[ebedsilva]

I'm looking to buy a 97 350 with a 7.3 diesel. It has 275k on it. I have never owned a diesel and looking into this one because we travel about 500 miles with a double axle enclosed trailer (all steel and very heavy not aluminum) about every other month. I figure a diesel would be the way to go and should pay itself off. My truck wastes a lot fuel hauling the trailer. My questions are:
1. how long do these engines generally last?
2. is there anything i should particularly look for when test driving?
3. what kind of fuel mileage does this truck usually get?

Any help is greatly appreciated.