Well I got the pictures and inspection report back this afternoon. I used LemonSquad and was sent almost 200 pictures so I have a pretty clear idea of what condition it's in. Truck is clean by Border Patrol standards, (it is in fact a BP truck) but definitely has battle scars that are not shown in the dealers ad. Just minor dents and dings, grill zip tied on, interior trim pieces missing, nothing that would bother me for a work truck. Mechanically it appears in good shape, minor surface rust on the undercarriage, slightly low on coolant and power steering fluid, no leaks evident though for those or any other fluids. No leaks evident from the shocks. Has codes present for the A/C compressor, maf sensor, and vehicle speed sensor. Overall seems to be a solid truck for what it is. However, when it came to the test drive, they refused to let the inspector drive the truck "because it's never been in road salt". Smh. Needless to say I was pretty pissed when I read that in the inspection report. They did start it up and drive back and forth in the shop for whatever that's worth. So I called the dealer up and told him I read through the inspection and looked at the pics and it all looks decent but since you denied the inspector a test drive the best offer I can make is 15k because I have to cover myself for a bad transmission or transfer case or head gasket or whatever it is you're trying to hide. So of course he goes ballistic and starts blaming his salesman for not letting the inspector drive the truck and blaming the inspector for being willing to do an inspection without a test drive and yelling at me for insulting him with such a low price. So then I called him out on the truck living in ND it's whole life and asked why he's so concerned about salt when it's been in salt for 10 years. And he tells me I'm an idiot and they don't use salt in North Dakota they use sand and beet juice and he knows that because he's been dealing cars for 25 years and how dare I etc etc etc. So needless to say I wasn't willing to come up much from 15k without confirmation it doesn't have major issues, and he's not willing to come down much from 21k because I'm a horrible person who won't take him at his word that it's a great truck. Honestly even though he's sketchy as hell I think it's probably a decent vehicle, but without some major unbiased confirmation that it has a solid drive train, I ain't touching it. Sorry for the long post hope it provided amusement!
