Not Sure what to do

[asmith]

So I have had a heck of a time finding a truck. Every one I have pursued, the owner has either sold them out from under me when we had a deal, or I just couldn't get there in time and someone came along and snatched it up. I thought I had one today. 1993 F350 Crew Cab 4x4 rebuilt engine and trans has a banks sidewinder on it. It was about 5 hours away, but I dont really mind that, anyway about 45 minutes into my drive down there, the owner calls to inform me that the transmission went out. only has 1st and 2nd on an E4od. well I am not driving a truck like that 5 hours home on the freeway, so I turn around and come home. He was asking 6k for the truck, but I was planning on a max of 5k. I have not seen this truck in person, he says the interior is dirty, but no rips tears or cracks. various dings on the outside, it is a work truck. I was planning all along to swap the Zf5 from my old truck into this one, but was hoping to drive this one for awhile so I could rebuild the Manual before swapping. I have no way of towing this truck home. according to uship.com i can get it shipped for about $450. I dont have time for a project until summer and I am not really comfortable buying a truck unseen. I dont think i would spend more than $2000 on this truck, if i liked the rest of the truck, which I dont know if I do or not. What would you do? Keep looking? go for it sight unseen? at what price? Dont really feel like driving just to look at a broken truck, that I have no means of bringing back with me.

Sorry for the long post also venting about my misadventures looking for a truck. Which I know I partly bring on myself because I am picky.

 

[C_Luft]

Tell us some details about the truck your interested in. Is your truck inoperable to tow? $450 doesn't sound bad at all, considering if I were in your shoes, it would cost me 200 to rent a trailer and maybe 150 to 200 in fuel. If he's asking 6k it might be worth a drive, but I would ask for a lot of pictures before going, and if the truck really strikes your fancy I wouldn't offer more than 2500 (but try to get him down to 2000) and that's with being 99% rust free, running like new, lots of records and the only issue being the transmission. I bought my truck for 2500, which i ended up having to put an engine in it but every thing else is pretty much free of issues, other than wear items.

 

[asmith]

The truck I was going to look at is a 93 Crew Cab Lb 4x4 Has a sidewinder turbo on it with an E4od.

This is what happened to my truck in my sig and the reason I am looking for a new one. http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?70748-Truck-DOWN&highlight=

I am just worried because the guy rebuilt the engine and transmission himself less than 100k miles ago and the transmission already went, not a ringing endorsement of his work. I do have a good engine and transmission from my wrecked truck, but like I said I wont be able to do any work until summer time.

I am trying to get more pictures from him, but he doesn't understand english all that well so we will see. also as far as records go, when i asked about receipts for work he kinda laughed and then said no.

On a separate note are you anywhere close to White Salmon?

 

[C_Luft]

I'm about an hour away from white salmon WA, if that's where you ment, and I do remember seeing your post about the wreck. If it's in white salmon wa I wouldn't mind taking a look at it for you. Did he say what he would take with the transmission acting up etc.

 

[BDCarrillo]

E4od sensor issues or a loose solenoid pack connector are likely at fault, putting it in limp mode... If it works in 1 and 2, the hydraulics and convertor are still working and it can still be manually upshifted to drive and overdrive.

$5k seems a bit steep to me, I'd point that out and try to work him down for the tranny issues. I paid 1900 for my F350, but you'd have to add in a bit for the 4x4 and turbo.

 

[IDIoit]

patience is a virtue!!!!
youve had some run with some crappy luck man, i feel for ya.
DO NOT SETTLE!!! take your time, inspect your next truck throughly.
being picky is a good thing! the last time you mentioned you were looking for a truck,
you had a budget of 10k and you were looking for a NICE TRUCK!
now that life has kicked in and youve used some of your budget on other things,
(which is always the case) step back, take a deep breath, choose your poison and relax!
we dont want you (more like you dont want ) to buy a truck that you're not happy with.

if youre looking for a truck in the bay area, hit one of us up, myself, id be willing to go scout for you.
if you end up buying a project truck, make sure it has the foundation you want, and at the price you cant pass up.

youre last truck was beautiful. if i were you id be looking for something as nice. but 6k for a truck with a bad trans and dents, with dirty interior, sounds like a 1500 dollar truck.

in the past 15 months, ive boughten a 91 CCLB 4wd decent truck for 800 didnt run only needed minor work body in ok condition. got it running and sold it for 2800

a 90 F350 CCLB 4WD IMMACULATE!!! not running for 900, glow plugs, a FSV, GPC, and a radiator..
traded that one for my 87, and a bunch of parts and alot of cash.

the point is...
THERES ALWAYS DEALS OUT THERE!

 

[Zaggnutt]

I second what IDIoit is saying here. It's easy to get frustrated and a little impatient and let your standards slide. Keep in mind these sellers don't know your situation and don't fill them in either. Make a list of what you want on paper of what this truck must have and review it when necessary as a reminder. You want another truck so your brain will figure out a way to make just about anything work just so you can hop in something else and drive it home.

The price for the truck you are looking at is way too high. 5k is the bottom end of rust free trucks here in PA where rust eats everything. Out there you should get something pretty nice for 5k. One other thing.... guys that are fixing their trucks just good enough so they can go back to work are not the guys you want to buy trucks from. You will have all the problems of normal wear on an old truck AND you will have to fix all the sloppy half assed fixes from the P.O. You said you were picky and so am I. You will not be able to let the little things go. I have spent a couple months last winter fixing the fixes and still am.

I don't think you will find perfect, but you can get pretty damn close for 5k. DON'T SETTLE! AND DON'T BUY A TRUCK WITHOUT SEEING IT!!!

 

[Waystro]

I agree with IDIoit and Zaggnut.

I did just that went out and bought a Truck I had never seen(except for Pics) And let's just say it's a long way from being road ready.

I basically only paid about $1500( I traded stuff that didn't run) so I guess I came out ahead.


Anyways GoodLuck on your Next Truck.

 

[rpm427]

I'm not close but have a 1993 white cab and half XLT that was Florida truck originally Body has no rust thru and pretty decent interior.Brake calipers,lines and rotors along with pads done new.New front tires and new headliner that needs to be put back in.Has buckets with blue insides.Motor is 7.3 IDI with Turbo and has new G injectors and glow plugs.Parked it after used IP pump installed and noone to time it.$3500 and it's yours!

 

[asmith]

I'm about an hour away from white salmon WA, if that's where you ment, and I do remember seeing your post about the wreck. If it's in white salmon wa I wouldn't mind taking a look at it for you. Did he say what he would take with the transmission acting up etc.

Thanks for the offer, but the reason i brought it up is because I have some friends up there, and i saw a sweet psd for sale up there. out of my price range, but one can dream right? beautiful country up there. I am in CA almost exactly halfway between LA and SF and the truck is in San Diego

To everyone else, thanks for the encouragement. IdIot you are right about the budget. 10k was my max, but funny how life gets in the way and slowly drains your finances. oh well. I may be able to still swing it, but am trying hard to find something cheaper, even if it is not as nice. Looks aren't as important as long as there is no rust and it has been well taken care of.

also just to clear something up, the $5k was my max to pay for the truck, before I knew about the transmission issues, judging by the pictures. Now with the Transmission issues I would be hard pressed to pay $2k, the rest of the truck better be really clean.

Once again thanks for the encouragement. The search continues. I will talk to the guy today and see if I can get more pictures, and talk his price down, if not I will move on.