Beware buying used diesels

[xtruckerbob]

We trade our 2011 CC Durmax in September for a new 2016 High Country Durmax So for kicks I got a used Auto Check report on our old truck. We traded because of DEF problems, odd computer codes, TCM, Catilist codes and ect. The truck was in the shop every other day or so. It was still under warranty but you never knew if you left home if something was going to happen. What I found out according to Auto Check reports it has never been in the shop for any of these problems, but it showed a steering problem and a electrical problem, which we never had. I was told unoffical to do a DEF delete to solve our problem.

[Sundancer330]

I don't trust any of these third party reporting companies. It is not mandatory for a service repair or bump shop to report to these companies, its probably more of a hassle and costs them time and money to report so most don't. And it seems every year a few new ones hit the market. I only buy new so this doesn't matter to me.

[xtruckerbob]

I agree Sundancer 330 what advantage would a dealer have to report every work order.

[314BHDS]

DEF delete would have solved all problems related to your DEF issues and catalyst codes.But the TCM could have been bad and just needed to be replaced.

[GIFCo147]

Hi Sundancer 330!
What year is your boat? I have a 1994 330. Great boat!

[DocBrown]

Autocheck, Carfax, etc, are only as good as they data that are reported. They do get DOT info related to the disposition of the title and things like that.

A colleague bought a RAM buyback some years back. A buyback is pretty much what you traded in, lots of problems that the dealer could not fix and RAM agreed to buy it back. It was fully disclosed as a buyback. He never had a problem with that truck.

[Sundancer330]

Originally Posted by GIFCo147

Hi Sundancer 330!
What year is your boat? I have a 1994 330. Great boat!

We had a 2000 model but bit the big bullet and bought a 2016 model early this year.

[TWP723]

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

We had a 2000 model but bit the big bullet and bought a 2016 model early this year.

Good God man! A NEW 330??!!! Cha-ching! $$$$$

My wallet would just laugh at me!

[Sundancer330]

Originally Posted by TWP723

Good God man! A NEW 330??!!! Cha-ching! $$$$$

My wallet would just laugh at me!

I don't have a wallet anymore, LOL. Yes it was expensive just north of 350K out the door. Figured it was the last one I was going to buy, and it will last a lot longer than a RV so it was money well spent.

[Plowtoy]

My first diesel was a "put together" truck that slipped threw with a clean car fax. I bought the truck from a guy who had nothing but troubles with it. Turned out that the person who traded it into the dealership switched body's on the truck. It was titled as a 94 half ton, but had a 96 3/4 ton chassis and drivetrain. So car fax had no idea that the swap had ever been done. The dealership didn't do their homework either. They sold the truck without ever looking closely at the title. When the problems began for the former owner, he brought it back to the selling dealer who the parts dept then discovered the problem. The state police were then brought in to investigate and that's when it was found that the cab had been swapped by the cement company who had traded it in (and those trucks never get abused). I bought the truck with FULL knowledge of what the truck really was and drove it several years before selling it to a friend (making them fully aware too). He drove it for years before selling it (and he says he told the buyer the same thing). So NEVER trust a car reporting company and ALWAYS do your homework prior to making a purchase, no matter who your buying from.

[Gman1372]

Ahhh don't Listen to him. He really wanted the 380 and 430 but he didn't want to change his screen name

[bansai]

My last truck was a 2006 F250 with the 6.0 diesel. Clean car fax... Truck killed itself in less than 2 years. Ford fired Navistar over that engine and started building their own. I really wanted to like that truck, but I seriously hated it to the bitter end. So many problems with that motor, none of them documented officially.

Thankfully, I was able to reset all of the trouble codes myself and traded it in before it completely offed itself in my driveway. There's at least 1 class action lawsuit still pending on that motor. It truly sucked. No offense to anyone that happens to be (stuck) with one right now and not having problems. Mine was a time bomb, bought used and destined to fail from day 1.

[oldmanAZ]

I know I'm one of the lucky ones, but my '06 6.0 has been great. I bought it new and I knew going in that I would need to be 'nice' to it; clean fuel, clean oil, clean engine coolant, Ford's fuel additive, no chips to raise cylinder pressure, drive gently when towing, etc. After 10 years and ~330,000 mi it's still going strong.

But, I'll admit that when we bought our TT, we stayed with something that could be pulled with a F-150 'cause my pockets aren't deep enough for another new diesel!

[JeremiahM]

Use the right coolant (Not ford gold), put external coolant filter on it, put new oil cooler on, either replace egr with BP HD unit or delete, and you'll probably never have an issue at stock power. Want more power (I'd never be able to go back to a stock diesel for towing, especially heavy) remove heads, have them machined back flat, go through them, and reinstall with studs. Replace a few other small things, and MANY people have gotten great service life out of them when these things are done. I've known several over the 400k mark, and been tuned since around 100k, just have to know what your getting into. They (mine) are awesome tow machines, and really great trucks, plus have stout Auto trans. Seems like for those years it was either put money in the Ford engines, or put money into front ends and other drive train components in the other big two

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[norty1]

120k + on my 6,0. It runs and tows like a beast. I have had problems with it but most were covered by warranty. The EGR delete kit imo fixed the biggest problem. Very happy with it's dependability since that was done.



I bought it new and I recommend that unless you are intimate with the previous owner!!



I have replaced the starter, water pump, HV oil pump and alternator and added a coolant water filter.
All servicing was done at the purchasing dealer or documented.

[etex211]

Originally Posted by bansai

My last truck was a 2006 F250 with the 6.0 diesel. Clean car fax... Truck killed itself in less than 2 years. Ford fired Navistar over that engine and started building their own. I really wanted to like that truck, but I seriously hated it to the bitter end. So many problems with that motor, none of them documented officially.

Thankfully, I was able to reset all of the trouble codes myself and traded it in before it completely offed itself in my driveway. There's at least 1 class action lawsuit still pending on that motor. It truly sucked. No offense to anyone that happens to be (stuck) with one right now and not having problems. Mine was a time bomb, bought used and destined to fail from day 1.

One of my buddies was working in the body shop at a Ford dealership during that era. The service department had to replace several of those diesel motors on trucks that had not even been titled yet. They had to remove the cab from the truck to replace that motor.

[RoscoW]

I don't have a diesel but a friend I have is dealing with an issue after buying a used 3500 Chevy. One year old, low mile trade in at a larger dodge dealer, truck was sold with the remainder of the factory warrantee (2 more years) and about 8 months in he had a DEF heater issue (under warrantee). He took it to the local GM dealer and found out that GM has that truck on a Voided warrantee list because the ECM showed signs of an aftermarket program installed (all during a previous service by the original owner). My friend is in a battle at the moment with the selling dealer because the truck wasn't as sold with the remainder of factory warrantee as the paperwork says ( which is dated and signed as being verified). Everything on the truck looks and is factory stock but it goes to show you never know what or how the previous owner did or treated it. He is sitting with a truck worth about half of what he paid for it and GM will not under any condition remove it from the black list.

Ross..

[Paintinfool3]

I bought mine used with 93000 miles on it and it had 53 service records at dealer it was bought from which i am hoping means he took really good care of it and took it to dealer for all the oil changes but so far other than a def tank heater failure it has been great