Looking at a 97 limited V8

[RandomNerd2000]

To be fair, the exhaust leak I thought about and realized that it's a big tale tale there's something up

 

[GTMountain]

The 97 still had those uber crap exhaust manifold that start leaking if you sneeze too hard. $200 to swap on the later version and it's a direct bolt on.

 

[CDW6212R]

That truck would take a lot of work and the issues may be a lot of neglect, which can end up with other problems later. I'd pass on it too.

Hunt a 98-01 high optioned 302 Explorer or Mountaineer, those are all virtually alike in features, and reliability.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I'd have passed on it. There are good survivors left. I've got one. Zero rust underneath. Still has factory stickers on everything, and everything works.

No working odometer would be the killer for me. They will ALL Have the manifold/egr tube leak unless it's been fixed.