Van Shopping in Phoenix - Help Welcomed

[Vagabound]

(Main post above)

 

[Vagabound]

(Main post above)

 

[Vagabound]

(Main post above)

 

[Vagabound]

(Main post above - this is the last post with photos - one photo only of odometer, etc.)




Now, off to the races!

Thanks everyone.

Vagabound

 

[ZoNiE]

--Snip--

[*]Overall, interacting with U-Haul Corporate was frustrating and fruitless.  I really want to try to avoid buying anything from them or even renting from them in the future.  Companies that do business that way should not be rewarded, in my opinion.

Vagabound

They say the lion statues at the front of the U haul Building on Central should be turned around to keep the evil spirits INSIDE...

The Chandler Tech center used to have a lot of used trucks on the lot... Have not been by there in a long time. Might want to call.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

How heavy a trailer were you planning to pull?  I'm not wild about that bumper mounted trailer ball, don't know for sure what kind of gross trailer weight and tongue weight that might be rated for.  Also don't know how easy it would be to put a proper receiver hitch on this rig.  Some of the non-standard stuff - like the pull out loading ramp - might be in the way.

 

[Vagabound]

Hitch: Planned to replace it eventually with draw-tite hitch.  Might take a little welding to attach it.

Trailer: Don't know exactly, but probably 6 x 10.  Mobile workshop / garage.

Vagabound

 

[Gary68]

heres the ad to the one above
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/5846338866.html



and this just popped up

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/5856312260.html

looks ruff,one rear fender has been cut out,sure to be some mechanical repairs but cheap and easy to find parts,should have a carburetor

 

[ArtW]

I can't speak for the state that listed mileage as 'exceeds mechanical limits, but in some states they let you do that if you can't givr them the exact mileage and that mileage exceeds 100k (assumption that vehicles are 'gone' by 100k)
the truck looks good from what I see, if it runs and drives good, I wouldn't sweat the miles
it's gonna burn a lot of fuel, and the GVWR might be a problem in Cali, from what HDR says, other than that i see no problems
It's heavy and it'll stick easy if you get frisky off road
Tires will be expensive, and I've never been impressed with the wet traction of heavy truck tires at all

Caveat: I know next to nothing about diesel engines except in theoretical terms, and there are many here who know heavy trucks far better than me

 

[Vagabound]

...
Caveat: I know next to nothing about diesel engines except in theoretical terms, and there are many here who know heavy trucks far better than me

Thanks.  This truck is gas, not diesel.

Vagabound

 

[ArtW]

OOps, got my exercise jumping to a conclusion, I read 7.4, made it 7.3 in my head, and thought, 'diesel'
I have no experience of the 7.4 gas engine either though, so it's a wash

 

[Matlock]

I'd pass on this one. The number of owners after uhaul turned it loose, the fresh paint over and the age don't sit well with me.
That said,
If the motor/Trans and brakes are good, then it's a $3k truck.

 

[BradKW]

Those are good trucks in general, know a few people who've owned them around that age. In specific though, I think Matlock is about right on value...the box looks fine, but mechanically you're looking at something that could pop you with a couple $3k repair bills quickly. I guess you could say that about anything, but the number of re-sales and the title issues just make me feel it's stacking the odds some.

I'd probably feel differently if it didn't appear to have been traded around like a hot potato...

 

[Vagabound]

Matlock & Brad and everyone else so far,

Thanks for the good input.  My related thoughts:

* The owner before current one was in some type of antique business, so the story goes, and the truck was painted pink.  Yes, like "panther".  The new, more manly-man owner couldn't hack that, and he paints things, so he painted it white.  However, he just painted it white in the last two weeks (he confirmed), but I'd guess only for the purpose of selling it.  Not necessarily evil -- the going thing in box trucks is white.  And I saw no evidence that the paint was covering anything up, but it wasn't a quality paint job, so down the road, I'd be looking at re-painting.  Not a huge deal as I sort of had that in mind anyway (van or truck).

* Price:  Yeah, $3K+ is what the consensus seems to be, including someone with recent purchases of two similar trucks.

* Running: Only took it through city streets and then on I-10 for about 20-30 minutes. Everything worked and sounded normal so far. Except the horn and brake lights issues.

* Odometer:  I've gotten info that those trucks, at that age, had 6-digit manual odometers, so his stated mileage seems to be accurate.  However, that still doesn't explain the kerfuffle in Oregon with that title being stamped "Exceeds Mechanical Limits" (rollover).  Unfortunately, that's a mystery that will never be solved.

