wallster
Member
- Joined
- November 21, 2010
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Buffalo, NY
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2004 XLT
Hey to everybody! I've owned several F150's over the years but decided to get a little more interior room this time (plus the convenience of owning a p/u was getting a little crazy from friends and neighbors!) so I set my sites on an Explorer. I've always been a Ford and Jeep customer and since I had a 2005 Grand Cherokee last year that I didn't care for, the Explorer sounded like the right sized suv for me.
I'm fairly mechanically inclined and thankfully, a friend of mine owns a collision shop so I tried to find something that's been in an accident (that's been totalled) but not something that's really hammered. I prefered an Explorer that were taken well care of to begin with. Last October I ran across this gem. She's a 2004 XLT with just over 70K miles, real nice interior (leather, sunroof, all the goodies). She was hit in the nose and didn't look like too much trouble to repair. The core support was banged up but fixable, the upper support rail (on the drivers side) was wrinkled but fixable, and the frame horns were bent but again, fixable (with the use of a frame machine).
I found a receipt inside that had the previous owners name, address, and phone number on it so I phoned them looking for the missing owners manual and a possible extra key/key fob. They were very nice and explained how someone pulled out in front of them and they t-boned the other car, thankfully nobody was injured. They ended up selling me a brand new set of Bridgestone tires (they had them on the Explorer for a week when the accident occured and removed them before the insurance adjuster totalled it), an extra key, remote fob, and a remote starter key fob for $400. They loved the vehicle and gave me a bunch of maintenance receipts as well.
To make a long story shorter, we stripped the front end, straightened out the bent stuff, replaced the hood, fenders, header, radiator, headlights, bumper cover, and upper fan shroud. I've attached before, during, and after pics to check out. I just have to attach the front license plate bracket and adhere the Explorer emblems on the door. I should have it back on the road by next weekend (NYS DMV has to inspect the work and look over the parts receipts, then they issue a new "rebuilt-salvage" title). I've had a few vehicles that had similar circumstances and they've really worked out well for me.
Thanks for having me here, reading my lengthy post, and I'm looking forward to more informative posts from everyone.
Wally
I'm fairly mechanically inclined and thankfully, a friend of mine owns a collision shop so I tried to find something that's been in an accident (that's been totalled) but not something that's really hammered. I prefered an Explorer that were taken well care of to begin with. Last October I ran across this gem. She's a 2004 XLT with just over 70K miles, real nice interior (leather, sunroof, all the goodies). She was hit in the nose and didn't look like too much trouble to repair. The core support was banged up but fixable, the upper support rail (on the drivers side) was wrinkled but fixable, and the frame horns were bent but again, fixable (with the use of a frame machine).
I found a receipt inside that had the previous owners name, address, and phone number on it so I phoned them looking for the missing owners manual and a possible extra key/key fob. They were very nice and explained how someone pulled out in front of them and they t-boned the other car, thankfully nobody was injured. They ended up selling me a brand new set of Bridgestone tires (they had them on the Explorer for a week when the accident occured and removed them before the insurance adjuster totalled it), an extra key, remote fob, and a remote starter key fob for $400. They loved the vehicle and gave me a bunch of maintenance receipts as well.
To make a long story shorter, we stripped the front end, straightened out the bent stuff, replaced the hood, fenders, header, radiator, headlights, bumper cover, and upper fan shroud. I've attached before, during, and after pics to check out. I just have to attach the front license plate bracket and adhere the Explorer emblems on the door. I should have it back on the road by next weekend (NYS DMV has to inspect the work and look over the parts receipts, then they issue a new "rebuilt-salvage" title). I've had a few vehicles that had similar circumstances and they've really worked out well for me.
Thanks for having me here, reading my lengthy post, and I'm looking forward to more informative posts from everyone.
Wally
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