The 97 Ford Explorer
I was under the weather for the start of my last vacation
and rather than head out, I did a stay-cation and worked through the cold. On Thursday, Nov 15th I was
looking at cars on Craigslist and found a 97 Ford Explorer being offered for
$3100 with 92K miles and 4WD XLT.
You have to understand that in the last week, my sister
Leslie had the two cars allotted for her boys to drive both break down. The van with well over 200K miles had an
alternator go out (replaced a few days later) and the Toyota with around 100K
ran into the back of an SUV and its future was in question.
So I emailed Leslie and basically told her if she wanted the
car, I’d pick it up. I was really looking
to see if an extra car would help her out rather than cause more problems and
over the next day we determined that yes, a car would help and frankly she didn't have time to go looking. Besides that, a
4WD meant it could be used for skiing which was a big thing for the winter;
Leslie had planned to borrow my Xterra for a long ski trip in January for one.
I contacted the seller and here is where the Back and Forth,
Good and Bad happens with any used car purchase. When you buy a used car, you take on multiple
risks. Some you do by accident and some intentional,
but it’s a tress. The Explorer was in
Wallingford, still for sale, but he did tell me that it had been in an
accident, bought as a Salvage Title and rebuilt by his dad in Idaho (where it
was still registered). That was 5 years
ago. (Mistake #1: I should have asked for the VIN, looked it up on CarFax
and gotten that part of the story.)
Instead, I decided that was not a deal breaker and arranged
to look at the car at 3pm that day. I
picked up my friend John and we met Austin to see the Explorer. It looks in great shape as a whole. The back bumper is at a slight angle and when
the back gate shuts, the rear window feels slightly loose. No water inside the back gate, but something to
pay attention. Hood hydraulics are not working, so you have to hold it
up. (I’ve ordered replacements on eBay.) Engine looks clean and it started up, no
smoke and runs smooth.
Austin had taken it to a shop in Ballard for a check-up and
had the report. (Make me feel good about
his honesty.) He replaced the battery on
their recommendation, but everything else checked out okay. The report did say the underside looked
rusty. I crawled under to look because
that is a deal breaker. I did think it
was odd that they would say the suspension was good, but call out the
rust. There was a bit of rust; a small
coating of rust everywhere, but just a dusting and nothing bad or eating away
or anything.
We took it for a drive around the block. The Steering Wheel was slightly
off-center. I assume it needed an
alignment. (Mistake #2: I did not look at the front tires carefully. If I had I would have seen both were much
worn on the inside of the tire; down to the steal.)
(Mistake #3: I
was too self-conscience to take it on the freeway. He even offered, but I stayed local and never
went above 35mph.)
After the drive and Park, John and I talked and he agreed
that it looked in good shape inside and out, drove nice. He also agreed that I should try and get a
price lowering for the alignment need.
Austin and I talked; I offered $2700 saying the alignment would cost
$400. He split the difference and we
arrived at $2900.00.
Wait. No title. He
thought he had the title, but it was just the registration. He might have it in his apartment or if not,
his parents might have it. Okay, John
and I will go eat a burger at Dick’s Drive-in on 45th and I’ll call
you on the cell in about 20 minutes. A
couple of Deluxe Burgers and Root Beers later, no title and he left a message
with his mom in Idaho. Austin was
leaving town (the reason he was selling) for a new job in Chicago. He was driving the company car to Idaho first
and then on across the country. It was
Friday and he was planning on leaving the following Tuesday. So if his Mom could FedEx on Saturday, then
we could do the deal on Monday evening.
If she could not find the title, he could request a duplicate and have
it mailed after 7 days. I told him I
wanted to buy the vehicle, we shook hands, and I said call when you know the
title plans.
Saturday morning I got nervous. Was I going to pay for the Explorer, get a
bill of sale, but no title and then wait for him to mail me a title? What if it took longer than 7 days, what if
there was some problem and it was months?
Oh, did I mention the Idaho plates had expired in July, so it was not
legal to drive. (Mistake #4: I did the test
drive with expired tabs.)
I wrote Austin an email.
I said if he had the title by Tuesday, great and we had a deal. If not, than I would make the decision to buy
the car when the title was in Seattle and did he have someone to keep the
Explorer if he left town. I didn’t want
to take ownership of it without the title.
No problems, at 3pm he sent word the title was found and was
at FedEx right then. We would meet at
4pm on Monday to seal the deal. I asked
him to send me some information on the Explorer so I could bring the Bill of
Sale filled out; I needed the VIN, his full name and registered address in
Idaho.
When I got the VIN, I finally did a car look-up. CarFax is expensive, so I went with a cheap
one for $7.00. It sucked and had no info
about servicing or anything. Big
Gaps. So I then sprung for the $40.00
and got a CarFax. I figured if I found something
super-duper bad, I could still back out claiming it had not been disclosed.
In fact, the CarFax was better than expected. The 97 Explorer had a better engine than I
expected. Normally they have a 4.0L V6
with about 160hp, this was a 4.0L v6 SOHC that makes around 205hp. Also, no place in the report does it say the
title is a salvage or anything. It
showed the accident in 2007 and labeled it Moderate/Severe and it was sold 3
months after that. Idaho does not show
mileage, but because of emissions check in 2007 with 20K miles and a Meineke LOF
in 2008 at 29K, it happened in that space of time.
