So I went to the Ford dealer with my money, and I told them I could afford a used 4x2 Explorer with a V6, and could I see some. They had one 4x2 but it had a V8 and they wanted $3000 more than my budget.

I said that I'd come back when they had some V6s and started to leave. They said wait wait wait, what if they came down $1000? I said no, I really had to stick to my budget but I'd come back and here's my work number.

They did the running-back-and-forth to the manager's office and finally the manager came down, took some more money off, I said no thanks. Finally he asked if I'd take the V8 if they gave it to me at my budget price? I said sure. So I bought it.

I'm happy with it -- it's a great truck and has lots of power. I'm going to go on a trip with it next weekend, so I started to change the oil today.

Right by the oil plug I see a front differential. It's connected to the two front wheels with half-shafts. I look back to the middle of the truck and I see a transfer case. It's not a 4x2 truck, it's a 4x4 truck. But I thought that 4x4 trucks had an emblem on the outside and a switch on the inside to switch to 4x4 mode. So do I have an AWD truck? Did I get ripped off or did the dealership get ripped off? Did they know they were selling me a 4x4 or what?

Confused,
Todd

 

Well if there iws no 4wd switch inside, then you bought an AWD model. I think you got a deal if you got them to come down $3000. The sales man probably didn't know it was AWD because he wouldn't know about ever single vehicle but someone at the dealer had to know it was AWD. I think that you should keep it and enjoy it but thats my opinion. You may end up liking it a lot more than you thought. Have a great time on your trip.

 

The way they packaged the 4WD with the engines was as follows:

Either V6 came with 2WD or Control-Trac 4WD (with the rotary **** on the dash).

The V8 came with either 2WD or AWD (no switches, always monitoring wheel movement with power split between the front and rear wheels, I can't remeber the percentage but the rear wheels have more power sent to them than the front).

The first couple years that the V8 was offered, the V8 badge on the outside said "All Wheel Drive" under it. In 98, as I saw your's is, they changed the badge so it only said V8. There is no cosmetic way to tell if the 98-01 V8 X's had AWD. Obviously you can tell underneath. If the components are there, than you must have AWD.

You definetly got a good deal then. I'm the type that would probably feel guilty even though it was their stupidity that led to your deal. Anyways, good luck with your X and enjoy