Looking to buy '98 12v
 

I know some of the info I'm asking might be found deep in this forum, but I'm hoping to get some input about a 12v I'm looking at. Here's the description:
I am Selling my Bone stock Dodge pick-up thats comes fully loaded with every option available for the year, the truck has 275k miles and drives really smooth, the 5 speed Manuel shifts smooth, 4X4 works great, truck was maintained meticulously and was taken care of really well. A/C blows ice cold, Front end was all done 2 years ago and every ball joint and track bar was replaced with (aftermarket Luke links) Truck drives straight as an arrow. this truck easily has another 500k left and will not let you down.

-Brand NEW Michelin tires
-Leather seats
-Power seats
-Power windows/Locks
-Rear doors
-Clean interior
-No cracked dash
-4X4
-Bed liner
-Keyless entree
-Straight body
-No Rust
Clean and clear title in hand
asking $13,000obo

What should I be worried/asking about since this has 275k on the motor? Will it need an overhaul soon? Drivetrain/axle/4x4 worries? Anything else? Is it really worth $13k? I really appreciate the feedback and help. I might have a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 3.0L diesel w/50k miles for sale if this works out, btw.

the truck is worth 8k if its pretty nice.

Yes, for the right price is pay 9k if its wat he says

I forgot to mention that this is the quad cab. It looks to be the long bed. I don't know if that affects the price that much, I prefer the long bed actually.

think about it. if it were a 1998 3/4 4x4 gas pick0up with 245k in the same exact condition this one is in what would it be worth????? trucks are still just trucks. at this many miles and at this trucks age it comes down to do you really really want it. because athe gasser is worth about $2500 if that and to have nothing different but the 12 valve engine in it isnt worth the extra $10,500 to me. i would keep looking.

The short beds are more popular in which they, are what they claim more sporter looking, and it is rare to find one with a 12v but you can buy a 12v for around 10k with less than 180k miles on it, if the guy lowers the price anuff pick her up and no she's no we're close to a overhaul

So maybe 10k?

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here. Would I pay 13K for it? Not without seeing it, no, but. Just to balance the responses out a bit: it sounds like the engine is bone stock. I don't remember the last time I saw a 12V that wasn't turned up somehow, not one that was owned by someone who seemed to give a crap about it. He's apparently taken very good care of it, and that combined with the fact that it's apparently stock means the truck has had significantly less strain on it than most. 275K is nothing for a stock 12V, it's not even broken in yet. It's probably never been over 900°. I don't know where these guys live, but where I am the fact that it's a straight, clean, rust free 12V with a quad cab and 5spd means you can more or less name your price. If it was just a club cab or an auto, not so much, but that truck would sell here for 13K in two weeks tops. I need to go wherever the rest of you live and buy trucks, I could make a damn good living.

I'm with you. The last 12 valve and the first 4 door, long bed and a five speed. Rare bird indeed. I looked for the exact same one forever and the only ones I found that were nice were as much or more than this one. It has everything going for it.

You couldn't go wrong with this truck. Just comes down to If its affordable for you

Thanks for the input everyone. Getting it this weekend, 10.5. Hopefully I'm posting here more often, but not too often. I want to make a little more power, safely and reliably and not skip steps.

I'll hate you if you get it for that:c:. A quad cab with all that free power.
Hope it works out for you. Sounds like a sick truck. Pretty jealous. The holy grail of dodge cummins trucks.
Killer dowel pin if it hasn't been done yet, and gauges, intake, and exhaust.

I apologize if this is the wrong way to go about this, but I have a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 3.0 CRD (turbo diesel) motor for sale now. Let me know if you are interested.

Good luck man

Update:
Picked it up this last Sunday, worst buying experience I've ever had. The guy I was talking to the whole time tells me Friday afternoon that he's not involved any more. I find out later he is now a former employee of the guy I bought it from. I had about 30 minutes Friday evening to round up about half the purchase price because the new guy I was dealing with won't accept a cashier's check (wth?).
Now, I have to drive to Las Vegas on a Sunday because they now won't drive it to Salt Lake (per original agreement) and it turns out that's not even the worst of it.
If you read the truck description in the first post, this should be an awesome looking truck, regardless that it's 16/17 yo. There are numerous spots of rust (none that bad though), the rear driver's side fender had a diy attempt at fixing some paint/damage along with a spot on the front driver's side fender, the left side of the rear bumper had been bumped just enough to bend the metal below the taillight so the tailgate doesn't fit. Of course it has the normal imperfections on the rest of the body and trim, I was expecting that.
Inside, I was told that the driver's seat had a tear, it's more like tore up. Needs recovered if not some new cushions. The center console and passenger seat were better, but not great. Bad: non-working front driver's door speaker, fuel gauge not always working, non-working power mirrors, broken antenna, broken vent.
Not sure how I feel about the grill guard and side steps. It had an extra tank/tool box in the bed, the hose is still there and I'm not sure how to remove it.
Mechanically, it drives straight, but there seems to be a little more slop in the steering than there should be. It grinds going into 3rd, they tried to tell me that the clutch (new btw) just needs adjustment, I'm not sure I buy that. It also has the 5th gear that pops out which is really annoying. I was told it was bone stock, but I could see that it has a RBHAF with a plastic bucket shield on the turbo side. It seems to smoke a little more than it should (doesn't really bother me, but I know that's fuel=$). So now I need to find out if anything else has been changed.
All in all, I think I got a good price for a good truck, but I thought I was buying a great truck at a great price. I need to sell me Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel first before I can start doing too much to it, but I look forward to building this the right way.
Thanks for everyone's input and help with this. I'll update the status of my build when I can.

