Was I taken for a ride? [LONG]

[Scormunch]

Hey everyone, maybe you can help me out with this... about 6 months ago I bought a '97 EB with about 85,000 miles. I got what my family thought was a great deal... almost too good to be true. Well now I'm thinking it may just have been.

About a month and 500 miles after the purchase, I had to spend another $1500 to replace a whole host of parts... both upper and lower ball joints, tie rods, you name it. Well, the Ford dealer still recommended I keep the car because even with the problems, I still got it below wholesale.

A few weeks later, the ping (yeah, the familiar clicking noise on acceleration and loads and whatnot) pops up and my center info center thing starts beeping about the Air Ride suspension. The funny thing is, my 97' 5.0 doesn't have the Air Ride.

I also started noticing funny things about the car... for example, there are V8 AWD badges on the drivers side front quarterpanel yet missing everywhere else, while on the rear hatch, there is a badge for 'Controltrac 4WD'. V8 with 4WD? No Controltrac switch? Is something fishy?

Finally, today... I brought the car in to Jiffy Lube for an oil change today and the head mechanic told me something about an 'X' in the VIN number meaning that I had a factory 4.0 V6... while I clearly have a V8.

Am I just being paranoid or should I do more to search into the background... I was told by a trusted mechanic, the local Ford Dealership and my dad (I'm 17, and am struggling against all odds to keep this car financially) that the car was in awesome condition. Also, the Carfax showed no accidents or whatnot, and the car has a clean title. Now that I'm typing this, it sounds silly but every time I get into the car, I just think something isn't just right... I'm still taken by what I found out today... could it be a rebuild, which would explain the mismatched badges and wrong engine?

Sorry guys for the length, but I'm just getting the feeling I was taken for the teen I am...

 

[SaleenEXP]

Something is wrong if your vin # doesn't match up. For all you know they mighta yanked the V6 out and put in the V8, that wouldn't be bad though b/c the V6 slow, but the Emblems and everything else is weird.

 

[jobunn]

It really sounds like a salvage title. I've friends with horror stories from salvage title cars. Did you buy the car from a Garage or a dealer? Either way it should have been disclosed to you that it was a salvage title. Go back to who you bought it from and ask right away.

 

[espnfreak]

under the hood does it say 5.0? or 4.0 efi, the 5.0 is silver, 4.0 black

 

[section525]

What probably happened was they took the "cab" of a V6 X and put in on a V8 chassis. The V8 was probably rolled or wreck, and had a bad title, but they got a V6 with a ship shape title and based all the registration off that one.

 

[Crankcase]

I am also thinking it had a V6, but was changed to a V8.

The Vin plate could have also been switched. Does the door jamb vin# match the one on the dash?

The sticker above the radiator should show the V8 belt routing also.....

 

[SWLathrop]

Another thing to look for is the factory traction bars. The V-8's were the only Explorers to come with them. They will be bolted from the frame to factory welded brackets on the rear axle.

 

[Robert]

What is the 8th letter of your VIN? X = 4.0 OHV, E = 4.0 SOHC, P = 5.0 V8.

 

[Crankcase]

Originally posted by section525
What probably happened was they took the "cab" of a V6 X and put in on a V8 chassis. The V8 was probably rolled or wreck, and had a bad title, but they got a V6 with a ship shape title and based all the registration off that one.

That is what I was thinking about the VIN not matching......If they did that, they gooofed by leaving on the Control trac badges....

 

[dogfriend]

sounds like a salvage job (or worse, stolen ) It is also possible that it was an engine swap gone wrong, but I don't think it is likely that someone who put that much effort in would turn around and sell.

you should have it checked to make sure the frame looks straight and that it is otherwise roadworthy and safe. Just because it might be made from more than one vehicle doesn't necessarily make it unsafe, but the likelyhood is higher that it could have some damage/ weirdness that you might not be aware of.

My sister once bought an Opel GT (not recommended) and had it for several years before my brother-in-law discovered that it was made from the front half of one and the rear half of another. It wasn't an entirely happy car (and wasn't as safe either)

I don't know about the laws where you live, but in CA the seller must disclose that the vehicle is salvaged (it is stamped onto the title). This lowers the resale considerably. If the laws are similar in your state, and you can prove that the seller knew about the history, you might have recourse because it would be fraud.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

My guess is that this is a salvage/reconstructed vehicle. The ControlTrac badge on a V8 vehicle is one giveaway, as is the V8 AWD badging, which I don't think showed up until 98 (the badging, not the V8). Just because the VIN checks out with Carfax does not mean that everything is alright. VINs can be changed and titles can be laundered. The fact that the VIN does not seem to match the options on your truck tells me that it most likely has been switched out with another vehicle. Run the Carfax again and post it up here if you like so we can see what it says. You can also (I think) run the VIN through Ford, and they can tell you exactly what vehicle matches that VIN and what options came on it. The dash plate is not the only place that the VIN is stamped on the vehicle either. There should be VIN numbers stamped onto the frame, inside the driver's door jam, etc. Start looking around and see what you can find. Good luck!

