99 to early 03 F-350 was great trucks and out of the hundreds I have owned I have never had ANY problems out of the front ends other than if I had one that was never used and then the lube inside the lock out hub gets hard and will not engage and has to be taken apart, clean and reinstalled with fresh lube.  Only transmission issues I have had from these is when someone added programmers or chips without upgrading the valve body on the tranny. (about a $250 upgrade)

Late 03 to 07 was also great trucks with even better transmissions.  Yes they did have some bad ones and got a bad wrap, but I would take one in a heart beat!  The right truck an $1000. you can make it a much better truck than the 7.3's!

08 up, RUN as fast as you can from these unless you find one with really low miles and a great extended warranty to go with it.

Try to find one that has not had any aftermarket upgrades done to it other than maybe exhaust work.  Depending on you price range any of the above with under 100-k miles is going to be hard to find.  Around here a nice 99-03 F-350 with the 7.3L and 4x4 with under a 100-k will run around the 15-k ++ range easy!  I just sold a 04 single wheel F-350 4X4, 6.0L, auto, LARRIAT truck with a 158-k miles for $12,700 at the auction last week.

HTB, I know you have a lot more experience with trucks than I do. It seems that everyone I know that owns a 250/350 diesel with a leaf sprung front end (99-04) has had to get major front end repair at some point usually right around the 100k mile mark.

You are correct that the tranny's get a bad wrap from guys that tune them, however I have known about 5 completely stock trucks to get the infamous flashing OD OFF light.

For someone that has no diesel experience, especially no 6.0 experience, I would be hesitant to recommend an 03-05. BUT 06 and 07 absolutely! 

Here in Ohio, a nice low milieage (80-90k) 2003 350 DRW Lariat with a 7.3 4x4 will sell all day long for $20-23k. My F-I-L bought one for 23. I bought my 06 XLT 250 6.0 4x4 for $20,500 with 70k. It took me 7 months to find it.

I have noticed that prices on trucks are much less in Texas.

I agree with HTB; as I have a 2001 350 4x4 7.3 that just turned 286,000 hard miles.  It has an automatic transmission that has never been touched, and the engine also has never been touched.  We have replaced rear end bearings, as well as front drive train bearings.  The auto 4x4 has always worked well, and it gets used quite a bit.  You can still find 7.3's out there, and if you do a search on Auto Trader for instance, you can come up with some that have 125K to 140K on them.

I liked the first one so much that I done a search for a F250 with same engine and trans. and found one only 75 miles away that had 125K on it.  It was a 2001 one owner truck, and had only pulled a camper trailer.  I was able to buy it for $14,250.  I replaced a low mileage (135K) 97 Dodge 3500 with it.  I love the Cummins engine, but it was everything else that nickled/dimed me to death.

5 completely stock trucks to get the infamous flashing OD OFF light.

For someone that has no diesel experience, especially no 6.0 experience, I would be hesitant to recommend an 03-05. BUT 06 and 07 absolutely! 

I have noticed that prices on trucks are much less in Texas.

1st, the "flashing light" deal, on 99 to 03 truck 90% of these problems are caused by a $18 to $30 abs sensor that is mounted on top of the rear axle.  Will cause the flashing light and harsh shifting.  A dealer will tell you a good story and make you think you have major tranny trouble.  The other 10% has been the siloniod shift pack in the tranny but only about a $400. fix at worst.

2nd, 03 to 07 6.0L's are pretty much the same accross the board!  03 and early 04 having the best (if there is a best) egr cooler of the bunch.  Late 04 to 07 the egr cooler was changed to a round style cooler.  In 05 there was some turbo issues, 06's was a little turbo upgrade then in 07 the minor turbo issues was fixed by addressing oiling issues inside the turbo.  So finding the best and worst would be hard to do, the perfect engine if you wanted to stay in "stock form" would be have an 03 or 04 with the turbo from an 07.  Or lke I stated buy any of them and spend around $1000. to fix the problems or so-called problems for good.

Yes, for the most part ouur truck do seem to be cheaper priced than other parts of the country and NO RUST issues!

My opinion after looking over your post I would tell you to go with the 02 with the 7.3L

On the other hand if it was myself looking I sure would not pass up the 06/07, but that has to do with I know what to check and know what it takes to fix them and can fix them myself or at least have someone that can do the work cheap for me.

I would spring for the 02 with the 7.3. But like, HTB, I would not pass up a good 6.0.

I know this was directed toward HTB, but I think I can add some pennies. I would not change the factory Baldwin air filter in the 6.0. They are as good as you can get for up to about 500hp. I would get a MBRP exhaust. 4" will be plenty-you may loose power and/or mileage with a 5". You have to look at what your state emissions guidelines are on whether or not to have a catalytic converter-which will decide turbo back or cat-back. Either way, I would not go any bigger than a 3.5" down pipe because 4" can cause bad vibrations. For tuners, an SCT X3 is the way to go. There are various shops out there that will write a custom tune for your truck according to the latest strategy and any modifications you have done. These are by far the safest option if you want to tune the 6.0. Its generally recommended to not tune them though, due to the headgasket failure problems. You will want to steer away from banks, bully dog, etc. because they can be very hard on the tranny.

