Darcie
Member
- Joined
- July 6, 2010
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Mpls, MN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 XLT V8, 2007 Ltd. V8
Ok some of you may have read my previous posts where I was having problems figuring out why my '02 kept killing and chugging intermittently on the highway- no shop could figure it out. Pretty much gave up.
I decided to buy another one- and picked up a 2007 Limited with a V8 and towing package, 21,000 miles. Bargained the dealer down to $23,875.
Carfax was good, orig. owners, got recs of service/oil changes regularly, but saw the trans had to be flashed due to a bumping feeling upon stopping. Was a bit concerned about that, but all you guys out there thought it wasn't a big deal. As advised, I did ask them to flush the trans.
However, when I got there (250 miles away) to buy, found a few things not quite right, biggest was the starter sounded horrible, apparently wasn't properly disengaging from flywheel, and I told them I wouldn't buy it unless that was fixed. I agreed to pay for 1/2 the repair. Fine.
Other issue was they told me it hadn't towed anything, just a bike rack, yeah right, good one, saw lots of gouges where the safety chains go...hmmm. Also, salesman told me it had the B to B warranty for another month- wrong- it expired the weekend I bought it. Errr.
Ok I've had it for 10 days now, and today is my appt. at my local dealership for a few fixes (seatbelt, check brakes, replaced cracked taillt, loud exhaust, slight hesitation when cold). I told them I suspected it had been towing something, maybe a boat due to just having had all rims replaced from corrosion (salesman told me this when I picked up)- so I asked, what problems would that create, and he said better check the rear diff fluid. So we did, and it was milky and dirty.
Then they put the truck up on the hoist and were very surprised to see SEVERE rust underneath, on everything- exhaust, fr and rr brakes/calipers, thick coating of rust on anything that could rust. They showed me the underneath of 2 Minnesota trucks driven 7 years with salt in the winter that didn't look 1/2 as bad. They also said there was no way the dealer didn't know this, there was even corrosion all over the starter area where they had just replaced the starter.
I called the dealership back- Charles Gabus Ford in Des Moines- beware- and they flat out refused to take it back. As I was explaining the issues, GM Jim interrupted me said "Let me make this easy for you, under no circumstances will we take it back".
Ok now I'm worried I have an expensive time bomb! What on earth would make it rust that bad, so fast? Did they get it stuck off a dock? in the ocean? for a week???
What else is going to go wrong if this vehicle was submerged? My dealership suggested changing the front diff too, but what about all the seals, electrical, etc?? Is that why the starter sounded so bad? Is that why the brakes are poor? Is that why the exhaust is loud? man I feel like throwing up over this deal, I'm a single mom with a special needs child, I can't afford this- I thought I had checked everything that I should, but never looked underneath a 3 year old vehicle. I got had.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. Darcie
I decided to buy another one- and picked up a 2007 Limited with a V8 and towing package, 21,000 miles. Bargained the dealer down to $23,875.
Carfax was good, orig. owners, got recs of service/oil changes regularly, but saw the trans had to be flashed due to a bumping feeling upon stopping. Was a bit concerned about that, but all you guys out there thought it wasn't a big deal. As advised, I did ask them to flush the trans.
However, when I got there (250 miles away) to buy, found a few things not quite right, biggest was the starter sounded horrible, apparently wasn't properly disengaging from flywheel, and I told them I wouldn't buy it unless that was fixed. I agreed to pay for 1/2 the repair. Fine.
Other issue was they told me it hadn't towed anything, just a bike rack, yeah right, good one, saw lots of gouges where the safety chains go...hmmm. Also, salesman told me it had the B to B warranty for another month- wrong- it expired the weekend I bought it. Errr.
Ok I've had it for 10 days now, and today is my appt. at my local dealership for a few fixes (seatbelt, check brakes, replaced cracked taillt, loud exhaust, slight hesitation when cold). I told them I suspected it had been towing something, maybe a boat due to just having had all rims replaced from corrosion (salesman told me this when I picked up)- so I asked, what problems would that create, and he said better check the rear diff fluid. So we did, and it was milky and dirty.
Then they put the truck up on the hoist and were very surprised to see SEVERE rust underneath, on everything- exhaust, fr and rr brakes/calipers, thick coating of rust on anything that could rust. They showed me the underneath of 2 Minnesota trucks driven 7 years with salt in the winter that didn't look 1/2 as bad. They also said there was no way the dealer didn't know this, there was even corrosion all over the starter area where they had just replaced the starter.
I called the dealership back- Charles Gabus Ford in Des Moines- beware- and they flat out refused to take it back. As I was explaining the issues, GM Jim interrupted me said "Let me make this easy for you, under no circumstances will we take it back".
Ok now I'm worried I have an expensive time bomb! What on earth would make it rust that bad, so fast? Did they get it stuck off a dock? in the ocean? for a week???
What else is going to go wrong if this vehicle was submerged? My dealership suggested changing the front diff too, but what about all the seals, electrical, etc?? Is that why the starter sounded so bad? Is that why the brakes are poor? Is that why the exhaust is loud? man I feel like throwing up over this deal, I'm a single mom with a special needs child, I can't afford this- I thought I had checked everything that I should, but never looked underneath a 3 year old vehicle. I got had.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. Darcie
