Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
With the Ford, the engine has been replaced due to the first one blowing a head gasket or front cover gasket. Should a reman engine be free of the material defects of the original engines? Or is this a design issue that will plague these forever? Otherwise, the truck is in very good condition; the owner was meticulous about maintenance and is a Ford guy.
Depends on when the reman was done and who did it.
If it's a fairly recent one from a reputable company, like Jasper, it's probably good to go.
I think Ford corrected the gasket issues with the 4.2 around 2002 or so. Ones built after that should be pretty reliable. Remans from the mid 2000s on should be reliable if they were done by a reputable company.
What trim level is the truck? $3K is pretty much full market value for a typical 1997 4.2 manual. A Super Cab XLT in great condition would be worth a little more, maybe $4K, and a regular cab XL would only be worth that much if it was just about perfect. I am assuming the truck has over 100K miles.
Reselling would be an issue at that price if you want to turn a profit, especially with needing tires and the paint being in bad shape. The manual will make it a hard sell. Some people specifically look for a manual truck, but more will specifically look to avoid one, even when shopping old trucks.
On the plus side though, 4.2s are pretty easy to do basic maintenance type stuff on. It would be a fun beater to do some light wrenching on. I'd be more inclined to buy it as a long term second vehicle (assuming great condition), than try to turn a profit on it after a few months.
At $1300 the Protege might be an easier flip.