Does anyone know how i can get the orignal owner of my 1997 ford f150's name and address? I have a feeling the milage is not correct, and want to know what it was when he or she turned it in to the dealer (lease) There seems to be finger prints on the inside of the gauge cluster that has been bugging me for a long time. Any help would be great! If there is anyone that works for a ford dealership that sees this and can help me out, please e-mail me at rpm9001@hotmail.com Thanks

 

Rpm,

On the Kelly Blue Book site (www.kbb.com) there is a lemon check service that will give you information about your vehicle by entering the VIN number. The free service will tell you if it's ever been bought back by Ford (Lemon Law) or had a salvaged title issued. For a fee (I believe about $20.00) it will give the title history of the vehicle. I'm not sure it will give an address as I've never purchased the complete service. Another option, if you know someone is have a dealer run the VIN in their computer and check the date and mileage from the last time the original owner had it in for service. This may give you a clue, especially if the date and mileage don't match what you are currently seeing! The dealer will also have access to the previous owner's name and address in the computer as well, but unless you know someone, they won't give out that information. Something else to be careful of, it may have been the previous owner who altered the mileage! Most leases have mileage limits, and charge for excess mileage! If it had high miles when he was ready to turn it in, it would have been to his advantage to roll back the odometer! The laws are pretty strict on reporting mileage, so I doubt the dealership would take the chance, but, they don't go out of their way to check accuracy either! Good luck, and I hope you come out ahead on this one!

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Paul... :-)
99 F-150 XLT SC Sport, 4.6L, Auto, Captain Chairs, Class III Towing Package, Sliding Rear Window,
White, 4X2, CD, Soft Factory Tonneau Cover, K&N Filter, Line-X Spray on Bed Liner
More to come




[This message has been edited by PaulT (edited 12-04-1999).]

 

Is there any other indication that the mileage may be incorrect? Tires can tell alot about a truck - brakes too! Give us some other specifics about the trucks condition.

I also have what appear to be finger prints on the inside of the cluster. I bought mine with 50 miles on it so I know that the odometer has not been tampered with.

I have also heard from some unscrupulous friends that the Ford odometer is almost impossible to crack. They have disabled many a Chevy odometer but tried the Fords and ended up having to replace some broken parts.

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'97 F150 Lariat, Flareside, white/sliver, SC, ORP, 5.4 (FQR 8/99) running Mobil 1
Mods: 305/70/16 GY ATS, AR Baja wheels, dual exhaust, Smittybilt Nerf Bars, Edelbrock IAS Shocks, K&N Filter, Carbon Fiber Bug Gaurd and rigged the fog lights too.



[This message has been edited by kkirt1 (edited 12-04-1999).]

 

Thanks for the replys! The only thing that made me wonder, was the finger prints on the inside of the cluster, and what looks to be ashes inside the cluster, and it doesn't look or smell like it was ever smoked in. (lighter and ashtray never used) and a few problems i have that i shouldn't with low mileage. I got the truck with a 18k miles and it has 24k now. If i can't find out anything on my own, I will try what paul said and try to get the title history. thanks.... George

 

Another possibility is they might have had white face gauges in there at one time.

 

A Ford service department can tell you where the truck was purchased and serviced using the VIN #. You can then have the BMV in that state do a title search (I think it costs $15.00 here).

 

George,

18K on a 97 is pretty low! I already have 10K on my 99 and I only bought it 3 months ago! You may not want to look to hard, especially if the dealer isn't questioning the mileage, and you can get any problems fixed under warranty!

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Paul... :-)
99 F-150 XLT SC Sport, 4.6L, Auto, Captain Chairs, Class III Towing Package, Sliding Rear Window,
White, 4X2, CD, Soft Factory Tonneau Cover, K&N Filter, Line-X Spray on Bed Liner
More to come