fordktpjoe
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- Joined
- August 3, 2006
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- City, State
- Bloomfield, Kentucky
Some of you have been following my experience in trying to buy an Explorer.
I have been posting the more interesting experiences here in an effort to entertain you guys/girls, and hopefully to help others learn what to watch out for.
So, without further adieu, on to part III.
Last Saturday, the wife and I were in Bardstown, KY (about 16 miles from our home) we had just spent the previous three weekends putting better than 2,500 miles on the 'ol Crown Vic driving all over the state, and into a couple other states as well to look at first gen Explorers, mostly rusted, beaten down, worn out pieces of junk, with no rocker panels, ranging anywhere from $1,500, to $2,995.
So, saturday we're in town, going to get a pizza, and we drive past the local Ford dealership, and to our surprize, sitting right out front is a first gen Explorer! $1,988 scrawled across the windshield in those gaudy stick on numbers that the car dealers think are so cool.
It was early evening, and cloudy, and raining a bit, so it looked black. So we go two blocks down to Domino's, order our pizza, tell 'em we'll be back to get it, and RACE back to the dealership.
I hop out and run over to it, while at the same time trying not to look as though I am actually running so the folks passing by in traffic don't think I am as much of an idiot as I really am.
What I find is a 1994 Explorer, 4dr, 4X4, 5sp, in what appears to be MINT condition. So here I am, on my knees on rain soaked ground looking at the rockers checking for rust (there wasn't any) looking for dents, or telltale signs of an accident. (none) It was too dark to see the odometer, but I could tell that the interior was gray, and VERY clean. OHMYGOD! I HAVE FOUND HER! (I would have sworn I could hear angels singing)
It was 5:10 pm. Damn. they close at 5 on Saturday. Closed on Sunday. S**T!
Monday I go to work, fighting the urge ALL DAY not to call and ask about the vehicle, don't want them thinking "Oh yeah, we got us an easy sale here, Bubba!"
So. 4:30 Monday afternoon FINALLY rolls around, after what seemed like 14 years, and I jogged ..no, make that sprinted out to the car, and pulled a Dale Earnhardt Senior All the way from Louisville, to Bardstown. (about 45 miles)
Traffic on the Gene Snyder freeway at 4:30 in the afternoon is killer. CRAP!
I roll into the lot at 5:50...there are two people there and they look like they're getting ready to leave.
WHAT???? They're supposed to be open until 7 on weekdays!
So walking very quickly...but NOT running, I go to the door, where a salesman meets me.
"Hi! I'm James, what can I do ya for today?"
"You guys closing? I thought you were open until 7?"
"Yeah, well, we are, usually, but it really depends on what kind of traffic we're getting"
CHA CHING!!!! Hmmm....not many buyers means maybe a better deal, right?
So I tell him I am interested in the Explorer, and now it's HIS turn to run! Back inside, grab the keys, and back out to me, panting like he's just run the Boston Marathon. Seeing my Ford uniform and jacket, he figures I got money.
Yeah, I work at a Ford Truck Plant.
"Oh, we just took this in Friday, it's a two owner, mint condition, owned by a dealer who had all the maintenance done at the dealership exactly when it was due, everytime it needed a part, he had genuine ford parts put on it...Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.
PO was the General Manager at Swope Honda in Louisville. Wait. Swope HONDA???? And he drives 40 miles to trade the thing in at a different dealership???? RED FLAG NUMBER ONE!
Dude says, "She runs like a swiss watch, her clutch is good and tight, 4X4 works, everything on this vehicle works as it should, let's take her for a ride!"
Feeling a bit deflated, but still intrigued, I agree. Keep in mind at this point I haven't even thought to ask about the mileage.
So I unlock the door, the interior light comes on, and now I can see the interior really well, MAN it looked good! looked as though everyone had taken their shoes off when they got in.
Hop my but up in the drivers seat and get my first look at the odo.
308,813.
My ballon had just burst.
Well here I am, sitting in what amounts to a mint condition '94 Explorer, except for the fact that it has THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND miles on it, and I figure I'll drive it and see.
Dude wasn't lying. Ran BETTER than a swiss watch. no noises. no vibrations. no missing, no skipping, sluggishness, no nothing. It just ran.
