Hi everyone,
I’m looking at buying a 1999 ford f150 on craigslist, its listed at $12,000…at first i thought this was too much but i got a carfax and it only has 31k miles on. The seller seems nice and is totally willing to answer questions/share service records so i don’t think anything shady is going on.
I have heard that these are good trucks and I’m wondering if it makes sense to spend 12k on a vehicle that is 21 years old…
any thoughts are welcome. Thanks for your time.
Jordan
In my opinion, no. Many things go bad just from time, not just miles. It is also much harder to get the parts that deteriorate… plastic interior parts, electronics, rubber parts… for a 21 year old vehicle. Ford quit stocking many of these parts 10 years ago.
$12,000 is just too much for that.
thx mustangman! how much would you pay for it?
For a low mileage 99 f150, it’s in the correct price range.
For me to buy it, I would have to have my mechanic check it out and go from there.
Before you do anything else spend $100 or so and have your mechanic look the truck over. Check for the condition of the frame, rust is a real problem on old vehicles. If it is half way reasonable I would not go over $5,000. Forget the miles, as @Mustangman said the age is going to give you a lot of problems.
Beware the Triton v8 in those, ford had a rash of bad heads in that era, the Triton’s where really bad about blowing the spark plugs out of the heads and coolant leaks, I live In east TN and kelly blue book even though they ask for zip code dont take into account market demographics…around here, a 99 ext cab f150 v8 with 4x4 can easily and quickly sell for $9-12k if in really good shape
Definately get a mechanic to once it over
Half that. $6K… But that’s me.
The 1999 should have the P.I. heads if it’s a 5.4L. Also the trucks used an alluminum intake manifold that doesn’t have the same propensity to leak like the cars with the modular V8’s did.
$12k is a bit much for that truck even with low mileage. I’m assuming it’s a Lariat trim, 5.4L, 4WD supercab for that asking price. If it passes an independent inspection, and the owner has a stack of paperwork that comes with it. I might offer $6k-$7k if it’s in very good condition inside and out and has quality matching tires.
Depends on location also
Around here $6k-$7k 99 f150’s have 150K + miles, and sellers know it.
I say skip on this truck altogether
We can all agree the price is way out of line
I’ve seen this kind of situation before
Because of low mileage, the seller thinks the car’s worth an outrageous amount
And when somebody offers him about 1/2 of what he’s asking, his jaw’s going to drop, and then he’s going to accuse you of making an insulting offer
he definitely won’t go for $6 - $7K . . . at least not initially
he’ll tell you to go pound sand
But . . . he might be willing to entertain a reasonable offer a few months later, after the truck still hasn’t sold and he realizes he’s asking way too much
If you really want this particular truck, you have to have a lot of patience
Or you can save yourself the headache and scratch this one off the list and keep looking. The problem with low mileage creampuffs is that the seller is usually not realistic, when it comes to price
@FoDaddy brings up a good point about the tires . . . if the truck happens to be rolling on a really old set of tires, because they haven’t yet worn out, just keep walking. Because there’s probably other things that have been neglected
If this is a strippo with vinyl seats, manual windows and locks, and the V-6, also keep walking.
If I go to KBB and plug in the mileage and options which I assume the truck has (V-8 engine, 2WD, long bed, regular cab, XLT trim, no power windows/locks/seats), I get a private party range of $3974 to $5503, with a target price of around $4800. Of course, different options and trim level might change the target price, but probably not by more than $1000.
If I was going to buy this truck, I’d look at it in person, jot down the exact powertrain, options, and trim level, then go to KBB and see what the private party range is based on that information. Whatever the private party target value is for “excellent” condition, I’d go no more than $1000 or so above that. So if the target value for this truck is $4800, I might go as high as $6000, but not a penny more. If the seller doesn’t want to hear that, and says that he “knows what he’s got” (a common phrase on Nice Price or Crack Pipe), I’d say “good luck” and keep looking.
thank you everyone for the thoughtful replies. I am a first time truck buyer and figuring this all out. in reply to some of the points people have mentions:
it is a 4x4, extended cab, V8 engine.
I’ll probably offer 5k and keep looking. I’m not in a rush to purchase so if the seller wants to come back around we can talk.
thanks all for your thoughts! so helpful!
-Jordan
A work truck? Doesn’t seem likely.
Sellers in the Southwest are asking more than that for Ford trucks with 150,000 to 200,000 miles.
here is the cl posting
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/d/san-jose-1999-ford-150-xlt-lariat/7194589251.html
Given that this is a 4x4 with an extended cab, when I plug in the most common options for this type of truck, the private party price range increases to $5430 to $6959 with a target price of $6195. It sounds like a fair price for this truck is around $7k, and I might go as high as $8k.
I don’t care if there are some greedy fools who think their old, beat-to-hell truck is worth stupid money. All I care about is what a pricing guide such as Kelley Blue Book says the vehicle is worth, because that’s all I can insure it for. If I was foolish enough to pay someone $10k for a truck which Blue Book’s for $5k, and it is involved in an accident–even if the other party is clearly 100% at fault–the most I can hope to recover from their insurance is $5k unless I am injured or say that I am.
Also, a lot of these Craigslist ads where people are asking $7-8k for old trucks with 200,000+ miles keep running month after month, which means people aren’t buying them. Sellers can ask whatever the hell they want, but finding someone willing to pay these prices is easier said than done.
I wouldn’t even bother with kbb.com
I’ve found their estimates to be completely inaccurate
Might be better off using one of their competitors, if you want to get an idea what a particular vehicle should be selling for
As far as I’m concerned . . . it’s still “Nice price or crack pipe”
It really made me upset when Jalopnik changed it to “Nice price or no dice”
It is possible to be “too politically correct” . . . and I suspect somebody pretty much forced them to change the name of that section of the website
I looked at the listing and something really stood out, and not in a good way
The truck has Bridgestone tires
If this fool has the gall to ask 12K . . . not that I’d pay anywhere near that . . . it had better be rolling on new Michelins, or at least BF Goodrich
The truck is nice
But I call crackpipe on the price . . .
needs body work and paint, I’d guess $2,500
Unless those are just reflections.
That’s all I can see from the photos.
y’all are incredibly helpful, thank you so much!
I just did a quick glance around the F150s for sale locally. 12-13 grand will get you an '08 Limited supercrew with 120k on it, or an '03 XLT Supercab with 57k on it. So the price is high. But the $5,000 offer idea above is low - that’s more in line with a truck with more like 160k miles.
Location does matter though - if any of the above examples were rust free in this state, they’d command a higher price.