have a chance to buy a 99 ext cab 4 door with the 5.2 magnum engine. problem is a rebuilt title. i seen the truck before the rebuild, and all that was replaced was the driver door and front fender. all painted back to match. has 150,000 on it, but one owner highway miles and took care of. can buy for one third of book value due to rebuild. no frame damage at all, and 60psi oil pressure at idle warm. first time dodge truck owner. anything special i need to look for? any response is appreciated greatly!

 

i'm a little surprised that a truck with only door and fender damage would have a 'rebuild' or 'salvage' title. it may vary by state but here in georgia, once a car is 'totaled' by an insurance company, the original title is revoked. you may buy the wreck and repair it, but in order to re-title it, you must take it to one of only a few inspection yards, pay an inspection fee, and undergo a reasonable thorough inspection. if all is well, you are issued a 'salvage' title. you can drive it, insure it, etc, but the market value of the vehicle is greatly reduced, simply because of the increased risk of additional problems.

additionally, at least in georgia, insurance companies will total a car whenever the repair costs exceed about 80% of the cars value. they may even total at 60-80%, if they feel like it, based on a number of things such as past experience with that vehicle and its tendency to have additional hidden damage, or if the cars value is falling rapidly.

sometimes they will work with you to go in the direction you want them to. my son's car was hit a few years ago and the estimates were at about 80% (just rear end body damage on a honda accord). they wanted to total but i wanted to repair and keep it. after some negotiation they wrote me a check for the repair estimates by well known local body shops and i signed a release that we were settled at that amount, and any additional hidden damage was my responsibility. plus they threw in an additional amount equal to 2 weeks of rental car. it was a risk i was willing to take to avoid the total, and keep the car (it was a good one). a friend then did the repair for less than the local shops and i banked the difference.

anyway, back to your truck. does your state issue 'rebuild' titles for all repairs or only totals ? and what was the original book value before the wreck ? what were the repair costs ? i would guess that a 99 quad cab would probably be worth 5,000.

there is nothing wrong with buying a properly repaired wreck. just understand that if you buy it for 1/3 of book, and you ever want to sell it, it will probably only bring 1/3 or less of book. if you like it and keep it, then that will never matter. if you don't like it and want to sell soon - it will matter. good luck.

 

just learned that it was not a fender and door, but the bed and door. was hit in front corner of bed and door. bed is reason it was totaled. put it on rack, and no signs of framework at all. underside was spotless, and you can tell it wasnt just cleaned. runs and drives perfect. dont plan on reselling it. am going to drive it till it drops. i know the person that rebuilt it locally, been in business for over 30 years. in fact it is on the lot at his shop, and he told me to take it, and later on if i dont want it, just bring it back, and he would put this in writing. 99 laramie ext cab 4 door, solid black, 5.2 v-8 every option, $3000. dont think that is too bad!!

 

Well then it sounds like you have made your mind up and won't go wrong. Price is good. If there was no frame damage I would not be too concerned as long as the work that was done was professional. Problems with the truck who knows. My 1999 like most has a cracked dash. Brakes on these trucks were not the best since truck is heavy the fronts tend to wear quickly. More of a factor if you tow much. Factory rotors tended to warp easily, I replaced mine with aftermarket and have not had a problem. Your oil pressure of 60 psi at idle is good I imagine that is probably right at start up and would expect it to drop to about 40 when warm still good and normal. There has been alot of discussion on the intake and plenum gaskets here and elsewhere. Check it out. Not a bad fix depending on whether you are comfortable doing it yourself. About $100 have it done more like $300-400. Dodge fix was the notorious death flash. Look to see if truck has it. If it does check out your options to do away with it. Catlytic converters have also been a problem for these trucks. If it wasn't replaced chances are it will need to be soon.

 

just learned truck has a new longblock with 52000 on it. found receipt in console. also in the cab on the trans hump, there is a plastic cover under the fold out console. is this by chance to get to distributor easily? looks like it is directly over it. truck was rebuilt professionally, and cant tell unless you look very closely. what about trans in these? any thing to look out for? thanks for your quick replies!!

 

Don't know what the plastic cover would be for. Doubt it has anything to do with getting to distributor though. Auto trans in these trucks are reportedly a problem. I have not had any with mine but many people do. Of course Chevy and Ford have had transmission problems too.

 

slow down for a minute. is the plastic cover in the place where the 4wd shift lever is supposed to be ? that would be just to the right of the gas pedal, and just left of the center of the transmission hump. Is this a 2wd or a 4wd ? look at the front end and see if you have solid front axle or not. Or is it where a manual transmission shifter should be ?

Get the VIN number and compare the truck to stuff below... a plastic cover is not normal - i'd want to understand what it was. might be nothing but a rust hole, might be something you need to consider. I'm thinking the wreck repair involved replacing the cab and bed from a junk yard, and the cab came from a 4wd or manual shift. but then again, if they went to that much trouble, they would cover the whole with a plate and carpet and you'd never know. I'm confused.

PM the VIN number to TPSDODGE and ask him to get you a build sheet.

http://www.dodgeram.org/tech/specs/VIN_decode.htm

5th Vehicle Line
B Ram - Wagon/Van
C Ram Cab Chassis/Ram Pickup 4x2
F Ram Cab Chassis/Ram Pickup 4x4
G Dakota/Sport 4x4
L Dakota/Sport 4x2
R Durango 4x2
S Durango 4x4

 

that plastic piece is just a cover for some electrical wires inside the truck.