Right now, I own a 2003 F150 XLT... V6 engine, 2-wheel-drive, automatic transmission, regular cab and not a lot of power. It has been a great truck, and has never had a single issue with it. The problem is, soon I will be needing a rear seat, and would love to have good 4x4 capabilities for the infinite amount of trails here in AZ. Now seems to be the time to sell, as it has just 50k miles, and it looks as though it will be going fast. Now, I just graduated high school, and don't have the income to upgrade to a new truck. Instead, I am looking at trucks on Craigslist, hoping to find some maintained the way I have mine. I found several Dodge Rams, one is a 2004 Ram 2500 with the 5.7l V8. The truck looks to be well maintained, but has 120k miles on it. Now, would $7500 be a fair price for this truck? Is 120k miles too much to consider purchasing it? How durable are the automatic transmissions in these trucks?

I am also looking at a 2002 Ram 1500 SLT... It has the 5.9l V8, but has 124k miles. Again, is this too many miles? The asking price for this truck is just $7000, with KBB pricing it close to $9000... Which of these trucks would be better? Are they worth buying, or will they cost too much money in the long run?

 

I have the 2002 ram 1500 SLT 5.9 and love it and these trucks are known to go in to 200k miles before motor rebuilds but must be taken care of so $7000 is a good price as long as the body's straight Oh and one more thing the 5.9s have the death flash so if you want it's true power need to fix plenum gasket problem which is $120 and pretty easy then buy a superchip ($350) to over ride death flash, I haven't changed plenum but I have superchip and it adds a lot of power and I kept an eye on plenum and I haven't noticed it blown out...YET lol

The 2004 for $7500 is also a good price it has the Hemi and the 2500 set up soni believe that is also well worth $7500 once again as long as the body ain't all messed up

 

If you get the 02 the plenum is one of the bigger issues to deal with. A SCT tuner from Hemifever is only 265 and will rid you of the Death flash and is one of the best tuners for the 5.9l magnum motors.

 

Id get the hemi. 345 hp at the crank compared to 245 from the 360.

 

That 5.9 is a great engine but it is very thirsty. If i were you, i would keep looking. Should be able to find something near that price range with lower miles. On the other hand, i would take higher miles with a great service history over less miles with no service history.

 

Got my truck last august its an 02 5.9 for 10k on the dot with 95k miles and i love it, and yeah its a gas hog but its well worth it, im getting like 12.8 on the average for mileage. 360 is a time tested motor thats gonna last my 97 5.9 had 264k before i traded off and she had plenty of life in her. both seem fair deals.