Am I wrong for passing on this box truck?

[Two dollar steak]

I am in the middle of getting geared up for a 986 mile move in just under 2 months, and after getting quotes for a moving truck and dolly to haul my truck, the wife mentions that she seen one for sale at the local hardware store/rental company. I talk to the manager and the owner of the store and they want 3500 for it but can do 3 if I pay cash today.

Its a mid 90's Ford, F350 so not that heavy duty, 5.8 efi I would think a 460 or idi would have been much better for that type of truck. I mean the body is decent, and the box looks ok, but the lift gate is a light duty at best, bent up bad, and has what looks like dog cables to raise it. It runs ok, but the exhaust is broke in half at the converter, no biggie I work at an exhaust shop. Air pump is making some noise, again no biggie. Heater core been bypassed, screw puling the dash. Its in dire need of front tires and kingpins, so bad that I turned the guy down when he wanted me to drive it!

He kinda got in my face about it, till he realized my arms are bigger than his waist, and I didn't really think I was being a douche for pointing out that the truck under that OK box wasn't worth hauling for scrap and made me a little mad.

I told him thanks for his time and to have a great day, but now I'm thinking about all the neat things I could do with a box truck with a neat light duty liftgate!! I mean I cant go back now but IF it is actually worthwhile I can send me ol lady with some cash lol

Whats one of them trucks even worth?? He made a big deal about it only having 90k miles, but my response to that is "they were all in town because your a local company that only delivers in a 20 mile radius and you hire 17 year olds to deliver your rental stuff, you think they drove that thing with respect or told you when they tore something up? Its woe out."

 

[RedneckWelder]

I don't think you made a mistake by passing on it.

 

[Wi Fire 10]

I really cant give you any advice but I did enjoy the story!

 

[cowboy73]

Sounds like it was beat to death and poorly maintained!

 

[jakemac]

You dodged a bullet. It sounds like you would have gotten stuck on the side of the road if you didn't do a major overhaul before you left. Keep your eyes open, something else may turn up that doesn't need as much work.

If the truck was still good, they wouldn't be selling it. It sounds like they got an estimate for the repairs and decided that it would be cheaper in the long run to get a new truck. Follow their lead.

 

[larry_g]

One thing to be aware of is the cost of owning such a rig. Check with your insurance, tax and licensing costs. I bought a 14K trailer and then found out that I would have to run commercial plates on the tow rig so licence costs on the pickup would go from $50/ year to $500 per year.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[NKlamerus]

Yeah; no.

We had what sounds like the exact same truck...we moved it once a year.....

If the current owner can't keep tires up to date(something you can see, and are easy to replace) then imagine what other maitenece you can't see that hasn't been done.

 

[-Brent-]

Luckily, used box trucks are fairly common. Keep your eyes peeled and another will soon pop up, most likely a better truck for a better deal.

 

[finn]

One thing to be aware of is the cost of owning such a rig. Check with your insurance, tax and licensing costs. I bought a 14K trailer and then found out that I would have to run commercial plates on the tow rig so licence costs on the pickup would go from $50/ year to $500 per year.

lg
no neat sig line

Listen to this: I moved last year (~500 miles) and seriously considered picking up a cheap truck, until I started adding up license and insurance costs and factoring in the possibility of emergency repairs. I ended up picking up a year old 24 foot, 9980 lb gvw enclosed car trailer. I made the move, stored my junk in the trailer for 2 months, then resold the trailer for what I paid for it.

I was happy, and the new owner of the trailer was happy. The key is to stay below 10000 lb. gvw or things start getting expensive.

 

[PugetDude]

It sounds like the perfect truck for a 493 mile journey.

 

[A_Pmech]

It sounds like the perfect truck for a 493 mile journey.

You read my mind, except I was going to ask:

What happens if it breaks down at mile 494?

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Price is average. You can find those trucks on Craigslist commonly. Be aware you can only drive a vehicle rated 26,000 pounds GVW or less without having a commercial license.

You might find having an enclosed trailer a better choice for many purposes.

 

[Jason280]

I almost bought a similar truck last year. It was around the same year, had the 5.8L V8, was a cab & chassis with a Tommy Lift on the rear. Truck was actually in pretty good shape, with low mileage. I wanted the truck to pull the box off, and add a dump/flat bed down the road. Even considered making a simple flat bed to haul my Jeep on. I ended up passing for a couple of reasons, but mainly because of the 5.8L. Its a gas guzzler no matter how you look at it, and even worse in a dually. I would have likely bought it had it been a 460, which has more power and not much worse mileage.

 

[Zeke]

I'm a big proponent of buying used equipment to do a single job and selling it on. But the work needed on that truck (how are king pins trashed at 90K miles?) tells me that would have turned out profitable.

Yes, renting trucks for moving long distances is very expensive. I was behind a common carrier truck today that had a banner about delivering pods to fill yourself and they pick up and bring them to your new location. Don't know any more than that.

 

[Tbirdtc]

The better question is how do u feel about fixing a junk ford on side of freeway and or how much to tow said junk 900 mi
U can buy nice high er mi chevy cubes 98-02 ish for 2 k
Lift gates not so common tho but a broke lift gate is a pita
I'd rather have no lift gate and a ramp than a broken one

 

[Murphy4570]

I would have been out as soon as ai saw the bad kingpins! Those are a pita to fix correctly, and require machine shop work to do 100% correctly.

Sounds like a truck that needs $3,000 in repairs after you buy it!

 

[NFH2740]

Buy a used enclosed trailer, sell at destination and you will not longer have to be an Internet Tough Guy.

 

[Givl Reggin]

Moving is already such a PITA, let someone else do it instead of added another thing to your worry list and enjoy your new place!

 

[finn]

Moving is already such a PITA, let someone else do it instead of added another thing to your worry list and enjoy your new place!

Yup: The trailer idea doesn't work too well for a move to Hawaii.

 

[Outlawmws]

Moving is already such a PITA, let someone else do it instead of added another thing to your worry list and enjoy your new place!

Yeah, everyone has ten grand to pay professional movers...

The pods or equivalent (everyone is doing this these days) is an option to look into then a smaller trailer for the stuff you can't do in a pod. (looked into what can and cannot be put into a movers truck?)

You will leave behind EVERY liquid in your home/garage, and many other things are verboten as well...