Trying to find an affordable truck...

I have seen a number of threads recently about replacing trucks, I am interested in acquiring my first truck to use for towing and picking stuff up from the local hardware store. I was originally looking at getting a new Nissan Frontier lease since they have/had a deal going for a one pay lease (you pay it all up front without any payments) for a sub $250 a month effective price. I couldn't find any dealers in Florida who would do the program correctly and so now I am just looking for an inexpensive truck. If you are interested in the Nissan lease thing check out https://leasehackr.com/ forums. 

Now I am on the hunt for a truck and I found a 2010 Ford F150 Platinum V8 with 250k miles that looks in decent condition. Is 250k too much? How much is maintenance on something like this? I am not really sure what I am getting into with a high mile truck. 

In trucks everyone wants:

• back seat
• 4x4
• big engine

If you want what everyone else wants you'll be competing with everyone for a good price, which will make the price high.  

If you want a "good deal" it might be easiest by seeking out what others overlook.  A single cab, 2wd and/or a V6 might help you find the "deal".  

Personally, id run from a truck with 250k, especially a gas truck (some diesels seem to live forever, but I know little about diesels.) 

I have an 07 expedition that would mechanically be pretty much the same as the f150, with 185k. Other than ignition coils and having a shop replace the plugs I haven't had problems with it in the 5 years I've owned it. That said, I have a replacement vehicle on order as I don't want a DD that needs fettling to keep going 

I never correlate to monthly payments, so it's hard to understand your budget.

Mr. Welsh hit the nail on the head. All three of the trucks I've owned have been 2wd. I absolutely stole them, because a 2wd truck is less "manly?"  That being said, when it came time to sell, they took a long, long, long time

Cheap truck? Nice April fool's joke.

The thing about 2wd trucks is they're absolutely useless on anything but a clear road. In Florida and especially if you're only using it as a tow/haul vehicle (ie not a daily driver) you can probably get away with it fine. But if you live somewhere you might need to drive in snow or off road in any capacity (especially with a trailer) 4wd is basically a necessity. We've done it both ways and our conclusion was that 95% of the time 2wd is perfectly fine, but that other 5% of the time is awful enough to justify 4wd.

But yeah if you can live with 2wd that will help a lot. Starting mileage depends on how much you intend to drive it and how long you intend to keep it. 250k I'd say is a hard no unless you're going to be driving it like 1000 miles/year and not going very far from home. Diesels do tend to last longer but the rest of the truck still has 250k miles on it. I'd say probably 100k max for something you expect to have for a while and put a decent amount of use on. A bit beyond that is probably fine but had better be at a really good price.

In reply to dps214 :

14 Michigan winters with only 2wd trucks. I survived just fine without need of 4wd...

In reply to Ranger50 :

I guess it depends on the area and conditions. We went to our cabin (Shenandoah Valley/Luray area of Virginia) this past Christmas. I wouldn't want to do that drive in a 2wd truck. My Expedition did fine because the 4wd. There was 2wd trucks and cars not being able to make the climb up the road where most of the cabins and homes are. I can drive 2wd trucks in snow on flat paved roads.

All good points. Budget is 12k, I don't plan on financing it. I would like a crew cab but I can live without 4wd. I'm not going to daily it but I'd like to to be nice enough to drive around town. 
 

Takeaways I guess would be look for a 2wd, v6. 

For a beater 2WD is fine.  He isn't looking for something to drive in the snow, just something to carry big dirty stuff from the hardware store.  That said a couple hundred pounds of weight in the back and chains will help.  But an old ranger 2WD with worn out tires won't get up a steep hill in the rain either.

In reply to jonnyd330 :

You didn't mention the price. 
 

Everything has a price. If you've found a Platinum F150 for $5K, who cares about the 250K?  Conversely, if you are looking at a 250K truck for $25K, run away. 
 

I disagree with people who say 250K is a hard no. If it's a northern truck, that would be true. But you are looking at a Florida Platinum F150. It's highly likely that was a "gentleman cowboy" truck- higher trim level means it wasn't a work truck, FL means it may have never seen 4x4, and the high mileage just means it was likely a highway cruiser, possible towing.  That's easy miles on a truck.

I have a 250K Platinum F150 truck right now that I am strongly considering putting an expensive new engine into because the rest of the truck is in excellent condition. 
 

If the truck is in visibly excellent condition, rust free, shifts smoothly, and isn't blowing smoke or dripping oil, it's a good deal at $12-15K.  If you've found it for a lot less, jump on it.

I missed that you didn't mention if it has 4WD. 
 

Drop my price by $2000 if it's 2WD. 