What I have spent my money on is: SCT X3 with custom tunes from Innovative diesel performance. The tunes I purchased is a towing tune and a stock tune with the EGR valve turned off (I use the stock one). I have done the EGR cooler delete, added a coolant filtration system, and have purchased ARP head studs and will be installing next month. Exhaust is on the list, but not feasible after the $500 studs.

Also remember a good set of gauges or an Edge insight. These help keep tabs on the important temps.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

First off, I didn't read everything above, but I'm sure that HTB and others gave you some great advice.

Second. I have owned 4 F350s. a 2000, 2003, 2006 and now a 2011.  I put about 100,000 miles on each truck and sold them. So my experience is limited to use 100,000 can't speak at all about high mileage trucks.

Third, I tow a LOT. 4H GN trailer. Skid loaders, Mini Excavator, dump trailer.  I'll bet more than 50% of the mileage on my trucks was with a trailer hooked up. I did a lot of short drives. As a builder, I would often stop by the Lumber yard, plumbing supply, bank and 5-6 jobsites each day.  Lots of starting and stopping.

2000 model , As mentioned the 7.3L is a good engine rated at 235hp, the tranmission was a 4sp and was a little weak. I never had a problem, but heard plenty of horror stories from others of tranny failures. The brakes rotors were prone to warping. About 35,000 miles and you would be turning them.  On my 2000 they went bad at 35,000 so Ford fixed them under warranty. Bad again around 70,000 and that was my dime. My truck had a 60 hp Superchip and 3.5" exhaust.  Would have to watch Pyro temps when lugging up any kind of long grade with trailer.  The tranny on the 7.3L released the Torque Convertor when ever you stepped on the brake. So you had almost no engine braking on down hill grades.

2003 model.  I had a 6.0L that was built the first week of production. First 6.0L in the state. At 3000 miles I had some serious tranny problems, Ford Replaced the tranny and I never had another tranny problem. Truck  had some minor problems, VGT silenoid, ICP,  Ford replaced these under warranty and the truck ran fine until I sold it. The TorqueShift 5speed tranny is much better transmission the EO4 on that was mated to the 7.3L  It would keep the Torque Convertor locked up in Tow/Haul mode when you started down a grade. So you did have some engine braking with this rip. 6.0L is rated at 325 hp. I got about the same fuel mileage as my 2000 7.3L.  There were numerous complaints about injectors with the 2003 6.0L engines. I never had a problem with the injectors and the few problems I had were all repaired under warranty and never resurfaced.

In 2005 Ford redesigned the front end of the truck Coil Springs in place of leafs. They installed larger brake Rotors that solved the brake wear that had plagued earlier models. The new suspension allowed a long bed truck to turn in the same radius as the older model short bed trucks.

I had my  2006 truck for 4 years and 108,000 miles. It had an edge programer that I ran at the lowest  or ecconomy setting ( about a 15hp increase). I tried the Tow mode ( 50 hp increase) and didn't want to worry about hurting the engine and returned to the ecconomy mode. I never even tried it at any of the souped up settings. I used the programer to re-calibrate Odo for larger tires and to retrieve error codes from the PCM. I also had a B&D Exhaust brake on that truck.  I had a few things go bad on that truck, A solinoid for the #2 gear in the tranny, $700, A speed sensor in the rear end, A vacuum pump.  At about 98,000 miles I had the FCIM and High Pressure Oil Rails went bad, Warranty covered them, if I would have had to pay, they would have cost around$1800.  I did replace 4 glow plugs in that truck over 108,000 mile life.   Bottom line, is that if you buy a 6.0L engine, and these things have not been replaced, You could spend $2000 to $3000 having them replaced outside of warranty.  $3000 will fix most anything that might go wrong with the 6.0L.   I think you will find most 6.0L trucks selling a little cheaper and that savings will help to fix any problems

I see 2006 F350 in good shape going thru the auctions for $21000.

In general any of the trucks will have maintenance items, The older the truck the more chance that you will need to replace an alternator, serpentine belt, shocks, ball joints, brakes, water pump, etc. Some of these items are very very difficult to get your hands in and replace. The serpentine belts are especially hard to get in and out. It was mentioned the oil pans rusting on the older trucks.

The 2008 - 2010 trucks used the 6.4L engine, Which is a dirivative of the 6.0L.  It had a more complex turbo ( about $10,000 for dealer to replace when they are gone), they got worse fuel mileage, But had much more power.  They pump excess diesel fuel into Particulate Filter during the exhaust stroke.   This sometimes causes fuel dilution in the oil. So you need to watch you oil if you buy one of those models.  But these trucks tow much stronger than the either the 7.3 or the 6.0 engines.

Each generation of the engines got quieter than the previous.

