What used truck buying research do you do?

testerdahl

testerdahl

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Staff member
I had two phone calls and spoke with one guy in person last weekend about used trucks. This got me inspired to redo our website organization and there is now a "buyer's guide" menu along the top with drop downs including "known problems, reliability reports, model year changes" plus some others. My thoughts were to reorganize things in ways to make researching things from a used truck buyer's perspective. I wanted to make it easier.

I also noticed I have a lot of gaps in coverage over the years. I've been looking back over the past few years and I feel like I've strayed off course a bit with the YouTube channel and the website covering some topics I thought were important but maybe weren't in the grand scheme of things.

So, I published a new Chevy Silverado 1500 known problems post. Updated the Ford F-150 known problems post. And I'm going to work on doing more of these posts and others like them. Also, more comparison posts even if I don't have the trucks in my possession, I've literally driven everything in the past few years and I have a pretty good sense on them.

This brings me to a question for this group. When you are researching used trucks, what things do you want to know? What topics do you want to read about?
 
Rust! And then general condition of the truck, accident. I then look at the use points like the bed, hitch, tie downs to see if the truck was used as a truck and how.

Also try to flip up or flip down all of the back seat since it’s an area that people and dealers forget to clean and that can give me an indication on if the owner had a pet, smoked, is prone to have left food in it, etc.
 
When I buy used, I just give it an overall conditional inspection based on price. I'd rather see older tires because that shows even or uneven wear. New tires are suspect. I don't care for most mods because they are rarely done well and screw up factory parts installing them. If they are asking a lot for the year/mileage, I want to see that extra money somewhere. A cleaner interior, little to no corrosion, scratch less bed, etc. If they are asking very little, I'm not expecting much so I look less. I don't quibble over torn seats on a $1000 vehicle.
 
Being in Florida, I look for:
Was the truck in a flood. (Hurricane/Tropical Storm
Was it a former rust belt rig. Salt air is like steroids to the stuff.
Accidents
Recalls
Fatal engineering flaws in the drivetrain
How many complaints
How well does the interior hold up
What is the price for basic replacement parts? Brakes, thermostat, gear oil...
Is it even possible to DIY that stuff or is it mechanic only
Does the paint hold up
Is the truck part of a continuing line? Kinda ironic since my last truck was the last of the old style Rangers
 
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