A tad bit loose on the road, but not much, not as much as the Crown Vic anyway, coulda been something as simple as radius arm bushings, didn't hear anything though.
Clutch? Hard to tell. It shifted kinda hard between some of the gears sometimes, coulda been the clutch, coulda been synchros, your guess is as good as mine.
The instument panel light worked, but were kind of dim, and wouldn't adjust with the knob, the radio didn't light up, the 4x4 buttons didn't light up, howerver the heater control panel did. The speedo needle bounced all over the place sometimes, and at other times it just read about 20 mph too high.
Oil pressure looked OK, but we all know on a Ford, they are no more than a glorified idiot light, hell the oil pressure could have been 10 psi. Or 8.
I LOVE this thing, but that 300,000 is freaking me out. I know all you gurus are saying "Buy it idiot! drive it until it pops, and put another engine in it!" I'd do that if I had a garage to work in. Besides, remember, the tranny, transfer case, and rear axle also have those miles too. PLUS this is going to have to be my DD, so I have to be able to trust it.
But I digress.
So we go back inside, and Dude asks me "Ready to make an offer?"
I said "Yeah, a strictly CASH offer"
"$1,350 out the door" He looked at me kinda funny for a minute, then has me fill out a "buyers cash offer" form, then asks me to sign it.
"Nope." "What?" "I ain't signing nothing". "You go give my offer to the boss man, if he accepts, I'll sign."
Now I am pissed. It's nearly 7:00, my wife has called to see if I bought it, and to tell me supper is ready, and I am hungry and tired.
The Boss comes back with $1,638 out the door.
I get up to leave with out saying a word. I am done.
They are pleading. "What's wrong Mr. Dukes? it's only a $300 difference!"
"Then YOU pay it!" "That's the best we can do, your offer was what we took it in for!"
"Sorry 'bout your luck guys."
Three hundred bucks. I have been mulling this over all week. I am SO torn.
Love the truck, but scared to death of those miles.
I'd hate like hell to buy a $1,600 vehicle, and wind up with $7,500 in it BEFORE I could start any mods.
Sorry this was so long, I hope it was entertaining!
Joe
I have been posting the more interesting experiences here in an effort to entertain you guys/girls, and hopefully to help others learn what to watch out for.
So, without further adieu, on to part III.
Last Saturday, the wife and I were in Bardstown, KY (about 16 miles from our home) we had just spent the previous three weekends putting better than 2,500 miles on the 'ol Crown Vic driving all over the state, and into a couple other states as well to look at first gen Explorers, mostly rusted, beaten down, worn out pieces of junk, with no rocker panels, ranging anywhere from $1,500, to $2,995.
So, saturday we're in town, going to get a pizza, and we drive past the local Ford dealership, and to our surprize, sitting right out front is a first gen Explorer! $1,988 scrawled across the windshield in those gaudy stick on numbers that the car dealers think are so cool.
It was early evening, and cloudy, and raining a bit, so it looked black. So we go two blocks down to Domino's, order our pizza, tell 'em we'll be back to get it, and RACE back to the dealership.
I hop out and run over to it, while at the same time trying not to look as though I am actually running so the folks passing by in traffic don't think I am as much of an idiot as I really am.
What I find is a 1994 Explorer, 4dr, 4X4, 5sp, in what appears to be MINT condition. So here I am, on my knees on rain soaked ground looking at the rockers checking for rust (there wasn't any) looking for dents, or telltale signs of an accident. (none) It was too dark to see the odometer, but I could tell that the interior was gray, and VERY clean. OHMYGOD! I HAVE FOUND HER! (I would have sworn I could hear angels singing)
It was 5:10 pm. Damn. they close at 5 on Saturday. Closed on Sunday. S**T!
Monday I go to work, fighting the urge ALL DAY not to call and ask about the vehicle, don't want them thinking "Oh yeah, we got us an easy sale here, Bubba!"
So. 4:30 Monday afternoon FINALLY rolls around, after what seemed like 14 years, and I jogged ..no, make that sprinted out to the car, and pulled a Dale Earnhardt Senior All the way from Louisville, to Bardstown. (about 45 miles)
Traffic on the Gene Snyder freeway at 4:30 in the afternoon is killer. CRAP!
I roll into the lot at 5:50...there are two people there and they look like they're getting ready to leave.
