Good deal on a used Dodge truck

[TylerDurden]

I just bought a 1996 Dodge Ram Ext cab truck with 80k miles for $7k....its in great shape, red paint with a little hood fade and a scratch on the bed, interior is nice with a small rip on the driver seat, its got a 400 dollar stereo, and the engine bay is spotless...no kidding it almost looks like a 2003 under the hood...
orig price was 9900 and we got it for 6990 without even having to haggle...we were about to leave to get something to eat and i think he thought we were not gonna come back so he talked to his boss and came back and said, "i see no reason to drag this out, we will let you guys have it for 6990"...my wife and i were stunned! so we went and ate, talked with our parents, and went back and picked it up...turns out edmunds.com has it listed for 5800/6800/8400 trade/private sale/dealer price...

so i'd say we did pretty good...keep in mind this was a spur of the moment decision to go buy a truck due to the GN going down again (daily driven only car) and this dealer ship was the first place we went....

so my questions are what should i be looking for now that i own it as far as problematic areas....i heard the alignment is prone to getting out of whack on these earlier dodges, they put new tires on it so i cant tell as of yet....it seems to drive fine so far....also it doesnt ahve as much power as i thought it would for a 318 motor...but i realize its a heavy vehicle...

TIA

 

[tta1401]

I have heard bad stuff about the trannys.

 

[national]

sounds like a reall nice looking truck!!

The trannys are prone to going bad.. one check you can do is put it in reverse & brake stand it..if its good it will spin the tires if it just revs up...well its sliping..reverse it what usually goes first...
Stock radios go in & out ..off & on..problems there but you said it had a nice stereo..
The power is probably from a stopped up converter..they are junk..the stock converters..check with your local dodge dealer but I know they would replace the converters on trucks under 80 or 100k miles..I cant remember..hopefully 100k in your case..friend of mine has had his replaced several times & it only had like 70k on it & its a 96 also..hes gonna gut it this time not going back for another one..you may have to pass emmisions though..
Im a used car dealer...I would have sold you that truck for that money also..sounds liek he had some major markup to begin withWOW..wish I could mark them up to 9950..people run from us if we did that..but he might be tote the note to do that..who knows....id usually give 5-5500 for that truck & sale for anything over that..anything that is profit..although that sounds like alot of money to make after the rent..utilities..phone..advertising..lights..time spent bying & ceanig up..it doesnt go far..still sounds liek a good deal on it though..alot of truck for that lil money..just glad you didnt do liek my friend..he bought his new in 96 for like 23k..
WISE MAN NEVER BUY NEW !!!!
Good job man!!! Hope this helps a lil..

 

[Carman83ss454]

Originally posted by TylerDurden
....i heard the alignment is prone to getting out of whack on these earlier dodges...

LOL, earlier Dodges, later Dodges, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee...

If it's a 4X4, the track bar on the front suspension pukes at 50-60K like clockwork.

When you drive it, if it "memory steers" a little, as in the wheel can be left slightly to the right or left coming out of a turn or curve and the truck still goes straight, then you've most likely got a junk track bar. Should be about $250-300 parts, labor, and alignment if you have it done at a shop. The track bar itself doesn't require the alignment, but with new tires and front end work, it's not a bad idea.

Scott

 

[8587GN]

if its a 1500 the brakes SUCK! Thank God the lease is up on mine this month. I`m looking into a 3/4 ton Suburban this time, yes the 4x4 track thing does crap itself around 50k

Keith

 

[TylerDurden]

its not a 4x4
it does seem to not want to shift into 3rd gear when the engine is cold...after warming up to normal oper temps, it shifts fine...

i have the 30day warantee (std) and a 2 year powertrain, so im not sweating it yet....

oh, and i tried the reverse powerbraking thing and with the brakes fully depressed and the gas fully pressed, i was seeing 2k rpms and no wheel spin.....

 

[Slo86GN]

That shifting prob sounds like the way my 3/4 ton likes to do on occasion. Only does it when the weather is cooler though. Since the temps have started warming up a bit, it shifts fine. The trannys are prone to acting up from what I understand. Then again, my truck has 130K miles on it, so it has a right to be a little tempermental... It's done it's job well though, even if the V10 does get rather crappy gas mileage...lol.