) its a single axle, long bed with "crew cab". the mileage is 180,000. the dealer wants 20,000 for it. No rust anywhere, interior is flawless. 1 owner and garage kept. My question is, is $20,000 too much for this? also what should i look for when checking it out? new to the diesel scene.. any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Snake15eyes1998]

In my opinion, thats to much for a 16 year old truck. As for what to look for, I would make sure the transmission shifts good. Fluid is nice and red. Listen for any rear end whine. Other then that, it's just basic things to look at. It is a 16 year old truck, with 180000 miles. Thats nothing for those Cummins, but its everything around it that starts to wear and tear. I know a lot of guys will say its worth it because it's a Cummins. Don't get wrong, their great trucks. But in the end, that's all it is. It's just a truck. But this is all just my opinion. In end, it's your money man. If you end up buying it. Post some pics of it up here. I'd like to see it. Good luck!!

 

[19Ram150098]

Thats what i was thinking. For 20,000 i could buy i way newer truck. But its hard to find a nice cummins long bed here. Everything is rusted and beat on

 

[tron67j]

Without knowing full details, I ran a Kelly Blue Book estimate for a SLT with your specs at very good condition, came back high value from dealer at about $15,000. So truck may appear overpriced on a national average. But you are looking at a time when low inventory of new trucks due to building and supply issues are increasing values of certain used vehicles plus you may be looking at a unicorn in your area. Best do a search of a larger radius, say couple hundred miles, and see what similar trucks are selling for. Try some different websites to get more details. You can also search in year ranges to see what comes up. Good luck.

 

[John Jensen]

^^^^^ Good advice

 

[Smokeybear01]

That seems a tad high, especially with the high miles. Like Snake eyes said, the engine might be solid, but everything around it is wearing out. Then again, mine has over 250K and is still solid (knock on wood). I'm into mine about $11K but the paint is ****** and it has lots of dings and dents, not to mention the seats are in bad shape. But I'm still proud of it and really like it.