Looking at a 1997 pushing 300k and want to pull the trigger but curious if this rust is the “really bad” kind of frame rust or just your usual “it’s fine” rust. Thoughts?
Is this the good kinda rust or the bad kind?
- Thread starter shizam
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If you gotta ask, pass.
Every bolt head visible is rusty. To me that looks like busted bolts, busted knuckles and swear words every time you get wrenches out.
Or, $$$ at the shop of your paying someone to drill and extract busted bolts and studs everytime its in for work
Every bolt head visible is rusty. To me that looks like busted bolts, busted knuckles and swear words every time you get wrenches out.
Or, $$$ at the shop of your paying someone to drill and extract busted bolts and studs everytime its in for work
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- #3
Dang, it’s less that it’s an amazing deal and more that it really is “turn-key”, so much replaced/repaired/added. I can’t tell what is a reasonable amount of rust/risk for this old of vehicle though my ‘91 van has less though so that is an indicator. I was more worried about seam/body rust and it falling apart, I hadn’t thought of difficulty in bolt removal, that’s a great point…
There is no good rust, although that looks minor to me. Considering your location, I wouldn't settle for anything less than no rust.
doesn’t look terrible to me seams pretty normal how’s the body?
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- #6
Body is good, mild paint fade on the hood but it’s fine, everything else looks great, nice suspension upgrades, drives really comfortably on the highway. My 2 concerns were the rust and the 290k mileage but the latter seems ok given the impressive repair record.
$25k
$25k
How is 25k an "amazing" deal 
It doesn't look BAD, but voting pass for that price. Agreed on bolt heads re: working on the truck. There's going to be more than what these few pictures show..
It doesn't look BAD, but voting pass for that price. Agreed on bolt heads re: working on the truck. There's going to be more than what these few pictures show..
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- #8
Yea that was phrased weird, I mean to say it’s not an “amazing deal”, it seems priced in the ballpark of what I’m seeing sell especially for how it’s outfitted and condition. Plus most good deals are in other states and with this I can just drive it home instead of flying somewhere and pay $2k to have it shipped so I’m discounting the price effectively slightly.
Everybody's different, but I'd rather pay a little more up front for one that is in better condition, even if it means traveling for it.
My thinking is that we are most likely going to pay for it one way or the other, either in purchase price, or in repairs down the road.
Unless it is a mostly dedicated trail rig, in which case I have much lower standards.
My thinking is that we are most likely going to pay for it one way or the other, either in purchase price, or in repairs down the road.
Unless it is a mostly dedicated trail rig, in which case I have much lower standards.
$25k for those miles and that rust seems too high to me. Maybe I'm out of touch with the market or maybe there are other details about this rig that help justify the price but I wouldn't be interested in it personally based on what I see and that price.
I weight rust very heavily in the evaluation of a vehicle and won't buy it unless it's a trail/throwaway rig and dirt cheap or super rare and worth the effort to deal with the rust. The rust you show isn't that bad and if that's the worst of it you can slow it down, maybe even stop it, and get a lot of life out of the rig, etc. There may be more rust than that though, including in the body, etc. and it could be something you fight and that makes you unhappy with the rig long term.
I haven't watched the market closely in recent years but believe it's been softening a bit after the pandemic run up. In any case I'm sure there are still good rigs / deals that pop up and sell quickly. If you have your cash ready and know what you are looking for you should be able to get a rig that you are happy about within 6 months or so I'd guess. It took me longer than that but a lot of that time I was looking at and learning about 80s to decide what I wanted. Once I new what I was searching for it only took a few months to find one I was happy with in the area I was looking. Anyway, you may have your market figured but I wanted to encourage you to keep looking until you find a rig that you have confidence in because eventually it will come along.
In other words:
I weight rust very heavily in the evaluation of a vehicle and won't buy it unless it's a trail/throwaway rig and dirt cheap or super rare and worth the effort to deal with the rust. The rust you show isn't that bad and if that's the worst of it you can slow it down, maybe even stop it, and get a lot of life out of the rig, etc. There may be more rust than that though, including in the body, etc. and it could be something you fight and that makes you unhappy with the rig long term.
I haven't watched the market closely in recent years but believe it's been softening a bit after the pandemic run up. In any case I'm sure there are still good rigs / deals that pop up and sell quickly. If you have your cash ready and know what you are looking for you should be able to get a rig that you are happy about within 6 months or so I'd guess. It took me longer than that but a lot of that time I was looking at and learning about 80s to decide what I wanted. Once I new what I was searching for it only took a few months to find one I was happy with in the area I was looking. Anyway, you may have your market figured but I wanted to encourage you to keep looking until you find a rig that you have confidence in because eventually it will come along.
In other words:
The seller needs to drop the price. This rig probably hasn't been in California all its life, a major minus competing with other 80s FS in your area that would be rust free. The Delta bracket shown in the photo is for fixing driveability issues with a lifted rig. It sounds like everything is dialed in now, that's great if you really want an offroad 80 that also drives decently. Whatever other mods it has, ask yourself if you really need them. Added weight can be a negative.
Price aside that rust is not that bad.
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- #13
Thanks everybody for the thoughtful feedback, @jpoole you’re right that some sort of nagging persistent problem like rust will sap the enjoyment out of ownership, balancing that against “it ain’t _that_ bad”. I do want a lifted rig that somebody else spend the time and money to already dial in so that is a plus.
@Devils Paw 80 i think your right the price is too high but by what margin? If it’s $1000+/- I’d just buy it, $3-4000+/- would give me pause but I can’t imagine a dialed in 3x locked rig going for low 20s.
Wish it were more cut and dry but man it never is.
@Devils Paw 80 i think your right the price is too high but by what margin? If it’s $1000+/- I’d just buy it, $3-4000+/- would give me pause but I can’t imagine a dialed in 3x locked rig going for low 20s.
Wish it were more cut and dry but man it never is.
Ah yeah, gotcha. I see how I read it wrong
If it's really what you want and basically affordable at this price, I wouldn't worry too much about what others think. Yeah, maybe offer him a bit less,, like -$1500. Good luck!
You folks realize that $25k in the Bay Area is like $10k everywhere else? I think they pay $8 per gallon for regular. A regular coffee is $5 and people abandon their Tesla's on the side of the road when they run out of battery power. I think kids get an Iphone 4 minutes after they are born there.
that coil spring looks the most worrying
I don't know about price, but if that was in Michigan, it would be considered "rust free".
looks great to these rust-belt eyes!
for reference: this... this is the bad rust
looks great to these rust-belt eyes!
for reference: this... this is the bad rust
FWIW worth this was mine at 300k a few years ago (dirt but no rust). The good kind of rust is none to barely any.
IMO the rig is overpriced but I do not know the CA market. I frequently see 80 available in WA, at various levels of build, for a reasonable price. Ones like what you have described and/or implied usually go for the high teens and they are rust free. Heck if the import market is what you like there are usually at least three offered but the prices on those are to high (again IMO).
As for getting a vehicle home that isn't local, get a cheap flight (bring basic hand tools) and drive home, make it an adventure.
As for getting a vehicle home that isn't local, get a cheap flight (bring basic hand tools) and drive home, make it an adventure.