Too much rust?

[Kaijikun]

Any editing done to the images was just to text and done by myself. I am attaching photos, KBB value, and pre-purchase inspection. Have CARFAX as well. See below for TLDR.

I found this 4.0L RWD 2004 Ford Ranger with 111,702 miles on it. The regular cab is the right configuration for me, and the 4.0L V6 is great and I will still be getting better gas mileage than I am now. It was a fleet vehicle which is comforting because to me that means it was taken care of more than a careless owner may have. According to the CARFAX it seems as though it was a commercial vehicle for the first three owners from 2004-2014. Cosmetically it appears to be in great shape but with no bed liner. I live 13 hours away from the dealership and so I had the dealership bring the truck in to a repair shop different than the one they recommended and had a pre-purchase inspection done.

I have the carfax report which reveals that it was purchased in PA and used in NJ for two-three years as a commercial vehicle, during which time there was an accident reported which I have no information about. The shop that did the inspection did not see anything major and it may have just been the scratch on tailgate from backing into something (car or otherwise). The second owner purchased it and shortly thereafter sold it to the third owner in CT, who owned it for over seven years from 2007-2014 as a commercial vehicle. The 4th owner used the vehicle for less than a year in CT and it was then purchased in 2015 by the 5th owner in the state it currently resides in, who held it from 2015-2017 and was sold at an auto auction. The sixth owner purchased it in 2018 and a lien was reported and then sold at an auction in 2020 to the dealership, who has had the truck for 3 months now.

Pros:
4L V6
7ft Regular Cab
lack of major mechanical work required
body color
lack of substantial body damage
interior in good condition
good dealership reviews

Cons:
surface rust may be too substantial and cause issues in near future
front tires require replacing
valve and seal leaks
no bedliner

$6k is the top range of the KBB value for this vehicle. The repair shop that had the inspection done quoted fixing the valve issues for $440, so if you include replacing the front tires you could say its value is closer to $5k. It seems difficult to find a decent regular cab Ranger with the 4.0L V6 (pre-2011).

TLDR; Truck looks great and the 4L V6 is a huge plus, but wondering if the surface rust is age appropriate or should be a dealbreaker.

 

[Snoranger]

1. Don’t fall for that “fleet vehicles are better cared for” line. I work as a fleet mechanic for a county government. Money is never an object when it comes to repairs. BUT, I pulled a 2006 E150 in today with a misfire. Long story short... 130k miles and I replaced the spark plugs for the first time.
Fleet vehicles are usually run hard, idle for long periods of time, and driven by people who don’t really care about it.

2. Six owners! People don’t usually get rid of good running vehicles until they start costing too much money to repair. That seems like a few too many owners who just wanted something else.

3. Rust has already claimed one of the spring hangers. I’m looking at the pics on my phone, so it’s not the best for picking out issues.

 

[Kaijikun]

2. Six owners! People don’t usually get rid of good running vehicles until they start costing too much money to repair. That seems like a few too many owners who just wanted something else.

Do you believe that means that the shop that inspected the vehicle missed important issues that made it too costly to run?

3. Rust has already claimed one of the spring hangers. I’m looking at the pics on my phone, so it’s not the best for picking out issues.

Forgive me but I am not very familiar with these things. Is the spring hanger missing or damaged and does that imply the frame is either too far gone or will be soon due to the rust? In your professional opinion, should I pass on this and wait for a better opportunity?

Thanks!

 

[Dirtman]

Whats with the weird crossmember peice?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Based in whats there i wouldnt be scared of it.

Tires, shocks, thats normal shit for any used vehicle that age.

That spring hanger doesnt look comprimised based on pics, ive driven much much worse for a long time.

 

[Dirtman]

I think snorangers point was that the hanger is new so it obviously rusted through at some point and needed to be replaced.

