Would you buy this truck for $3000?

hatehereyes

hatehereyes

macrumors 6502a
I have a chance to buy this truck for $3000 but there are a few things wrong with it.

1. The AC doesn't work and now that summer is coming up that could be a problem.
2. Was an East Coast truck so there is a significant amound of rust in the under carriage.
3. It's only a 2 seater and I would rather have an EXT. Cab.
4. The paint is in really bad condition.
5. It's purple, but that doesn't really matter. I can just get a paintjob.

Upsides to it is

1. It's 4x4
2. 6 Cyclinder
3. Transmission and engine runs great. 5 speed manual.

It has 124,000 miles on it.

Here are some pictures of it.
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I have no idea what this is, looks like frozen salt or something?
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It's on certain parts of the truck
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Under carriage
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Engine has been kept pretty clean though
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Cassette player FTW!
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Overall the truck runs pretty good and the motor has plenty of power.
 
hatehereyes said:
Could you give me reasons of why not?
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1. The AC doesn't work and now that summer is coming up that could be a problem.
2. Was an East Coast truck so there is a significant amound of rust in the under carriage.
3. It's only a 2 seater and I would rather have an EXT. Cab.
4. The paint is in really bad condition.
 
rdowns said:
1. The AC doesn't work and now that summer is coming up that could be a problem.
2. Was an East Coast truck so there is a significant amound of rust in the under carriage.
3. It's only a 2 seater and I would rather have an EXT. Cab.
4. The paint is in really bad condition.
Click to expand...

and 124k miles

you can get alot more car for that amt tbh
 
dukebound85 said:
and 124k miles

you can get alot more car for that amt tbh
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This is true.

I got a 1997 Buick Regal for $2000.

Everything works perfectly (this includes all bells & whistles, AC, et cetera), car is in good condition, drives smoothly, has an extremely nice engine (and surprisingly fuel-efficient for a V6), and was just all-around a good find. Look around for a while, you can find some good deals.
 
An American-made east-coast truck with 100k+ miles on it? That thing's going to break down on you within half a year.

Do you really need a truck? Or are you just looking for a way to get around? Invest in a used Corolla or a used Camry. They're dirt-cheap to insure, and you're going to get another good few years out of them with a basic oil change.
 
cleanup said:
An American-made east-coast truck with 100k+ miles on it? That thing's going to break down on you within half a year.

Do you really need a truck? Or are you just looking for a way to get around? Invest in a used Corolla or a used Camry. They're dirt-cheap to insure, and you're going to get another good few years out of them with a basic oil change.
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Yeah a truck is something I do need, I used to have a Dodge Ram which I loved but some idiot driver hit my front right and totalled it.


but to everyone thanks for your replies.

Now I'm asking how much would you pay for a truck like this?
 
The question you are asking is would *I* buy this truck. And frankly I wouldn't. I will never again put up with not having a working A/C as I did that for three Texas summers in a row and that isn't fun at all. I have gotten very used to the A/C in my car and not sure I could live without it (well I could, but I just won't). I am not too worried about the miles that are on it, being a manual transmission you should be able to get 300,000 miles on the vehicle. However, with gas prices I would not get a truck unless I really needed one. I also don't like it personally and you gave reasons yourself that lead me to believe you are going to have to put a lot of money into it for a new paint job and getting the A/C fixed. And while you could get more miles on it it will require you to maintain it and that can be costly/time consuming.

If I were you, I would keep looking. Could you spend a little bit more money to go to a dealer and buy a used car or truck where you get some kind of warranty? Also I will second the suggestion to get a carfax account, that is what I did when I bought my car a year ago, and it was nice knowing that I was the second owner of my car and that it had not been in any wrecks and such.
 
I don't think it's a $3000 car. I think it's a $4500 car after you buy it and get certain things fixed.
 
I wouldn't, but with a little work it wouldn't be so bad. How much would it cost to get a new AC?

And the "frozen salt" is where it was driven in road lines after they were painted.
 
Without knowing your local market, it's tough to say how much that truck is worth. But by gut reaction is, it's not worth $3000. Probably more like $1500.

That said, if it's in good mechanical condition (get a mechanic to take a look at it if you're serious), and the seller will chop ~$1k off the price, it might be a good deal. Don't bother getting it repainted - a proper paint job will cost more than the vehicle is worth (though Maco will probably spray it for $199 or something, if that's all you want).
 