Mike

 

[flyguy]

Man, I wanna see what happens with this... although I have a 94 we bought new. And it has all the problems you list every 500 miles... or less!

nick

 

[rvitek]

Carfax?

You can submit your VIN # on Carfax and they can verify everything you want to know.

Also, http://myford.fordvehicles.com will let you put in your VIN # and they'll identify your truck as well.

Good luck!

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by Mike 92 XLT
The dash plate is not the only place that the VIN is stamped on the vehicle either. There should be VIN numbers stamped onto the frame, inside the driver's door jam, etc. Start looking around and see what you can find. Good luck!

Mike

Yes, I agree. I was looking to see where it should be stamped on the frame in my factory manual, but the manual doesnt seem to show where. In theory, you should be able to match engine and trans serial numbers to the VIN but I don't know how difficult this would be.

 

[Scormunch]

Ok, the electricity was finally turned back on about an hour ago... seems the hurricane off the coast is giving us some gale-force wind. Anyways, thanks for everyones posts! There are some good suggestions... even though I was hoping it was just my mistake, I'm glad there are some ppl out there who know what they're talking about. Hmm I'll try my best at this ->

It really sounds like a salvage title. I've friends with horror stories from salvage title cars. Did you buy the car from a Garage or a dealer? Either way it should have been disclosed to you that it was a salvage title. Go back to who you bought it from and ask right away.

I just got off the phone with the previous owner, and he claims that he bought it at 15k miles, it has never been in any accidents and has a clean title.

under the hood does it say 5.0? or 4.0 efi, the 5.0 is silver, 4.0 black

Well...

What is the 8th letter of your VIN? X = 4.0 OHV, E = 4.0 SOHC, P = 5.0 V8.

As pointed out by the guy at Jiffy Lube, the VIN indicates an X, a 4.0 OHV

My guess is that this is a salvage/reconstructed vehicle. The ControlTrac badge on a V8 vehicle is one giveaway, as is the V8 AWD badging, which I don't think showed up until 98 (the badging, not the V8). Just because the VIN checks out with Carfax does not mean that everything is alright. VINs can be changed and titles can be laundered. The fact that the VIN does not seem to match the options on your truck tells me that it most likely has been switched out with another vehicle. Run the Carfax again and post it up here if you like so we can see what it says. You can also (I think) run the VIN through Ford, and they can tell you exactly what vehicle matches that VIN and what options came on it. The dash plate is not the only place that the VIN is stamped on the vehicle either. There should be VIN numbers stamped onto the frame, inside the driver's door jam, etc. Start looking around and see what you can find. Good luck!

I'm looking for as many VIN's as I can... when I have time. I'm still a HS student, and usually dont get home from soccer and my job until 9ish at night, so I'll have to wait til the weekend. 7am-9pm is just too long :-/

Ok, thanks again everyone... I'll try to keep everyone posted and think about my legal options if it was a bad sale.

- Tim

 

[dogfriend]

Another bit of speculation:

The guy who sold it to you could be telling the truth...the guy who sold it to him could have been the one to salvage it. A vehicle with low mileage for its age is suspicious because it doesn't rack up mileage while it is being rebuilt. Your truck is reasonable for mileage for its age though.

What seems suspicious to me is the front end work needed at 85k. My 97 has 80k and the front suspension still seems pretty tight. I'm thinking that they might have used a higher mileage explorer for the chassis parts and used the odometer from a lower mileage (wreaked) explorer. The clean title was the 4.0L truck and the wreaked one was the V8.

Does it look like it has been repainted? Look for telltale signs around window mouldings and such. I would particularly look at the rear hatch and at the front fenders and hood, because if it was salvaged then one end or the other (or both) had damage and would have been repainted. You could remove interior trim from hatch or inside fender plastic to tell. Most people wouldn't bother to repaint these areas.

 

[section525]

Check out this Jeep Tarheel found. If this can have a clean title, anything can.

 

[Scormunch]

Does it look like it has been repainted? Look for telltale signs around window mouldings and such. I would particularly look at the rear hatch and at the front fenders and hood, because if it was salvaged then one end or the other (or both) had damage and would have been repainted. You could remove interior trim from hatch or inside fender plastic to tell. Most people wouldn't bother to repaint these areas.

I didn't think of that before, but my hood is scattered with little cracks, like it is much older than 97' suggests. I thought it was just common, but... also, the rear hatch has horrible paint quality. Even after waxing, using a clay bar, etc., the paint just feels gritty... I can never get it as nice as other areas of the car. For some reason, I also thought this was just because of the design and the milage of the car, because the back window, moulding and bumper just seem to collect dust and sand. But maybe...

 

[jasonb]

wow..
that's messed up.. i'm also curious as to the outcome. sounds like a salvage job to me!

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

Hmmm, OK, the V8 badge is actually correct for the 97 model year (I forgot about those), but the ControlTrac badge is definitely wrong, plus the fact that there is only a V8 badge on one side. That combined with the poor paint quality on certain body panels and the "X" in the VIN sounds like a reconstruction job to me. Your best bet now is to start tracking VIN numbers around the vehicle and see if they match up.

Mike