Oh, at 29K he had the Transmission and fuel system flushed
and serviced with new filters. Cool. Regular LOF on the report and the last entry
is 81K passed emissions in ID on 4-21-2011.
I suspect most of these were with Austin living in Seattle and driving
the Explorer back and forth. 65K in 5
years he owned it or 13K a year; about average.
On Monday I picked up Mike Blue at U of W Hospital at 3:30pm
and went over to make the purchase. Mike
was much more worried about me doing this.
He would drive my Xterra home while I drove the Explorer and then we would
grab dinner and I’d drop him at the Issaquah Park and Ride where his car
was. Austin was running late and when we
got out, we first noticed how bald the tires were on the front; concern. Mike also noticed the back bumper at a slight
angle; darn his vigilance.
This Monday the 20th of November was the rainiest
on record for Seattle. It just freak’n
poured.
Austin arrived, he cleaned out the last of his stuff from the
car and we went in to sign the paperwork.
The Title was clean. No mark of Salvage or anything weird. So CarFax was right and the vehicle was a
better bargain than I had thought. $2900
cash (Austin was surprised I brought 29, $100 bills) and we signed
everything. He would mail in a report of
sale to Idaho and I would transfer the title the next day. He only had one key and one key fob
(shoot). He did have the original owner’s
manual and the original dealer window paperwork and a full repair manual. He also gave me the jumper cables in the back;
nice.
Here are some details from the Dealer Window Sticker:
- 1997 Explorer 4x4 4WD 4DR Black XLT
- 112WB
- 4.0 SOHC Engine
- Automatic Overdrive Transmission (I happen to know the 5-Speed with OD was new in 97)
- Luggage Rack on Top
- Power Moon-roof (I think it’s really a sunroof and so far it does not leak)
- 3.73 LS Axle/Trailer Tow (This shows as optional, I wonder what it means.)
- Trailer Towing Package
- Running Boards (for nana)
- Multi-Disk CD Changer (He said it worked most of the time)
Sale Price: $26,225.00, but who knows what he really paid
new.
Mike followed me home into the darkening night. It was perhaps the worse night to drive in
Seattle that year with tons of water on the roads. I had taken the expired Idaho plates off and
taped up a 3-Day Trip Pass. We would take
the 520 Bridge and I didn't want Austin to get a toll bill or have it bounced
from him to me until it was past due.
With a Trip Pass, you can drive without plates.
(Mistake #5: It
might have been the water, but as I drove it home I felt like I could feel
something dragging. Like the brakes were
dragging or something else. It was
really subtle and again it might have been the water or a new vehicle, but it
has me worried. I also thought the feel
of the road was off. Again, it was just
a feeling. Like perhaps the engine was
running not running 100% normal and it came through as a pulse sound ever
second or so. It has a tachometer which
never showed a problem.)
Other than that, it drove fine. I checked with Mike via cell phone after a
few miles and he reported it looked fine and road fine from his view. We arrived safely at my condo in Redmond and
then we left it there for the evening.
Tuesday morning I woke and was out by 8am. I had an appointment with Les Schwab to look
at that alignment and tires and inspect the suspension. I wrote them a little note about the damage 5
years earlier and told them if it had a bent frame and would not align, to let
me know and I would go to a frame shop.
This was one of my biggest fears.
Around 10am they called.
Suspension looked good. Shocks
might need replacing in a few thousand miles, but nothing bad. The alignment was really off, but nothing
they could not do. But, it was hard work
on these Explorers and they would not have it done until Wednesday. And I needed to replace those front
tires. We talked price. Cheap car tires were $400, Cheap light-truck
were $600 and okay truck tires were $800.
I went with the $800.00 ones and the Alignment was going to be
$300.00. Nice thing about this was Les
Schwab would rotate tires for free for Leslie.
Oh, and transferring the title. I went to the DMV in Issaquah and it turns
out I needed to get the Explorer Emissions tested. So I couldn't transfer the title yet. I have to pick it up Wednesday, get it
Emissions Tested (hope it passes) and then transfer the title and all by 1pm so
I can pick up Dylan at 2pm and take to my parents. I think I’ll take the Explorer and bring this
document with me for them to read. They
will be wondering what the heck I’m doing, and rightly so.
Charles
Its Wednesday morning…
Things to Do:
- Les Schwab for Alignment and Suspension check - Done. Alignment was $300 and suspension was fine. Suggested new shocks in a few thousand miles.
- Les Schwab to replace the bad front tires. - Done. They recommend 4 tires if you plan on driving in snow with 4WD. Bought new tires for $800. Good God.
- Michael’s for Engine Check, Tune-up (possible), Transmission Service and Differential Service
- Order and install new Hood Hydraulics - Ordered via eBay
- Center Console armrest ripped - Ordered via eBay a new cover
- FORD Recall on Speed Control System Modification (#09S09)
- Need a second Key and a second Key Fob from Ford
- Rear Window Wiper is really bad and needs replacing the arm and wiper
In many ways this was a great buy. Yes, we had to put money into it, but the basics of the vehicle were good. Alex has been the main driver, but its taken the family skiing, its done everything asked. I was pretty worried if I had jumped on it, but in fact if it fell apart tomorrow it still was a good deal 3 years later.
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