OK - here's the truck that i looked at yesterday (pic attached below)

1999 Dodge Ram 2500
5.9L V8 4x4
125,000 miles
Auto Trans
Quad Cab
Cloth interior
A/C, AM/FM Cassette

Being it was sunday, i didn't get a chance to drive it, or get inside for that matter. but here's all of the things i noticed from the outside:

Bottom of the front doors rusting pretty good
Transfer case leaking
Needs tires
couple nicks & scratches here and there
Topper door has rubbed the paint off the tailgate
Tailgate won't latch closed
The motor & trans were dry, and looked untouched
Inside looks REALLY clean

Now i can handle a lot of the minor stuff (fixing tailgate, minor scratches, etc.), but the leaky transfer case i'd like fixed IF i were to get this truck. Something else that worries me is the rusty doors. I'm guessing this truck to be a 1-owner farm truck, that probably sat outside all of it's life. I'm located in Northern Illinois, so the salt that they use here probably didn't help either.

My next concern is price (ok, it's my biggest). With everything listed above, what do you think this truck is worth?

Kelley blue book numbers for this truck are:
Trade-in: $6600
Private Party: $8750
Sugg. Retail: $11850 (which is BS)

They're asking $9962, and over the phone, they've already said they'd go down to $8840. But with the problems it has (rust, tires, xfer case leaking), i'd certainly want to go lower - and i haven't even driven it yet. heck, i could find something catastrophic when i drive it, and that would kill it there...

Anyhow - if anyone has any input as to what this truck would be worth (in your opinion), i'd be very interested in hearing it.

One more thing - this truck has LT285/75R16 tires on it. I like the way this truck sits - does it look like it's sitting higher than an average 2500 4x4? Does anyone think this truck has some sort of lift on it? The tires are worn pretty good right down the middle of the tire, so i'm guessing the tire is a bit too big for the width of the stock wheels. Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you very much!

YB

 

check the tranny. that is a lot of miles on the 5.9 and auto. especially since you probably don't know how it was treated. they don't usually last too much longer you might get 200k miles out of it. those doors are gonna need some work soon. it also seems like it has a body lift with the way the front bumper is tilted up. it's also pretty easy to vacuum a the inside and rub some armorall on it. if you're buying a truck you're buying it for the engine and performance not interior, though it does help. get the tranny checked. that's my biggest advice.

 

That truck is about 8 yrs old. Since it's a 99 model, it MOST likely was bought in 98. So for arguments sake, we say its 7 yrs old. That equals out to roughly 17,500 miles a year, which actually is not bad at all for a work pickup. The average driver puts between 13-18k a year on their car, and if this was a work truck, it means it probably drove a lot of country to city miles.

Ok, like crazy1snow suggested, have that transmission looked at. Now, what I would personally do, is have it rebuilt anyways. Gas motored transmissions have never been what I like to call, reliable. Most of them hit 100k and fall apart. That's not to say all of them do that, just its my opinion.

Also, I would suggest to them that you'd take it at X amount of dollars if the transfer case is replaced/repaired, as you would have to do it asap if you bought it. I'd even be willing to pay $9K if it was fixed.

The interior can look good, hell I can make any car LOOK good. It's how it actually is once you get inside and look around that counts. All the cigarette burns and stains and what have you. What about the rips/tears in the seats and fabrics, or cracks in the dash.

The doors dont look that bad from this picture. Chances are, you need to grind them down, slap some rust preventer on it, and reprimer it/paint it. Worst case scenario is you replace the doors. That said, those repairs are minor.

I cant tell ya bout the tires, I'm not an offroading kinda guy in trucks. I also will tell you that I would not buy the truck if they will not fix that transfer case.

 

I would have them fix the transfer case AND the tail gate latch. Those things can be a real bear to work on and you can tell them it needs to be fixed for SAFETY reasons.....(falling open on your kid's head, etc.) I would guess that the tires might have been over pressured, this will cause them to wear excessively in the center. 285 is only 1 size bigger than stock. I would ask the dealer for the previous owner's phone number and call them to see if the tranny has been worked on or not, etc. Just remember that the dealer probably gave LESS than book trade-in value....so they have plenty of room to drop the price

 

If you decide it seems worth it, offer them trade in value. The worse they can do is laugh and say no, then ask them what their bottom dollar is. When I got my truck my dad actually looked at it and made an offer for me (becasue I was 2 hrs away at college and yes I am paying for it). The offer was about 2k below what they were asking and within the same night the dealership called saying they would take that price, so my advice is always start low and work your way up.

 

I think i've made a decision on the above listed truck. I'm going to pass, and look for one with less (or no) rust. i've got 2 dodge trucks in my fleet at work, and i've got a close friend with one too. two of them are '97s, and one's a '99. out of all three of these trucks, NONE of them have ANY rust on the bottom edge of the doors. Now of these three trucks, all of them see the salt. One of them has sat outside since it was new (one of the 97's). So why this truck has rust on the doors, i really have no idea. But i know that there are some 99's out there w/o rust, and that's what i'll start with. I'll keep an eye out for the trans's - i'll definitely have it looked at before i buy any truck. thanks for all of the info!

YB

 

I just bought a 1998 Quad Cab 2500 tha with 265/75 R16 tires that only had a few thousand miles left on them. Factory tire size for mine was 245/75/ R16 according to the sticker (way small in my opinion) but I put on 285/75 R16 8-ply Kuhmo Road Ventures and they fit fine but remember that 3/4 ton 8 ply tires cost more than a 4 ply tire on a half ton so if new tires are a must make sure you price the right ones. When a tire wears out down the middle it usually means they are over inflated, there is no need to run them at full pressure listed on the side of the tire unless you are completely loaded down. These tires could also be 4 plys and the truck is simply to much for them in which case I would think the dealer would be or feel obligated to correct this issue or adjust price on the contract to avoid potential legal issues later.

Regarding price you can check online for your area NADA Guide or Edmunds to get a pretty good estimate. Gas prices have killed larger truck and SUV sales but 4x4 trucks command a premium in Central Kentucky where I live so it is always a higher price than in some areas YMMV. Interestingly enough I have never found a car lot or bank that uses the Kelly Blue Book. All of them use the yellow NADA Guide which rates the truck at a higher cost than listed check with your bank and go by what reference they use to determine loan value or what your states uses to determine taxes if applicable.

James

 

Search on autotrader.com you'll find one on there...

 

With all that stuff wrong I wouldn't pay anything for it if I had to buy it I would say maybe $5k and thats a big maybe. The 99 isn't too old but the rest all seems bad.

 

I payed 9500 for my 99 with 60,000 on it . It is only a 1500 but it is 4x4 and very clean just could not resist. BTW it has no rust and lived it's whole life in maine before i got it. So I think you can definatly do better if you do some looking.

Just my 2 cents.