I test drove a truck today from a private party - I'm pretty sure this 1989 doesn't have 58,000 original miles as the fellow says. I'm also pretty sure he believes it does. Is there a Ford specific clue to look for on these old odometers?

The truck is pretty worn looking for 58,000 - seat is torn and flat, floorboard is trashed. Body is dinged and dingy-looking. Runs beautifully, nice power and response. Repair records show the clutch has been replaced twice.

Opinions?

Thanks!
Butch

 

what was it used for? if it were used as a fleet or small business vehicle then it could very well have correct miles? However with the low miles and two clutch changes my guess is this truck was ran hard when it was used, without a lot of info this is hard to tell. if the price is right go have it checked out by a mechanic leak down test etc go from there. good luck

 

On the 89's I think they only had 5 digit odometers, so there's no room for a 1 or a 2 for anything above 99,999 miles. My dad's 88 says 32k mi but it's 132,000. The easiest way to tell, is on the brake pedal. On a vehicle with about 100k miles the corner will be worn off but usually no metal showing yet. On a vehicle with 200k miles, it'll have metal showing and be pretty worn. I'm willing to bet he's lieing and it's either 100k or 200k mi. A clutch will usually last atleast 100k miles unless it's subjected to severe use. Even with severe use, you won't need two clutches in 60k miles.

 

I would add, look for play in the driver door hinge, debris in the front grill area like pebbles stuck in the condensor/radiator and sludge in engine. Expand on this idea, think road wear and anything the driver touches.

Low mileage does not guarantee a good truck, a pampered truck with more miles may be a better deal. A service truck that idled all winter to keep the heater going can be beat at a young age.

 

Some perspective
I worked at a cemetery for some time and they had a actually only truck was a 67 c20 with a dump bed it had under 20000 miles all original mechanically and the truck was purchased new and only driven on the grounds never licensed for the road ever. It was well worn and driven daily used for hauling dirt kinda goes with the job and a lot of it. So you can have a beat up truck with low miles very low in this case, as mentioned before not likely tho the miles are under 100000 unless he has some documentation such as all the oil changes where they keep track of miles, maybe look at the sevice dates on the clutches and compare the miles to get an idea of how the miles averaged out over ownership. I have also heard of people unhooking their odometer and reconnecting them when they sell not easily done on newer vehicles but with one a little older like this one it is possible so if you could look at the cables etc that control the odometer to see if they have been tampered with. Thought I would throw that out there. Good luck

 

Thanks for all your replies.

I don't believe the guy is being dishonest. But I do believe he may be mistaken.

It was a company truck used by a remodel company in San Francisco. SF is, of course, a hilly city not more than 7 miles across at the widest points.

The truck runs strong and seems to have a good engine/trans - I'm interested in buying it, but the seller wants top dollar based on the mileage and is insistent about it.

I've read that some GM trucks - older ones like this one - have black between the numbers once the odometer has rolled. I was hoping to find that Ford also had such a marker.

Being a new homeowner looking for something to drive back and forth to an office job and haul stuff off to the dumps on the weekend, the look of the truck isn't bothersome. I mostly want something that's going to last and going to survive an accident if one comes to pass ... you know how that goes ...

My brother generally does my vehicle maintenence - he has a 77 F250 with 300,000+ on it - and he thinks it's a good truck but not worth the asking price - mostly because he also believes the odometer has rolled.

We'll see. I'll offer what I think is fair and keep shopping in the meantime.

Thanks again -
Butch

 

I have two words for you.CAR FAX.Go to carfax.com and it will tell you every thing about your vehicle you are wanting to buy from where it was first purchased to how many miles were on it each time it was sold.It will also tell you if it has been in any accidents.They also insure your purchase.It only cost about $15 to check one vehicle or $19 to check unlimited vehicle.It saved my friend 6,000 dollars when he went to puchase a vette.The dealer said it had 70,000 on it and it was a one owner.I checked with car fax it had 5 owners,had been in three states and had 170,000 miles on it.Needless to say he was shut down through investigations for odemeter fraud.I use car fax every time i buy a used vehicle.Hope this helps.

 

Take the VIN number to a local Ford dealer and ask him to run it thtough the computor to check for service records which will show the milage for each servicing. I bought a van that when serviced for the first time by me showed that the milage was actually off by150,000km! I got a lawyer but by the time we got to action the dealer vanished off the face of the earth> The police were then brought in and we found that I was not the only one this dealer had burned. Also, They may have changed out the speedo with one from a wrecker. Buyer beware!

 

Thanks and thanks again. :o)

I did subscribe to carfax when I started shopping and it did find a potential odometer rollback on this truck - the seller had an immediate explanation that it was 28,000 not 82,000 at that time - which would, unfortunately, fit - 'though I still doubt it.

I bought an '86 today. Yippee! With 81,000 original miles. Looks like hell - it ain't pretty! - but runs very sweetly. AAA gave it their blessing via vehicle inspection, and my brother and I will suit it with new belts and hoses over the weekend.

:o) Judith