I would send in a sample of oil and transmission fluid to have it analyzed. This would give you an idea of life expectancy of the most critical components. 300,000 miles on a V6 is a lot, but if it has been taken care of it might last 500,000 or more.

Insider secret, if the yard paid $ 500 for it, offer $ 550. The cost of labor, machinery, transporting, etc. will be much higher than $ 50. As a non-employee of a yard, it is easy to buy things with negotiation at lower prices than the general public. My usual deal is to load what I want on the trailer before weighing. Essentially I trade steel for steel.

$ 500 scrap value is much higher than I can get around here. The curb weight of this vehicle is 3,750 pds. including fluids. Based on the local market around here, $ 100 dollars would be a great deal.

The negotiation that I would recommend is to borrow the pickup until it dies and offer $ 50 for the right. Then sell it as scrap since you are an employee. If you are honest and good to your word, the scrap yard makes $50 without any effort.