Hey all,

Probably haven't seen me much here, I'm usually in the 2nd Gen forum, as I have a '97 2500. Looking to upgrade here soon to an '06-'07 Mega Cab 4x4.

I have been looking around my area (DC/Baltimore), I have found a few, not a lot. I have found many down in Texas and other areas.

The one thing is I am a bit leary of buying anything sight unseen, going off someone's word. I do appreciate the eBay ads that put up 50 high-quality pictures, it makes it a bit easier to give an assessment of the overall condition of the truck, you just can't tell anything mechanical from them.

I do know that in general, these trucks are pretty stout. My '97 had 275,000 miles when I bought it, and I'm over 312,000 now.

If I get one in the 60-70-90K mile range, they appear to be cheaper of course than the lower mileage ones. In this range, what should I look for as far as things that could potentially be wrong or on their way out? I normally don't shy away from that kind of mileage on these trucks (My F-250 had 230K when I bought it), but I am wondering if it's worth the extra couple/few thousand to get a lower mileage one. I know that the engine's "barely broken in" as we all say, but there is still the whole rest of the truck around it.

I am on the fence about a manual. My '97 is a manual and I love it. It appears that they are extremely rare, at least in a Mega Cab. I don't know if I'd miss it, or if I should hold try and hold out for one. I've kind of accepted that I will probably end up with an automatic.

A lot of these places are just re-sellers anyways so wouldn't know much about the history of the truck, even if I did have specific questions that I should be asking.

Well, thanks for listening. I'd like to hear any input you've got either way about these trucks, and buying sight unseen, and things of the sort.


Also, what is this color called? I have only seen one truck like it, I absolutely love it. 99K miles though. Couldn't tell by looking at it. Buy it Now is $27K.

The same truck can be had in other colors with 1/2 to 1/4 the mileage for nearly the same price.

 

Dave, you're gonna see lots of higher mileage trucks in Texas and most of them were hotshotting trucks. I've seen many posts from guys who were very unhappy when buying one of these sight-unseen. They take those pictures with the proper lighting and in a showroom and it makes the vehicles look so much better then they actually do.
What you do if you find one far away that you like is just give the minimum deposit and handle the rest when you get there to pick it up. I had to sell my 08 Megacab and it went to Texas. The guy bought it sight unseen and just trusted that I was representing it properly. I doubt he would have done that had I not been a long time member at a couple of these sites and we actually talked many times on the phone beforehand. He had plenty of trucks closer but did not care for these E-Bay dealers too much after visiting them in person.
If you are dead set on a Mega the first thing I would do is look in the classifieds here and maybe a couple other sites. You will usually end up with a truck that was well cared for and probably has had some upgrades done to it that you would end up doing yourself. Check the seller out by viewing has previous posts and see if he had any issues with the truck that you may inherit.
If that doesn't workout then keep scouring Auto-Trader and Craigslist....

That color is "Electric Blue" and it IS a sweet color. It sure looks nice....

 

use CarFax, and don't pay anything up front other than a required minimal deposit.

knowing anything bought unseen could be hit or miss, i bought the '06 on ebay anyway..listed as low mileage, and cheap. seemed too great of a deal. agreed with the seller to bring a check that would be his once i looked over the truck and test drove it. couldn't be more happy with the deal.

 

I bought a trans am a few years ago from an ebay dealer, we flew out there picked it up and drove it home. If I wouldn't have flown out there, I wouldn't have taken it home. It wasn't that bad, but it looked much better on the pictures. From now on, I'll drive out, take a good look/test drive, if I really like it, rent a uhaul trailer and take it home.

 

Electric Blue, got it. Yeah, I love it. Was it a one-year only color? Seems to be pretty rare, I've only seen it on one truck so far.

Hotshotting would make sense, an '06 with almost 100K miles is roughly 33K/year-ish. Not high miles, but high miles for the year the truck is.

Minimum deposit seems to be $500 in most cases. It would suck to be out $500 on a misrepresented truck, but much better than being out $27K on one.

I'm also wondering if there are any key areas on these particular models I should pay special attention to when looking over the vehicle.

