High mileage pickups?

[Old Guy]

When Pop bought his 2012 GMC 4WD he traded in his '99 GMC 4WD. That truck had 287K on it and still ran beautifully. The truck was not perfect but it still brought top dollar at trade in.

No vehicle with 287,000 miles brings in "top dollar" at trade in.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that no vehicle, period, brings top dollar at trade in.

 

[zenwhipper]

Thanks for the comments mates.

Of course, don't want to get into the oft too fun my brand vs your brand battles. Oh wait, ok let's do the brand vs brand battles.

Reminds me when I was a kid... FORD... Found On Road Dead! Hee Hee.

Having said that, I've always been partial to Fords.

I currently have a 1999 Jeep Cherokee with 195,000 miles on it. It does run great, but leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez.

The good thing about buying used is man there are a ton of trucks out there. I should be able to find the right one pretty easy.

Scott

 

[ULEWZ]

I traded in my 1999 GMC with 80,000 miles on it for $2,500, and was happy to get that. It was having trouble passing smog, throwing 3 CELs. It cost me $500 to fix one CEL, and then it passed smog. Seems two CELs are allowed, but not three, or something like that. The leather drivers seat seams were starting to come undone, the seat heater switch was starting to stick, and the CD made noise. Damn I miss that truck.

Now I have a 2012 Chevy with minimal extras, just the California chrome package and towing package. Same engine, 5.3 liter, and same gas mileage, even though it has a 6 speed tranny. More power though with that tranny.

I use my trucks as a dirtbike hauler, so maybe all the dust causes issues.

I have never owned a Chevy before, and now I own three! Other than the Volt, I love them.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Thanks for the comments mates.
Of course, don't want to get into the oft too fun my brand vs your brand battles. Oh wait, ok let's do the brand vs brand battles.

Reminds me when I was a kid... FORD... Found On Road Dead! Hee Hee.

Scott

I heard it was First On Race Day.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

When Pop bought his 2012 GMC 4WD he traded in his '99 GMC 4WD. That truck had 287K on it and still ran beautifully. The truck was not perfect but it still brought top dollar at trade in.

No vehicle with 287,000 miles brings in "top dollar" at trade in.

Some people will do anything for an argument.

They gave Dad more for his trade in than the KBB retail listing for excellent condition. Before you start telling me how they got it back by charging more for the new truck, they did not. Of the three dealerships we dealt with, two of the three offered us above KBB retail excellent condition, but they all wanted the same money for the new truck.

We all have our own definition of "Top Dollar". When a dealership offers more than the KBB trade in value and goes above retail excellent, that fits my definition.

As long as you're happy with the deal that's all that matters.

I have learned one thing though in my 40 years or so negotiating with car dealers.

IF they give you a great price for the trade they "usually" won't negotiate AS MUCH on the sticker of the new vehicle.

There are exceptions like if you've bought many vehicles from them or if they NEED a certain vehicle that you're trading in or they haven't sold many vehicles that month ect......

You must agree though that getting above KBB Excellent retail for ANY trade let alone a high milage one is unheard of in the car biz.

No reason to get your feathers ruffled though, nothing personal

 

[HotRodZilla]

Back in March, the dealership where we bought my wife's Expedition called. They were looking foe cars like ours and were ready to offer "top trade-in value." With that trade in they were offering GREAT deals on Focus and some other entry level car that escapes my mind right now.

My response was, "You want me to trade in my loaded Expedition and replace it with a Focus or xxx? Should I buy two to get my kids to school?". The lady was dumbfounded. She said, "Well, crap. I hadn't thought of that. I hate it when they make me do these. Will you just say I was nice if they send you a survey?" She was a really nice lady and laughed.

There's a reason I got out of car sales!!

 

[Old Guy]

They call me every now and then wanting me to trade in my '03 Tundra. I always respond with "My 2003 isn't used up yet." That sort of leaves them with no response.

 

[lnewlf]

They call me every now and then wanting me to trade in my '03 Tundra. I always respond with "My 2003 isn't used up yet." That sort of leaves them with no response.

That's what I tell the Yammie dealer when he wants me to trade the Feej..

 

[rushes]

If you are shopping in the 2004-2008 range, you might steer clear of the 5.4 liter engines. Do a google for that with the term "Spark Plugs" and read the horror stories.

No biggie for any shop that has done a few plug changes on these. There's a tool to pop em out.

