[mr48chev]

Take a nice day and just "go for a ride". Expand the horizons a bit and maybe cruise a few back roads and through a few small towns. You can still find trucks sitting in yards and in front of businesses with for sale signs in the window.

Personally I'd rather find a solid and decent running truck with the original paint job still on it even though the paint may be pretty tired and worn. Not for the "patina" thing as guy here know how I feel about that but simply so that I can see what the body is really like. Fresh primer scares me off and a fresh but very cheap paint job usually turns me off. Usually those are to cover something up or the sellers idea of "value added".

If you want a finished or near finished truck use every source available. You already do Ebay but check Craigslist adds in surrounding cities and maybe states. figure out how far you are willing to drive to go look at a truck and go from there. 50 miles is too far for some guys while 500 miles is just a weekend jaunt for others.

Don't pay extra for added stuff you don't intend to use. If a guy has a brand new set of 15 inch Americans with matching tires and you want 20's with low profile tires I'd see if he would keep his wheels and tires and knock the price of the truck down.

Swap meets like Carlisle are great but you have to remember that guys with trucks there for sale usually plan on getting top dollar. But if the truck is still there on Sunday cash quite often talks pretty loud.