Should I Join This Club?

[nitroguy]

Hey guys (and I suppose there's a girl in here too, somewhere)!

I need your advice, on whether or not to buy this truck. It's a '97 7.3L Powerstroke, Auto Tranny, Quad Cab Long Bed, 222k miles, recently rebuilt trans, ball joints, and new tires. She wants $6k for it, and the previous owner is a mechanic, supposedly done all the maintenance.

So, that's the truck, but a truck is only as good as the person driving it. A bit about me: I'm a 26 y/o Mechanical Engineering major that is moving to Montana in a month to take a job. I'm married and just started a family with our first son. We currently live downtown Seattle, where I drive my 2.3L I4 5sp 2wd Ranger. It's a gutless wonder, but gets good mileage and can park anywhere. What I'm looking for in a truck is something that can easily carry my (growing) family back and forth over the pass, along with anything we want to take with us (including my dirt bike). I don't plan on hauling much at this point.
The reason I'm looking at this truck is that I've heard these last forever, and that I shouldn't be scared that it has a quarter of a million miles on it. I need something that will last without a ton of maintenance, gives good power, good mileage, and won't break the bank keeping it running (or worse yet: break down on the way home).

Is this truck for me? I really want it to be, but just can't quite get there. It seems all I read about on here are people pulling 23k lb trailers, and if that's all this truck is good for, perhaps I should be looking elsewhere?

Thanks for any input, I really do appreciate it!

For the record, if you do convince me, I'll pick it up Monday and you'll be seeing a lot more of me as I dive into this thing and figure out what makes it tick.

[backwoodsboy]

Coming from a fellow engineering major here in the PNW, an OBS Powerstroke is the truck for you. In terms of functionality, they can't be beat.
My '97 ECLB 4X4 (sounds like the same configuration as your potential vehicle) is my only vehicle. I use her as a work truck in the summer, a street truck on friday nights, and a daily driver in between. Other than trying to park on campus, I love every minute of it. She's been all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, both loaded down and empty. I've pulled 19mpg through the mountains of B.C. on over-sized mud tires.
Two major downfalls of these trucks are the transmissions and front-ends, but it sounds like both of those issues have been remedied.
The rest of the truck, and especially the engine are built to last half a million miles. At 220k, it is more than likely just broken in.
$6k sounds like a fair price for that vehicle in this region. You may be able to talk them down some, but I wouldn't let that be a deal breaker.
Also check out nwforddiesels.com for a more 'local' flavor on these trucks. Plenty of good knowledgeable guys on there.

[Diesel_brad]

Sorry to be a stickler, but it is not a Quad cab, that is a DUDGE thing
Is it a Supercab?(2 door w extra cab space behind) or a crew cab (4 doors)

If having a car seat, I would opt for the crew cab. The supercab is good for "stuff" and kids that can get in and out of the back by them selves, but putting a kid in the car seat SUCKS.

The crewcab can COMFORTABLY haul adults and is 100x easier to put a car seat in.

You didnt say if it was 2wd or 4wd.

As for the recent maintenance, you can throw it all out th window without receipts. Other than the tires you cans see the other things to prove it.

If it is 4wd crew cab in good shape, it is well worth the asking price. Especially out there where things dont rot away

[Sarsaparilla]

X2 on the car seats sucking in a super cab. These are great trucks, I love mine. I wouldn't exactly call them economical or cheap to maintain though. With that being said, I wouldn't trade my '96 SC ZF5 4X4 w/ a quarter million miles for any other truck around. Once you get wise to the "quirks", you should be good to go.