What has saved you from buying a bad truck?

On modern trucks ecm download can save you 10,000 dollars plus . If truck has a history of emission issues it won’t get better in most cases.. High idle times and emission codes is a no go .

 

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Lack of funds

 

Being broke usually

 

If there's no invoices then the work never happened.

In the case of an owner that does much of their own repair work then they should have parts receipts. If you end up looking at the truck verify that the truck actually looks like it had the parts installed.

Pictures cab be deceiving. I came across a potential project truck for sale on the side of the road a few years ago. I went out to look at it with the old man the next day. Never talked to the owner, just gave it a 10 minute walk around and took down the phone number. No price was listed on the For Sale sign. We both figured it was worth a couple grand max. Ended up finding it's listing on Truck Paper later that day. He was asking nearly 6 figures and all the pictures showed a shiny, show quality truck and were probably taken a decade prior.

 

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Being a company driver....

 

I put money down on a 2006 379 long hood flat top 1500 miles away. Had the wife arrange a one way flight. I told the seller that I wanted him to take a bunch of photos of the ugliest parts that he could think of. The truck paper showed a polished up turd. The photos he sent had rust in places Ive never seen on a 6 year old truck. No wonder it was $10,000 cheaper than any other truck that had like miles and age. The engine block was rusted, the chrome covers over the sleeper shocks covered up a ton of corrosion, the dashboard was worn through the plastic where it seemed to have an air freshener swinging around rubbing on it.
Get your coveralls on and crawl over it with a fine tooth comb. A million mile truck that was greased every week WILL NOT HAVE EXCESS WEAR ON STEERING COMPONENTS. I’ve fired up engines and grabbed the steering shaft and found kingpins so bad that they appear to be falling right out! Look closely at spring hangers that pins aren’t centered in the bushings. Then test drive and listen for whining noise…..slop in the drivetrain.
Have $20,000 set aside for surprises when you put it into service.
After the test drive, pull the oil fill cap and look for blow by while it is still running.
Check coolant for oil contamination, do a simple combustion gas test on cooling system.
Do an oil sample.
Dyno test.

 

Heh when i was shopping for a new truck before i got my lonestar i ran across that. Old 359 with a C model in it. No price on the for sale tag, called the owner got the OK to open her up, look inside ect. Went to look at it, it was a rusted out hulk with fresh paint and rodent damage on everything inside. Huge oil and coolant pool under it, the oil on the stick was milky and smelled like diesel too. Found the same truck on truck trader. He was asking 189K for it. Pictures made it look brand new claimed it had a recent rebuild and lots of new parts and a fresh paint job, reality....yea it got fresh paint....from a few cans on beer night. Sad thing is he got it too.

As for the OP. Everyone else has covered the basics. Another few things to do though. Get on your back under the truck. Look for old or new oil stains. Look for frame damage in hard to cover up spots or recent frame paint, get a borecope and check the fuel tank interiors for rust or sediment in excess (lot of water mold and or gunk can indocate it has sat for a very long time) get it started from cold and run her to temp to make sure it sounds good and engine doesnt make weird sounds. If the dealer tries to show you a hot truck thats a sign they may be trying to hide something (many trucks will run and sound better hot then cold) look for signs of damage like wrecks thats been repaired. If they let you, open up the add hole of the diffs and check the level and poke your borescope in to look for very obvious damage.

Check condition of wear parts (brakes, airbags, ect) If they are all brand new or all worn out but other parts are also badly worn looking. It could be a sign they are trying to hide issues or didnt maintain it well. If they let you, jack it up and spin the wheels to check for worn bearings and such. If your like me and cant hear airleaks bring a friend who can. Check the wireing as best you can for signs of damage or rodents, if lights arent working bring a couple new ones and check if its just a dead bulb or a dead wire if they let you. Check the 5th wheel for damage or excessive wear if you can fab or buy one. Get a 5th wheel test tool and make sure everything locks and releases correctly. Again if they let you, try to get an oil sample after a test drive. If its "old" oil thats ideal but its not unususal for a dealer or private seller to put new oil in before a sale so dont rely on that test. It can however catch a lot of super serious issues.

Check for excessive play in steering parts and for lizard spit in the coolant. Check the tires and rims ect.

I could sit here all day listing stuff but the truth is, any truck new or used is a gamble. Just do as much testing and inspecting as you can. If it fails anything big or they prevent you doing anything but oogleing it. Walk away. If its a used emissions truck. Dont even bother unless your willing to on the spot have them pull and clean the whole system. Its around 7k sure but it eliminates 90% of emissions issues. And the other 10% are stuff like a contaminated SCR or busted DPF filter elements that will be obvious on an ECM pull. If you arent comfortable or something gives you bad juju, walk away. If the truck looks funny or something feels off. Walk away. There are tens of thousands of trucks for sale every day. If anything doesnt sit right. Walk away. Also never get attached to a truck. They are a tool. Tools wear out eventually. So even if you see one thats absolutely perfect, is your dream rig in every single way. Be ready to just walk away.