http://www.mongrelmotorsports.homestead ... value.html
- Find out everything you can on the phone. Any rust spots, any mechanical problems, whether it burns any oil, leaks oil, exhaust leaks, brake problems, transmission problems etc. If its a running driving truck, make sure and tell him on the phone that you'd like to test drive it, and ask how old the gas is in the truck. If its more than 6 months old, either ask him to put some gas in it to cut the old gas in half, or else bring a can of gas yourself. If the gas is REALLY old, more than a year or two, ask if they will drain as much as they can out and put new gas in. Starting a truck on old rancid gas isnt fair to the truck or you.
Don't trust what they say the engine is. As is so often said, many a 360 or a 352 has turned into a 390 turned sale day. Ask if its the original motor, if it is, then ask them to read the tag information to you. Early slicks had them on the inside of the glovebox door. After about '62 they should all be on the end of the drivers door. Google for a guide to your particular year of truck as to which code applies to which engine. If its the original engine and the owner says its a 390, but the code is Y (on 67-72) then its a 360 not a 390.
When you show up to look at the truck, don't let yourself be swayed too much by how attractive it may be at first glance. Its easy to get so excited that you overlook any flaws and offer more than the owner is asking
Be objective. Be as dispassionate as possible and look for any problem areas that you'll have to fix later. If youre looking at a running/driving truck, one good indication is how current the tags are. Chances are if the tags are current or just recently expired that its going to be in better shape upkeep wise than something with say, 10 year expired tags.
If possible, ask the owner not to warm it up before you get there. Its much better to see a vehicle start cold, how hard it is to start, whether it smokes cold, runs rougher than it should etc. A warm engine will usually fire right up and seem just fine at first despite internal problems.
Before you start the truck up, check it over as thoroughly as possible. You want to do this first as after the truck has been started you're usually taking it for a test drive right away, then the owner wants to talk about price etc and before you know it you've lost your objectivity and time in finding any body flaws.
Start at one corner, and work your way all the way around the truck. Check the body for dents, and for any spots rusted through. The lower parts of the doors are often given to rusting through. Open the doors up and check underneath the door. The door might be perfect at first glance, but the bottom edge of the door might be rusted straight through. This is an easy one to overlook.
Check the door sills (where you step to get in). Often there will be rust throughout here.
Floorpans are often rusted through underneath floor mats.
Check behind the seat and all around the gas tank. Check for any leaks in the gas tank, or any smell of gas as evidence of a leak.
Check for any wiring mess. Check if the wiring has been butchered, spliced, wires hanging out anywhere they shouldnt, any problems that might indicate electrical problems in the future.
Check the cab corners, inside the cab and outside. This is a HUGE trouble spot on slicks.
Once youre through with the cab, move onto the bed. Check if the front edge of the bedrail is bent in against the cab and rubbing. Check especially the front edge of the bed floor, as fords are notorious for rusting through here.
Check the bedrail pockets, as dirt often gets trapped inside them along with water and rusts them out. While youre at it, make sure to check everywhere you look for old dirt that might be holding moisture agains the body and be rusting underneath where you can't see. Check all the corners of the bed where dirt and mud usually collect.
Check out the tailgate, especially the bottom edge of it. Often this is usually rusted through. Also be sure and check the latches, sides, and whether the gate opens and closes properly without undo manhandling.
Crawl under the truck and check the bottom corners of the bed for rust-through. Also check the bodymounts/bedmounts. Check the exhaust system while youre under there.
Move on to the front end. Again, check every possible place, especially corners of fenders from underneath, grill, all possible areas for rust and dirt to gather.
CHECK THE RADIATOR SUPPORT!! Check both corners of this, from above and below. This is a notoriously bad place for dirt and mud to rust out on all slicks.
While youre underneath checking the coresupport, check underneath the engine and transmission for abnormal amounts of oil and grease. Does it look like its been leaking? Is the engine a greasepit?
Move on to the engine compartment from above. Check the firewall and cowl for rust-through. Open up the mastercylinder and check to see it is at least half-full of brake fluid. Does the fluid look murky and rusty? Or is it roughly clear? Sometimes if the brakelines are bad, it will suck rust back up through into the master cylinder. If its totally empty that probably means one of the brakes has a leak/problem. Also check the engine mounts for any signs of being broken loose.
Check over the engine itself. Are there any problems such as leaking around the valvecovers, (not a big deal, probably just needs a gasket) or mousenests on the intake manifold? If so make sure they havent gotten into the carb. Make sure the air cleaner is intact. Its always a bad sign when the engine doesnt have an air cleaner on it. who knows what has gotten down into the engine, or how long its been run without one. The engine might look like a piece of 40 grit sandpaper by now.
If possible, (this might be pushing it for some owners though) do a compression test on the engine.
Check all the oil and fluid levels and for extra black oil, or burned smelling auto tranny fluid. Also check for any oil in the water indicating a cracked block or one of a number of issues.
Also, check out the roof for any rust through, and the headliner inside. If the headliner is sagging, feel for any signs of mice nests that might be trapping moisture against the roof and rusting through.
All of this sounds very complicated and long, and possibly insulting to the owner, but with a little practice you can go through a whole truck in less than 5 minutes, and if you just walk up and do it confidently, it wont seem insulting either. Be sure and have a VIN decoder printed out for the truck in your hand in order to double check the door tag as well.
Ok so you've gone through the whole body, checked everything out, and now youre ready to fire it up.
Have the owner start it up while you stand where you can see the exhaust. Watch and see if it smokes at all when it first fires up. Also be sure and listen for the engine when it first fires, and while the owner is cranking on it. Any strange sounds? Any rattling that doesnt sound right? Listen for how hard it is to start. Also listen to how the owner treats it. If the owner just floors it cold and revs it way up beyond common sense, that probably means he's treated the engine badly the entire time he's had it.
Now the truck is running and youre ready for a test drive. I find its often best to have the owner in the vehicle when you drive it, as if anything goes wrong with it on the road, he's with you and can't blame you for breaking his truck. Listen to the motor and tranny as you drive, for any problems in sound or feel. Feel how it shifts as you go through all the gears. Take it up to your normal cruising speed in any other truck and listen for how high its revving. It might be that its too low geared for you and will be an annoyance to drive. Check all the lights, turn signals, everything electrical for any electrical problems.
At least once in your test drive, stomp on the gas good and hard. You're not trying to drag race, but you ARE trying to feel how the motor reacts under a hard load. Whether it hesitates, seems sluggish, or just plain doesnt have any power. Does it backfire? Does it backfire through the carb and shoot flames out from under the hood? Does the tranny downshift properly?
Keep an eye on the temp and oil pressure gauges as well. If the oil pressure is too low, or the temp raises too fast, you have some sort of problem.
Ok you've got it back to the owners property. You've driven it and given it a good thorough going over. Now before you slap money into the owners hand and run off happily in your new truck, make sure that the title is in good order and transferable.
Ok, title is good, truck is good, everythings perfect or you've decided to live with any problems. Now, keep one thing in mind: 75% of the time when the owner lists a price that doesnt say "Firm" he's willing to negotiate a little. If the owners asking $1,200, offer him 900 or a 1000. If he's asking $6,500, offer him 5,000 or maybe $6,000. Dont seem insulting, be respectful and gauge your offer by the condition of the truck. If the truck is honestly worth $6500, dont offer him $5000 just for the sake of haggling. Usually you can get away with between 25% and 10% of the original price though. In some cases you can even get 50% if the owner has really misrepresented it. Keep in mind that unless you're very insulting, the owner will almost always counter-offer with what he thinks is a good deal.
Kathy 
