How much to knock off asking price for a flat black paint job?

My brother from another mother just called. Wants me to go look at a 97 Ranger with him tonight. He sees a simple lower mileage vehicle that should be cheap to maintain that he can throw a bedroll and acoustic guitar in and stay overnight wherever he might wind up.

I see flat black and that makes me wonder how many other bad decisions were made, like in the maintenance area perhaps.

Seller seems to be asking exactly what KBB says it is worth in "good" condition. I say if it is a rattle can job it would downgrade it to almost "poor".

Provided he fits (would a 6'4" 300lb dude even fit in a standard cab?) what should we offer?

To be clear. My buddy will not care about the cosmetics. He has never washed a car in the 25 years I have known him and it will be a rolling ashtray within a fortnight.

I'd take it as a sign to go through it with a fine-toothed comb mechanically.

For the paint job, I'd knock off $250, enough to get some bright vinyl stripes.

The question I'd be asking is why, of all the umpteen million Rangers produced, THIS truck? At least around here, at any given time there are at least one or two little-old-man-owned 2wd, 4 banger Rangers in near pristine shape available for under $2k. My buddy bought one exactly as described for I think $1200 last year, with under 100k on it.

I'd probably skip that truck and wait for another unless it was sub-$1000.

I would knock off as much as a maaco paint job would cost. Is that around $500 nowadays? Not to say he would get that paint job, but that's what it would cost to have it be no-flat-black.

The emblems aren't painted over so there is some hope that it isn't totally horrible.

His big a-- will not fit in the bed for sleeping,and the squeeze getting in and out of the cab will get old quick,He needs to look at a larger truck.

To be fair, that is some seriously low mileage for a 20 year old Ranger. And like others said, the flat black could have been done much worse.

GTXVette wrote: His big a-- will not fit in the bed for sleeping,and the squeeze getting in and out of the cab will get old quick,He needs to look at a larger truck.

Yep, I had a 94 and at 5'7" sleeping in the bed was a tight squeeze and at 190# then I was closer to the steering wheel than I like to be.

Check fitment before anything else. Check.

Yeah. He is a big dude.

Around these parts that is a good to ok deal.

I'm that size and driving a regular cab Ranger - no thanks

i'm 6' 240 and have to cram myself into my dad's same era ranger regular cab.

Just walk away.

(Personally, when I see a flat black or camo painted truck, I assume it's been stolen and they did a cheap respray to avoid detection)

Paint won't matter, he won't fit...

In 98 the cab on regular cab rangers grew by 3 inches. Makes a world of difference. My 94 felt tight and I'm about 6'1" and 180... with a carharrt on it was too tight. My 2001 though on the other hand I don't even have the seat all the way back.

Well he fit! Said it was comfortable enough. I gave it the good once over, spotted tires with 2014 date codes, fresh shocks, Nice canopy, newish hoses under the hood and a new Pioneer head unit.

The little thing was clean. The bright purple paint suffered clear coat failure and the black actually seemed well applied. Some haggling brought it down a few bills and we drove away. He is happy, which is all that matters and he gets to offload the horror that is his 87 New Yorker Landau.

The dude fielded 6 calls about the ad in the 45 minutes we were there.

I don't find those cabs spacious, and i'm 5" shorter and 100lbs lighter

We must have different definitions of 'fit'

IDK why everyone is hung up on the paint. If it's just a rattle-can that's one thing, but maybe he actually had it repainted (at a shop) in matte black. I was behind a brand-new C300 Benz today with temporary tags on it that had a matte black paint job. A number of manufacturers are now selling cars from the factory with matte paint (and it costs EXTRA). Can't tell how the paint is in person on that truck, but the fact that the wheels look mint and even the white lettering on the tires is sparkling tells me that at least the owner takes care of it to some degree...

Just as another example, my GT6 is (rattle-can) matte black. I spent my entire budget on good mechanical (and interior) parts, good wheels and tires, etc... and the car runs and drives better than it ever did new. I just didn't feel like dropping $$$$$ on a nice paint job. A matte paint job doesn't mean the vehicle is built or maintained poorly....there are just some of us who really don't give a E36 M3 about nice paint. Hell, I haven't washed my WRX in a month and the paint has all kinds of little dings and swirl marks, but it's mechanically near-perfect at 140k miles....I can't see the paint from the inside ;)

I would say that is a decent enough deal. Any car under 2k that has obvious signs on maintenance occurring regularly is a great sign.

Also, that purple paint that was stock is terrible.

I'm not sure how much to knock off this used Ranger, but on a new German car you knock off anywhere from -$2k to -$7k for matte black

Paint related, not to hijack.

Wanted flat black primer look for the old XJ w/o rattle cannin'. Acrylic enamel military spec black w/ flatener from the 3 color camo scheme hit it right on. Spraying w/o hardener tho, the paint won't last. Used medium gloss hardener and got a satin black finish, way better than I ever expected. Let it weather out and it would look flat, keep it polished for satin look.

Did the same w/ the '81 Chevy 4X4 except w/ the green from the same 3 color camo (not the O.D.). This looked green as the woods, O.D. did not. Scratch it, touch up w/ airbrush, wet sand/ compound out. Still like acrylic enamel becuz.