So I have noticed that on Craigslist here in Reno, there are a fair amount of vehicles that are being sold at lower prices due to mechanical flaws or fluid leaks. It's too bad that some people sell their truck or SUV with a bunch of rust on it.
I saw something on WiseGeek's website that a paste of baking soda and water, along with sandpaper can help get rust off. I have seen some advertisements for car rust removers; but since I have not used them, I do not have an opinion on whether they work or not.
There is supposed to be an internet auction on the website PurpleWave on Thursday, March 21 at 10am for the Kansas Department of Transportation. As part of the seventy-three automobiles they have listed, two of them are 1996 F-150s. They are 2WD, longbed and regular cab, and have 4.9L straight 6 engines in them. In the pictures for both trucks, there is rust along the rear fenders. Whoever took the pictures zoomed in a lot on the fender, so it makes it look like there is a lot of rust, but it doesn't appear that way to me. One of the trucks is at a $550 minimum bid as I am typing this article, and the other one is at $450 minimum bid. Both trucks have around 170,000-180,000 miles on them.
http://www.purplewave.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi
So it seems like $550 would be a bargain for a 1996 F-150 straight 6, but how much would it cost to fix all the rust near the fender?
The objective is when you are looking for the next used SUV or truck to purchase, look at the flaws on the vehicle that are listed in a for sale advertisement, whether they are aesthetic or mechanical. Also identify which ones you know may be the most costly. Let's say you have a good friend that works for a really good body shop and there is a big ding in the driver's side bed right behind the door. Feel free to ask your friend for a quote for repairs and see if this vehicle is worth the money that the seller is asking for it.
This last weekend my dad's friend and I were asking a lot of questions about an 1995 F-150 XL in Carmichael, CA that had an Eagle liftgate on the back, it had a 4.9L straight 6 with an automatic transmission and 170,XXX miles. From the pictures, it looked like a neat deal. So we asked several different questions about the truck, such as the condition of the tires, if the transmission fluid was red and clear, the paint condition, the frequency of oil changes, etc. It turned out this person had owned the truck for three to four years and only drove it 20,000 miles while using the liftgate on it.
I sent texts from my cell phone to this person and he responded all right; but when it came to my dad's friend calling him; he was not on the phone for more than two minutes each time. Even though I know this is off-topic, let me give you a piece of advice. If you are buying or selling a vehicle now or in the near future, being able to call or text is a good thing. Not everyone can text message, and not everyone can call; so it is good to be ready for either one. Cell phones weren't this popular ten years ago.
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