can u post some pics ?

what did u end up paying ?

I gave 5500 .. they wanted 7500 .. and I tore that up real fast .. :bat:

This situation has taken a profound turn. Not saying it isn't still worth getting, only that the original agreement seems to have been based largely on falsehoods. First off: a stock truck doesn't really smoke. Maybe the stick shifts are different than the autos, with full lockup pretty much anywhere you want it and slightly more aggressive DVs (someone correct me if I'm wrong here), but still- I just don't think the fuel is there with the stock pump settings to do more than haze a little at most at WOT. Second, "shifts smooth" implies that there's nothing wrong with the trans, and I don't think grinding into one gear and popping out of another is normal operation. Clutch needs adjusting? I don't buy it. Then: no rust =/= "numerous, but not bad". It's all bad. If I read "clean interior" and showed up to find a completely trashed driver's seat, I'd be pissed. It doesn't make him a liar, it just makes him a douche. Also, tailgate doesn't fit =/= straight body, but I'm starting to nitpick here. Some slop in the steering isn't terribly unusual, even with the redone front end and even with all the Luke's Links. There's still a steering gearbox stabilizer to be done- if it doesn't have one- to take some more of the inherent design flaw out of the equation, and over a quarter-million miles without one probably means the box has some slop in it anyway. Not the end of the world. Mine has had some slop in it for over 200K. It's annoying, but fully driveable, and improving it is pretty cut and dry.
Does it have an easy 500K left in it? If the KDP has been done, absolutely. Will it let you down? If the KDP has been done, probably not. Did you get a great price on a great truck? I don't know. I'd pay 13K all day long for the truck in the description, but this does not sound like the truck in the description. I'd have to see it myself to say if this one is worth 10.5, but it doesn't sound horrible. As I implied above though, apparently values are much lower like... everywhere in the country but where I am. Regardless, this guy sounds like someone I wouldn't want to buy anything from unless I knew exactly what I was looking at and could ignore everything he claimed about it, I really wanted it, and was sure it was worth what I was paying in spite of the questionable integrity of the seller.

I Agree Jbear ... sounds like what he was going to pay for was a unit that was a real nice truck to start with .. turns out a truck that you would toss a cage in and beat it sence less beans how its pretty trashed anyways ...

I would have said Fk it and walked away after a serois tounge lashing first .. and then prolly made fun od the guy for being a retard on top of that ... ( not that I have anythigng against mentally challenged people in general ... ok well maybe some of them ..) ... :D

It doesn't sound trashed to me, I'm sure relatively speaking it's a nice truck. By relative, I mean it's pushing two decades and even though these things will go forever if you take care of them, it's still driven more miles than most people get out of a normal vehicle before moving on. There's going to be wear and tear, and the definition of "nice" changes over time if you're realistic. My truck looks like an old beater compared to any new vehicle, yet people are always telling me how pristine it is. What they mean is that they can't believe it looks as good as it does when it's 16 years old and has a third of a million miles on it, not that they actually think it's "mint" or "creampuff" or any of the other absurdly wrong descriptions I've heard about it. Just that considering what it is, it is.
I definitely wasn't trying to say that this is a bad truck or wasn't worth whatever he paid, I was only trying to say that the seller sounds like a dishonest dirtbag and that generally concerns me... and I hope that MedPhys didn't leave him feeling like he'd done well on the sale.

I probably made the condition of the truck sound worse than it actually is. I was just venting about the buying process and very dishonest/complete douche of a seller that I finally ended up buying from. It's still bothering me even though it's been almost a week. Here's hoping for some cosmic justice for the guy. I'm heading out of town today, but I might be able to get some pictures up on Sunday.
I kind of locked myself into buying this and one other vehicle (1991 Isuzu Impulse RS, 22k miles) when I told my wife this was an all or nothing deal. I never expected the description to be so wrong. I paid 10500 for it in the end, but when I explained that the condition isn't what I was told it was, he scoffed at the idea of taking any money off and said that he has another buyer lined up willing to pay more than what I paid. He made some comment about these trucks being worth $15-20k.
That being said, this is a truck that I've been looking forward to owning for some time now (maybe just not the condition I was expecting). I plan on fixing (correctly) what needs fixing, taking really good care of it and getting many good years out of it.

