Plenty of people have bought a dream vehicle, only to find that daily life has other plans. That seems to be the story behind a manual Dodge Ram SRT-10 that just landed at a small used-car lot. The truck came in as a trade for a Porsche Cayenne the lot had sold for $13,000.
The lot, which posts as @thehooptielot, mostly sells cheap trucks. Lately, though, its owner has been testing whether nicer cars can turn a profit too. He calls this V10 pickup the most expensive car they have taken in for the lot.
A Trade That Took A Big Check
Because the Cayenne was worth far less, the lot had to write the customer a check for way more than double its price. Still, the owner says the deal made sense to him. The truck has about 70,000 miles, a clean history report and a manual transmission.
“you cannot find one clean Carfax manual transmission for under 30 grand.”
He adds that many of these trucks ended up in ditches. With a V10, rear-wheel drive and little weight over the back, they can be a handful.
What The Last Owner Put Into The Dodge Ram SRT-10
Next, the lot went through the receipts. According to a staffer, the previous owner paid $32,000 for the truck. The history report put its suggested retail value at $35,000.
Then he kept spending. One set of bills came to $3,264 for lines, spark plugs, fluids, a front caliper rebuild and valve gaskets. Another came to $2,800 for upper control arms, steering rack bushings and new shocks. Much of that work was done this year, and the total came to about $6,000.
So why let it go? According to the lot, the owner said the gas was killing him and he needed something more practical. He also drove the truck about 600 miles to make the deal.
“This is his dream truck”
What Still Needs Doing
After driving it, the lot’s crew had few complaints. Meanwhile, they found the clutch strong and the shifter smooth.
“It just feels like a brand new truck”
They also point out that the last owner had a lot of the big maintenance done recently, including all the fluids front to back. For a buyer, that kind of paperwork can be worth as much as shiny paint.
However, the hood paint is starting to fade, and the aftermarket headlights do not line up. Luckily, the original lights came with the truck. There is also a slight seep at the rear main seal, though they say it is not even forming a drip. The owner estimates a hood repaint, paint correction and wheel refinishing would cost a couple thousand dollars.
What We Would Take From This Trade
This truck raises a question many sellers face. Here is what we would keep in mind:
- Keep every receipt, because a buyer will ask what has been done.
- Repairs rarely add their full cost to resale value.
- Factor fuel costs into a dream-vehicle budget before buying.
- Small cosmetic fixes can matter more to buyers than big mechanical ones.
- Compare clean-history examples, not crash-damaged ones, when pricing.
Where Things Stand
For now, the lot is offering the truck as it sits for $29,999.99. That is below what the last owner paid. Still, the owner wonders whether fixing the hood and wheels first could push it into the mid-$30,000s. However, one of his crew points out that the truck sits on a floor plan that charges interest, so it needs to sell.
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