ZERO Response for CL Ad to sell truck-Any ideas welcome

General Discussion
1

My Son-in-Law has an ad on CL, locally, and has had ZERO response. Ad has been online for more than a month. He doesn’t need it any longer for work. Please, bear in mind I know nothing about trucks, so if I don’t have enough info, let me know. Is it priced appropriately? Was this a good/bad year for this model? It seems odd, to me that there has been no interest, so I said I’d ask you guys. Any changes you’d make to the ad?

2004 Ford F-250 XLT 6.0L V8 4x4 12500 obo - $12,500 OBO

Up for sale is my 2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty. This truck has the 6.0L turbo diesel engine with aftermarket ARP head studs, a Bulletproof Diesel EGR cooler, and machined heads and new head gaskets, all by Southern Oregon Diesel in Roseburg. The entire air conditioning system (compressor, lines, etc), starter, and serpentine belt were all replaced by Kendall Ford in Eugene. 5 out of eight injectors were replaced in the last year by Wolf Diesel in White City. The oil and fuel filters are current and done by the Oil Stop in Ashland.

When I bought this truck in late December of 2012, I had Les Schwab put a leveling kit on it and 33" Toyo M-55 tires. They’re about 50-60%. The tires are rotated with every oil change (between 3000 and 5000 miles.)

I’ve taken very good care of this truck. It is regularly detailed and the interior looks great. Almost all of the miles I’ve put on this rig have been highway (one of the reasons I’m done with it).

Last winter the windshield cracked during our super crazy cold snap, and about a month ago some one knocked the driver side mirror and broke the glass. This rig has never been smoked in. There’s a few little scratches, etc, but nothing noticeable and nothing that’s ever caused me to question loading my family in it and driving across the state.

4 Wheel Drive /Air Conditioning / Alloy Wheels / AM/FM Radio
Anti-Lock Braking System / Automatic Transmission / Bed Liner / Multi Disk CD Player
Cruise Control / Power Door Locks / Dual Power Seats / Power Steering / Power Windows / Running Boards / Tilt Steering / Towing Package

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Baby on the way and they would like a fam car. Sorta.

Thanks!

2

I didn’t notice any mention of mileage, which is a major factor in used vehicle pricing.

But aside from that, the rules of supply and demand are pretty simple. If you haven’t gotten a single bite in a month, then lower the asking price.

Or, stop trying to sell it and simply trade it in on the “family” car.

Edit: I just found the CL ad for the truck in Ashland Oregon, with mileage listed at 260,000. The truck is probably priced right for that mileage, but it’s still high miles and maybe buyers are reluctant to shell out nearly $13k for a vehicle with that kind of mileage. For comparison, I clicked on a bunch of other F250 ads in that area and most were under 200k miles, so the high mileage on your SIL’s truck compared to others for sale in the same area may be the problem.

3

Oops! Here’s more info.

condition: good

2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty odometer: 260000 paint color : red size : full-size type : pickup drive : 4wd fuel : diesel transmission : automatic title status : clean

4

Thank you!

5

I don’t like that the heads have been off. This reads like a hot-rodded diesel, with the injector pumps turned WAY up…good for fun, but not longevity. I’d have similar misgivings about a dropped and riced Civic.

Custom tuning makes your vehicle cool while you own it, but doesn’t necessarily carry over into resale value.

6

I have sold 4-5 cars over the last few years on CL. I am going to say that the text for your ad is too much, summarize it. Nobody has that much attention span. Then put many pictures if not already done.

If you price it right, it would only take a week even for oddball cars, so recheck your price. Check autotrader and ebay and see what similar trucks are going for. Sometimes you can put a lower price and state you are firm. Also, look into putting the ad on the other CL areas that are nearby.

With this truck, parking it somewhere that truck drivers/users would see it, with a for sale sign could help.

7

The add lists all of the problems the truck has had in the last 1 1/2 years. You might leave the list of recent repairs out of the add and tell them about the new parts when they look at the truck.

I think head gasket problems are common on Power stroke engines of that time period so people might ask if the head gaskets have been replaced.

When I search “F250” on CL I get three times the results as when I search “F-250”. Run the add without the hyphen.

There are many trucks to choose from with less than a quart of a million miles on them, the price may have to be lowered.

8

Maybe the market there will just not stomach 12.5 for a quarter million miles pickup. The list of parts replaced actually adds very little value to a vehicle and as mentioned, the heads being off and head gaskets replaced would make me stop and think about things.

A look at eBay completed listings shows similar Ford diesel pickups with far fewer miles going for 7 to sub 10k.

