Hello all, I am looking at a 99 F150 Lightning and hoping to become part of the ford truck family. I have a few concerns I thought someone here may be able to shed light on.

The carfax report doesn't show a vehicle registration or inspection during the first 8 years of the vehicle history. It was also registered as a commercial vehicle (noted on the first registration details available and continued through the rest of the history.

Are these red flags? Other than that the truck looks pretty darn clean and I believe it is completely stock with only 64k on the odometer.

I still need to find out if it has the oil seal retainer installed, but was also wondering what else might be good to find out about the vehicle.

Thank you in advance.

 

I personally don't put too much faith in a carfax report because there is simply no obligation (or incentive for that matter) for anyone to report to it, especially for those who are trying to hide something.

If the seller has a carfax report, then great, just make sure the VIN # on the report matches the one on vehicle you're looking at. Other than that, check for leaks, abnormal noises and pull the oil and trans dipsticks and see what they look and smell like. Then take it for a test drive. On a truck like that, I look behind the rear bumper and inside rear wheel wells to see if there is large build-up of rubber. To me, that is burnout evidence.

 

Thank you for the reply. I checked out the oil (via dipstick), which seemed a light brown (nothing foamy or anything, although this was after the test drive) and the coolant, which was a light brown color, but no crud buildup or anything. Is the coolant color a concern? I didn't see any smoke blowing out of the exhaust that looked questionable or anything. The truck went down the road nice and had great pickup and the boost gauge seemed to be doing its thing. I would most likely have a reputable shop give a look over before purchasing as well, but wanted to do my homework up front. Thanks again.

 

Light brown, but clear oil, is ok. Light brown like chocolate milk would be a huge concern to me. The brown coolant could possibly from it not being circulated that much being that the truck is 16+ years old and it only has 64k on the ticker. Again, that is if the oil doesn't look like chocolate milk. The transmission fluid should look red, not brown.

There are some specific things to look for and maybe someone who knows more about that will chime in.

If you're set on buying it, make sure the title is clean; not labeled as salvage, rebuilt, lost or lien.