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Should I buy this truck?

njones89

njones89

Mar 27, 2015
743
644
Sioux Falls
#1
TL;DR - just skip down to the bottom and check out the ad.
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My insurance premium went way up on a vehicle I financed. I owe ~$3k on it yet. My options are:
A)continue paying it off and paying ridiculous premiums
B)withdraw from my 401k to pay it off and get cheaper liability coverage
C)buy and cheaply insure an older vehicle and sell my current vehicle.

I foolishly went and bought an Audi a couple years ago, and since I can't afford repairs, I have learned to be a pretty decent mechanic (timing belt, motor mounts, etc.). That said, I need work done to the exhaust (new flex pipe and re-weld), and the AC doesn't work (won't take a charge with a vacuum and those r134a cans). No idea what I would get for it, but I'd rather just have a simple pickup or something that I can work on a lot easier.

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So there's apparently no 4wd and it's automatic, but I love everything else about it. I can easily do a water pump job, but I am worried about the knocking/misfiring. What could it be? If I bought it, I'd prefer to drive it back rather than tow it... not looking to do an engine replacement, but wouldn't mind some engine work as long as it wasn't repairing a piston or something. It seems like a good deal, but is it too good to be true?
 
#4
Let me see if I’ve got this right. 112,000 miles in 24 years? So it would appear that this vehicle was not driven much (4,500~/yr), yet it needed a cam two years ago, now needs serious engine work and is only worth something less than $500? Even if this was a good running vehicle it wouldn’t be much of a buy. Offer him $100 to drag it out of there and tell him how much of a deal HE’S getting. Otherwise, forget it. There’s lots of better deals out there on trucks.
 
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#5
I bought a cheap 24 year old car once.

It was expensive.

My last two american full-sized trucks became non-economical to repair in less than 20 years from production each.

Your profile indicates Sioux Falls, not somewhere like San Diego where they don't know what rust is.

So - no. Aaaaand....

 
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#6
It recently had a camshaft replaced and is now knocking, and misfiring.

I wouldn't take it if it was free and I do my own mechanic work.



Around here there are plenty of vehicles between $1,000 and $2,000 dollars that I would happily grab and drive around for a year or two with very little cost in maintenance. But sometimes a vehicle is just done.
 
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#8
I'm all about a cheap vehicle that has cheap insurance and registration, and is cheap and easy to work on. But no way I'd buy something that needed that kind of work to begin with. There should be a lot of things out there that run just fine. Audi, 2wd truck... you don't seem to have any requirements so you should have lots of options. Another consideration is gas, and if you're hard up for money I'd get something better on gas than a full size truck.
 
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#9
MJ5150 said:
I'll take c from those options.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Me too. The C1500 pickup is a disaster waiting to happen. Sell the Audi and get what you can, buy something that may be beat-up but runs well, and go on with life.

Be very careful about the Ram. Nothing sells that far below market without a very important reason for the discount.
 
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#11
I have questions?
Is there a reason you need a larger pickup?
Will a smaller pickup, a small SUV or car work for you?

If you can go with a smaller truck I would buy a used Toyota. If a smaller SUV will work I would go for a used Honda CRV. If a car will work I would go with a Subaru or Honda.
 
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#15
MJ5150 said:
I have an '02 1500, and I love it. Mine has the 5.9 engine though.
That seems really cheap though. If it's in decent shape, that's a steal.

-Mike
Click to expand...
Pilgrim said:
Agreed; the big question is WHY it's priced that way. Nothing wrong with going down and finding out. Ask WHY and get a clear answer.
Click to expand...
Forgive me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a mechanic type, but at a price that low, and let's say there's nothing wrong with the truck other than the engine, isn't it still worth it to buy the truck and rebuild the engine for fifteen hundred bucks or so?
 
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#16
FingerDub said:
Forgive me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a mechanic type, but at a price that low, and let's say there's nothing wrong with the truck other than the engine, isn't it still worth it to buy the truck and rebuild the engine for fifteen hundred bucks or so?
Click to expand...

I'm not either, but I'd tend to say yes. I had someone offer me $6,500 for my Ram earlier this summer.
My perspective though is someone who would rather save money and buy used/repair, than someone who prefers to buy new.
I'll defer to an authority, and two people I totally trust to answer this question..... @Mike N and @malthumb.

-Mike
 
#17
Regards the $500 truck. If the body and chassis are sound you can get a decent 350 out of a junkyard for less than a grand (at least around here), same with GM truck transmissions, pretty much whatever you want for a couple hundred or so. If you don’t need to buy a hoist or any other major piece of equipment you could easily be in a decent old truck for less than $2500.

That said, before i was able to buy new vehicles and i needed something i’d take a grand and go look at every vehicle i could find in that price neighborhood and pick the one i thought would last the longest with the least amount of problems aside from usual maintenence.
 
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#18
MJ5150 said:
I'm not either, but I'd tend to say yes. I had someone offer me $6,500 for my Ram earlier this summer.
My perspective though is someone who would rather save money and buy used/repair, than someone who prefers to buy new.
I'll defer to an authority, and two people I totally trust to answer this question..... @Mike N and @malthumb.

-Mike
Click to expand...
The Chevy....
Great purchase for somebody, but probably not the OP.
njones89 said:
If I bought it, I'd prefer to drive it back rather than tow it... not looking to do an engine replacement, but wouldn't mind some engine work as long as it wasn't repairing a piston or something.
Click to expand...
The front clip alone is worth more than $500 and appears to be in good shape. Forget the water pump and cam stuff....this is a project vehicle that someone will need to drop an engine (and probably transmission) into. Reupholstering the seats is a must. It's a project. Oh, and 112k miles? Riiiiiiighhhtt. Still, for someone with the time and the desire, another $2 - 3k and it could become a real pearl.

The Ram....
Anybody aware of any floods happening anywhere in the continental US lately? I'm just sayin'....
Either it has a ton of hidden damage or the title is not clean. Nobody goes that low in a truck demand market. Run, Forest, run!!
 
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#20
malthumb said:
The Chevy....
Great purchase for somebody, but probably not the OP. The front clip alone is worth more than $500 and appears to be in good shape. Forget the water pump and cam stuff....this is a project vehicle that someone will need to drop an engine (and probably transmission) into. Reupholstering the seats is a must. It's a project. Oh, and 112k miles? Riiiiiiighhhtt. Still, for someone with the time and the desire, another $2 - 3k and it could become a real pearl.

The Ram....
Anybody aware of any floods happening anywhere in the continental US lately? I'm just sayin'....
Either it has a ton of hidden damage or the title is not clean. Nobody goes that low in a truck demand market. Run, Forest, run!!
Click to expand...

I am totally down to buy a project vehicle, as long as the repair needs aren't immediate. If I can use it as a daily driver through the winter, replacing the engine would be a fun project for next summer. For the time being, I'm just trying to get out from under my car loan and ins. rates, but I know I will want to replace and get a truck. I like the look of an older truck over new ones, and I also want manual transmission. Maybe I should buy it and tow/stow it, keep both, and only insure/drive one of them?
 
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