I bought a truck from the government that was used for highway repair recently that was sitting for at minimum a year outdoors in Arlington, Virginia. I bought the truck for $3,500, which from what I see online should be a good price. I am by no means a person who knows anything about trucks and repairs, but I know this truck is going to require a few. That being said, I am worried that I will overpay for the repairs and would love some input on expected costs.

The truck started after sitting for over a year after I bought two new batteries. It went into park, reverses, and drive with no issues. Did not drive it, because it’s been sitting for so long, and want fluids changed before driving it. Below are some details and photos, would love some input on what to expect and if it’s worth repairing.












Truck: F350
Fuel: Diesel
Engine: 7.3 L
Year: 2002
Mileage: 169,000
Vin: 1FTSW30F12EB89468
Sitting time: Year and a half



Definite Repairs Needed

1. Brake Pads
2. Bumper
3. New Fluids (transmission, oil, coolant, etc…)
4. 1 Flat Tire Repair
5. Oil Intake Cap

 

You will probably get several different opinions and that is good.

My first question is what do you want to do with this truck, hobby,,, daily driver, ,,occasional use ,, specific plans.
To me that would hopefully give me some idea of just how much It is worth for me to spend bringing it up to some degree of dependability.

As you know it is easy to spend other people's money, but ours , well that is a different story.
From the pix you provided, it does need some important work and that is only from looking at the pictures. I wouldn't say it was neglected , but close.

 

Hey Hanky.

Thank you for the response.
My goal is to simply use it to haul a small camper.
As far as body work, I really do not care to much about how it looks.
My priority is that it turns on and runs for many years, everything else is secondary.

 

The neglect I was referring to was in the engine compartment.
You never know , some cruddy looking engines go just fine and some beauties break down.
It might be a good idea to see what maintenance recommendations the owner's manual suggests and go from there.

 

The paint job makes it look like a fleet vehicle to me.

Any evidence of the typical monitoring devices that fleet trucks usually have installed (they usually tie into the wiring under the dash at the Data Link Connector)? I can't really tell from the one pic you have of the area under the steering wheel.

If it was in fleet service, they almost always have high engine hours.

 

Looks like you have a fugus growing around the mass air sensor that could be costly