I recently took delivery of a 2003 Excursion Limited. I have had an 01, 04 and a 05. The last 2 I purchased over the internet by doing my due diligence in research, carfaxes and service records. I am in MT and they delivered it late yesterday from SD-about 4 hours away. I drive to work this am-30 miles through the wilderness and notice it sounds like I have the drivers side window down-but I don't. I could stick my finger between the weatherstripping and the door all the way to the outside. There are a lot of things that go wrong on these things and I've fixed about everything and this one has quite a few I didn't know about. However, a door not fitting-oh noooooo! Carfax showed no accidents and this was a 1 owner vehicle that was bought by a dealer, auctioned and then to the latest Ford dealer. I'm checking things out and what do my eyes behold but a sticker on the door from Ford saying that the title has been permanently inscribed with this notation "LEMON LAW BUYBACK" Obviously this was never disclosed and it was not listed on carfax. I have contacted the dealer and carfax and it's too early to hear back since it is 8 pm. Anyone ever had this LOVELY experience??

 

Now that is strange. I have purchased cars that were "Lemon Law Buy Backs", but they have have had Branded Titles. Here in Cali a "Branded Title means the car's title will have "Lemon Law Buy Back" clearly printed on it. The only way to get it off the title is launder the vehicle through another state and then re register it again in Cali. The vehicles that I have purchased had no info on the car itself stating it was LLBB.. I believe federal law forces the manufacturer to fix what ever the issue was and warrantee it before the vehicle can be resold. Maybe the dealer put a sticker on it years ago. How bad is that door? My Ex was in fender bender that wasn't on carfax. I guess PO didn't turn it to the insurance company. Someone had done a lousy job trying to repair it, so I just put on a new door and painted it. All better now. BTW I've never been able to find why my vehicles were LLBB.

 

I've now checked about every car history site that exists. None of them show a branded title. However, this is a CA vehicle and cars branded as lemons are required to have a manufacturer's sticker showing that it is indeed a lemon buyback. It's not like its inconspicuous. Considering I drove it a grand total of 1 hour and found the driver's door doesn't fit right, the ABS light is on, the turn signals do not pop off after you make a turn, the back up sensors do not work, cladding is falling off of driver's door(the one that doesn't fit)-I'm a bit hacked. It's a 18 year old vehicle so some things are anticipated but a door that doesn't fit is kind of a big deal. The front edge doesn't even line up with the fender and when you just barely touch the handle to open, it just falls open. It doesn't click like every other door I've ever opened indicating that a secure latch has opened. At the moment, I'm trying to figure out all the ways I'm going to get screwed. I swear, every time I try to be optimistic about some people and their honesty and integrity-it seems to bite me in the butt.

 

Hopefully you made a deposit or paid for some part of your purchase VIA credit card? This way you might have the option of to file a dispute with the C/C.

 

Interesting you said the blu about the scrubbing the title. The X was a CA vehicle and was one owner. There are registration events that fit but nothing indicating a Lemon. 1 Owner purchased in 2003. "Title issued or updated" 2007 with Loan/Lien released" It was purchased by the dealer in SD through an Auto Auction and then next "Offered for Sale" by Dealer in 11/2020. No title change was ever registered. The vehicle has been in their possession every since. which with COVID-is understandable. Even a dealership has to take title, don't they?? Or I guess I'm asking-they would have had to have seen the branded title when they bought it in CA.
Finding that sticker on the very door with a problem was a cold slap in the face.

The door sits flush at the door handle and below . It's the top part that with the window frame that seems away slightly. I can probably outsmart the wind noise but I don't have a warm fuzzy with the door latch. The door rattled which is when I found the loose cladding. I don't know how you go about fixing that but it can't be terribly complicated-unless there is a problem with the door underneath the cladding. Loose cladding-ill fitting door sounds suspicious. I wonder if someone accidentally sprung the door?

On the bright side, it steers the best of any of the ones I've had

 

Does it just need new weatherstripping and adjustment? The adjustment is near the hinge on the door side of it

 

Adjustment?

My driver's door sags about 1/8" when it's opened and requires a modest "boost" to close completely. I just bought a set of after-market hinge pins and bushings hoping that tightening the hinges would lift the door slightly.

But if there's an adjustment on these doors, I'm all ears (and all in)!

 

The adjustment is done where the hinge is bolted to the door. Loosen the bolts and the door slide in or out. There is not a lot of adjustment there , maybe 1/4" and its only in or out,, not up/down.

 

Sounds like some dealer shenanigans on that title. I've seen lots of pink slips with branded titles. From your description it sounds like that door is toast. If that door is tweaked you'll never get it to fit properly. If the A and B pillars are good get another door. If the A or B pillars are tweaked you're going to need a good body shop to fix it. I doubt it's the A&B pillars. It takes a good blow to bend them, and other things would be a-miss also. I wouldn't worry to much about that title. On these older cars it really doesn't mean much, if it runs and drives properly that's all that count's. The manufacturer buys the car back and makes the necessary repairs then auctions them off to dealers. Good luck.

 

OK -over the title stuff. Other than the fact that the door royally sucks, it's actually in good shape. Other than my RWD I had in 01, this one drives the best down the highway. I could not believe it but it's a one hander if the wind doesn't kick up. Of course in MT it's a rare thing if the wind is not blowing. There are more nicks and scratches than I expected. The ABS light went off on its own. I'll pull codes Friday and see what it is. The backup sensors work but you have to be a heck of a lot closer than I remember on my 3 other X's. Could be they're turned wrong. Too hot to go look.

The door is a funny thing. The top of the door is about 1/4 inch away at the top. Enough that the weatherstripping doesn't make a good seal-ergo the fingers to the outside. The only one I never had a door adjusted on was the one that flipped over. Doors didn't fit too well after that

They agreed to pay for getting the door fixed and the turn signals which won't pop off after you make a turn. I don't know how much it will cost to reattach the loose cladding. Does it have a wide tape adhesive that attaches it ?. The door is white under the mineral grey cladding. I'm assuming that is the adhesive which stuck to the door and not the cladding. Man that seems like a big pain to line up. Maybe someone has a trick for that?? It was too hot to stare at after a 10 hour day.

I'm starting to remember how much work got in the way of my working on the X

 

As I started dissecting the door issue, I noticed the clearcoat(if you could call it that) was peeling off on the inside of the door in places. I got down with a flash light and looked under the loose cladding. The door is indeed white. They must have gotten a used door, put cladding on it and painted it all at the same time. Looking very closely, you can see a paint line on the lemon sticker where the idiots taped it off. When washing the car, the painter's crappiness was further exemplified by orange peeling. Raise your hand if you ever got a door from a previous lemon and then thought it was your own

 

Well now that there is funny. So am I understanding this correctly, the sticker is the wayward door and not the truck?

 

Yup! Title is 100% clear

I just can't believe the idiots would tape over the sticker when painting it...if you can call that half a$$ job painting.

 

Yeah. That one won't help me. The slight drop in the outside edge suggests hinge wear. It's just bad enough to be irritating, but not so bad that I've actually gotten around to replacing the hinge pin(s).