After reading all your replies and speaking with Justin at JDM (helluva nice guy, BTW), I went back this afternoon and just looked at the truck.

1) It's got a broken driver-side foglight lens

2) The bed is out of alignment by about a 1/4 - 1/2 in. High and in on the driver-side and low and out on the passenger side. Torque twist?

3) The tires are about 75 - 80 % tread. There are no visible signs of baked-on rubber on the fenders behind the rear wheels.

4) The rims (chrome SVT) have minor pitting.

5) One thing I noticed that I'm not sure is stock or not is a visor above the windshield with a series of lights in it. Pretty neat looking.

6) I called a local Ford dealer and they ran the vin. It has NOT been in for the intercooler recall. The tech said the records only go back 180 days and it hadn't been in for any service in that time period.

I guess I'll still take it for a test drive. When I do, I'll check out the other items you folks mentioned in my first post.

With that, what are your initial thoughts based on what I've said so far? Should I run or give it a shot?

Thanks again for all the feedback. Bare with me..I'm learning!!

Dan
__________________

 

Visor - aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh

 

Que pasa? Problems with the lights?

Dan

 

Do you mean a visor inside the truck? Not one on the outside, right?

 

No, sorry. I meant the one on the exterior above the windshield. Guess it's not called a visor? Also, do you know if they're stock or an order item?

Thanks..

Dan

 

Thanks to Roger (LightningTruck) I got a carfax. It's clean. Turns out the truck was registered commercially. Hmm...that could be good and bad. Would a guy mod and beat the hell out of a company vehicle? Not sure. I know he didn't treat it very well cosmetically that's fur sure.

Well..the saga continues...

 

was it registered to :

0766 - USA 36/45,000 WTY EXT. & RENTALCARE (WTY REPAIRS ONLY)
STANDARD DEDUCTIBLE: 0 USD
OWNER NAME: ALL ALL COUNTY DISPENSERS <------------*
OPTIONS:
EXPIRATION DATE: 03/20/2003
DISTANCE: 45,000

also, i was thinking that the outside visor is what you were talking about, i just dont think it goes right on a lightning (or any truck that isnt a dually or such) And the only thing ford has ever made with a factory visor is a F350 Dually Lariat LE.

What does everyone else think about a lightning with a lighted visor?

 

I would scrap the moonviser, and fill/paint the holes.

Daniel

 

Hey Dan,
I see that you are in NJ. I live in PA and there is a small dealership (you know, street corner type) off of U.S.1 in Trevose and it has a white 99 for sale. Don't know much about it, but have seen it a in passing a couple of times. If you want I will try to get numbers for you.

Steve

p.s. this one doesn't have an exterior visor.

 

yeah, i second the yuk on the visor!!! If you buy it , buy popular demand.....get rid of it. Tell the seller you wanna take 500 bucks off the price for them ruining the truck with that!!!!

I wouldn't worry about the vehicle being registered as commercial. My father has his lightning registered for his buisness and he doesn't put much milage or beat on it....well except for the time he pegged the speedo and fuel shutoff kicked in when he was racing that bmw down I95....hehehehe.

 

I would try to find out who kind of business it was registered too. This kind of bothers me because if it was a business vehicle you dont know how many people drove it and how they treated the truck.(think about it, if your company gave you the keys to a fast truck and you knew that you didnt have to worry about fixing anything wouldnt you take it for on hell of a ride?) The bed of the truck being mis-aligned sounds a little odd, that is the first time I have heard about that. May I ask what dealer this is at? What did Justin tell you about letting JDM take a look at it? Also I would use the appearence defects as a bargining tool if you are serious about this truck....good luck

 

Steve,

To be honest with you, I was kinda looking for one WITH the visor.

Seriously though..I'm more interested in an '00 or '01. There are a few around here that I'm gonna check out. If nothing works out, may'be I'll get back in touch. Thanks for the heads up though!! Appreciate it.

Dan

 

Scott,

I hear ya' regarding the commercial use. Double edge sword. I'll ask what business the guy is in. Not sure if the dealer will be straight with me, but I'll ask. The truck is at C&J Auto Sales in Linden.

As far as the bed being misaligned, Justin at JDM told me to look for that. It's very minor, but there. BTW..he mentioned you when I spoke to him. He said he would gladly take a look at it, but Freehold is a bit of a haul from Linden for a 'test drive'. I'll ask the guy if he'll let me do it. And as far as the appearance defects, I totally plan to use them as a bargaining tool.

Thanks again..

Dan

 

I know the truck you are talking about now Dan...He has had it for way more then a month so dont let him lie to you. I havent seen it personally but I have seen it on auttrader.com for over a month now. Good luck!

 

a light visor on a lightning?

where was the business located ? MEXICO?