Good...even more better news. I know I drove an hour and a half to get mine, but the odds it was a Galveston owner are getting less and less for you!

 

Based on what I've seen and read, I think this truck spent it's life on a farm and was not cosmetically cared for, it was used as a work/farm truck. It's been roughed over. I'm guessing a good ol' boy put on a set of F250 seat covers and a steering wheel cover.

My truck was a former railroad fleet truck and yes, there was DIRT everywhere and behind everywhere and everything, loaded up in the vents, including a bunch crammed in the jack storage area.

I don't see excessive crud settled around the seat bolts and that is a spot it would show, commonly overlooked. Also look at the tops of electrical connectors and wires. If most the dirt is settled on the top, then it built up there over time. If it is evenly coated then you may see signs of receeding waters setting deposits and not just normal buildup. Look under the door sills like suggested by others. They will be packed with dirt anyway but you're looking for light red rust.

The overhead computer is common, the no sound condition is likely due to the incomplete amp wiring...that was clearly disclosed in the pictures. The not quite right paint on the pass. quarter is obvious in the pictures. The dealer got away with it by just posting pictures and a basic condition description. I would say you can ding him on the fact that the radio does not play the sound through. That should have been disclosed.

It seems you may be grasping at the hopes of a flood damaged truck and unless you post some clear pics showing the issues, it's hard to validate. A basic detailing done by the dealer won't catch a little bit of rat poo. They just want it to look nice when you sit in it, not in every nook and cranny when you start looking for hidden messes. The rat poo could have gotten there during shipping.

What you got is a 175K work truck that is probably sound mechanically and leaving some to be desired for the "show" quality. I think the pics did a good job showing the condition. Squeaks and rattles will be common at this mileage but most can be remedied by someone who wants to put in a little work to resolve it.

If you're that unhappy with the purchase and you can't get over it, put it on the market in HI and move on.

 

Also a good way to tell former flooding is to look at the low spots in the vent system or in the fan housings. You will see clear signs of an evaporating puddle instead of just even dirt. There will be water rings in those low spots.

 

Sealy was in the path of the hurricane, but from what I can dig up, it was so far inland it wasn't subject to storm surge, just localized flooding. Asking if a town is a "bad place" in respects to natural disasters is like asking if you will get hit by lightning. Some homes are prone to localized flooding, some get flooded because too many fall leaves get stuck in the gutter. To get enough water to get into your vents at dash level would be difficult to imagine not showing other obvious signs.

If all other electronics work (barring the overhead) like dash odo display, electronic AC display, etc, odds are they were not underwater.

I'm with others that this looks to be a rig driven in dusty conditions for a while. Hell, I get a film of dust on my truck just sitting overnight from a gravel quarry about two miles away...driving down a dusty driveway daily would do a number on any rig, let alone ones like ours with no filters.

I personally would be more worried about the bugs...what did the prior owners kids spill that has bugs crawling out of the cracks? Sounds like some soda was spilled somewhere and the bugs are going to town.

...can you "bug bomb" a truck?

 

Is it really rat feces, or did the prior owners kids have hamsters, pet rats, etc? If the wiring isn't chewed through, then I doubt rats are or we're living there...they destroy everything they see - seat foam, carpet liner, wire insulation...you'd see a lot more than droppings.

If there WERE rats in there and all you can find is feces, then it sounds like whoever fixed it fixed it pretty damn good and just forgot to vacuum when he finished.

 

Those inspection cams with the flexible tube work great to get in there...we use them for search and rescue but cheap ones can be had for 150 or so.

 

Thanks for the ton of replies and helpfull hints and tips you folks provided. I spent a long day yesterday pry'n open alot of panels and also giving a good look at what was mentioned here. I had brought the camera out to snap up some pics only to find that there was a problem with my SD card so none of the pics that I took was actually saved.

However with all of what was pried apart I honestly can say I feel alot better to know that it is infact NOT a flood damaged vehicle. As mentioned also in prior post that it may have been a work truck is quite right and what I'm feeling currently about the kind of condition it's in. I'm feeling a whole lot better but due to the overall condition of the body having some light scuff marks here and there and some scratches and what not I'm now considering the fact of maybe giving it a good cleaning and then maybe selling it off and finding another X.

This thought also comes to mind with the mileage it has. At first glance I looked at this vehicle as being a nice to own and hop-up X but having it in hands now is making me thing otherwise. When I had taken the truck to the autobody place to get an overall look to see if they could tell if it was in any kind of collision I also had asked for an estimate regarding re-doing the paint at the rear passanger side quater panel and also the re-alignment of the front doors being they stick out a small bit not matching up with the rear doors. They had given me an estimate of a few bucks shy of $1100.00 just for that and given the fact of the entire overall condition of the vehicle and mileage I may look at selling it off for another X in better shape but at this point it's still looking like it'l be a bit of time before I make my way at looking to doing that as I'm still holding for a buyer of our wrecked X.

Once again I really must give Thanks to this wonderfull board with the great knowledgeable and helpfull folks here as it makes all the difference when owning a Ford.