All the 5.4's I've owned, it's usually the trans that goes first.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Have had the plugs changed on both 5.4s. Never a problem. I read up on this some and most of it reeks of exaggeration. One guy was bitching that his dealer broke "all 8 plugs" and refused to take any responsibility. IF that's true, stupidity like that can't be taught. That's a matter of poor mechanics.

I used to break plugs on my '73 Buick all the time. I guess I should have blamed GM for that, even though it was operator error.

 

[rbentnail]

I had a 2001 F150 4x4 for 10 yrs 208,000+ miles. Other than routine maintenance, all of which I did myself (including spark plugs!), when I sold it everything on that truck was still OEM. Alternator, starter, water pump, everything. Didn't even have a failed window switch. Nothing. Most reliable vehicle I've ever owned.

IMHO, just like our bikes, it's not about the year or the miles. It's all about the maintenance. Fella who bought that '01 from me didn't even attempt to haggle when I asked for KBB value for a truck 4 yrs younger. He said, "Ok, if it's yours I know it's well looked after". He declined to even test drive it, just forked out the cash and came and got it the next day.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Back in March, the dealership where we bought my wife's Expedition called. They were looking foe cars like ours and were ready to offer "top trade-in value." With that trade in they were offering GREAT deals on Focus and some other entry level car that escapes my mind right now.

I get offers like that about once a week.......they just want you to come in to try and talk you into buying another vehicle.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

He declined to even test drive it, just forked out the cash and came and got it the next day.

Definitely not a smart man. Where are these guys when I'M selling a vehicle!!??

I bought a 20 year old car that looked brand new before, the engine was clean enough to eat off of.

Turned out to be one of the worst cars I ever bought, I didn't check it out real good since it looked so good....never make that mistake again!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Yes, some of the 5.4 Fords had issues with breaking plugs. But it was not the end of the world. The dealership had a special tool to extract the broken plugs. Yes, they charged for it but no one that I personally knew got robbed by it. The cost for everyone I personally knew was actually reasonable even though we had heard horror stories about dealers overcharging for that service. I have sat in the cab of several F-150s with the 5.4 and found them to be solid. And I am NOT a Ford guy.

Again, my personal experience with the F-150 and the GM 1500 series has been positive. Not everyone gets a good example, some just turn out to be lemons for whatever reason. I would expect any decently maintained recent F-150 or GM 1500 to easily go past 200,000 miles with only reasonable repair costs. I only exclude Dodge because I have very little personal experience with them.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Yes, some of the 5.4 Fords had issues with breaking plugs. But it was not the end of the world. The dealership had a special tool to extract the broken plugs. Yes, they charged for it but no one that I personally knew got robbed by it. The cost for everyone I personally knew was actually reasonable even though we had heard horror stories about dealers overcharging for that service. I have sat in the cab of several F-150s with the 5.4 and found them to be solid. And I am NOT a Ford guy.
Again, my personal experience with the F-150 and the GM 1500 series has been positive. Not everyone gets a good example, some just turn out to be lemons for whatever reason. I would expect any decently maintained recent F-150 or GM 1500 to easily go past 200,000 miles with only reasonable repair costs. I only exclude Dodge because I have very little personal experience with them.

Go to the F150 website.

There's a special thread section with hundreds of people cursing Ford and calling for a recall because they had to pay more than $1,000 to have their plugs changed.

As you know dealer labor is expensive and some dealers charge about $80.00 extra PER plug to extract the broken ones.

Many customers had to pay extra for all 8 broken plugs. 80 X 8 is an extra $640.00!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Go to the F150 website.
There's a special thread section with hundreds of people cursing Ford and calling for a recall because they had to pay more than $1,000 to have their plugs changed.

As you know dealer labor is expensive and some dealers charge about $80.00 extra PER plug to extract the broken ones.

Many customers had to pay extra for all 8 broken plugs. 80 X 8 is an extra $640.00!

And it was even worse before they had the special tool. I haven't been on the F150 websites since I sold mine a couple of years ago but I recall it being pretty bad. I remember skipping over broken spark plug threads like they were oil or tire threads.

