JHubs

Hey all,
longtime lurker here but first time member/poster...

I've been looking for the "perfect truck" for awhile now - specifically a
03-04.4 4x4 CTD quad cab SLT 6spd SB hopefully with less than 150k km (~90k miles)

Am I being unreasonable expecting to pay less than 30k CAD (~28k USD) for this? It seems every truck I see that I like is priced in the mid 30s range... mostly ex-lease trucks. Can anyone suggest good places to look other than craigslist/buysell/autotrader.ca... ?

The used truck prices in the US are looking really inviting but I'm kind of nervous about doing all the paperwork, anyone had experience with importing a vehicle? Plus I have no passport no idea if you need one or not nowadays.. Is the money saved worth it? (keep in mind I am looking at paying 32000$ on average for a truck here)

Ow, I might as well throw this question in too: Was looking at a 03 HO 6spd, 125k km truck and the sales rep said they did 500$ of work at their shop, including replacing the headgasket. That kinda threw up a flag for me, I assume the truck was stock since it's an ex-lease.. should I be worried about them having to replace the headgasket? Indication the truck's been beat on, or nothing to worry about?

Thanks everyone, great site here

han solo

I bought pretty much the truck you are talking about, but a long box for $36,000cdn. Its the going price here in Alberta, it had 94,000kms on it. An real **** buddy used to own it, and salesman was a buddy. Think I did alright for whats out there.

JHubs

Thanks for the reply
always helpful to know what the going price is for a well kept truck

Bark

Dont know about the paperwork involved to transfer ownership to Canada but as of May, they were not requiring passports.

annabelle

I paid $24,000 for mine (US) with 91,000 miles on it. From Dallas, on ebay.

JHubs

Bark - the passport isn't needed for the paperwork as you said, but I cannot fly into the states without one. Can still drive/bus down south though

annabelle - that is definately wayy cheaper than what I would pay here, especially since it looks like you bought the truck when it was somewhat newer (judging from the miles you put on it)

Thanks guys!

Bark

LOL..hadnt thought about flying.

annabelle

bought it 1/06, had a stroke 1/06 so it sat until 07/06.

JHubs

Sorry to hear that, must have been hard especially with a nice truck waiting for you ..

GreyTD

my son just bought an 03 with lift and 35" tires for $30K cdn. make sure you check the front ends closely so no surprises.

metalbasher

I would buy from the states providing the warranty is good up here. Prices look good on ebay,you could easily save 5 grand down south.

leonesm

I bought my '03 in July of '05 with 80k on the odo. It's a 2wd SLT that the previous owner had jacknifed a 5th wheel into both cab corners. It sat on the lot for a while and I was able to buy it for 20k cash. I fixed the cab corners for $500 and replaced a broken mirror and it was like new. It sure does seem like the prices are inflated up there...

Vic Romano

I talked directly to Chrysler Canada, as i am seriously contemplating importing a truck, and they said they would honor the warrantee of an imported truck as long as it wasn't bought by cross border shopping. Meaning if you are a Canadian working in the States for a few months and come back to Canada they will honor it. But if you just fly down to get one, they will not.

But, a new 3500 Mega Laramie, can be had for around $45000 cdn in the states. Up here that truck is $58000. I don't know if you'd ever put $13000 worth of warantee work into it, you have to get a real lemon, but i guess it would be possible.

Bark

Ouch! Thats a lot of money. Maybe it would be better to get one with over 160k. No warranty but the money saved could probably buy a new motor, not that you would need one.

JHubs

Yup the savings are definately worth it even with no warranty! As long as the truck isn't a lemon
I remember just a few years ago it was the other way around - people were buying cheap vehicles in Canada and importing/selling them in the USA..

Thanks for the reminder GreyTD, I better make a list of things to check for otherwise I know I'm going to forget something important

thanks for the replies everyone