Whats a good engine price?
 

So I've been scouting craigslist and such for months waiting for a 5.9L to come along and there's been one sitting for awhile that was way overpriced but I just noticed went down a bit. The seller quotes he wrecked his car (Looks like you can see the passenger front quarter bent inwards) and is just trying to get rid of the engine. He says its running well, and only has 98K miles on it which is pretty nice. Priced currently at $600 bucks he says it is the complete engine (Starter, alternator, ect). The only problem is that when I texted him about it, he says its already pulled out and ready to sell so we couldn't do a startup test to hear it and make sure its running well.

So my question is, without being able to hear it running, what would a good price for this engine be? (Not that I feel very good about the situation of even offering without hearing it.)

If anyone is curious, heres the craigslist posting: https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/pts/5534994822.html

It seems legit and all and I'm sure it very well could be a fully working great quality motor, I'm just very hesitant of no try-before-you-buy situation, as I've had friends get screwed by it.

I have bought complete motors, including transmissions.... for 300 bucks. Mileage was in the same ballpark......

He says "God Bless" in the ad....must be a god-fearin kinda fella, he's prolly tellin the truth. Just sayin.

The beggars on every street corner around here say "god bless" too, hhmmmmmm.

Damn! Tell me your secrets! Id jump on a working motor for that price!

Will he let you pull the valve covers / oil pan before paying? If so, bring a breaker bar with the correct size socket for the balancer bolt on the crank and give it a good couple of turns to check it all out. If it all looks good, button her back up and make an offer. If the guy doesn't want to let you pull the covers / pan, then just walk away since he's probably hiding something.

Pure luck, and dead transmissions. :)

So what would you reasonably expect to pay for this/similar engine(s)? Around this mileage.

I'd give him 500 if it was in immaculate condition

500, without hearing it run?