Is it time to buy and which?

[Ruskin]

I am not a high mileage driver.  My 94 Bronco is giving me a problem.  I get to a destination and turn it off.  I go to start it, and it sounds like it is not firing.  Had it towed to mechanic.  He replaced a fuse in panel under the hood.  It started and ran ok.  Drove it a couple times.  Same deal.  Pulled it back to shop.  It started.  Took it home and drove to another town.  Same deal.  I had Triple A haul it home.  Got it to my house.  Driver hit the key.  It started. The bouncing shakes something?  Maybe it just likes riding on a flatbed, and is getting lazy.  I know how hard it is to troubleshoot intermittent problem.

Meantime, I figure a little browsing is due, maybe make my truck jealous.

I figure the full size trucks or anything with low gas mileage is begging.  A friend says the big boys are not being bid on at the auto auction.

I have found:  Avalanche 04-05 4x4, 04 F-150 super cab 4x4, 05 rubicon, 04 Chevy 4x4, 05 lardeo jeep 4x4.  I figure the edmunds price is what was given on trade which should mean sometime at the end of each month when sales goal is not met they should come off price of trade in.

I know a guy who went in and told the dealer what he would give, and he got it.  How low will they go?  Scarey part is we might be in a transition time when big is going by wayside.

Any suggestions from the sages?

[jgalar]

I was thinking of getting a new 4 door PU as I only put 5K miles a year on my little S10. They are selling for about 50% of MSRP on some models. I decided to just keep my little PU instead.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know what to tell you about the new ones but the first thing id look at with yours is the fuel pump and relay and second would be the coil pac. A mechanic should be able to test your coils. Fuel pumps going bad can act just like the problem you decribed and so can a fuel pump relay. Id put a relay on it first and see if that cured it. If it didnt and its the fuel pump your not out anything anyway as you should replace the relay when you replace a pump anyway.

[Ruskin]

After replacing the relay, on the road I hear a noise and my engine stopped.  Coasted to a stop, and called my favorite tow compant.  I have it at garage, at least I don't think it is intermittent anymore.

[30-30man]

I had a 1978 f150 that would do the same thing except it would cut out as I was rolling down the raod.  Then all of a sudden, it would crank right back up after 20 minutes of cussing over it.  I almost ran the thing in the river as noone could tell me what was wrong with it.  I had a friend of mine who owns a junkyard, tell me to replace the ignition module.  He said they will test good but develop a short and then you have this problem.  I don't know if they still had them in 94 though but the 78 had one.  It is a metal box bolted on the front of the engine bay near the battery.  At the time it was about a $15 part.  I hope this helps.

[TribReady]

Right now is absolutely a great time to buy a truck, especially if you only put on relatively few miles.

A local dealer said he's seeing 02-05 Ford Rangers (of course smaller than you're looking for, but that's what we were discussing at the time) going at wholesale auctions for $2000-3000.  Full size trucks will be higher, but it shows the market is way, way down.

If you can be patient, tell a dealer what you want and give him a top price.  They can check at the used auctions and you'd be surprised at how low some of the prices are.  Also, do like the guy you mentioned, and give the dealer a lowball offer. He can only say no and he may still be coming out ahead.  I think most dealers are looking to get what they can from trucks.

[jgalar]

When your truck won't start you need to pull off a plug wire or coil wire and see if there is spark. If you have spark then it may be  a fuel injection problem. If no spark then chances are the FI is good and you can look into the ignition system.