Im trying to figure out what the hell this thing is... looks like the original crossmember rotted through and was replaced with some random nonsense?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Spring hanger that sno mentioned.... you can tell it's been replaced because it's black and bolted on. Factory pieces are riveted. Also... in my experience... the rear spring hangers are usually worse then the fronts. There are no pictures of the rear hangers.

I don't remember seeing a crossmember that looked like that but it sure seems to be some sort of after market replacement crossmember.

Bottom line... the vehicle has lived in the salt belt it's entire life... they are going to be pretty rusty after 16 years.

 

[adsm08]

What is visible is mostly par for that age in this part of the country. A little better actually.

I am concerned by two things. One of them is that odd-ball piece Dirtman is obsessed with. I don't know what it is, but it looks like it might have replaced factory bracketry.

The other is the fact that a FRONT spring hanger has been replaced. I never see the fronts go. I only replaced them on my truck because I couldn't get the old ones off without causing damage when I painted the frame.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Im wondering if that brace was some sort of frame reinforcement for some heavy ass aftermarket add on? Kinda what it looks like by the "Y" mounting.

But it wouldnt make sense to remove the factory crossmember.

I still wouldnt pass on it though.

@Kaijikun do you know what kind of fleet it was apart of? Could help determine the history.

 

[Ramcharger90]

I think snorangers point was that the hanger is new so it obviously rusted through at some point and needed to be replaced.

Im trying to figure out what the hell this thing is... looks like the original crossmember rotted through and was replaced with some random nonsense?

View attachment 43125

Is it just me or does that look like a rust hole?

 

[Snoranger]

I’ve seen that crossmember before...

It’s made by Camburg. They make quality stuff and everything looks normal about the install. That’s not a rust hole behind it, that’s the way the factory frame is cut... that all looks normal.

 

[racsan]

ive seen a front hanger go on a 94 F250, I replaced my front hangers on my 93 because they were going bad. another problem area to look at is the front core support and those body to frame mounts.

 

[Curious Hound]

I’ve been waiting in the wings on this one since I'm not an expert on rust belt vehicles. But based on the pictures and what the experts are saying here it seems like a decent truck. Not sure i would pay $5000 for it down here in the south. But for a northern truck that age, that may be an ok deal.

 

[19Walt93]

If that was an 04 from NH, it would be considered almost rust free. I'd also like to know what the odd crossmember is and why it was installed. I would also look up the value at NADA.com, it's the industry standard and from my experience Kelly Blue Book is usually too high-"what could I get for my truck if the person looking at it had fallen in love with it" kind of pricing. There are also several levels of pricing based on condition, needed repairs, etc, so you'll have to do a little math, don't just use the first figure that comes up. Another thought- if it was a repo, chances are the maintenance was neglected just like the payments were.

 

[91stranger]

It's not worth 5k..... Start at 2500 and let them talk you up. I wouldn't go over 3k for it since it is a standard cab.

Pros that I see:
-It's not that rusty for it's age
-Body is in pretty good shape
-Seats look nice
-4wd

Cons:
-standard cab
-seeps oil from just about everything that holds oil which isn't good
-rack and pinion is leaking too
-low miles worry me, things tend to break around 110-120k from my experience, tends to be one thing after another
-fleet vehicles are never taken care of as good as you think they are, people will see if it will do a burnout, how fast does it get up and go, maybe even a few neutral drops if it was someone young and dumb driving it
-price is way too high for all the oil leaks.... That should either get fixed for the price they want or they should come down a LOT

If you had to fix all the oil leaks, rack and pinion leak, new front tires, new shocks and whatever else breaks or needs replaced when the shop has it you would probably be looking at a $1500-2000 shop bill to have it all fixed right.... Just think about that stuff before you commit. If you are a female I would see about taking a guy friend with you to be the "tough guy"..... It's not right but dealerships and salesmen will take advantage of women when they think women don't know anything about vehicles. Take a guy with you who won't take bullshit and is not scared to tell the salesman "NO" a time or two.

It's a standard cab ranger so I doubt it will sell fast, worst thing you can do is spend all your money on a truck that needs money put into it.....