Why Didn’t Anyone Buy this 1999 Ford F-350 in the Marketplace?
F-350 has somewhat high mileage, but it has been well-maintained and it is priced below similar trucks.
The 1999 Ford F-350 shown here was initially posted in the FTE Marketplace by “BBslider001” back in February with features, a price and a maintenance list that made it seem like a highly desirable truck for its age. It was an interesting enough sale listing that it was featured by our friends at F150Online, but after almost two months of discussing the truck, the discouraged seller has taken it off the market.
More surprising than the fact that this F-350 didn’t sell is the point that the seller didn’t get a single message about the truck on the site, making us wonder what aspects of this truck turned off prospective buyers to the point that they didn’t even both reaching out to the OP.
The Introduction
When the OP first listed this truck for sale back in February, he included the basic details and an extensive list of upgrades and repairs that he has made over the course of the past year. The truck is a 1999 Ford F-350 Super Duty with the 7.3-liter PowerStroke diesel engine, a ZF 6-speed manual transmission, four-wheel-drive, leather interior and power everything.
In terms of maintenance, just about every key item that can wear out over the life of a heavy duty truck has been replaced or upgraded within the past year. This includes a rebuilt turbocharger, new shocks, new ball joints and new front hubs, but those are just a few of a long list of things that have been done to this truck.
In terms of upgrades, it has a four-inch downpipe and full exhaust, an AFE air intake system, an engine tune, a gooseneck hitch, an aftermarket trailer brake controller and a variety of other small upgrades.
In short, this truck looks great, it will likely run better-than-stock for a long time and it is built to work, making it the perfect daily driven Super Duty. Best of all, with a price of $13,500, this F-350 is priced below similar trucks from the same era.
However, after nearly two months, the seller didn’t get a single message from an FTE member inquiring about the F-350.
Mid-Sale Discussion
This 1999 Ford F-350 was posted for sale on February 16 and eight days later, the OP commented that the price is negotiable for FTE members, but that didn’t seem to help, as on March 2, the seller commented that “Ike will be around for a while”. For those unsure, Ike is the truck’s name.
The first member to comment on the thread was “TrucksNCoffee”, who loves the truck, but lacks the resources to buy it.
BB, if I had the finances I’d be all over that one-ton! I much prefer longevity to high performance, and its new home would be in an even drier place than California: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Alas, my wife broke her shoulder in three places* a couple of weeks ago. We’re waiting for the hospital, surgical, and medical bills. (She’s fine, by the way, recovering slowly.) That is a sweetheart of a truck, you’ll find a buyer.
The OP thanked him for that input, followed by posting some surprising info on the F-350.
I found out unbeknownst to me, that there is a minor accident history on the truck. I did not know this until I ran a VIN check yesterday. it does not show up on all of the VIN checks either. It showed up on AutoCheck by Experian. I talked to the owner that I bought it from and he said it was sideswiped back in 2012. The truck is straight and the damage was cosmetic. I had no idea, but now that I know, I have to be fair to the next buyer with price and candid information.
As time went on, the OP added more pictures, updated the information, lowered the price and repeatedly bumped the thread, but March 21, the thread had more than 1,600 views without any real offers. At one point, the seller began to wonder if he was charging too little, as he saw other people paying more for similar trucks in worse condition.
There are three right around here (El Cajon, Ramona, and San Diego) that are $16-17k just like mine except auto…. Maybe I am asking too little? LOL
Based on that, he raised the pricing on sites other than FTE, but he left the pricing low on the forum. However, that didn’t help any and on April 2, he posted that the truck was no longer for sale. He followed up with this post on April 13.
I keep reading and seeing this era of truck for sale for $20k plus…someone on here just paid $28k for one, yet I did not even have ONE FTE’er inquire about mine. Makes me wonder what happened. Anyways, no longer for sale, but it has me wondering. Manual? Miles? That seemed to be the first question people ask is miles.
Why Didn’t It Sell?
We are asking forum members who read this to head to the forum to share input on why they think that this truck didn’t sell. Some people wonder if the manual transmission makes it less desirable than a similar truck with an automatic, but many people who want heavy duty trucks prefer the third pedal.
Some wonder if it is the mileage, but for a 20-year-old truck to have 286,000 miles on the odometer, it was only driven about 14,300 miles per year. More importantly, all of the things that tend to go bad over the course of that driving have been updated, upgraded or just replaced, so wear-and-tear should be less of a concern.
Finally, some might point to the pricing, as to someone who doesn’t know anything about the heavy duty diesel truck world, $14,000 for a 20-year-old truck with 286,000 miles might seem like a big price tag, but with comparable vehicles selling for more money, it is hard to argue the pricing.
So what do you think caused the lack of interest in this 1999 Ford F-350? Click here to head into the forum to share your thoughts, as while the truck is no longer for sale, the seller would likely accept input as to what might help find Ike a new home in the future.
Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums now!
