What should I offer for this vehicle? I am looking at a 2003 F-150 King Ranch Super Crew 4x4. It looks great, but has 156000 miles.
Check edmunds.com, kbb.com and nadaguides.com to get an idea of pricing. On vehicles with this kind of mileage, you really need a mechanic to evaluate its condition. If these were long distance, easy highway miles, then the mechanic’s report should come out OK. It would also be best to look at any maintenance records, to see if the records show any potential neglect on the maintenance end.
If everything checks out OK, I would bid low rather than high, because of the possibility of engine and transmission issues that may manifest themselves at 100+K miles.
Not more than $6000 in this market I would think…Check E-bay, advanced search, completed auctions, and see what similar vehicles actually sold for…
Call a transmission shop and ask what it will cost to rebuild the one in this truck. It’s due.
My experience with used company cars was very good, but the mileage at trade in time was more like 60K. 156K is a lot of miles, about 25K per year. If the truck was maintained well and driven mostly highway miles, then it should be ok. It is possible it was used for towing and other assorted “hard” duties and that makes for a lot of “unknowns”. I bought my used company cars after driving them myself so there were no unknowns.
In this market you should get a very good price on this truck. You can see the body, but you need a mechanic to check out the motor and suspension. The transmission is hard to predict. Get estimates on a transmission overhaul and an idea of costs to replace the transfer case as well. If the vehicle was used for towing then these items may need to be replaced someday.
It is really a matter of how good a price you are getting. At 156K miles you have to have some budget money held back for some repairs. Unless you plan on low miles per year use, you’ll be over 200K miles with this truck in a few years.
If I were to buy this truck the first order of business would be to replace all the fluids with fresh clean fluids; coolant, transmission, brakes, transfer case, differentials, power steering etc. Unless you have documentation that these things were done recently, replace the fluids.
Company cars are a mixed bag. On the one hand your pretty sure the compnay maintains it’s vehicles, on the otherhand, drivers of said cars typically don’t take onwership of such vehicles and thus may subject them to unwarranted abuse. That being said my dad bought a used fleet vehicle (1988 Toyota Corolla) back in 1989. It was finally wrecked in 2005 in an accident, and it had 364,000 kms on it, and probably had another 100,000 left.
Used trucks are difficult. If that 156,000 miles was spent pulling farm animals and equipment or construction equipment around you may want to pass. Vehicles like that one that are puchased as a part of corporate fleets usually spend their entire lives used to the maximum of their capabilities and beyond.
Used vehicle guides are usually a better indication of the market price for a vehicle ilke that when it was privately owned and had the kind of care and only-occasional heavy use that most homeowners give their trucks.