I found this truck for sale and went and looked at it today. It's just what I've been looking for. A 96 Club Cab 5 speed, 3:54 Sure Grip, Power seat. It's got a little over 200K miles on it. It has no dents or dings, and no rust, except for one small spot anout 1 inch where the paint has bubbled on the rocker pannel on one side. The frame is not rusty at all, and I cannot see anywhere where frame damage has occurred. Now for the things that seem "odd". It's obviosly got a later model Sport grille and front bumper. It also has 98 and later mirrors, but the truck is not set up for ever having power mirrors. The headliner is not attached the best and has "pulled through" where the dome light is. Also there's no trim strip to hold the headliner up in the door jamb opening. The wierdest thing is above the rear bench seat there is a section o0f the cab that is painted dark green. This is also evident in the bottom corners of the rear window on the exterior of the truck, but only if you look closely. The front seats have been "moved" forward by re-drilling the mounting holes and the old holes in the carpet clearly show green colored paint on the sheetmetal of the floorboards. I'm pretty sure this truck has had a different cab on it, or has totally been repainted. The dealer selling it has "re-sold" it 2 times, and the last guy bought it from him 10 months ago and traded it in on a later model Dodge quad cab. The dealer said it had a clear titel, but I'm a little suspicious. It drove and shifted well, and everything worked on it, just needs some attention besides being a little "odd" The engine is pretty clean also and runs good. It's got gauges and makes 25# of boost at full throttle. Here are some pics of it. Any thoughts? He said he'd take $9500 for it. Is it worth it?

Mike

 

seems like alot for a truck that has that many miles and also all those questions you have about it not to mention the fact that it got traded back in less then a year

 

I recommemd getting a carfax report on it, you might check and see if anybody on here has carfax this month and might run it for ya. It can pop up some interesting stuff, a friend of mine bought a truck a year ago off a guy and it had only 120k or so miles on it, I had carfax a couple months ago and ran his vin#, it showed his truck was in texas in 2001 with 185k on the clock?????? ,who knows how many miles it has. I ran a few vin#'s for some other guys on here back when I had my subscription, maybe someone could do the same for you, fellow cummins owner courtesy you know. Sometimes it shows stuff and sometimes it doesnt but its worth a shot. If you decide to get it talk him down on his price a little bit, When I got mine they wanted 9k and I talked em down to 8k cash, dealers will budge more than you think sometimes. Good Luck

 

looks pretty nice on the outside, inside's not too, bad, seems little high at 9500, but im sure the dealer will move it at that price.

 

Run away from it............

Bob

 

I would say it's high, I would have them knock down at leasta couple of grands, then review it again and decide.
At that price there's many trucks for sale on this site that are far better and cheaper.

Remember a plane ticket anywhere in the country is just around $ 300, it won't take much to fly and drive home a good truck.

 

I think it's kinda high too, but I won't own an auto and I've got to have a club or quad cab for the kids. Also don't want a short box or 24 valve. Had a 99 24 valve and wasn't very impressed. I really want a 12 valve 2nd gen. I've got a 93 W350 CC 5 speed that's a work truck and the back seats are'nt very good for little kids. Also I want to go back to the better ride and handling of a 2nd gen. A quad cab would be nice, but I really like the 94-97 interior better than the 98 and up ones. I've seen a few 12 V Club Cabs 5 speeds for sale but they seem pretty high. Found a clean one with 150K miles but they want $15K for it! That's too much in my mind. If I could get a rust free truck that hasn;t been hacked up for under $11K I'd be happy. Any more suggestions?

 

I'd take bob's advice and run....FAST! a truck with that much wrong in the little details, who knows what else has been done to it...and you have to ask yourself why it's missing all the little stuff, and why stuff's been modified...problem with it possibly having a new cab is going to be is the vin the correct one for that truck, or did the vin come with a new cab too? also, from personal experience, don't get a truck with power seats...they don't work too well in the high mileage trucks...and they're expensive to replace...200 for a used one with no guarantee if you get it from the right junkyard.....

 

WOW, I didn't want to read the whole description, now that I did I would say RUN.

That truck is worth 1/2 of what they're asking, ask them to take it to a DMV shop and have VIN inspected, if they changed the cab, all the VINs have to match, on the cab, frame, front rad support, etc. otherwise they better have a LONG legal paper to justify the whole operation.

 

I just found out that the dealer now has the truck listed for $4400. That seems very strange that he went from $9500 to $4400. Even if it was wrecked at one time that doesn't seem too bad. Under the hood looks really clean, as does under the entire truck. Doesn't appear that the frame was bent or worked on either. Body really is good except one small bubble in the pain on the rocker. I can't detect any body filler anywhere either. The truck runs down the road pretty good too. Shoot, the engine, trans, transfer case and dana 60 & Dana 80 are probably worth all that. Any more input? I really don't need a $15K truck to make payments on. And for this I could throw some mods into it. Should I offer him $4000 for it?

 

You betcha, because now I am trying to see which dealer in IA it is and I will get there before you. I am checking the pictures for clues....

Send me an email I will explain a couple of things.

 

If it's really $4400 now, it's certainly an option - at 9500 I wouldn't have considered it. He must have realized that he had a serious buyer and wants to move the truck. I would still want to see a carfax and use that as a guide, and I'd try for 3500 cash and take it.

Look at it this way - even if it's a rebuilt unit, it's still a solid truck that would be good for work. If something happened to it, you're not out too much and you would always remove parts an sell them on ebay for more than what you bought the truck for. I would generally steer away from rebuilt trucks just for safey purposes in case of an accident, but then these trucks are just about as solid as you can find - and you indicated you already inspected the frame and found it good! Ask the dealer if you could put it on a lift (maybe theirs) and give all the components a good look look-over. Cab and paintwork are not nearly as important as frame, axle, suspension, brake and driveline faults.

Just make sure you'll be happy with it, and if so, hand him some cash and enjoy your truck. Good luck!

 

LOL, Valv you and a few others!

Seriously, at 4400, if it drives halfways straight, grab it now.

 

Anyone else notice the front bumper is off of a 1500 Off-Roadster? Look where the tow hook reliefs are.

At $4400 its not a hard decision. Offer him $3500, even if he doesn't take it walk away, go back the next day and bump your offer a few hundred. The drivetrain alone sells for about $4000 around here, and if it drives straight run it till something comes up, and if its cheap enough to fix, do it, if not, sel it whole or for parts.

 

x2 this seems like a good plan...