How would you feel about a truck like SUV? V10, 4wd, seats 7, 11k towing capacity, 150k miles. 

Oh you live in Florida

BTW, the 250K could be an easy bargaining chip. 
 

If he's asking $12K, I wouldn't hesitate to offer him $8K cash. He doesn't have many people interested in that truck. Too many people are scared of the mileage. Even on GRM. 

2003 Ford F150 4x4 w/124k asking $6.4k

Yes, it's a single cab so spend the remaining $6k of budget on a 4 door Prius. 

In reply to John Welsh :

That's a good truck, but the OP didn't say how much towing he needs to do. 
 

That one will be more limited in its towing capacity.   But it's a decent first truck if the towing needs are minimal. 

Actually, I missed the fact that this is a 2010 truck. 
 

2010 is before the Coyote (which was introduced in 2011).  The 2010 Platinun had the 5.4L. That means the tow rating is MUCH less. The 2010 5.4L tow rating is 8000-8600 lbs. The 2011 5.0L tow rating is 11,300.

Given that, I take back a little of what I said. I was thinking about the Coyote. The 2010 is worth less (and I wouldn't be interested in a 2010 with 250K miles, unless the price tag was about $6000 or less)

My wife drove 15 Chicago winters driving a 2003 2WD Chevrolet Trailblazer - just have good tires.  

My sales territory covers Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.  

Do I need 4WD? No.  Is it nice to have 4WD? Yes. 

Shoot - my friends and I grew up driving $500 beater Delta 88's with one tire spinning in the snow. 

I went to Florida (from NY) to find a single cab with a stick.  Ended up with a 2007 Frontier V-6, 6 speed with jump seats.  I would never put a person back there but it's great storage and the dog doesn't mind.  4WD, cruise etc. With 70k miles cost me $10k.  Quite happy.

I've had full size trucks, I guess you need to define it's purpose.  The new Rangers and Colorados are bigger than any C-10 or F150 I ever had, way out of budget though.

1st Gen Dakotas do everything I ever need, and hauling one from a rust free part of the country is well worth it.

Go to the Builds area here and check out the Dodge Van, a truck of  Radwood era from Phoenix may just work out for you.

Forgot, snow!  Good tires and skill will just about keep up with 4WD in most scenarios.

4wd very much has its merits.  Personally, I ended up with a 2wd.  Even in the pre-2020 world, when I bought mine, the 4wd and the 4 doors cost more than I could really justify for my use scenario.   Yes, I would like to have both those features.  No, I did not want to pay for them.  

I pointed to the 6cyl F150 originally because the OP was shopping the smaller Nissan Frontier which lead me to think he was not headed for heavy towing.  

In reply to jonnyd330 :

PM sent

I do not live in a flat environment.  Topography only comes into play when the weather turns messy, you have the truck loaded for a weekend adventure and you want to get there.  If you only drive on flat roads that never get messy 2wd is doable.  My single cab Ford F-150 with the 4.6 and a five speed worded but rolling stop signs to make the hills was "iffy" at best.

I now have a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 club cab diesel, that has 310,000 miles.   It's a retired painters truck, that was maintained.  It took years of staying in touch with the original owner waiting for him to listen to his accountant and upgrade to a new rig.  It's not pretty and I can park it any ware. I do not give it a second taught what the weather is and after letting it warm up it is good to go.

The cost of fuel, in California, is the same. The towing of the Ram is effortless. I did have to chain up the Ram, the R3 conditions mandated it.  I would not have even tried to use the Ford in those conditions.  

Having the seating to take some of the golf team to a match, priceless. 

250k is too much in my book. Unless you like wrenching on a truck. 

I would definitely look for rwd to save some $ if you don't need 4wd. Also less things to wear out on a rwd truck. Extended cab is usually cheaper than crew cab. 

My go to truck for cheap tow vehicle / occasional use truck is the GMT800 or GMT900. Good engine and transmission combination if maintained. Nice ergo. Easy to work on.  At your $12k budget, focus on the GMT900 with the 5.3 or 6.0 with the 6 speed automatic. The 6 speed makes a huge difference towing. 
 

If you aren't towing heavy, get the 1500. It's a pretty nice driving truck and they have rack n pinion steering vs an old school steering box. If you see better deals on the 2500 and can live with the stiffer suspension or need the extra towing capacity, consider it. 
 

Another potential option is the Toyota Tundra particularly with the 5.7. Nice truck but expensive to repair. Water pumps, coolant valley leaks, exhaust manifolds are exponentially more expensive than the domestic trucks and common failure points. 

Defintely no V6 for towing race car weight vehicles  Not enough hp or torque  

hope that helps