9

The price is way too high. This is a very popular truck but at 260K…it’s serviceable life for all intents and purpose is gone. No response from the public bears this out. It’s at best a $5000 truck if you can find the right buyer.

I just checked and the best price I can find is $4375 for an extra clean model so I was right on the money.

10

The parts about new head gaskets, new injectors, aftermarket studs, suspension kit, new starter, etc. etc. says to me the truck has a multitude of problems and has been hot rodded. I wouldn’t touch it for half the price, which is probably where it should be priced at that mileage. Isn’t that a $10,000 engine if it goes south?

It once took me 6 months to sell a car with 108,000 on it. First question how many miles, then no thanks. High mileage vehicles just need to be traded or priced way low. I tried selling my Riv too with about 300,000 in perfect condition and never got it done.

11

In my neck of the woods any used diesel truck sells for considerably more than the same truck with the gas engine

I agree that the mileage may be scaring off the buyers

Not to mention the busted windshield and the mirror

If I look at a vehicle with a busted windshield and mirror, it’ll stick out like a sore thumb. And I’ll wonder what else has been neglected.

But the price is too high, and the truck has been heavily modified. Not everybody wants such a truck.

Drop the price 3 grand, and you might start getting calls

12

Fix the window and mirror, AND drop the price.

13

“aftermarket ARP head studs, a Bulletproof Diesel EGR cooler, and machined heads and new head gaskets, all by Southern Oregon Diesel in Roseburg. The entire air conditioning system (compressor, lines, etc), starter, and serpentine belt were all replaced by Kendall Ford in Eugene. 5 out of eight injectors were replaced in the last year by Wolf Diesel in White City. The oil and fuel filters are current and done by the Oil Stop in Ashland.
When I bought this truck in late December of 2012, I had Les Schwab put a leveling kit on it and 33” Toyo M-55 tires."

I hate to be the one to have to say this, but all of this stuff only means to the reader that the truck must have had problems. It does not add anything at all to the truck’s market value, rather it detracts from it.

Your truck is way overpriced. Sorry.

14

Maybe you’re familiar with the 2011 movie “bad teacher”, in which the money strapped teacher was living with a roommate she met on CL while she was hustling money for certain cosmetic surgery. I know movies are fake for the most part, but it reflects reality about CL. It’s a good place to look for bare essentials, not a 10k truck. You aren’t likely going to find a Ferrari listed there for the same reason.

15

“The parts about new head gaskets, new injectors, aftermarket studs, suspension kit, new starter, etc. etc. says to me the truck has a multitude of problems and has been hot rodded. I wouldn’t touch it for half the price, which is probably where it should be priced at that mileage. Isn’t that a $10,000 engine if it goes south?”

+1
My thinking is along the same lines as Bing’s.

I’m not suggesting that the seller should conceal the repairs and modifications, but I don’t think that placing this information in the ad is a good thing. My suggestion is to drop the price substantially, and omit all of those details from the ad.

When people come to see the truck as a result of a more attractive price, then you might want to point out the modifications and repairs. If the truck is really in good condition, those who are seeing it in person may decide to buy it, despite those details.

However, just getting people to show up to look at the truck will–obviously–require a hefty reduction in the advertised price.

16

@db4690 … I don’t think the truck will attract any buyers if you dropped the price 6K. I have the opportunity to attend both public and dealer auctions in a large regional area and this truck would probably be bid around $3500. I know it’s a diesel and that’s a good thing but it won’t make up for the 260K mileage.

17

It might be noted in the ad that the truck was purchased in December of 2012 and has been through a laundry list of different shops since the purchase.

The flitting around from shop to shop so many times in such a short period of time does not look good either. Maybe there’s a valid reason for it; just saying that perception can be everything.

18

Nobody seems to have cash these days. What helps make a deal happen sometimes is trading. If he finds what he wants or needs and it’s similar value let him trade. Or at least for something he can sell faster

19

Agree with @ok4450 . This may be one of those cases of a “perfect storm” vehicle that has all the bells and whistles but other factors keep it from selling. It really looks good in the photo but on paper…it falls short. If reliability is in question…most customers won’t touch it with a 10 ft pole.

20

I’ll take a different approach to this. The OP bought a truck that needed TLC and provided it. It sounds like it was a runner in 2012 and was gradually fixed over the following 2 years. I agree that putting all this in an ad will scare off a lot of buyers, though. And I agree that the window and mirror need to be fixed. If the window broke after being hit by a pebble on the road, it might be fixed as an insurance claim. It seems to me that any issues that prevent the vehicle from being immediately registered and used reduces the sales appeal dramatically. If I wanted a truck like this, I would want to put plates on it and drive away without any wait for repairs.