Check the truck history

There are several ways to doing this. Do you have any friends that work in a truck shop? If not, you could pay and run it through carfax.

KH

 

That only works if the work was done at an authorized repair shop. If I wreck my car and have Joe-Bob fixes it. Who would ever know?

You can however goto the local dealer with the vin and they can give you some information on the truck. Any repairs done at an authorized facility would show up. They can also give you a build sheet.

Other than that I suggest you take the truck to a mechanic and have them go over it also run a dyno if possible.


KH you stated that there are several ways and yet you only mention friends at a shop and carfax....

 

Do you happen to have Joe-Bob's phone number? I hear they do good work or are they the ones who have the local chop shop?

 

I may just have to stick you in my truck and turn a few wrenches on yours while your on the road...

 

Talk is cheap, let's go LOL

BTW this is a good thread, it's one of the many things I've wanted to know too.

 

I listened to a guy who was giving his truck buying 101 sorta speech & said that you should use carfax everytime, but the last time I was in a dealership(auto) they told me that not every state is required to report all incidents, only voluntary? If so that would make carfax useless.

 

Carfax might, or might not work as they do not specifically target commercial vehicles (they buy the VIN information in bulk from the states/provinces and a truck's VIN may be included). Having said that, every truck I was interested in was on Carfax, and some had fairly extensive (assuming complete) histories.

Check with the truck manufacturer as they can tell you the in-service date (see if it jives with Carfax). They can also tell you if any recalls are outstanding.

Check with the engine manufacturer for any service/repair history (if truck was serviced/repaired at authorized dealer it should show up ... you may need a release from the previous owner(s) for this). Again check to see that the in-service date of the engine jives. I looked at one truck where the engine in-service date was three months after the truck's ... the selling dealer had no clue (or was lying).

Have either a factory-authorized or trustworthy independant mechanic/shop (seperate from the selling dealer ... especially if the dealer isn't the same brand) check out the truck, including a dyno run, etc.

If your GoogleFu is moderate to strong, there is quite a bit of information on what to look for and how to find it.

 

Questions:

What kind of used truck are you looking for?
What kind of wagon do you pull?