What year was that Trans Am?

 

Well, I know some Megas did not come with the vent for the rear passengers. It runs under the center seat. I'd make sure I got one of those even though they really don't work that well. Megas do have a pretty big blind spot on the C-pillar. Other than that, if you can deal with having a short bed then you just have to make sure it runs well, shifts right, and everything works as it should.

I don't think that color was a one year option but it only came out in 07 or 08 and that's probably why you haven't seen many of them. Search member gsbrockman here. He has a really nice one that color....

 

Here is the truck that I am thinking of:
http://www.arlingtonimports.com/web/...-TX?store=1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge...fCarsQ5fTrucks

Looks like it has that vent:


I called up and spoke with the gentleman. Couldn't tell me anything about the previous history of the truck, as it was bought at auction. Just that it is a near-immaculate clean Texas truck.

I was told he would give it to me for $27K which would include the admin, documentation, and vehicle inventory tax fees (whoppee-do). There does not seem to be a lot of room for negotiation, then again, it seems difficult to negotiate over the phone not having seen something in person. I believe he said they have about a $1K mark-up on them (who knows what is truth, what is not).

I have seen similarly equipped trucks advertised for the same price or a couple thousand dollars less. Not sure what if anything makes this one worth a little more.

Maybe they really do sell them with little overhead? I just know as a buyer, no matter how good a price is, it never seems like we are getting a good deal unless we are able to talk the salesman down a little bit.

 

Electric blue has been around since 2nd gen trucks, but think they didn't use it for a few years.
Only way I'd agree to sight unseen before committing to buying is with a private owner, and then I'd want to have alot of conversations, good comfort level with the person, some real specific pics, etc. Even then, $$ wouldn't change hands until I saw and drove it in person. I'd NEVER trust a dealer sight unseen.
I'd go with a 6speed unless you can't have a std trans for some reason, or it was a good enough deal to pay for a TC and VB for the 48RE.
IMO carfax isn't worth a cr@p. Run the VIN for repairs and inspect the vehicle before purchasing.
I bought a boat this summer essentially sight unseen....I mean how much different than new could a 06 boat with 48hrs on it be?
After indepth conversations, found out teh guy had beached it on sand several times. SOme of the white vinyl was stained from being in the sun with a black cover on it. COuple other minor things. None were deal breakers, but gave me a comfort level that the seller was being truthful. He offered to have it delivered by his buddy who was coming thru my area (500mi one way). That definately sweetened the pot for me, but I made it perfectly clear that if ANYTHING wasn't as he represented, the deal was off and I'd store it for him until his buddy could pick it up on his way back! And I spent a couple hrs looking it over and put it on the lake before agreeing to buy it. This was all done with no deposit on the boat.
If you're dealing with a good person and they get teh same opinion of you it can work, but if anything seems "not right" don't do it.
ANother option is find someone on DTR near the seller to inspect the truck for you.
Oh and $27k seems a little steep for a 100k mi Mega, but the prices are going back up on the diesels and the 5.9's aren't getting any more plentiful!
For reference, I gave $30k for my 07 Mega SLT in 2008, 10k mi and about $5k in extras on the truck. Looking at the prices now around here, I could still get close to that amount if I sold it with 50k mi on it.

 

I too am in the same situation as you DAVE88LX. Although I am from Canada and have bought two trucks and two boats now in the US with not looking at any in person except the one boat.
All I can say is do your research !! Carfax etc and pictures picture pictures. I have been lucky and not had a bad experience yet. Everything I bought has been exactly as advertised and I have been happy.
I bought a 04.5 Ram 3500 from a private sale and the rest of my purchases have been through dealerships. I feel more safe buying through a dealer. I have found a couple good dealers to deal with now so it's good.
For me it is a little more difficult importing than you buying in a different state but if I was you I would prob drive to view in person if not to far or even fly down and make a little trip out of it, this way you will be safe and can test drive. Also as per previous poster send the minimum deposit you can and ask if refundable as most are.

