US man buys ambulance for $5,000 from Facebook Marketplace thinking he got a good deal before the auto shop revealed his mistake
Published on Jan 24, 2026 at 4:46 AM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Jan 22, 2026 at 8:06 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A US man decided to buy an ambulance for $5,000 from Facebook Marketplace, thinking he got a good deal before the auto shop revealed his mistake.
What looked like a cheap way into a DIY camper quickly turned into a cautionary tale.
The 2005 ambulance had around 190,000 miles on the clock, but the shop warned that this number barely tells the story on an emergency vehicle.
After a quick inspection, the mechanics found signs that the engine was already in deep trouble.
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Facebook Marketplace ambulance purchase goes wrong
This owner brought a strange car to the auto shop that he had bought on Facebook Marketplace.
It was an ambulance that had started overheating, and the owner was hoping it was something minor.
The auto shop took one look and immediately suspected the usual heavy hitters for an older diesel that spent so many years idling.
In this case, they focused on the cooling system, and what they found looked pretty ugly.
When the mechanic checked the overflow bottle, he spotted the dangerous combination: oil and coolant mixing.
That kind of contamination points to serious failures, often starting with a ruptured oil cooler and sometimes taking other components down with it.
It also started to spread everywhere, and the team pulled a radiator hose out to peek inside and found the inside coated, with the hose material decomposing into a gooey mess.
That is when the real nightmare starts.
Once oil is circulating through the cooling system, it can contaminate hoses, the radiator, and the heater core.
Flushing it was a battle, and replacing every contaminated line adds time and costs fast.
On top of that, access is difficult in an ambulance engine bay like this, with the shop joking that you could barely see the engine.
It will cost more to repair it than it cost to buy it
On the phone, the buyer explained that he paid $5,000 on Facebook Marketplace and did not get a pre-purchase inspection, which he seemed to regret now.
The buyer is a mechanic, but more old-school and not experienced with modern diesel platforms, especially the specific Ford one found in many ambulances and work trucks.
The shop warned the buyer that the minimum repair bill could land around $5,000, with a real chance it could climb higher, and then he’s paying far more than the vehicle itself for repairs.
They also made it clear that even adding upgraded aftermarket parts wouldn’t guarantee long-term reliability if the underlying engine was already compromised.
In the end, the mechanic offered the buyer blunt advice: disclose the issues and consider reselling it, even if it means taking a loss, rather than sinking thousands into a build that might never be worth it.
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As a Content Writer since January 2025, Daisy’s focus is on writing stories on topics spanning the entirety of the website. As well as writing about EVs, the history of cars, tech, and celebrities, Daisy is always the first to pitch the seed of an idea to the audience editor team, who collab with her to transform it into a fully informative and engaging story.
