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Old 12-21-2013, 06:39 PM   #1
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2011 F350 What to ask?

We have started the process of preparing for a fully retired lifestyle which will see us becoming snowbirds next winter. We are still searching for a larger 5er and have sold our 3/4T a few weeks ago. I now have a line on a 2011 F350 King Ranch with 60,000 km. it is located 4 hrs from home but is on the way to visit family for Xmas and will be stopping in Monday to view it. I am not even close to considering myself a mechanic so thought this would be an ideal place to get some suggestions on what to look for.
Here are some of the questions I have emailed to the salesman?
Car Proof History Report, including details of Original ownership, Any accidents, Service history; i.e. Any major repair work outside of regular maintenance, Mfg date, In-service date.
# of Hours on motor? # of Idle Hours on motor?
Does the F350 have in-bed 5th wheel hitch mounts?
If any of you have suggestions of other things I should be asking or looking for when I inspect and test drive the vehicle I would appreciate your feedback.
Thanks
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Old 12-21-2013, 06:50 PM   #2
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At or about 2011 Ford started offering a factory installed goose neck/fifth wheel.
Every now and then I saw a truck at the dealer with this option.
Rare camels they are so the owner would have to find one or order it.
I think they were set up for the Reese hitch.

Reese 30142 Elite Series Fifth Wheel Kit Trailer RV Camper

If the owner did not order it or buy it installed you can pick what you want.

Is this a long or short bed?

Look for oil under where it is parked, is the motor clean or oily?
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Old 12-21-2013, 07:43 PM   #3
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Thanks. It for sale at a dealership so they will no doubt have cleaned it from bumper to bumper. Not sure where they got it but that is one of my questions.
It's a short bed.
They are asking $47k so if it's as clean as it looks well try to get them down a couple thousand but I'm a notoriously bad negotiator, especially when I have been looking for a while and finally find something i like. It has DVD players in the back of the headrests on the front seat. Who would have thought that was possible, much less necessary.
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Old 12-21-2013, 07:50 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Charli View Post
Thanks. It for sale at a dealership so they will no doubt have cleaned it from bumper to bumper. Not sure where they got it but that is one of my questions.
It's a short bed.
They are asking $47k so if it's as clean as it looks well try to get them down a couple thousand but I'm a notoriously bad negotiator, especially when I have been looking for a while and finally find something i like. It has DVD players in the back of the headrests on the front seat. Who would have thought that was possible, much less necessary.
The grand kids love the DVD player that dad has in his Chevy.
Good luck with getting them down any.
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Old 12-21-2013, 08:05 PM   #5
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At 60,000 km (about 37,200 miles) I'd look at tire wear / remaining tread life. If the dealer doesn't have records of when/if the brakes were replaced, I'd have them pull a wheel and take a look at them.

If the bed doesn't have a liner, see if it is nicked up / scratched / dented. That will give you some idea of how roughly the truck might have been treated. But with DVD players in the headrests for rear seat passengers, it doesn't sound like a "work truck."

You ought to be able to get them down somewhere between 5 and 10%, IMO. Good luck.
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Old 12-21-2013, 09:46 PM   #6
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As Capt. Mike said , check tires. I bought a 2007 with dry rotted tires. When I pointed that out to salesman, he sold me a Ford tire care warranty. Good deal. I somehow got a flat with a puncture in sidewall of my tires every couple of months. Wound up getting a new set of tires within a year for a $ 350 warranty. It also covers wheels as well. If they say they dont know about it, put the pressure on. I also bought the premium care warranty. Another good deal. I have had new heads, ball joints, carrier bearings, etc all covered. Truck had 70,000 miles when purchased.
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Old 12-21-2013, 09:51 PM   #7
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Have the dealership....if it's a Ford dealership the truck is at, have them run an 'OASIS' report. That's a report of all work performed at a Ford dealership and should give you a good idea if problems were encountered during the warranty period outside of the normal service intervals. Go to the Ford owners forum called 'FTE' or Ford truck enthusiasts'. That site will give you great insight of what to expect with that truck.
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Old 12-21-2013, 10:05 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford Idaho View Post
At or about 2011 Ford started offering a factory installed goose neck/fifth wheel.
Every now and then I saw a truck at the dealer with this option.
Rare camels they are so the owner would have to find one or order it.
I think they were set up for the Reese hitch.

Reese 30142 Elite Series Fifth Wheel Kit Trailer RV Camper

If the owner did not order it or buy it installed you can pick what you want.

Is this a long or short bed?

Look for oil under where it is parked, is the motor clean or oily?
Ford Idaho - would that Reese Hitch be the one even if it was a short box?

I've been comparing used vs new cost. I found one that has the 5th wheel prep that was never used. Also do you think there is a benefit to having the 5th wheel factory prep?
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Old 12-21-2013, 10:13 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaschultz View Post
Ford Idaho - would that Reese Hitch be the one even if it was a short box?
Ford would probably use the same one in all of the SD's'

Quote:
I've been comparing used vs new cost. I found one that has the 5th wheel prep that was never used. Also do you think there is a benefit to having the 5th wheel factory prep?
No benefit IMO, this way YOU can pick what YOU want.
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Old 12-21-2013, 10:59 PM   #10
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I don't believe that Ford puts the prep package in the short bed. I have a 2012 F-350 long box that has the fifth wheel prep package in it. Reese is the hitch that Ford sells but in the past few months B and W has come out with a hitch that mounts in the Ford and it is almost half the money of the Reese. I will be putting in the B and W hitch when I go to pick up my new 5er in a couple of weeks.
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Old 12-21-2013, 11:08 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by mackman1994 View Post
I don't believe that Ford puts the prep package in the short bed. I have a 2012 F-350 long box that has the fifth wheel prep package in it. Reese is the hitch that Ford sells but in the past few months B and W has come out with a hitch that mounts in the Ford and it is almost half the money of the Reese. I will be putting in the B and W hitch when I go to pick up my new 5er in a couple of weeks.
Are you going to go with the goose ball and the companion hitch?
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Old 12-21-2013, 11:32 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Ford Idaho View Post
Are you going to go with the goose ball and the companion hitch?
I has the same head as the companion but it locks into the four pucks just like the Reese that Ford tries to sell you. The Reese runs about $1600 give or take and I got the B&W for just under $900. I believe I like the B&W better anyway.
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Old 12-21-2013, 11:40 PM   #13
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I has the same head as the companion but it locks into the four pucks just like the Reese that Ford tries to sell you. The Reese runs about $1600 give or take and I got the B&W for just under $900. I believe I like the B&W better anyway.
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Old 12-22-2013, 01:48 AM   #14
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The only real issue I have had with my 2011 F350 dually long bed is a transmission issue. It started shifting funny early in the morning and after several trips to the dealer and finally getting on Ford Enthusiast (sp) website and found out that there was a service bulletin for the exact problem that I was having. They had to drop the tranny pan, replace 3 of the 4 solenoid valves, reboot the computer and put it back together.
We have had no issues since and I am very happy with the fix.
And like above.....I think the 5th wheel hitch option is only available with the long bed. Mine came with the under bed part installed. When we upgrade to a 5er all I need is the above bed part.
Good luck in your search.. We have 42,000 miles in just a little over 3 years, and feel like its just now getting broken in good.
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Old 12-22-2013, 12:18 PM   #15
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SB 5th wheel prep

I'm considering a F350 2011 SB that has the Ford factory prep. It is listed on the window sticker and I've seen the truck in person. It has 51k miles, but they Ford Certified it. Thus I'd have a year to work out any kinks. The previous owner never towed a 5ver.
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Old 12-22-2013, 12:38 PM   #16
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SB with the Ford factory prep would need the Reese Elite 30144. Looks like B&W just has a LB.
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Old 12-22-2013, 01:00 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rattleNsmoke View Post
Have the dealership....if it's a Ford dealership the truck is at, have them run an 'OASIS' report. That's a report of all work performed at a Ford dealership and should give you a good idea if problems were encountered during the warranty period outside of the normal service intervals. Go to the Ford owners forum called 'FTE' or Ford truck enthusiasts'. That site will give you great insight of what to expect with that truck.
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+1 this good info and a carfax report won't tell you much unless it was done at the dealership or the insureds ins company payed out on the repair other wise local collision repair companies do not report to carfax because they don't get paid to!! I don't know if this video helps but interesting to watch, there are 4 parts to it and it automatically changes to the next



and this one is a good one too. not many think about this one.
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Old 12-22-2013, 02:29 PM   #18
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Being an owner of an '11 F-350 here is what to look for. Crawl under the truck with flashlight in hand and look for:

Leaks from the radiator on the driver side, this is a known issue
Look for oil leaks from the oil cooler, rear seal, transmission, is it clean
See the exhaust system is intact or did they delete the emission control hardware
What do the two exhaust outlets look like, black and dirty or clean, wipe your finger around the inside, how black is your finger. On mine your finger would be almost as clean as you washed it. I have 50,000 miles
Play with the information center-this will tell you total hrs, idle hrs, mpg, amount of DEF in the tank, if it ever pulled a trailer, unless they deleted that info.
Look at the tires, any wear on the inside, outside edge, I still have the original tires at 50,000
Ask them to drain the fuel filter bowl under the driver seat, to see if any water in the fuel tank.
Take a screwdriver and pop the vents on the batteries, see how much water is in the batteries, it has two batteries. Check the fluid in the radiators, it has two, the small one sits on the left near the air cleaner.
Rub your finger on the brake rotors and see if a ridge has formed.
Looks like the truck is out of the basic warranty, you can get a preowned warranty from Ford
If you buy the truck, use only Ford oil, fuel and air filters.

This is a good truck, mine runs like a Swiss watch.
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Old 12-23-2013, 03:57 AM   #19
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If you can also see if you can do a cold start or if they warmed it up for you...cold starts can tell if it is hard starting or other issues may be coming up. Go to the service side and ask them to run the V.I.N. it will show all the warranty work done to the truck, if the list is endless I would stay away from it. Ask if any mods have been done as that too will void warranty in most cases. Car lot tricks include painting or undercoating the frame so it looks nice and new and black...it helps to hide problems. Try all the features and electrical items including the A/C. Ask to see the safety report from the service/ most dealers do a safety on every vehicle they sell just to C.Y.A. it is from the mechanic in the shop, if he saw any problems or issues it should have been noted. As an option you can get an extended warranty for 3yrs or 36k km for an additional price...might save your buns and nagging from the D.W. if something goes wrong..!
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Old 12-23-2013, 06:45 AM   #20
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I have 18,000 miles on mine. I've had some issues and I hope there will be no more! At about 7,000 miles, the front transmission seal started leaking. At about 15,000 miles, I had a DEF heater tank go bad. And, just last week, the fuel level sensor in the fuel tank went bad. I'm not happy that I had those issues, but I'm told they are rare. That said, I love this truck. It rides great and pulls great. I have the Reese 5th wheel mount, so I told my Cedar Creek dealer that I wanted him to throw in a hitch as part of the deal. He gave me a Reese Elite slider even though I have the long bed. I'll never need to use the slider portion of it. Now that these trucks have been out for a few years, manufacturers are making adapter plates so that their hitch will fit the Ford mounting system. I love the fact that there are no rails left behind in the bed of the truck when the hitch is out. Also, you can remove the hitch without tools.
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