Hello everyone,,

I'm new to diesel trucks but looking to buy an F350 to haul my camper while I travel full time. I just put money down on a 2014 F350 dually and the dealer mentioned that it is deleted. I've only just researched enough to even know what this means, and haven't had the truck inspected by a mechanic yet.

Is it safe/legal/a good idea to buy a deleted truck? Is the dealership that's selling it legit for doing so? What things do I need to know about dpf deletes in general as a diesel newbie, and what questions should I be asking the salesman and the mechanic? Thank you for any advice you guys have! 

the epa is pretty hard on deletes now.  If you are not inclided to replace all that stuff down the road I wouldn't.  

 

Depending on where you live you might not even be able to get it on the road.  

 

Its not legal, and the dealership cannot legally sell it. 

It can be a good idea

it can be safe depending on how it was done.   

I will no longer will suggest deletes. After seeing how dealers will not sell deleted truck or even take them in. Too much trouble to delete then gave laws change and get caught with a truck missing all the smog stuff. 

If you have to have any emissions inspections done to keep it registered, it will fail. Even places that don't do emissions testing but require inspection are supposed to fail it, some shops will, some won't.

 

I wouldn't shy away from a deleted truck, but in my case, I do not have to worry so much. That may change in the future. The dealership seems like they are trying to sweep a trade in under the rug so they don't have to eat it, likely they didn't check it first or they got it for a steal. Can be very costly to replace all the ripped out or gutted components. 

On 8/14/2020 at 2:32 AM, Moosewala said:

Hello everyone,,

I'm new to diesel trucks but looking to buy an F350 to haul my camper while I travel full time. I just put money down on a 2014 F350 dually and the dealer mentioned that it is deleted. I've only just researched enough to even know what this means, and haven't had the truck inspected by a mechanic yet https://100001.onl/ https://1921681254.mx/ https://happymod.site/.

Is it safe/legal/a good idea to buy a deleted truck? Is the dealership that's selling it legit for doing so? What things do I need to know about dpf deletes in general as a diesel newbie, and what questions should I be asking the salesman and the mechanic? Thank you for any advice you guys have! 

 

Thanks for all that info. I'm current in Washington and buying it there, but planning to move to Colorado. It looks like CO does to emissions testing on diesels... is that a no-go right there?

The tuner on the truck is an H&S mini maxx... how do I figure out what tunes it has on it? Can the mechanic tell me? I'm bringing it in to a diesel mechanic, but he's not powerstroke specific. Are there any specific tunes that are extra detrimental to the engine long-term or that I should be looking out for? 

Depends what County in Colorado your moving to. Some do emissions and some don’t 

On 8/15/2020 at 2:41 AM, Moosewala said:

 

Thanks for all that info. I'm current in Washington and buying it there, but planning to move to Colorado. It looks like CO does to emissions testing on diesels... is that a no-go right there?

The tuner on the truck is an H&S mini maxx... how do I figure out what tunes it has on it? Can the mechanic tell me? I'm bringing it in to a diesel mechanic, but he's not powerstroke specific. Are there any specific tunes that are extra detrimental to the engine long-term or that I should be looking out for? 

H&S Mini Max works two ways. It can be a stand alone tuner with built in tunes (without deleting) or it can be a platform to install custom tunes provided by a person that creates custom delete tunes which is what you need to run deleted. The custom tunes are complete tunes and do not piggy back the tunes that come with the H&S. Your H&S should have the stock tune in it on the memory card that you would need to return it to stock. If it is deleted, than any tune that is running was sold to the previous owner and loaded onto the H&S memory card. The only person who can tell you anything about the tunes (HP, Torque) is the person who created them. As for how safe tunes are to use, depends on the tunes and how you drive. Lower level tunes like 1 or 2 are for towing and generally safe but higher level like 3&4 are generally not good for towing but again, this depends on how the tuner set them up as well as how big of a load you are towing. One person might prefer fuel economy and smaller gains while another might be all about lots of HP and blowing smoke. These tunes are not off-the-shelf and can be all over the board. I have seen a custom 12v tune for a 6.7L Cummins that made it rattle like a 12v on purpose. Heck, if you prefer the tuner can make tune 1 hot and tune 4 stockish.

 

It is illegal for anyone to sell a vehicle in the US with a modified or deleted emission control device and the seller (at least in California) can be held liable for any repairs required to make a vehicle compliant, even after the sale.

 

In addition, it is getting more difficult to get tuners that can run deletes and even harder to find the people to sell you custom tunes because the EPA has been cracking down on these modifications.

Edited October 5, 20204 yr by Eric H.