Thinking of buying a 7.3......

[Ditch5610]

I may have the chance to get a 1999 F250, crew, lariat, 4x4, short, loaded. PO is a co-worker of my dad. It has 260k and he said he's had little to no issues with it. He has owned it since new. He doesn't have to sell it, just doesn't really have the need for a full size truck since retirement. If the price is right, should I get it or shy away from it bc of the miles?

[Ditch5610]

just additional info, I don't put a lot of miles regularly on my personal vehicles and don't plan on doing a lot of towing. Light towing more than heavy. Just looking for a decent and dependable truck.

[7.3550Duty]

Well i know of a guy local around my area that purchased a truck kinda like your thinkin bout getting and he had 265k on it and from what i have heard, he hasnt had a lick of problems since he bought. All he did was put a full turbo back dual exhaust kit and does his regualar maintenance and its still kickin down the road. These motors go upto 500k with proper care, i wouldnt be scared of it. The only thing you gotta look at is the ball joints, tie rod ends, and maybe wheel bearings but that could happen on any truck.

Test drive the truck and see how it feels, go from there. Good luck with purchase maybe!

[slowridin03]

I bought mine in November with 246k and it now has 252k... had to put a new t-case motor in and a new o-ring inside the oil pan, but aside that... replaced all fluids and drive it daily! Wouldn't be too worried about mileage as long as everything checks out.

[Ditch5610]

Thanks for the replies. The more I read on these trucks, the more I find out about their reliablity. I'll be headin to check it out within a week or so. The guy seems OCD about keeping his stuff clean and maintained, so I'm not seeing any issues as far as him taking care of the truck. hopefully I can throw a couple hundred thousand more miles on her.

[BlueStreak]

I just recently purchased my 99 powerstroke with 256,000 on the clock and like you I was a little nervous about the miles on it. I just made sure I checked everything out well and the truck had service records and ran like new. I could not be happier about my purchase and I'm very confident my truck has lots of life left in it.

[Ditch5610]

Good deal. This is reassuring. I should know something soon as far a price and I'll go from there. Gonna have my dad look at it, seeing as its in NC and I live in KY. I trust his judgement and he seems to trust the guy selling it. Guess time will tell. Thnks again guys.

[E-Man]

The best vehicle-related deciscion I ever made was buying my '01 with the 7.3. Between all of the guys in my family, we've had about six 7.3 equipped trucks since 2004 and none of us have ever had any engine issues. Front wheel bearing issues is about the worst problem any of us have had, but that will happen to any truck. Mine has low miles, but my brother used to have an '02 with over 200k miles....he ran that truck HARD and put it away wet, and still he had no issues.