Need some buying advice

[Badfish740]

I've been looking at Powerstrokes for a while now and I'm out of college, working, and have some decent income/savings. I don't have enough for a new truck, and I'm partial to the 7.3Ls anyway. There is one that I've been eyeing for a while that I need some advice on. It's an F-350 Supercab, 4x4, shortbed that has been relisted for the 3rd time on Ebay. The first two auctions had reserves which were not met, the high bid both times was around 15K. Now its up for auction with no reserve, bidding is at 12K, two days left to go.

The Good
Looks clean, good paint, good but not perfect interior
Lariat package
Chrome wheels (Stockers)

The Bad
Has a dent in the front fascia

Has a brake controller so it has done some heavy towing-no 5th wheel though

The Uncertain
According to Carfax, the original owner had it registered as a personal vehicle and clocked 77,453 miles on it as of the last inspection in Lawrence, MA on December 27th, 2005. A new owner (trade in I'm guessing) was reported on January 13th, 2006, and the vehicle was sold at auction about 10 months later on November 8th, 2006. That was the first thing that struck me-don't dealers usually unload trades at the auctions right away?

The other thing was that when the vehicle was sold at the auction it had 94,489 miles on it. If it was sitting on the dealer's lot for 10 months how did it accumulate almost 20K miles? Also, now the vehicle is for sale in Levittown, PA with the auction stating that it only has 94,492 miles on it. Granted it probably got there on a car carrier, but only 3 additional miles from November 8th, 2006 until about two weeks ago?

Finally, in the Carfax report it states that the vehicle was sold at auction as a "fleet vehicle." This is weird because as far as I can tell the company to take ownership at the auction is the used car dealer that's trying to sell the truck now. Why would they list it as a fleet vehicle? I have an Oasis request pending, so I guess I'll find out more soon. Anyway, am I just being paranoid? Would this truck be worth it (at first glance) if I could snag it for 16K? I'm going to look at it on Monday but I don't want to get my hopes up.

[bigcountrysg]

Some may disagree with me on this. But who cares right, I for one do not buy any vehicle I can not physically, touch, look at, or drive before purchase. Ya carfax is nice, an oasis report is better, but still the only way to figure out what the vehicle is actually worth if it is worth buying is by giving a test drive and look over. If you don't know much about mechanics then take it to a mechanic shop you have a reputation with and one that you trust. Or at least maybe a buddy that knows automechanics. Or take it to a close dealer of that make of vehicle and see if one of there mechanics can look it over for you. I never trust the mechanics at the dealer that is selling the vehicle. You never know what backdoor deal the salesman made with them before looking at the vehicle your interested in. You also bring up a good question where did those miles come from. Now I drive alot and I mean alot. I have an 02 F-250 and I have 137,000 pushing 138,000 miles on it. The decission is yours. But if it was me I wouldn't buy it. I would look around locally to see what I could find. You might be able to find a truck in equal or better condition by your house or maybe a few towns over. But at least you can physically see the truck and drive the truck before purchase.

[vitalidle]

What year is the truck? Can't really tell from one pic, but looks good from the front. I have seen bumpers on ebay for less then 300 bucks. See what the oasis report has to say, and look over the truck real good if you can. Check the oil pan underneath! I just bought a 2002 F-250 Supercab xlt 73,000 for $19,000 in excellent shape, but I put a new exhaust on a couple days ago, and found lots of corrosion on the oil pan. Its a problem if the truck has seen salt on the roads. Also found out you have to pull the motor to change out the oil pan. The only thing I can say is if you feel good about it.... do it. I looked around for a long time before I found the right one! Good luck on your new purchase