Discouraging Buying Experience

[yowen]

My money, my girlfriend and I went to go get the F350 I've been talking about, I even put it in my signature! As I thought it was a done deal.

I let the seller know a week in advance I'd be picking it up this Saturday. Here's what happened:

-He texted me on friday that he needed more time to remove the bumpers from it

-Then I show up at the agreed time on Saturday and it seemed ready, little did I know...

-The last time the title was signed over was April of last year! So it would have been quite a challenge to get this registered into my name...

-The guy let it run out of diesel! Then killed the batteries trying to start it still

-He went to the store and came back with roughly 4 gallons of diesel

-Hooked it up to his powerstroke and the thing still wouldn't turn over properly...

During this process he crossed positive and negative several times on the batteries and touching the two battery cables together several times with its fare share of excruciating noises.

So I left without a truck... He has since got it running again, but still no clear title... All in all it doesn't inspire confidence. He almost didn't have the bumpers off, he had a week! He's layed off too... On top of that he managed to run it out of fuel and never bothered to look at the title when he took ownership. I am inclined to pass this one up at this point, what do you guys think?

 

[Brad S.]

Did he have any other buyers, or could you get a discounted price, for all the unseen stuff??
That kinda sucks if its something you really want, or could you do the "walk away to seem not interested, to get the price lower" routine.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

since you already walked away without the truck stay away. this one just doesn't have your name on it. keep looking, you will find one.

should probly change your profile pic to .

 

[riotwarrior]

Get it fired....offer to take and get the batteries charged! get em charged, get some MORE Diesel....then and only after getting it fired and tested up to temp offer him considerably less....don't know what askin price is but I'd hammer it hard since he's not prepped...etc...and have him get it registered first...so He can legally sell to you wihtout issues!

 

[freebird01]

Yoh could always come to PA and buy my reg cab f250

 

[icanfixall]

The seller seems to be getting rid of the truck instead of trying to sll it. As posted... We have not much to go on because you have not provided much info. Mileage.. Body condition. Maintance kept up or not... It just sounds like your not ready to buy someones problems. Cranking till the batteries are dead kills the starters because they get low on volts and high on amps trying to crank the engine. My bet from here is the starter is worn out from the cranking. You have no idea what they guy has done in the past too... Walk away. There is others out there. Still, I feel we really need more info...

 

[yowen]

Sorry, I'll elaborate a little:
It was an 1993 F350 crew cab with ZF5 manual, 313,000 miles and I was ready to pay $1100 for it. It is almost completely rust free, but does have dents/dings and the interior isn't the greatest. I am inclined to get back into the budget I was originally looking in, maybe around 2000 - 3000. This one just came along, was in my area and I liked it when I test drove it. But has given me too much trouble ever since.

 

[diezelcrazee]

$1,100 dont sound like much for a 93, especially for a MI truck that's almost completely rust free... Like riotw was saying, that stuff can all be fixed.

 

[The Warden]

IMHO if he can't get the title issue resolved, walk away. Too many unknowns...can he prove that he actually owns the truck? With that said, if he can get the title issue resolved, it's still worth pursuing, assuming he's willing to move on price if he can't get the truck started.

Or, you could go and get Jason's truck

 

[yowen]

hahaha, the funny thing is, the guy I was buying it from is named Jason!

 

[homelessduck]

4wd ? If so that's a steal if it runs well.

 

[GOOSE]

4wd ? If so that's a steal if it runs well.

She's a two wheel driver.

 

[GOOSE]

Road trip? I'd hook up with Darrin. He is a pretty good source for finding these trucks. ROADTRIP!!!!!!!

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/3213870886.html


This one is a psd but looks promising

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/3273546301.html


this guy wants to barter

http://fayar.craigslist.org/bar/3272146811.html

regular cab
http://fayar.craigslist.org/cto/3238446902.html

crew cab 5 speed $2500 at a DEALER!!!!! Mississippi truck

http://jackson.craigslist.org/ctd/3271497388.html

crew cab, turbo, gear vendors, no pics or price though
http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/3172897162.html

I live in South Jersey and the rust isn't quite as bad as Michigan. I am 100% certain that the next truck that I buy and the next truck my Mom buys will be sourced from other (rust free) parts of the country. Hopefully I will find some members here to look at these rigs for me as I wouldn't recommend buying a truck sight unseen. Been there, done that.

There is a ton of these trucks out there, don't get discouraged. It sounds like you were dealing with a hack on this one.

 

[89greendiesel]

i think we can safely assume that this truck was not well taken care of by this owner or it was just parked and left to die a slow and miserable death.

I would only be comfortable if i could look over the truck for a while before buying. Considering what condition my truck was in when i bought it and the fact that i paid 1100 for mine, they won't get much cheaper if they are running since you can get 600 in scrap from the lightest one and this one is probably worth about $800 in scrap. So another $300 bucks for a running truck is good.

Call him back and offer to look the truck over again. Ask that he take title to the truck. Ask for the motor to be cold when you arrive and go through it top to bottom before you start, after you start and warm up, and after a bit of a drive. Have nine one hundred dollar bills in your pocket. Walk if you're not comfortable.

 

[runaway!]

I had the same title issues when I bought mine. Guy had it for over a year and only applied for temp plates, I bought the truck and attempted to register it. State said I'd have to get him to pay title and registration fee or I'd have to put up the cash for both him and me just to get it into my name.

Long story short, after asking him to cough up the money he sat on his hands and played dumb. WI DOT forwarded HIS bill to the dept of rev, they start poking around and find out he is delinquent on income taxes (6 digits worth) and take him to court.

So my advice? RUN AWAY, while you still can.