[recycled sixtie]

It has a single cab, 60k miles and a little rust at the top of the tailgate. It has a tpms light on the panel and a chip in the windshield(not a crack). Private sale, seller lives on an acreage and has two gravel trucks and ten cars. He says he has too many. He says he bought the truck for his daughter but she wants a car instead. Basically he is a trucker.

The truck has no licence plate so he took a licence plate off another vehicle and put it on. Because it was not insured he would only allow me to drive with him in it around the subdivision. The truck has a 2.3 litre engine and a manual tranny and it drove very nicely. Having said that a longer test drive on the hiway would have been great but won't happen unless I own it.

I asked him if it had a timing belt or timing chain. He did not know. I believe the latter because I googled it. It has one key for the ignition and one for the door. It has no owners manual. He pointed out his daughters car and his sons car. When I rang the door bell nobody answered the door. I had to phone his cell phone number to get him to come out. There was no evidence otherwise of his kids being there. Maybe they don't answer the door. His asking price was $7600 can and I have agreed to pay him $7000(about $5500 us) by 3pm today. It is a verbal agreement. If I don't want it I will phone him up shortly.

The truck is overall solid and I like it for its simplicity, manual door handles, no leather, no a/c. Tires are winter tires 60percent tread left.

Ideally I would like to get a ppi done by a mobile mechanic if I can get hold of one at short notice but may not happen. Otherwise I will go over it with a fine tooth comb and another drive around the subdivision. The muffler has a rust spot at the bottom and I will run the engine and see if the exhaust is blowing through the rust spot.

This is not a ton of money for a nice looking and good running truck. Engine runs quietly. Perhaps this guy is a wheeler dealer. Perhaps he cannot afford to insure all ten cars? I have got the carfax for it and it comes up clean. No accidents. There is a recall due now to be done on an airbag. I would appreciate your opinions on whether this seems like a good purchase. Anything else I should look for? There seem to be no leaks on the underside. No rust on the rocker panels.

I think of you guys doing this inspection stuff for a living. Hey Fred and others please give me your advice?

Cheers, Guy