I don't think it will disappoint you, going into it with that attitude. Looking forward to seeing the pictures when they go up, and following along with the project.
:c:

Well, I have some photos, they are 640x320 jpegs, but they won't upload. I read the sticky, but I'm not sure what else to do.

Here's what I've found out so far after driving it these last few days:
I stopped by Industrial Injection and had them take a quick look at it. They could see the BHAF (plastic bucket for a heat shield) and I believe they said a fuel heater had been added. There were no obvious signs of further modifications. They said the amount of smoke wasn't abnormal (I would like to reduce it though).
They said I should go to J&G transmission in Salt Lake. I called and told them about my third and fifth gear issues. They said that depending on what they find when they open it up it would be $850-1450. I thought that seemed a bit much on the high side, but I'm no expert.
I replaced the fuse for the mirrors (and dome and cargo lights), but I'm not sure if I have power mirrors. I think they have been replaced as they are fold up tow mirrors. Factory were heated and power. I'll take them off this weekend. I need a new visor, antenna, driver's door speaker and tweeter. I plan on checking at the dealer tomorrow as I also need a seat recline handle and the seat panel that holds the power seat controls.
I ordered the following:bluetooth speakerphone, shift knob, add-on console storage, wheelskins cover and the cabin air freshener (geno's garage) kit. I'm looking at something to cover the dash as it is not cracked. Due to the size of the truck, it does not fit in my garage and will be parked outside and I want to do my best to protect the interior.
I will be getting some quotes to fix the interior and exterior soon. I plan on having the transmission fixed while I'm out of town after Labor day.
I'm thinking of doing the Edge Insight CTS. Any other parts recommendations?

photobucket

First six of 18. Forgot that I didn't get anything under the hood.

2nd set of six

A cts will do nothing for you. You only need and can read egt, boost, and fuel pressure. Considering it's standard. The Cts is wasted money for a bunch of options you can't use. As for parts, a 4gsk will do wonders, some fuel plate mods and afc tuning. Boost elbow. Depends how far you want to go with the project.

Last 9. Apparently I can't count as well as I thought. Let me know if you want to see others.
Well I can find very few parts at the dealer. They want 78.60 for the seat recline handle. I'm hoping to swing by some pick and pull type places tomorrow. I'll be checking ebay as well. Any other suggestions?

I concur that a CTS is more or less pointless for that truck. Better off just getting a good set of gauges for it. Truck does look to be in pretty nice shape. I certainly wouldn't pay eighty bucks for that lever, junkyards are a beautiful thing. So is ebay, but there's a truck yard around here that regularly sells entire pristine front seat benches for $300-600. Most junkyards are networked, so if they don't have what you need, they can track one down and get it in a few days.

So I went to the junkyard yesterday and got the following:
New visor (w/o mirror)
recline handle
extra antenna stuff (ordered a stubbie, but wanted extra hardware)
passenger hvac vent
power seat control panel (plastic cover that holds switches)

I also found out that my mirrors are not power/heated; just the flip up tow kind
I will be taking these off (make me an offer if you are interested) and getting some factory ones (found some local). What's a fair price?

I will be needing a new washer fluid reservoir (may have found one local, is $40 ok?)

I removed the front grill guard (what's a fair price for it?) and the bug deflector.

I believe that this truck used to run on veggie oil. The tank isn't in the bed anymore, but the hoses are. Two are connected to the coolant system and one goes to a pump under the cab that goes to the fuel pump. There is also heating element on the fuel rail. I don't want any of this stuff. Does anyone here know what else would be part of the conversion kit? I'm looking to sell it if it's worth anything.

Performance: I'll start with gauges, fuel plate and 4k gsk (let me know if I'm missing anything) and that might be enough power for awhile. It will probably be a few months before I can do anything.

I'm looking for a new stereo. I saw that Pioneer has a unit w/o CD player that does bluetooth streaming. Anyone have a good stereo recommendation? I'm probably going to buy some hertz speakers (found a screaming deal). I'd like to keep it under $150 if possible, don't need a fancy pop up screen.

Since there is no maintenance history, I think it would be a good idea to start to get some of it done, along with fixing whatever is causing my oil leak (looks like it might be rear main). Should I just follow factory schedule or are some things more important to get done first? Thanks.

just thinking .. I have a JL Audio 12" Dub 3 .. in a hatch back box and a Alpine Pro Digital amp .. the set 500 .. PM if your interested .. :c: