Where to find used 3/4 or 1 ton truck

[Paul Dershem]

An acquaintance bought one of the trucks that Home Depot rents by the hour (I think it was a 1-ton), and he's been exceedingly happy with it.

Another friend found a one ton SRW in Washington at a price that made it economical to fly to Washington and drive the truck back to San Diego. He found the one-ton for less than the asking price of similarly equipped three-quarter-ton trucks; don't rule out a one-ton truck.

I cast my net locally (200 mile radius) and, after searching the internet for about six months, I struck out. No one had the vehicle I wanted, with the equipment I wanted. Then I found a place called Auto Locators of Texas online, told them the specifics I was looking for, and they conducted a specialized search over a much broader geographic area, and sold me the car online. In my case having the car shipped was more expensive than me flying to Plano, TX, from San Diego, CA, and driving back with the vehicle.

Just make sure that, if it doesn't come with the equipment you need, it will be cost-effective for you to add the equipment yourself unless you are prepared to do without.

The 1-ton van I bought needed a few items that I added myself because used vehicles equipped with these specific features are exceedingly hard to find. It was a "learning experience" to figure out the parts needed, their cost, the sequence of events required logistically, find suppliers and installers, etc.

I needed to add a wiring harness and trailer brake controller, install a tow hitch, and obtain proper towing mirrors. It was hard to find people who would do the work at any cost, and when they were done, the amount I paid was not insignificant. Finding towing mirrors for my make and model was an arduous process. The entire process took almost a year.

Were I able to forecast the cost of the additions I made, add their cost to the price of the vehicle, and factor in my time and frustration, I would have had a much better idea of whether the asking price equipped as I wanted it, was high, low, or just right. But, sometimes you just don't know what you don't know.

Good luck with your search!

[corn18]

Keep the suggestions coming! I am checking them all out. Why are 90% of the HD trucks white? I like a little color.

[Paul Dershem]

It seems inevitable that our Fleet White van will have to be re-painted eventually because we see so many failed fleet white paint jobs. We are seriously considering having our "great white whale" painted with a mural or something when it's time to re-paint.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by babock

My brother was a dealer himself and then was the regional director for a company that ran online dealer auctions. He had so many connections that he could get deals on vehicles before they hit the lots.

This is what I’m talking about. Somewhere in everybody’s group of friends, there will be somebody who knows somebody (who knows somebody) that is in the wholesale business. This is where you find the real deals.

Many large construction companies, transportation/delivery companies and municipalities flip their fleets on a regular basis and they are generally sold to wholesalers or go to auction. Most of the pickups tend to be overworked half-tons, but there’s always a few diamonds in the rough to pick through.

Then you have the auctions frequented by the wholesalers where very nice trucks can be found — trucks that haven’t been worked as hard as those from the places I mentioned above. Many of the trucks at auctions have all of the bells and whistles — that’s why they’re there — they’ve been repossessed because people couldn’t afford them, or they were seized for whatever reasons you can imagine, etc.

Bruce

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Scoob

A lot of (big 3) dealerships will ship the car to you.

I was in the same exact predicament just 3 weeks ago. I widened out the search to 500 miles and found the truck I wanted at a large ford dealership. Called them up and worked a deal and then had them ship it to me for $400.00
Got a 2017 F250 XLT with 49000 on it for 29K + 400 shipping

NICE !!!

[Mitchell 2020]

I got a Ram 1500 2019 with 17000 miles from Enterprise car sales. Perfect condition
And not expensive.
They had a good amount of trucks to pick from. I was lucky that they had the truck I wanted in the color I wanted.

[KEN9XL]

Originally Posted by corn18

Keep the suggestions coming! I am checking them all out. Why are 90% of the HD trucks white? I like a little color.

FYI --- According to dealerships (via research information), the majority of colors ordered in advance are white, black, and red.
IMO most people Do Not like White because it shows the dirt way to easy, especially if using as a work truck.

[Scoob]

Originally Posted by KEN9XL

FYI --- According to dealerships (via research information), the majority of colors ordered in advance are white, black, and red.
IMO most people Do Not like White because it shows the dirt way to easy, especially if using as a work truck.

White shows less dirt. I came from a white truck to a ruby red truck. its a WHOLE LOT harder to keep the red truck looking clean but not as bad as black.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by Scoob

White shows less dirt. I came from a white truck to a ruby red truck. its a WHOLE LOT harder to keep the red truck looking clean but not as bad as black.

Agree. This is why contractors buy so many white trucks. They also buy white trucks because it makes signs and lettering stand out more than with colored trucks.

Bruce

[babock]

Originally Posted by KEN9XL

IMO most people Do Not like White because it shows the dirt way to easy, especially if using as a work truck.

I actually picked white on purpose since it does NOT show dirt like almost any other color. Dark colors are the worst.

[corn18]

We bought our first white car last year. Always had grey or black. We love it. Rarely looks dirty and I think it looks nice. At least it isn't grey or black.



I think I would like a white truck. I seem to be finding 2017 F250 XLTs with 30k-50k miles for $30K for gas and $40k for diesel. The trick is getting the XLT with cloth vs the XL with vinyl.

[MR.M]

I personally like the white . goes with everything . white with some black trim matches my camper . easier to clean and stays looking good longer . I flew from Fort Myers to Atlanta to pick up my new truck last December after searching for months and months i finally found the one that had what i wanted and the price was better then i have seen elsewhere . seems the double cab long bed chevys in 4x4 are hard to come by . most are crew cab std bad or double cab std bed . a 6.6 bed doesn't do it

[corn18]

Well, this one just popped up via car gurus. Just down the road from me. Will give them a tomorrow morning. I like it! They are asking $36,900 and it has 72,000 miles.

2017 FORD SUPER DUTY F-350 4WD Diesel

[Scoob]

Originally Posted by corn18

Well, this one just popped up via car gurus. Just down the road from me. Will give them a tomorrow morning. I like it! They are asking $36,900 and it has 72,000 miles.

2017 FORD SUPER DUTY F-350 4WD Diesel

Love that color, nice truck

[CDNDAYDREAMER]

We are in Central Florida and my neighbour mentioned he wants to sell his 2014 Ram 3500 dually diesel .
If you pm me with your contact information I can him get in touch with you. He is from Michigan and is here for the winter.

Originally Posted by corn18

I am looking for a 3/4 or 1 ton truck to use as a TV. Just want a basic truck (think work truck, XL type trim). Gas or diesel. Prefer <100k miles and 2014 or newer.

I have been doing the search thing on auto trader and Ebay and found many of them, but they all look like they have been work trucks and none are close by. So I started looking at local places and found a few that fit the ticket (one I posted about), but slim picking. And the ones I find locally are not listed on auto trader, which is weird.

Anyway, any other suggestions on where to find a basic 3/4 ton truck so I can pull a trailer?

[k5rcd]

VROOM -

https://www.vroom.com/

I recently bought a 2018 F 150 from them. Great company to deal with, clean vehicles, as described, no BS.

[robbiels7]

I love my white Sierra HD. I have always loved the GM summit white. I had a 92 Camaro convertible in the same color. When you wash it you step back and forget how bright it really is. After a few days its just white again.

Originally Posted by babock

I actually picked white on purpose since it does NOT show dirt like almost any other color. Dark colors are the worst.

[muddyrode]

where are you located?
i live in SE iowa but i found a Dealership in SW wisconsin the had 5 used dually's on the lot.
i found a 2013 with only 36,200 miles on it in great shape
they said a farmer had it that traded every couple of years.
this one must have been his wifes truck
Runde Chevrolet

[corn18]

No dually for me. Also, I have decided on no long bed if I am going SRW.

I just found a very nice 2015 Chevy 2500 WT, gas, crew cab, 4x4, 6.75' bed with 52,000 miles with everything I want for $25k and it is 5 miles away from a private seller. It looks great in the pics. Hopefully will have a look tonight.

Thanks to

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by EdJunior

Have you tried Carmax? Lots of trucks there and if they're not in the local area, they can be shipped in. They may be a bit more there, but you can also sometimes find a gem.

I agree! We've bought from them twice. In 2005 I bought a 2002 Chev. 1500HD (think light duty 2500 back then). 4dr crew cab 4wd, leather, 6.0 gasser from Carmax in Houston while setting our son up in school there. Drove it back to Maryland towing a 1998 Crown Victoria on a UHaul trailer. Absolutely a pleasurable and problem free trip home followed by 8 years of trouble free ownership. Had that truck until 2013 when I got my current RAM. Now, we just purchased our new to us 2017 Toyota Camry 3 weeks ago from Carmax. The price you see is the price you pay but, most of the vehicles in their inventory were short term leases with usually only one previous owner so, quality is pretty high. I wouldn't pass them up without at least checking out your closest Carmax. Just get on their site and put your zip code in.

https://www.carmax.com/cars/pickup-trucks/full-size