 

[HotRodZilla]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="SoCalFJR1300" data-cid="1115329" data-time="1388195773"><p>

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Redfish Hunter" data-cid="1115326" data-time="1388195168"><p>Yes, some of the 5.4 Fords had issues with breaking plugs. But it was not the end of the world. The dealership had a special tool to extract the broken plugs. Yes, they charged for it but no one that I personally knew got robbed by it. The cost for everyone I personally knew was actually reasonable even though we had heard horror stories about dealers overcharging for that service. I have sat in the cab of several F-150s with the 5.4 and found them to be solid. And I am NOT a Ford guy.<br />

<br />

Again, my personal experience with the F-150 and the GM 1500 series has been positive. Not everyone gets a good example, some just turn out to be lemons for whatever reason. I would expect any decently maintained recent F-150 or GM 1500 to easily go past 200,000 miles with only reasonable repair costs. I only exclude Dodge because I have very little personal experience with them.</p></blockquote>

<br />

Go to the F150 website.<br />

<br />

There's a special thread section with hundreds of people cursing Ford and calling for a recall because they had to pay more than $1,000 to have their plugs changed.<br />

As you know dealer labor is expensive and some dealers charge about $80.00 extra PER plug to extract the broken ones.<br />

Many customers had to pay extra for all 8 broken plugs. 80 X 8 is an extra $640.00!</p></blockquote>

There's a reason I'm not a member of that F-150 site. Biggest bunch of whining ******* exaggerators I have ever seen. The plug issue is just like the BMW final drive issue or the FJR Ticker issue. Were there some problems? Yes, but they got blown way out of porportion.

Think about it...A dealer mechanic breaks ALL 8 PLUGS before calling the customer? If I broke the first one, why would I go on to the next 7? Can't just change 7 and call it good...Gotta fix the broke one. I have never seen a dealer be that incompetent, and I have seen a few.

I call ******** on most of those claims. Not one person I know, who owns a Ford truck has even heard of this, let alone experience it. Remember, this is the same site, where the tools who inhabit, it create these big long threads about changing the rear diff fluid. Turns out, it NEVER has to be changed for the life of the truck unless submerged.

I've done a lot of heinous **** in my truck, and have never submerged either pumpkin. Those idiots argue about friction modifiers for the trucks with locking diffs. Ford specifically states friction modifiers are required for the trucks with lockers. It is a bunch of half-assed wanna be mechanics looking for ways to break **** that's not broken. This Forum has nothing on those guys.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

We must all fall back on our personal experience as well as what we "learn" off the internet. I trust the wisdom of this forum, but I have to sort through it for myself since We Never Agree on Any Damn Thing! Therefore, if I were to read the F-150 forum and only pick out the answers that matched my own opinion, that would be dishonest on my part.

I have 3 friends that had issues with the Breaking Plugs. None of them got screwed by their dealer. One had all the labor covered under warranty even though the truck was long since out of warranty. The 2nd had a 100K mile extended warranty and also had to pay only for plugs. The 3rd paid somewhere around $80 for the single plug that was broken. I cannot recall but I am almost positive none had more than 2 broken plugs. These were trusted friends who did not "cover up" their issues due to some childish Ford vs. Chevy rivalry.

For my money, $640 in repair costs to drive a really nice truck 100,000 miles is not excessive. Sure it would aggravate me, yes I would complain and *****, but I would not be selling a really nice truck because of that.

It is also worth noting that the newer 5.0 V8 in the F-150 does not suffer this problem.

Again, I am not a Ford guy. I love my GMC and for me it is the perfect truck. One of you might drive it and find all sorts of issues. I know it is not without flaws.

None of which is relevant to the original question of the OP. So, I repeat myself again and again and again. If you find a well maintained late model F-150 or Chevy/GMC 1500 in the 100K range, the odds are in your favor.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

ZILLA.......the breaking plug problem is only on motors where FORD was using the 2 piece plug.

Guess what.......... they don't use a 2 piece plug anymore!

You have to remember FORD sells a million F-150's so even if 15% of them had the plug problems that's a LOT of problems!

Also, a manufacturer shouldn't have to put out a 11 page bulletin on HOW to change the spark plugs, THAT'S a big problem if they do that!

BTW......my local mechanic said he's probably done 100 sparkplug changes with that 5.4 Triton motor and he said if the plugs were left in for 80,90 or 100,000 miles or more most of the plugs would snap.

The key is to remove them at about 50K and put some anti-seize on them and reinsert, or just change them at 50K

BUT Ford doesn't tell people that , they say the plugs don't need to be changed for 100,000 miles!

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

For my money, $640 in repair costs to drive a really nice truck 100,000 miles is not excessive. Sure it would aggravate me, yes I would complain and *****, but I would not be selling a really nice truck because of that.

That's the ADDITIONAL cost PLUS the regular price to change the plugs, that's why thousands of people paid over $1,000 to have their plugs changed.

ZILLA......my 99 F-150 manual said to change the rear dif fluid every 30K