Hello, first post here. I haven't been around a Dodge in about a decade, so I'm looking for some advice.

A guy I work with is selling his 2003 Crew Cab 2500 with the 5.7L. It is 4WD, and has about 125K miles. It is lifted with a 2" body lift, and is on 35" tires and 18" alloys. It has a brake controller and rear hitch, but no oil coolers. It's also got some aftermarket exhaust. It has some slight rust on the body, with the worst being a pretty nasty bubble on the right rear wheel well. He is asking $9,000.

I'm wondering if the truck is worth that, and if it's worth buying at 125K miles. I'm looking for a truck that'll last me several years as a tow rig and long-range family mobile (Maybe 7-8K a year.) Wife has a VW that we use 99% of the time.

My biggest concern is the small-ish motor in a 3/4 ton pickup. The only other 3rd Gen I've done any towing with was a 4.7L Half ton and it was a complete dog in the hills in the Carolina's towing about #6000 in a U-haul.

I appreciate your help, and hope to possibly someday be a fellow Dodge owner.

Sorry, this is the best picture I have of it right now.

 

$9k is too much. And it sounds like it's got an aftermarket hitch with no additional cooling capacity for the trans and such.

Meh.

 

Agree, it may be reliable enough but price seems a little high for the rust and the miles - especially since it sounds like it doesn't have factory tow package and you want to use it for towing. What gears does it have? If the gearing isn't right for towing, those big tires will just make things worse too. How much weight will you be pulling? I have towed 30' RV's with my hemi half ton since I bought it new and it does fine but I have the factory tow package. Any gas engine truck is going to kill you on mpg if you are towing heavy weight. Mine goes from 18+ on the highway empty, to between 10 -11 at 55 - 60mph when towing RV.

 

What would you guys say is a good price for it? KBB Lists this truck in "Poor" condition at around 9500. I'd say it's "Good".

It's got stock gearing in it, I would guess 3.73, but I haven't looked. If I ended up keeping the 35's, I'd go with 4.56s. I'll mostly be towing around our Jeep (#3500) plus trailer and gear. I'd also like to get a boat some day, and maybe a small camper. Infrequently, I'd like to be able to haul all our household stuff when Uncle Sam says we have to move. Last time I weighed it, we were at #8500 with the Jeep.

 

On second thought, the truck would have to have the transmission and various oil coolers as it's a 2500, I missed that part. lol Thought it was a 1500.

So, yeah, it has 3.73 gears most likely.

KBB is always optimistic, I'd say 5-7500 max.

 

Says the guy from texas where there are a bajillion trucks. We cant buy them that cheap in the rest of the country. I agree that KBB is a little high always, I would look at edmunds and nada, they are a little closer usually. But if I could find that truck for less than 9k near me I wouldn't be too afraid to buy it. Especially if you know the guy and that he took care of it. Seems like a decent truck. Find out if he replaced the lifters too, that is an issue in the 03's.

Also, if it has the 3.73's or even the 3.92s, if I was you and going to use it for towing I would definitely go with the 4.56's, you will not regret that decision.

Also the superchips tuner with the tow tune will help you some to get better towing performance for a relatively cheap price (~300 bucks)

 

Haha, I know the feeling. I'm from Texas, but stationed in Kansas. Everything up here is rusty, and those that aren't are way too expensive.

I don't know about the lifters. I'll have to keep an ear out for the hard tick I keep hearing about. His exhaust is stupid loud so it's hard to hear much of anything. That'd be my first order of business. I like a loud truck, but this thing is just obnoxious.

 

Dude, you've never been to Texas it seems like. Because if you did, you would know that most people want buttloads of cash for trucks that aren't worth it. That truck isn't worth 9k if it doesn't have the towing package. Period.
Here in Texas, because of Cash for Clunkers, cheap trucks are a rare find in a state that is run entirely by pickup truck.

 

For towing, that's the best gas truck you can get. Would I drive that? Heck ya. However on such a big truck when you tow the engine would have to work harder (would still get the job done well), so it might not last you as long as a Cummins. But I say go for it!And that price seseems good to me

 

No such critter as a Crew Cab in '03.