Hey guys, new member here. I'm looking at buying a friend's truck. It has a either a blown head gasket or a cracked head we're not sure yet as its at a shop out of town. It overheated a couple times so the heads probably need work even if they're not cracked at all. Its a 05 SLT 1500 with the 5.7 hemi and around 150,000 miles. My questions is how much do you think I should offer him for it? I'm thinking around $1500. Is that fair in your opinion? In good shape overall. No dents or anything major. Wasn't a work truck. If I was buying from a craigslist guy I'd just low ball him and work my way up but he doesn't have any idea how much its worth (I don't have much either hence this quastion) so I don't want to rip him off if its worth more.
Thanks in advance!

 

Lowball him any way. If he is a good friend, he'll understand. You can always pay him more at a later time when you actually know what it was/is worth. It all depends what it will take in dollars to get it fixed.

 

I would assume most expensive case; 2 mopar heads and head gaskets will run you $2K. Non-mopar is much cheaper but expect the worst.
First thing to check after buying it would be thermostat, you might get by cheap.

 

Yah I wouldn't go with Non-Mopar. Not worth taking the risk...

 

Factors to consider, will you be fixing yourself or paying a shop?

If paying a shop and you end up needing new heads you’ll be far in the hole....if fixing yourself, you’ll save probably a grand minimum. I just had a head sent to machine shop and to have it planed/ cleaned/checked for cracks it was $217....en engine I rebuilt before that was planed/cleaned/ checked/ and I had them lap valve seats and install new valve guides it was $430. And that’s for only 1 head. So expect $1000 just to have heads cleaned/planed/checked/ and I’d have valves done to if I were you.....

now if if you bring them there and they do find cracks, you’ll still have to pay for the services plus buy new heads.

so my recommendation if to pull the head yourself and check it over. Get a straight edge and check the mating surface. You see any glowing light when using straight edge it’s warped. Heads only have a tolerance of so much....example, when I did head gasket on my old civic, the head was warped .05....well those heads can only be shaved .04 or else valve to piston contact can occur....so even if it’s not cracked and just warped, it could be warped to point where it can’t be planed.

so pretty much it’s a risk any way you look at it. Not trying to bring bad news, just stating facts as I do this stuff everyday with my job