Everything prior to 2005 had the 16" wheels.  In 2005 they offered the 18" and 20" wheels.  The replacement tires are more expensive in these larger sizes.  I got around 28,000 miles per set of tires. And I've tried  a lot of brands. These trucks are heavy and eat tires when you work them

The diesels engines also use a special antifreeze. Ford Gold coolant.

Well here goes.....  The $1000.bucks I am talking about is about what it takes to fix the egr cooler and or oil cooler problems the RIGHT WAY!  The right way being by-passing the egr cooler and going with a remote oil cooler.

As far as power adders S&B intake kits are well worth the money and unless you are going for high horse power gains the 5" exhaust is a waste (just my opinion) the 4" does the job and has a good sound too.  That is one good thing about the Powerstrokes, you can run them with no muffler and they do no get loud like the Cummins do.  On the 6.0 engine I think you will find that you really will not need much more than just the exhaust and intake to help with a little power and fuel mileage.  If you need or want more I like the Banks Bullet which is a 60hp plug in upgrade that offers a boost gauge as well as a pyro gauge and sell for $200 or so.  Also I really like the TS Performance 4 bank 6 poss. chip, these offer 6 different settings anywhere from stock, 50hp, 75hp, 100hp, 125hp, valet, high idle option too.

I would NOT add more than about 60hp/75hp on the 6.0 engine unless you have already installed new head gaskets and head bolts!  Power adders are the killer of 6.0 head gaskets!

I would do the exhaust and intake first then see what you think. FYI you do not have to buy one of them high dollar exhuast kit either.  Most muffler shops keep 4" pipe instock and have or can get the 4" man. bent tail pipe.  Most kits run $250 to $400 or so plus labor and most muffler shop can do something like this for $200 to $300....If you was down here we can get it done for $250! 

I would recommend being VERY cautious with the 6.0 Powerstroke engines..   I am a diesel mechanic by trade and have witnessed the worst of the problems with these engines.  I do have to say that I can only tell about the problems I have seen.     The problems are related to design problems in the engine block-heads and related seals.   This continues with turbocharger function and egr issues.   One of my close friends had a 2003 6.0 that was lemon lawed after 2 engines, they then bought a 2005 and the problems continued with that truck.  2 engines in that truck and they stopped paying for it and it was repossessed.     These trucks were not chipped or modified in any way.   The biggest problem they had was dealer and service tec related.   Fords lack of interest in fixing these problems is the heart of the problem.  The lawsuit between the Engine manufacturer and Ford corporate over warranty issues is very telling on the problems with the engines (both 6.0 and 6.4 suffering more than acceptable problems.   

     Having said all of this My older sister just bought here second 6.0 and loves the truck. 

Do you have a competant diesel repair with in reasonible distance?  When something breaks on these, You are probably going to be taking them in, vs doing the repairs yourself.  If you have a good tech nearby that you trust and have a relationship with, I wouldn't be afraid of  2006 or 2007 6.0L truck.  Just knowing that if will require some repairs some where down the road. Buy the truck at a good price and put some money in savings.

If waking up one morning and having a dead truck and finding out the repair will be $1800 scares you, Then buy the 7.3L.  But I think there are enough improvments to justify buyer the newer truck. More power, better tranny, better brakes, better turning radius, more creature comforts inside.

The problems the 6.0L have had, are well documented, The mechanics have fixed them numerous times by now and know what the repair will involve. Once repaired, The engine will easily run another 100,000 miles. The problems are usually the EGR cooler, the FCIM, the HPOP.  Once those are dealt with, you should enjoy the truck.

If you're not paying cash, you may run into financing issues with the older trucks.

Don't be afraid of the 06-07's, but the 02-03 7.3s would be my recommendation as a first diesel. 120,000 miles is nothing.

Good Luck!

These are pretty good sites...  http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/ford-powerstroke-99-03-7-3l-forums/

As retento stated http://www.powerstroke.org/ is my Powerstroke bible!  I have had many of these engines with well over 250-k miles and still in great shape with the big issues being glow plug related or ICP sensor related.  Keep the oil, oil filter, fuel filter and air filters changed and stay with the same type oil for every change. 

I personally prefer thedieselstop.com, but am a member of both. Both sites have their positives and negatives.

Good advice, HTB. Motorcraft oil and oil filters are readily available at any walmart. There is a site called dieselfiltersonline.com that sells the Racor filters (Racor makes Motorcraft and are the same patent) for less than the dealership or walmart. I get all my filters (fuel, oil, air, transmission, etc) from this site.

You do not want to stray away from Motorcraft/Racor filters on either the 6.0 or the 7.3.

Scroll down to find the videos as to why....

http://www.dieselfiltersonline.com/Ford-6-0-Liter-Turbo-Diesel-Truck-Filters.aspx

On edit, (I wish we could edit posts longer than 3 min) I mis-spoke earlier calling the stock 6.0 air filter a Baldwin when in fact it is a Donaldson. My mistake.

Baldwins filters are what just came with my coolant filter kit.