Truck Shopping for a friend

[JT87]

A friend of mine asked me to take a look at a truck for him at a local Ford dealer (he lives about 200k away, found it on trader.ca). He lets me know the details about the truck, according to the advert (price, kms, features, etc). He currently has a Sonoma that is just about in the ground, gets brutal mileage, and a not-big-enough bed for the work he does.

So I go to take a look at this truck. Decently equipped 04 F150 crew cab, nothing out of the ordinary. I proceeded to ask him a few questions (engine? suspension package? diff ratio?, etc.) As he was describing the features of the truck to me, he lights up a cigarette (I remember someone else either on GMi or on another board had a similar experience). He was not very knowledgeable about the actual truck, but seemed very knowledgeabel with 'Facts" about the F150. I asked him why he would recommend a 4.6 F150 over a 5.3 Silverado. He stated "well, if you know anything about trucks, F150's sell themselves. There's just about no reason to buy anything over a Ford truck." Throughout the drive never really stated a reason other than "F150s are the best trucks" and "have been the top sellers for 39 years" and what not. Overall the truck seemed like a pretty good deal ($20k CAN), and was well maintained (records and all). Everything checked out from the ad that my friend sent me. when I asked him about the price, he said it was $22k. A bit of a discrepancy, but I told him that he could haggle with my friend when he comes to town.

I decided to check out a couple other dealerships for him as well. The Dodge dealer only had 2500s on the used lot. The PBG dealer had an 04 for $25k (I'd assume its negotiable, since he asked what my friend's price ceiling was). It was a Crew Cab, Z71, 5.3, tonneau cover, trailer package, etc... He also had an 07 Sierra extended cab for 29k (apparently a guy won it in a contest and sold it back to the dealer, he stated MSRP was well over 29k)... Salesman kept it simple, gave me a card and I was on my way.

The last stop I made was at a Chev-Caddy dealer. The salesman came out and talked to me as I was looking over the lot. He asked what I was looking for, and proceeded to show me that they only had one truck that fit the description. It was an 06 Sierra Z71 Crew for 29k. He said he knew it was out of the price range, but stated there were a few that were going through the dealership that weren't on the lot yet. He also stated what to look out for when checking out trucks at other dealers. We actually got slightly sidetracked and began asking questions about everything from the general 'hows life' to GM's health. I mentioned that I would be in the market soon for a car, then he showed me a MINT Grand Prix Anniversary edition, which I am considering.

Long story short, my friend ended up purchasing an 04 Silverado from a dealership where he is from. He got an amazing deal (5.3, crew cab, heated leather, tow package, tonneau cover, etc, relatively low kms) for $17k.


I was impressed that the salesman at the Chev-Caddy dealer went above and beyond what the other salesmen did. He was more interested in finding a truck to suit my friend's needs, rather than suiting my friends needs for a given truck. The overall experience with this salesman was fairly satisfying. Simply put, he'd be the first person I'd choose for myself and for others who were looking for a car.

[give_it_all_]

An 04 for $17k...CDN? That is dirt cheap, I've been looking for a truck like that but they're all high mileage.

[MalibuMaxxSS]

I second that..........something wrong with that truck for 17grand and full load leather........you say relatively low milage...what is the milage.....That is dirt cheap and my experience as a salesman is if something is to good to be tru it usually is...

[JT87]

The mileage was 92k I believe, which in my opinion is less than expected for a 3 year old truck. The dealer he went to was also the dealership that a friend of mine purchased his '02 Grand Prix with about 95k, for $8600 (only problem has been random A/C problems, which the dealer has offered to fix whenever something has come up). He's had it checked over and over and everything checks out. Here is the link to the ad:

http://www.trader.ca/powerpage/detai...7&adid=6195944

[GMCdriver]

I'm thinking 2WD?