I wouldn't buy it because of the price and number of miles. We have a 2001 S10 Blazer and I would say the number of repairs it has required since purchasing it new would fall somewhere around $2,500. The major problem we had with it was the four wheel drive stopped working, that alone was about $1,800 to replace, but thankfully the warranty has covered all repairs. It only has 60,000 miles on it at current, so that truck is a ticking time bomb.
 
I wouldn't pay more than $300 for it. It is a piece of junk and a total money pit!

What year is this truck? A/C fix is at least $1000 and you will be very lucky to get it fixed for that amount.
 
Frisco said:
A/C fix is at least $1000 and you will be very lucky to get it fixed for that amount.
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Nah, you could do it almost for free, as this guy did:
ACInVanWindow.jpeg
;)

But all in all, I'd agree you're looking at $1000+ in repairs just to make it functional, even if you don't care about the paint. I'd consider looking to see what you could get for that $4K total that actually works. :)
 
maestro55 said:
The question you are asking is would *I* buy this truck. And frankly I wouldn't. I will never again put up with not having a working A/C as I did that for three Texas summers in a row and that isn't fun at all. I have gotten very used to the A/C in my car and not sure I could live without it (well I could, but I just won't). I am not too worried about the miles that are on it, being a manual transmission you should be able to get 300,000 miles on the vehicle. However, with gas prices I would not get a truck unless I really needed one. I also don't like it personally and you gave reasons yourself that lead me to believe you are going to have to put a lot of money into it for a new paint job and getting the A/C fixed. And while you could get more miles on it it will require you to maintain it and that can be costly/time consuming.

If I were you, I would keep looking. Could you spend a little bit more money to go to a dealer and buy a used car or truck where you get some kind of warranty? Also I will second the suggestion to get a carfax account, that is what I did when I bought my car a year ago, and it was nice knowing that I was the second owner of my car and that it had not been in any wrecks and such.
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My dad and I have been looking around and we can spend a few thousand more and get a newer truck.

RITZFit said:
how much is the seller willing to knock off? 3k is a bit much for that.
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I'm not sure since the owner is my dad's cousin but the truck is with us right now to test it out and since my dad let them borrow some money.

Rich3303 said:
I wouldn't, but with a little work it wouldn't be so bad. How much would it cost to get a new AC?

And the "frozen salt" is where it was driven in road lines after they were painted.
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It would probably be around $700 to fix the AC but I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it, that's just a rough estimate


Demosthenes X said:
Without knowing your local market, it's tough to say how much that truck is worth. But by gut reaction is, it's not worth $3000. Probably more like $1500.

That said, if it's in good mechanical condition (get a mechanic to take a look at it if you're serious), and the seller will chop ~$1k off the price, it might be a good deal. Don't bother getting it repainted - a proper paint job will cost more than the vehicle is worth (though Maco will probably spray it for $199 or something, if that's all you want).
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The engine and transmission is good, I'm just not so sure about the chassis because of the rust and stuff.
 
A buddy of mine sold his 99 S-10 with about 110k miles and V6. His was a long bed with just the regular cab, no 4x4 for around $4000. I'd say $3k is pretty fair for that one. Just that fiberglass cover is worth a few hundred alone.
 
Personally I wouldn't buy that, especially because of no A/C and the price. If it has to be a truck/and or Chevy look at the larger 1500 C/K Series. They seem to be much more reliable. My father has a 1994 Silverado that looks and works fine at 150,000 mi. The 4.3 V6 is also a good and surprisingly fuel efficient. :apple:
 
That's not a bad deal, if it were me and I could find out how much it would cost to get a/c fixed I would offer $3k minus that price and like it. 4x4 and V6 - you are paying for that, will you use it? if any pick up truck has four tires and runs reliable it's worth $1k right there in my book. Then you pay for the extras,,,

full disclosure: I drive an '03 Chevy S-10 ext. cab V6 Vortec auto everything... a/c works!;)
 
srf4real said:
That's not a bad deal, if it were me and I could find out how much it would cost to get a/c fixed I would offer $3k minus that price and like it. 4x4 and V6 - you are paying for that, will you use it? if any pick up truck has four tires and runs reliable it's worth $1k right there in my book. Then you pay for the extras,,,

full disclosure: I drive an '03 Chevy S-10 ext. cab V6 Vortec auto everything... a/c works!;)
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That's another thing also, there's no power anything and I figured since the AC doesn't work and it might be awhile until I can get it fixed, it's gonna be a b**** getting the windows open

My dad and I talked about it and we figured it's not worth 3k so if were gonna try to get his cousin to lower it or just get one off craigslist or something.
 
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