* Changing Hands:  The frequency of that bothers me also.  All of the quick turnovers have been in AZ and in the last couple of years.  My only clue is that prior to that, it seems to have been stationary without use -- odometer didn't change much from 2013 to 2015 (only 600 miles) and then only 900 miles since 2015.  This current owner has had the truck for only two months.  Bought it, he says, for his plumbing, etc. business.  His story is he actually likes the truck, was surprised how good it runs (what else would a seller say!), but he needs money so he's selling it.  He didn't elaborate.

* Owner:  My radar is inconclusive.  Getting a 60/40 read on him.  Leaning toward OK, but he doesn't elaborate in general about nearly anything.  Could be standard macho nonsense.  However, by his own admission, he knows very little about working on vehicles, and I think he either bought the truck for the reason he said, or as an investment to flip.

To be clear, I'm sitting on the fence at the moment, still taking info in and evaluating.

The mechanics will crawl all over it this morning, so I'll know more this afternoon.

If anyone has any other opinions, please let me know, in the thread or otherwise.

Thanks,

Vagabound

 

[Vagabound]

Update: 1994 GMC Sierra 3500 Box Truck

Summary: Strike 2

Details:
This one was in better shape, but still needed about $3,000 in repairs to make it roadworthy.  If you add that to the real value of the truck at $3,000 also, the math didn't work. Plus the owner would never reduce the price to $2,000 to even make the asking price work, much less reduce to $0 to make the real value work.

I've got to get better, faster, at not investing myself in these during the process. It hurt to let that one go, but it was the right decision.

Thanks again to all who chipped in their 2 cents worth.

The search continues ...

Vagabound

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Hi Tom,
Your private message box is full, just to give you heads up.

Matt

 

[highdesertranger]

well at least you got the passing on bad deals down. can you share what was wrong with this one? highdesertranger

 

[Vagabound]

Hi Tom,
   Your private message box is full, just to give you heads up.

Matt

Hey Matt,

Yeah, I saw that coming, but was too busy to head it off.  Thanks for telling me it actually happened.  I'll go "mow my lawn" so to speak.  The ironic thing is that I'm the one who discovered how to export and save PMs in this forum, and documented it, but now (chaos of international move later) I can't find my own directions.  I know there is a thread in here somewhere.  hahaha

Thanks,

Vagabound

 

[Vagabound]

well at least you got the passing on bad deals down.  can you share what was wrong with this one?  highdesertranger

HDR,

Yeah, I guess that's the silver lining.  Plus, the owner at the shop doing the inspections is becoming very friendly and leaning in my direction, so that can't hurt.

What was wrong?  Well, first I'll say that, the inspections are thorough and not thorough at the same time.  By that I mean that they seem to check all areas, but when they find a problem, they just say "some problem is here, takes more time to say exactly what".  So, I don't end up with an exact list of bad stuff, nor an exact list of estimated costs to fix the stuff.  That second part was like pulling teeth today to arrive at the $3,000 repair estimate.

All that crap said, this is what I remember (without the aid of my handy notebook):

• Horn - it was just disconnected, so they reconnected it
• Brake lights - not sure, but looks like a bad brake switch (small thing)
• Brakes were a bit squishy.  Unspecific diagnosis.
• Starter made a little noise upon starting, but nothing major.  Unspecific diagnosis.
• Steering pulled a bit to one side under some circumstances.  Unspecific diagnosis.
• Fluid dripping under engine.  Not oil, but some other fluid; they suspect power steering fluid.  The something-something-doohickey would cost about $1,300 to replace on that truck.
• Rear left wheel hub was wet inside from brake fluid.  That was another "not sure", but as I recall, about $700 to replace.  They said it was the type of thing that would cause a wheel lock-up once it failed.
• Then came the steering coupler, which was going bad.  No repair possible, just replace, like everything else on the list.  And of course, there was something special about that part on this truck = bend over.  I think that one was $500.
• Then, $500 contingency for misc. stuff that they didn't specify amounts for.

I really, really liked the box on that truck.  It was perfect - sizes and construction - as only an older model can be (14' vs. current 10' or 15'), and pre-translucent plastic roofs.  All aluminum floor. Hated to let it go.  That said, I dodged the triple bullets of repairs, 11,000 GVWR, and an old vehicle after all was said and done.

The most astonishing thing to me about the entire experience was the owner's attitude.  Pretty laid back overall, which was good, but very little interest in the needed repairs.  At the end, I offered him a copy of the inspection report ($100 value).  He said no thanks.  Odd.  He told me that he'd already turned down a $4,000 offer and just decided today to keep the truck.

At least once a week, when trying to puzzle out the behavior of other people, I wonder again what I did wrong on my planet that they'd send me here. ;-)

Vagabound

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks Vagabound, I had a feeling there was a brake issue. I bet the seller knows about the issues. highdesertranger