I am now also looking for another 05-07 5.9 Dodge 2500/3500 Laramie quad cab. You cannot find these anywhere in good shape with low miles. I regret selling my 04.5 and I got into a 2008 Ford F350 Harley. Let me tell you what a joke that Ford was. I just sold it and desperately want to find another Cummins 5.9
I have a couple I have found in the US but price is high for high miles, I found a 06 3500 Laramie with 59000 miles for $30k

One more thing when I bought my 04.5 privately I called the guy prob 50 times and spoke with him. The more and more you talk to someone you can feel them out if they are BS'in you or not. I bought the truck and sold it 3 years later here in Canada for what I paid for it, so I did well.

 

I sure do like that electric blue MC too! None better, except mine.

 

One other thing to remember Dave. That new cloth material on the seats will stain even if you only spilled water on it. Pretty ridiculous I think. I would not consider it unless I was definitely going to get some kind of seat covers for it. That's just me though.
And yes, it does appear that it has the vent....

 

Dodgezilla, do you mean that you would only consider getting leather? I'm not sure I understand. I do plan to get seat covers though if I end up with cloth (which seems highly likely).

Good luck with your search nitrous! Yeah it looks like the Laramies are pretty hard to come by. Especially in a manual. Hardly any manuals out there.

I'm still debating over here.

 

First, let me tell you that I would NEVER EVER buy a used truck sight unseen, even if I personally knew the seller.

Second, I have purchased a vehicle from that dealer and I would DEFINITELY not purchase it sight unseen from that dealer. My wife and I saw a 2000 F-250 crew cab on the internet that they were selling last year and it looked great in the pictures. The mileage was low, and the price was right. We drove over there and I looked underneath the truck and there was rust all over the place. The interior lights (dome lights and dash lights) didn't work, the driver's window worked intermittently, and it cranked extemely slow when starting. He pretty much refused to fix any of it, using the excuse that it was late on a saturday and everything would be closed on Sunday so he wouldn't be able to get parts. The guy was very pushy because it was like 6:00 on a saturday night and he claimed he had a family get-together that he was late for. We ended up buying the truck anyway. Let me tell you that I have regretted the purchase since the day we drove it off the lot (it doesn't help that I'm not a Ford fan, but still). I have worked on that truck almost constantly since the day we bought it. I know I have spent at least $700 just on parts for the truck, new starter, new window motor, new brake pads all around, new rotors on the rear, new ball joints, and now both of the driver's side electric door locks are getting weak and will need to be replaced. I have my doubts that the mileage on the odometer (85k when we bought it) is the actual mileage on the truck. I never got a Carfax report or anything like that so I don't know for sure. I know it's my fault because I didn't feel right about it in the first place, but I really feel like the truck was misrepresented in the pics and I was pressured into buying it. The guy that sold it to us (I think he was the owner of the dealership) did not like me looking it over at all. Again, my fault for not going with my instincts but I don't feel like they are a completely honest dealer.

 

Is this blue truck a 6speed? Looks real clean for 100k mi. If it is, and I don't know if it's a concern to you, but the "later" early 07's had a bit higher geared OD for less highway rpms. Unless you tow heavy all the time and don't drive fast, even the higher geared trans (like mine) runs pretth high rpms for empty highway driving.
Personally I wouldn't hold out for a Laramie. First, I don't even care for the extra Laramie options, except for leather. (The better stereo would be nice, but if you're an audiophile, you can build a simple system that blows away the factory upgraded system for less than the upcharge I'd think.). IMO the leather seats arent any more comfortable than cloth.
The cloth seats stain pretty easy, but I gave mine a couple coats of fabric protector when I got the truck (no stains yet). My wife has 2-4 little crumb munchers in the car every day of the week and so far all the stains they've made come out completely with some foamy upholstery cleaner and a shop vac. Not as easy as wiping off leather though.
I was thinking about some camo seat covers then I'd never see the stains again, but the wife didn't want a huntin' rig!

 

Personally I like leather but I was just saying that if I ended up having to settle for an 06 or newer truck with the cloth seats I would get some type of seat covers to protect them. I just don't like the looks of that cloth at all either. Leather is the only thing I wish I had in my current truck. I'll find some from a wrecked truck one day....