Saturday, November 17, 2012

Your Guide to Buying a Used Truck

English: 1997 Ford F-150 XLT
English: 1997 Ford F-150 XLT (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re on a tight budget but still want to own a pickup truck, then one of your best options is to buy used. Used trucks, as long as you choose carefully, can work just as well as their newer counterparts and are often much more affordable. When buying used trucks, however, you have to know how to ask the right questions and what kinds of things to look for. Of course, even the right questions won’t help you if you’re not dealing with an honest seller in the first place, so make sure you take care of that before anything else. Do your research, and only work with used sellers who have a good reputation.

You’ll always want to find out whether or not the truck in question was a work or commercial vehicle. If so, then it may have more wear and tear than a truck that was personally owned. While this doesn’t mean you can’t buy former commercial trucks, it does mean you need to be even more selective. Certain parts of the truck, including the tie rods and ball joints, may need replacing or a little TLC to work as well as you hope. Check out the truck bed too. If trucks have been regularly protected by truck lids, also known as tonneau covers, then they will likely have fewer signs of use back there. If truck lids weren’t used, however, you can expect to see dings and scratches that may be difficult and expensive to remove. If you do get a truck with a bed that’s in good shape, keep it that way by buying your own cover; these are widely available from Auto Truck Depot at affordable prices.

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