Help me with my Raptor purchase

Hey guys!
New to the forum, thank you all ahead of time for your assistance.
I am looking at a few different Gen 1 Raptors, all over SoCal, however I have my eyes on one in particular and have a few questions that apply to all Gen 1 purchases as well as this particular truck.

The particular truck in question is a 2013 with 98k on it, located at a car lot.

1. The truck seems to have a slight bucking/hesitation/stutter when coming down from 5-0mph. Any ideas what may cause this? It's not very abrupt or interfering but I have definitely not had that in other cars/trucks before and it makes me a little nervous.


Generic Raptor questions:

2. When dealing with lots and places like carmax, what have you been able to historically argue as a pain point and negotiate over? Shock replacement?

3. Is there anything particular to the raptor or 6.2 that needs to be inspected in depth? I have had off-road oriented tacomas in the past and know the ins and outs of those very well but if there is something specific to a Raptor that needs a glance at before purchasing I would love to know.



If you have any other tips or tricks for haggling, inspection, etc...please let me know!

Thank you!

Carmax will not negotiate any repairs or the price. As is where is. You can pay for your own inspection but no repairs will be made by Carmax

If you can, with the engine off, jack the front tires off the ground and spin the front tires by hand. The CV axles should spin with the tire. Then start the truck and spin the tires by hand, now the CV axles should not spin (if the truck is in 2wd of course). I'm not sure what would cause the 5-0mph issue you stated but this will give you an idea if the IWEs are good and maybe determine if something is wrong with the front end that's causing the buckling issue. Maybe you will be able to hear something.

There are lots of obvious things to look for that I'm sure you know all about, biggest one is check the skid plates and undercarage for dents and damage, this will tell you if the truck was used heavily offroad. Also check for corrosion. Ide bring a creeper and go right under the truck to thoroughly check the rocker panels and bumpers. It's a Raptor so don't be surprised if some ****** was driving it in the ocean

Rapt-up said:

Carmax will not negotiate any repairs or the price. As is where is. You can pay for your own inspection but no repairs will be made by Carmax

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Our law firm represents carmax, they will certainly negotiate repairs. Its a no haggle price, doesn't mean you can't haggle the other stuff! I have already had one offer to reduce the price by the transfer fee in an effort to not have to pay the transfer fee. A friend of mine negotiated new tires and a full PDK service on his 2015 911 due to the verbiage that was in the manual. (Hence why I am looking into finding a way to get a carmax dealer to tackle shock replacement). I am far more interested in this raptor that is at this little car lot though, so any tips and tricks for these guys is a valuable tool right now.

nipplesNchowder said:

If you can, with the engine off, jack the front tires off the ground and spin the front tires by hand. The CV axles should spin with the tire. Then start the truck and spin the tires by hand, now the CV axles should not spin (if the truck is in 2wd of course). I'm not sure what would cause the 5-0mph issue you stated but this will give you an idea if the IWEs are good and maybe determine if something is wrong with the front end that's causing the buckling issue. Maybe you will be able to hear something.

There are lots of obvious things to look for that I'm sure you know all about, biggest one is check the skid plates and undercarage for dents and damage, this will tell you if the truck was used heavily offroad. Also check for corrosion. Ide bring a creeper and go right under the truck to thoroughly check the rocker panels and bumpers. It's a Raptor so don't be surprised if some ****** was driving it in the ocean

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Thanks! I will see if there is a way I can check that. I did crawl under the truck (I love that raptors are so tall lol) and look at some stuff. Nothing really caught my attention. I am far more concerned about the shocks than anything.

If the shocks are original you are in for a rebuild minimum. $600 from Fox, up to $1500 with Forged Offroad. 98K is near double the mileage they were designed to go.

If they are 3” shocks, verify exactly what they are. If they came off a Gen2 Raptor they are not the right ones for the truck. I’m gonna get some grief for saying this, but that’s a replacement scenario too, and this time it would be minimum $1500, up to $5-&6 thousand depending on what you want.

EDIT..the reason that would be a replacement is that you have no idea who did the work, and how they did it. Fitting non-standard parts into a vehicle is problematic at best, and doing it on the cheap is just asking for shit to get ****** up.

Also, like was posted above, take a creeper and roll around under the rig, looking for scrapes, bunged up stuff, what have you. If you look around the front wheels, there will be two sets of lines running to each front wheel. One is the brake line, the other is a double vacuum line, that's the IWE. These lines have a habit of cracking and losing vacuum. It's not a high dollar fix, but it can put you in four wheel drive full time.

Do your research on shocks and suspension. Virtually nothing on this truck is cheap.

The only other add that I would make is that you should check the bumpers to see if repeated contact has been made by bottoming the suspension at speed. They are fun to drive fast over rough road, but some may get out over their skis when bashing around. Also check the rear shock mount points for no signs of stress from jumping. Search the Gen 1 fuse box issue on this forum, otherwise like any other used car diligence.

2013 Will fall under the transmission Lead Frame recall. I would check to see if that was done. Could be part of the downshift/hesitation.
Overall the trucks are pretty durable depending on maintenance and abuse.

That stutter sounds like shocks to me. My 2011 did that and after I put some new rebuilt shocks on it was eliminated immediately. I’d plan on replacing the shocks, but doubt you’ll be able to negotiate that into the deal. At that mileage they have either been replaced once and need rebuilt or have never been replaced and are long overdue!

I’d definitely take it to a trusted Ford dealer or independent shop for a good PPI, compression test etc.

As far as what you can likely negotiate on, it’s usually safety items that you can bargain on. I bought mine with 93k and got new rotors and pads on all four corners done at sellers expense.

PNW Raptor said:

That stutter sounds like shocks to me. My 2011 did that and after I put some new rebuilt shocks on it was eliminated immediately. I’d plan on replacing the shocks, but doubt you’ll be able to negotiate that into the deal. At that mileage they have either been replaced once and need rebuilt or have never been replaced and are long overdue!

I’d definitely take it to a trusted Ford dealer or independent shop for a good PPI, compression test etc.

As far as what you can likely negotiate on, it’s usually safety items that you can bargain on. I bought mine with 93k and got new rotors and pads on all four corners done at sellers expense.

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I didn't wind up purchasing as they were hard to negotiate with and unwilling to accommodate having my guy come to them for a PPI because "they did one prior to it being placed for sale." I think that says it all...
So im still looking!