1997 Ford F-150 XL, 69K Miles, Great Running Condition and Very Reliable

1997 Ford F-150 XL Description

This is a 1997 F-150 (4.6L V8) regular cab long bed with roughly 69,700 miles. Vehicle is in great condition. I have owned it for a little over 3 years now. My father in law drove this truck for over 15 years for his job at a local university. It then went up for auction and he bought it and gave it to me. The truck has been in the family since it was new. I am selling this truck to buy a four door truck to use as a family mover. Otherwise I'd keep it. Carfax report is viewable and can be given to all who are interested. Quality truck with low mileage.
Pros:
- The truck is extremely dependable and has never stopped or stalled on me. Everything works as it should, including A/C, Heat, Power steering, Brakes, Radio, etc. I have never had to perform any major repair other than an oxygen (O2) sensor and a fan clutch assembly and have routinely have performed regular maintenance to the truck. The truck does not smoke or leak anything and has never run hot, burned any oil or otherwise show any signs of mechanical problems.
- You can tell by the mileage on the vehicle that this truck is driven very lightly at less than 4,000 miles per year. It's the 3rd vehicle in my household and doesn't get driven like a daily driver.
- Since purchasing the vehicle, I paid for Maaco's top of the line paint service to change the color of the truck to a smoke gray. I also changed the headlights and taillights and spent $1,300 dollars on 20" wheels and tires from Discount Tire. I also replaced the standard Engine Air Filter with a lifetime filter from K&N and added a drop in bedliner for durability's sake. The vehicle is in great shape so it was worth investing the money to make it look better. No changes to the stock suspension have been made as I did not want to effect the quality of the ride. Overall the truck looks really nice and I get compliments all the time. If the new buyer wants they can remove the truck bed rail covers and tailgate covers (they have white paint marks on them) to expose the top portion of the truck railing and tailgate - also painted smoke gray.
- I replaced the transmission on the truck ($2,000 service) less than 12,000 miles ago. Very smooth shifting transmission with no problems.
- I have all receipts of all maintenance and any other purchase/installation involving this truck since I've owned it. I'll be happy to pass that information to the truck's buyer.
- The new buyer will also get all the maintenance related parts I have, including several sets of wiper blades and a locking gas cap w/Key.
Cons:

- The odometer to the truck recently stopped working. I took it for Inspection in September and it failed for having a loose gas cap. I replaced the cap and it passed a couple of days later. On the way to the inspection station it just stopped. Since then I've put 4 tanks of gas in the truck so I can estimate I've driven the truck another 1,500 - 1,700 miles (average about 380 miles per fill up). I can safely say this truck has a total of less than 70,000 miles on it. I printed the Carfax to the vehicle which supports this as well and all of my documentation receipts of service, discount tire purchase/rotations, etc.) to back up my assertion.

- On occasion there can be a slight hesitation in the truck shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. After pressing the shifter up slightly towards Neutral, the truck immediately shifts from 2nd to 3rd and then performs as it should. If it happens it only happens when you begin to drive the truck. It never happens again for the rest of the drive. I speculate that the shifter cable is to blame as there is a bit of slack in the shifter itself. The transmission itself works perfectly other than that.
- The truck's interior is rough. I've taken a picture of it for perspective buyers to see. It wasn't a big deal to me but a new owner may probably replace the bench seat, have it recovered or at the very least install a seat cover.
- The rear liftgate is very much operable and lockable but the handle is broken. I have the new handle ready to be installed and will give it to the new owner.
- There is slight hail damage to the hood and roof of the vehicle. It doesn't show well in pictures but it can been seen in person from viewing the hood at an angle. This didn't bother me enough to replace the hood but it might bother a potential buyer.
- The driver side door lock mechanism cannot be functioned with the key. The doors can be locked and unlocked but I have to use to the key to unlock the passenger door and then reach the door handle to unlock the driver side. This can be fixed with a new door lock but I'll leave that to the new owner.
- There is a scratch about 1/8" thick and 12 inches long along the driver side truck bed. We were moving things around in my garage and bumped into it and caused this scratch. It's not terrible but it is noticeable.
Whoever buys this truck should get many years of trouble free service. I've taken my time to describe everything I can so there's no surprises and I don't think this truck can be had anywhere else in this condition and mileage for the price.