WHAT???? They're supposed to be open until 7 on weekdays!
So walking very quickly...but NOT running, I go to the door, where a salesman meets me.
"Hi! I'm James, what can I do ya for today?"
"You guys closing? I thought you were open until 7?"
"Yeah, well, we are, usually, but it really depends on what kind of traffic we're getting"
CHA CHING!!!! Hmmm....not many buyers means maybe a better deal, right?
So I tell him I am interested in the Explorer, and now it's HIS turn to run! Back inside, grab the keys, and back out to me, panting like he's just run the Boston Marathon. Seeing my Ford uniform and jacket, he figures I got money.
Yeah, I work at a Ford Truck Plant.
"Oh, we just took this in Friday, it's a two owner, mint condition, owned by a dealer who had all the maintenance done at the dealership exactly when it was due, everytime it needed a part, he had genuine ford parts put on it...Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.
PO was the General Manager at Swope Honda in Louisville. Wait. Swope HONDA???? And he drives 40 miles to trade the thing in at a different dealership???? RED FLAG NUMBER ONE!
Dude says, "She runs like a swiss watch, her clutch is good and tight, 4X4 works, everything on this vehicle works as it should, let's take her for a ride!"
Feeling a bit deflated, but still intrigued, I agree. Keep in mind at this point I haven't even thought to ask about the mileage.
So I unlock the door, the interior light comes on, and now I can see the interior really well, MAN it looked good! looked as though everyone had taken their shoes off when they got in.
Hop my but up in the drivers seat and get my first look at the odo.
308,813.
My ballon had just burst.
Well here I am, sitting in what amounts to a mint condition '94 Explorer, except for the fact that it has THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND miles on it, and I figure I'll drive it and see.
Dude wasn't lying. Ran BETTER than a swiss watch. no noises. no vibrations. no missing, no skipping, sluggishness, no nothing. It just ran.
A tad bit loose on the road, but not much, not as much as the Crown Vic anyway, coulda been something as simple as radius arm bushings, didn't hear anything though.
Clutch? Hard to tell. It shifted kinda hard between some of the gears sometimes, coulda been the clutch, coulda been synchros, your guess is as good as mine.
The instument panel light worked, but were kind of dim, and wouldn't adjust with the knob, the radio didn't light up, the 4x4 buttons didn't light up, howerver the heater control panel did. The speedo needle bounced all over the place sometimes, and at other times it just read about 20 mph too high.
Oil pressure looked OK, but we all know on a Ford, they are no more than a glorified idiot light, hell the oil pressure could have been 10 psi. Or 8.
I LOVE this thing, but that 300,000 is freaking me out. I know all you gurus are saying "Buy it idiot! drive it until it pops, and put another engine in it!" I'd do that if I had a garage to work in. Besides, remember, the tranny, transfer case, and rear axle also have those miles too. PLUS this is going to have to be my DD, so I have to be able to trust it.
But I digress.
So we go back inside, and Dude asks me "Ready to make an offer?"
I said "Yeah, a strictly CASH offer"
"$1,350 out the door" He looked at me kinda funny for a minute, then has me fill out a "buyers cash offer" form, then asks me to sign it.
"Nope." "What?" "I ain't signing nothing". "You go give my offer to the boss man, if he accepts, I'll sign."
Now I am pissed. It's nearly 7:00, my wife has called to see if I bought it, and to tell me supper is ready, and I am hungry and tired.
The Boss comes back with $1,638 out the door.
I get up to leave with out saying a word. I am done.
They are pleading. "What's wrong Mr. Dukes? it's only a $300 difference!"
"Then YOU pay it!" "That's the best we can do, your offer was what we took it in for!"
"Sorry 'bout your luck guys."
Three hundred bucks. I have been mulling this over all week. I am SO torn.
Love the truck, but scared to death of those miles.
I'd hate like hell to buy a $1,600 vehicle, and wind up with $7,500 in it BEFORE I could start any mods.
Sorry this was so long, I hope it was entertaining!
Joe
for $1000 !! ...belive it or not so after contacting them and telling them in a friendlly manner to lower their priceing some because they will never -ever get rid of it for whats wrong with it and the price ....... 3 days later they dropped it to $500-700 lol ....some people are greedy now days and you got to watch it .
