Value for an '85 4X4 Ram Van?

[indigo montoya]

My 17 YO son is obsessed with this '85 Ram Van that he wants to buy. But i am trying to help him see some reason. The seller is asking $5K for it, but in the Blue book, it only comes to $2800 for an '88 in excellent condition. This one is in good condition, and only has 61,000 miles on it but not is not nice enough to justify the extra $$$. Does anyone have any justification to help me nail down the value on this?

I don't know if it will pass emmissions. the 4X4 seems to work, it is raised and has offroad tires on it. My dad owned Dodge Ramchargers back in th 80's and my experience is that they are rattle traps, prone to overheating, vapor lock and gas guzzlers. So in short, it would be an impracticle car for him, but it would be a fun car to have/drive.
Does anyone know what size gas-tank it is likely to have? What type of mileage he is likely to get?

[alloro]

Finding a 4x4 van is rare. It's even more rare to find one in excellent condition. The blue book values do not take into consideration how rare a vehicle like this is. If (that's a big IF) your son takes care of the vehicle it's value is likely to go up as time goes on. As a parent I understand your position of teaching practicality and value. However, in this rare case the student might be teaching the instructor.

The gas tank is anybodys' guess. The best thing to do is to run it down near empty and fill it, taking note of how many gallons went in. MPG will be around 11-14.

[indigo montoya]

Thanks for the input--it is a really fun car, and as a teenager would be a blast to drive. He skis alot and would potentially need the 4X4 several times per week. I tell him tha this girlfriend's Dad will not be too happy if he pulls up in that thing :-(

I guess a car that is 20+ years old is just worth what you agree on--so you think perhaps the seller is asking more than blue book for this because it is 4x4 and rarer? I can't see where the blue book lists an '85 4x4 van.

Can you think of any way to know if it really just has 61,000 mile on it...and not 161,000? it is just a 5 digit odometer. we drove it on the freeway last night and did not feel any major vibrations or shimmies, and it does not rattle like a 161000mile dodge would, but how do you really know?

[alloro]

The only way to know the mileage for sure is if state inspections were required. At the inspections the mileage is recorded. Most times this information can be uncover by getting the vehicle history report from Carfax.
http://www.carfax.com/

4x4 vans did not come from the factory as a 4x4, that's why you can't get a true book value on it. There were companies out there that would take the vans and convert them to 4x4s.