betsycam

I posted this already on the 2nd Gen/No Drivetrain forum but thought I should perhaps ask 12V specific questions here.

I am contemplating selling our truck to get this truck that is for sale by a dealer who seems to buy and resell Dodge CTD near San Jose, CA. He seems like a straight up guy, but who knows!

The truck: 1998 2500 12V CTD, Quad Cab, LB, 4X4. Mileage discrepancy, so he can't guarantee the mileage. He bought it with the odo reading 52K, but the carfax has a reading of 172K in 2001. You can see the carfax here:

http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_Displa...KF23D8WJ109844

So, who knows high high it has really gone. The engine compartment has been steam-cleaned and the engine looks lovely. The interior is in excellent condition. The dealer had the truck painted since a few panels had paint problems - said it was virtually the same price to have the whole thing done as individual panels. The undercarriage has been sprayed with something grey/black - makes it look very lovely as well. Hmmm.

I drove it and the clutch seems fine, but are they always geared so tight between first and second? Seemed like I had to shift to second very early. It drove about as straight as our '99 (a gradual pull to one side).

It was a corporate lease vehicle from "Colorado - if the spray was due to rust, it doesn't appear to be bumpy/crusty. I dealt with a rusty undercarriage wi†h our '99, believe me!

So, what am I to be worried about with a 12V 5 spd with a gazillion miles on it that seems to be driving well? What ends up killing a CTD? For how rare this combo is, is $10500 reasonable? Should I jump at it at this price or should I remain leary and expect lower? I've seen prices all over the boards for these! We've had to do a big brake job, inj. pump and lift pump on our '99 - big bucks, so what are the issues with these?

I am concerned about mileage as well: I'm contemplating filling her up and test driving her for at least 25 mi. and then filling her again to get a ballpark idea (same pump!). It would be a bummer to get one that ends up only doing 16 freeway or something!

Okay, enough with the questions. Any advice would be welcome. I've been told to have it checked out "by Cummins" but does that mean a Dodge dealer, or a diesel mechanic or what? Where do I take it?

Thanks!

crobtex

It may be a great truck and a good deal, but.........................my gut just don't feel right about it. It seems someone has spent some money on it to make it appear to be a clean LOW milage truck. Maybe it's just my natural distrust of any used car/truck salesman .

Common

CarFax is useless unless an old man owned the vehicle...

I owned a 95 Ram 2500 360 and had it sunk up to the windshield for 2 days and traded it in with no problems...

I still have the VIN and it checks out with no flood damage...

On the other hand, if the truck is clean, drives great, looks great and feels good to you, I'd say $10,500 is a STEAL....

~Angry Tractor~

Here's what I would do. I'd tell them that since they have a truck that has had the odometer tampered with I'd offer them $8000.00 Thats all that truck is really worth not knowing what the actual mileage is. It could have 400,000 miles on it for all anyone knows.

~Angry Tractor~

I meant to say "thats all that truck is worth im my opinion"

1320

10500? I would have hoped for less. The problem.....Im guessing you ll run into serious problems with ca dmv registration, mainly because of the milage differences, I think (not positive) that they will require milage on a vehicle less then 9 years old. And knowing CA it could become a huge PITA. Just on the truck it doesn t surprise me esspecially if it s in good shape. 172 in 01.....figure at most probably 20k a year since it probably wasn t a tow / working truck doing big miles everyday. So around 275 k miles or less....hell my truck has 203 on it and its a great truck but Ive alreay fixed some of the problems. Mainly

1. kdp, killer dowel pin
2. 5 th gear falls off....100 to 500 to fix.
3. They all need a gsk...200
4. BHAF= 100
5. eventually hubs/bearings in the front, 1000-1500 depending
6. carrier bearing 200

BigDave12768

I could be wrong. And I am sure users like Jbody will chime in a correct me. But I believe the PCM also keeps the mileage or the tranny has some way of keeping track of it. Take the truck for a test drive down to your local Dodge dealer and ask them to put it on the computer and they might be able to tell you the correct mileage. But I am 99% sure they have a way to tell you the correct mileage on the truck. But keep in mind if it had 179k four years ago. Their is a good chance this truck has over 300k now and is not worth what they are asking. PLus if you ever want to sell it you will never get that what you want for it. It is like selling a truck with a dirty title. Most people will not buy them. Don't buy the truck. You can always find another one

BigDave12768

Have you checked Auto Trader? They seem to have some feals on their from time to time. Here is a 98 quad 5spd Cummins. I am not sure if 24v or 12v though. But is 13k with 91k on it and thye offer a car fax report. Stay away from the other one

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=&cardist=1599

betsycam

Thanks for the great advice, everyone. It really helps to have other minds wrap around this. So, if anyone knows of a reasonably priced '98 Quad 4X4 LB not too far from me (SF Bay Area)...; heck, I'll even go older, and fairly high miles, but I do like the 4 door QC.

Thanks!

1320

98 was the first year of the quad cab......if you want a quad cab and a 12v......early 98 is it period. thats one of the things that make 98 12v so wanted, its the only one.

if memory serves, the 6th digit of the vin will be a D on a 98 12v and a 6 on a 24 valve. Most dealers and private sellers dont know the difference and will just tell you what you want to hear to get you looking .

96_12V

I would stay away from it -- It would be a pain to re-sell if nothing else. Even a prune of a truck can be made to "look pretty" with enough detailing and paint. Something's fishey in this pond - find another one with less "rotting fish."

While looking for '96 12V, I found an '95 12V auto with Alaska plates - in Illinois, with 19,500 miles. Original. Guy said it was his father's truck from Alaska who had past away and the truck was shipped down to him (this all turned out to be true.) But the paint in the front was different than the back, it drove sort of funny, so I asked to take it in to be inspected. At first he resisited - when I started walking, he agreed, provided he could go along. Long story short, the frame had been Cut and re-welded in four places in the front. In addition, the truck had been in there for some sort of warranty work, almost eighteen months earlier, and had only 19,150 miles on it then. So this junker truck (which his father probably died in in the major accident) had been doing lots of sitting. It probably still is....

Oh - and the 1-2 shift question...I use 2nd as first at nearly every stop unless I'm loaded on an incline. There is a fairly big jump from 3-4 on this NV 4500 transmission, which the NV 5600 takes care of later on.