I'm in the market for a weekend work truck. Something I can use for projects around the house, hauling loads of dirt/gravel, lumber, etc. I don't want to spend a lot for something that won't be a daily driver; so I've been looking at lots of mid-90's Chevys and Fords in the $2,000 range.

I recently ran across a listing for a 2006 4X4 quad cab Ram, with 300,000 on the odometer. Asking price is $2500. Body has a bit of rust, but overall it looks pretty decent for that many miles.

That seems too good to be true to me. Sure it has a lot of miles, but that doesn't really have an affect on my needs... unless these trucks become so unreliable as they age that I can't even count on it to make it 30 miles a week.

So, to you-the experts-does that sound like too good of a deal? Would you buy it?

 

It's a lot of miles, so I guess first question is how competent are you with a wrench?

 

Personally I wouldn't unless you know for sure it has been maintained over those 300,000 miles.

 

I'm much more competent with a wrench on older vehicles... but I've never really tried any DIY mechanic work with newer cars. Everything I've ever owned has been a daily driver, so I never wanted to risk leaving a job half-finished, or doing it wrong, when I needed it to get me to work on Monday.

This will be the first vehicle I've ever purchased to only use once or twice a week, and won't need to get me to work every day.

This is the type of response that makes me leary of it. I don't know anything about its history other than what the current seller has told me. He said he bought it cheap a few weeks ago when it had a miss-fire and the person who owned it just wanted it gone. He says he fixed the miss-fire and is trying to sell it for a bit of profit now.

I mean I assume it was maintained some-what well in order to make it to the 300K mark, but have no clue if or when that maintenance stopped.

 

Might benefit you to pay $100 for an hour of a trusted mechanics time to go over it.

 

What was causing the misfire? Run it for latent codes? See if you can find a code reader that shows when the CEL was last cleared if there are no codes. The "bought cheap a few weeks ago, fixed, and flipped for profit" thing would have my eyebrow raised on a vehicle like that.

Pull what plugs you can and examine them, put it on a lift/jack and test out the joints and bearings, smell all the fluids, start it cold and see what it looks like/sounds like/smells like on start up, etc. From what I recall on here, 2006 models had a lot of front end suspension issues, as it was the first year moving away from the torsion bar setup. Are there ANY maintenance/repair records? Run a Carfax or similar and see if anything major has happened to it. Is it a clean title or salvage?

Being only 11 years old, those are probably highway miles (my 2005 is still shy of 100K with many cross-country road trips and a year off the road), so as long as it's been maintained, the transfer case and differentials are good, and it is in good enough shape aesthetically to please you, it's probably a pretty good price for a weekend warrior or farm vehicle. But, what's too good to be true... usually is.

 

I think I'm going to pass on it...

I went and looked at it last night, and it still has a major miss-fire, CEL, and low speed shudder. I was honestly impressed with the condition of the interior, exterior (minus rust over the rear wheel arches), the feel of the suspension, and the brakes. Before trading for a Hyaudia Sonata to save on gas I had a 2006 Silverado with just at 100K, and honestly once up to speed this truck rode better than my Silverado.

I even think I could probably figure out the miss-fire... but the low speed shudder felt like transmission problems- and I don't want to jump down that rabbit hole for a weekend warrior.

 

Probably not a bad decision.

 

I did end up with a Ram... though a 2nd Gen.

I made an offer today on a 1994 with 131,000 miles. It needs a brake job, and the body is in rough shape, but the only rust it has is on the lower rockers and the motor sounded and felt great. No miss-fire, no knock, no stumble or surge. And it only cost $1500. If I was so inclined, I think a few hundred on new parts from JC Whitney and some weekends worth of elbow grease and it could be a really nice truck.