New Horse Hauler

[slammer302 2,154]

I'm buying a new to me truck for hauling WH's and taking the family to the lake. My question is am I crazy for buying a truck with over 300,000 miles on it? 2006 Ford F150 5.4 one owner has had full synthetic oil ran it. Was told thier all high miles for the most part everything seems to check out. It ran and drove like it had it had less than 100,000 on it. This will not be my full time driver I have a city truck I drive most of the time and a little Nissan frontier.

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,542]

Any repair history you can look at? It would have to be real inexpensive to tempt me.

 Mike....

[slammer302 2,154]

Water pump and alternator. And the price seems cheap to me $3800 even with the miles it still blue books around $6,000

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,044]

@slammer302Just my  but I would be a little cautious  of a 10 yr old truck with that much mileage. Any accidents ?

Edited September 28, 2016 by elcamino/wheelhorse

[slammer302 2,154]

I was sceptical at first but the truck was local and looked good so I went and looked it over and test drove it. It seems like alot of truck for the money. 

[ACman 7,507]

Sometimes they just make a good one . ACcuz has a 94 Chevy k1500 with 366,000 miles on it . It's not pretty but wouldn't hesitate to dive it anywhere and not afraid to use it .  All original drivetrain , just regular maintenance   . 

[cschannuth 3,795]

We've had three Expeditions with the 5.4 and drove all for 300,000 miles with nothing more than regular maintenance. If you buy it right even a major repair would keep your costs reasonable. 

[slammer302 2,154]

It must have been sumwhat reliable to last this long

[maxiblue 352]

sold my last truck 2years ago with 260,000 on its still running strong with no problem the guy said best truck he had. got my last truck with 178,000 and is great no problems, I guess to say if it was maintained well should be no problems.

[Walt 339]

I drive a 1990 Chevy K1500 with a 5.7L motor. My yearly maintenance averaged some were between 500 and 600 per year from 2009 - 2015. This year I decided to start replacing the body since mechanically I would drive it any were I needed to go this year its closer 1500 I still need to find a cab. This being said I will now list out alot of what items replaced doing maintenance over the years, if they are items you are comfortable doing so you avoid the labor costs it be cheaper than buying newer vehicle with payment and maintenance. Battery, tires, alternator, radiator, distributor, fuel tank, fuel pump, stabilizer bushings, ball joints, tie rods, pittman arm, u-joints, heater core, shocks, starter, calipers, wheel cylinders, brake and fuel lines, heater / ac blower, fresh top end. I do pay a friend who owns a shop to do my exhaust work and a machine shop to replace the valve guides and machine valve seats to put fresh heads on motor.  Then there is the normal maintenance of oil and filters, tune ups, transmission filter and fluid, differential fluids and transfer case fluid changes, disc brake pads and shoes, wipers and the occasional light bulb that you will have either way this normal maintenance is included in my yearly cost. These are some of the things you can expect to encounter when buying an older higher mileage vehicle and need to be taken into-account when deciding if you want to deal with and some will jump up and bite ya at in opportune times. But all in all I love my ugly ass truck.          

Edited September 28, 2016 by Walt

[wrightorchid 261]

I think it depends on what you are able to do, and are not paying $100 per hour labor. I agree that the older cars are much less complicated and integrated and as such parts should be much cheaper.  Many folks don't have the time or skills to do major work, such as a head gasket, which could be as much as $2000 to repair.  Also, remanufactured engines and trannys are much more expensive than they used to be, due to consolidation in the industry, and increased complexity.  We received a quote for reman tranny on an 2006 v6 Malibu, and it was about $4k, more than the car is worth.  I'm trying to buy a lower mileage car now.  

[slammer302 2,154]

I don't mind doing repairs my self I do have family that are familiar with these trucks my bother and dad have the same truck so I have thier brains to pick if I have any problems. I know this won't be a truck that will last me 20+ years but if I can get 5 years out of it for less than 4 grand I think I got my moneys worth from it 

[DougC 2,641]

I think for what you paid for it, what you expect it to do and the amount of use you are planning for it . You made a good decision.    Enjoy your new truck!!!   

[benji756 341]

you may want to check to see how recent the plugs have been changed it it that alone can run $600 or more depending on how long they have been in there.

[slammer302 2,154]

I figured I would give a update. I have not had any problems with the truck but I've not used it much either. I did notice that when you would start the truck after sitting over night it made alittle engine noise till the oil got moving. I changed the oil used motorcraft oil sense that's what has been used in it sense new I added sum Lucas oil stabilizer and when I started it for the first time of the day I was surprised how much quieter the engine was. Next on the list is sum tires. The maypop's have to go.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,345]

I'm not a big fan of the 5.4.  My son-in-law has an '03 F150 with the 5.4 and my '01 Dakota with the 4.7 will out pull it.  I borrowed this truck to take a JD 400 to a buyer near Springfield, Missouri, and I also use my Dakota pulling the same trailer with the 400 on it when I got the tractor from Illinois.  The 5.4 Ford lack the power that my 4.7 Dodge has pulling the same load.  I talked to a few Ford owners and the ones I've talked to also believe the 5.4 lacks the grunt it deserves.

[slammer302 2,154]

It may not pull as good as a mopar but it has to pull better than my 4 cylinder  Nissan. I did read the specs between the 03 & 05 Ford 5.4 and thier is a 40hp difference between the years for sum reason but torque seems to be almost the same.

[eric7a 0]

I would gladly take a 5.4 over a 4.7, I'd rather have a spark plug blow out (or get stuck in), than a valve seat fall out. My old 2v in my 2000 f150 just turned 250k, and runs like a top. It's hauling a loaded car trailer on average of around 3 days a week, if it's getting driven, it's being used as a truck. Hopefully you don't run in to any cam phaser, or plug issues on the 3v, they can get a little pricey. Otherwise they're good trucks.  While a 5.4 may not win many drag races, they're pretty good as truck engines, decent torque production at a relatively modest RPM.

[benji756 341]

in 04 they went to a 3 valve head on the 5.4 giving it quite a boost in power