Sorry to keep bothering you guys. I found a 94 Turbo diesel 350 that I want for 5k, but the only thing is that the odometer is broken. I haven't even seen it, but the guy says it has wierd symbols on the display. Have you ever seen this?

He knows nothing of the maintenance record. It has a brand new clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate. I can easily get a new tranny for it. So, the only thing I am really worried about it the engine. It has cloth seats without any rips, and the carpet is in decent shape. IT was from a ranch near fort worth. Is it possible that this has a low mileage. The body is in pretty good shape, and he says the interior is excellent.

 

If this is truck has had multiple owners check with the Texas DMV and see if they have any odometer records on file when the title was transfered. I found out the hard way to do this. I purchased a 1993 F-350 crew cab 4x4 out of Florida via the internet (not ebay)
the dealer said it had 85,000 miles on it. I paid for the truck, flew to Florida to pick it up. He was supose to meet me at the airport with the truck, the truck was there but he was not, it had multiple undisclosed defects and problems including the odometer not working. I spent 2 days tring to get ahols of this guy and he would not answer my calls. When I got home to Michigan after having multiple problems on the way and he still would not answer my calls I check with the Florida DMV and at the last title transfer 2-1/2 years earlier the records showed 312,000 on the truck, CarFax showed nothing on the truck! That service is a waist of money. Needless to say I am filing complaints with the State of Florida, and the Internet fraud division of the Justice Department which uses the FBI to investigate. I may not recover anything on this but I am sure he is going to have a number of problems with the State and the FBI.
Any how, have the truck checked out by a diesel mechanic that knows Fords.

 

I wouldn't depend on Carfax either. Tried it for a short time and couldn't get info on half the vehicles I checked on. I was quite disappointed.

 

I wouldn't "depend" on CarFax of any other reporting service, but they can be a useful tool. Personally, I used the Consumer Guide Vehicle History Report service and it was helpful. This service had 12 records for the truck I bought and CarFax had 8, so they are not all created equal. I believe all will let you input the VIN and tell you how many records were found for that vehicle. Then if you want, you can buy the one report or for a few more bucks, get unlimited use for one or two months (Consumer Guide was $23.95 for 60 days unlimited). I ran a total of about 15 vehicles and the results helped to paint a picture. Combined with what the seller was saying, you could get a feel for whether the truth was being imbellished a little or a lot (flat-out lying!). Most of the time, when the title was transferred, there was also a record of the mileage.

My neighbor just bought a 2000 F250 PSD and we were able to track the title transfer to the second owner from the original with the mileage being noted. When we met with the person selling the vehicle, we knew right away whether he was telling the truth or not (he was).

I'm sorry you had such a horrific experience. I hope the state of Florida will help in the resolution of your problems.
Brent