Buying an old diesel truck

Was recently looking around for an older (1994-2001) ford F250/F350 diesel pickup truck. Need something for towing and to beat up cause I want my tacoma to last me. Also wanted to get a decent project truck to work on as I will probably keep my tacoma stock as its my daily right now.

However, both private sellers and dealerships are within the price range of 23,000-30,000 for nice clean F250 7.3L Powerstroke with no rust and under 200,000 miles. However, some go as high as 40,000. Some people even asking 15,000 for a clapped out F250 with 300,000 miles.

Nobody is budging on the price and every seller seems to think that their truck is worth its weight in gold... for some reason ford owners think their diesel trucks are priceless.

Anyone have any experience buying old diesel pickup trucks before the COVID market? (any make/model). Are these prices absurd or typical? I plan on waiting it out till the market cools off but who knows when that'll be.

 

unless you buy a 6.0 you're not going to get any deals on a 7.3L. Then you'll want to avoid the 6.oh nooooo.

I considered a diesel Excursion but those are still going for low 20's. They are all desirable for some reason, probably tunability, ease of maintenance, parts, reliability, etc.

try buying anything with a cummins in it and you'll experience the same thing.

 

Yea I tried looking at dodge trucks this weekend. Just as bad. It’s pretty annoying. Plus everyone takes it personally when you offer them anything less then their asking price.

 

You've got to pay to play when it comes to those diesel trucks.

Do you really need the towing capacity of a F350 sized vehicle?

 

With the Cummins CP4 debacle, trucks with CP3s are worth their weight in gold.

 

My gasser 3/4 ton tows fine......

 

No I don’t. I started looking at f250 gassers. Much cheaper and from what I’ve read online, the 7.5 gas engine from Ford is pretty reliable.

 

Yea, I think I got caught up in the whole “nothing beats a diesel” at first.

starting to realize it ain’t worth it unless you got a lot of money or a lot of towing to do…

 

Get yourself a V10. Go big or go home

 

The 7.3 is an amazing engine and you won't find one for cheap, especially with low miles and also the shortage of vehicles.

I sold my 2004 6.0 FX4 Lariat with a bulletproofed engine for $16K and 245,000 miles on it last November. That was significantly over bluebook and the only reason I ended up selling.

I miss that truck for the towing capacity and also the amount of room in it. The tacoma is great but is a terrible roadtrip car for a family of 4.

 

If you don't need F350 diesel towing capability the F250 newer 6.2 or older 6.8 are both very reliable and capable. Unless you are towing heavy fifth wheel trailers the F250 tows fine.
If I needed to tow with something larger then a F150 I would get a F250 with a 6.2

 

Almost any diesel will out tow a gas engine truck, but the gasser will still do it, just with more revs and less speed.....
If you tow heavy often, then Mr Diesel is the ticket.

 

It depends on the vehicle, for example F250 6.2 gas is rated to tow more the F250 6.7 diesel simple because the diesel engine weights so much more, yet the suspension/transmission/axles are not beefed up more. The F350 is rated high enough that the greater weight of the diesel engine is minimal to the towing capacity.

 

The diesel will make more torque, way down low in the rev range, pulling the load easier.

 

I know most folks prefer the cummins some like the fords but if I were to got with a truck itd be the 2nd gen 12v cummins, I would say before 2010 you could get one in a fair price cus they were always worth money cus people usually use them for work to make money. But I seen even before covid diesel in general i sought after especially the older ones as they are much simpler and people just love a nostalgic pickup. Now with covid All vehicles are worth more. I love the generation ford youre talking about but i only liked the 4 door longbed 4x4 single axle version, those things look amazing

 

that’s my problem. I love the obs fords and dodges. So much better looking then the modern pickup trucks, at least in my opinion. the problem is that older trucks might need more work and more risk in buying. But I think it’s worth it, personally.

 

I just picked up a 97 f350 drw 5spd. There's 300+ on the clock. The issues I'm dealing with are oil leaks, old suspension, and having to tow all my friends junk home for them. Right now I'm working on modernizing it a little, mirrors, bi-xenon headlights, modern interior, power inverter etc.

Its a great truck, pre smog in CA so thats a huge plus. Its very very comfortable compared to my tacoma. I'm ok with dealing with issues and I'd buy it again. Newer diesels and emissions aren't a good combination in my opinion. The 7.3 is so easy to work on and I also like the OBS fords.

A friend of mine has an f350 4x4 cc,lb, 5spd 7.3 the holy grail of these trucks. He wants less than 10k for it, message me if you are interested.

 

That’s sweet

 

I like My F250 7.3 for one reason I most often have at Least 500 gallons of Fuel on Hand.

Yes Service is expensive Around $100.00 doing it myself .

I know people that like the gas engines due to the fact they can get two engine rebuilds for what one diesel rebuild costs so it kinda breaks even in the long run.

 

Piece by piece, it will look newer. The oem lamps are junk. So 55w bi xenon with halo turn signal/drl made things a little better.


The diesel rebuilds are expensive but 7.3 is easy to work on and I don't have to worry about shooting out spark plugs. My other fords liked to do that!