I just bought a 04 supercrew about a 5 days ago from a dealer in Tenn. I live in Va. and as I was cleaning it today I noticed there was a lot of mud up high in the engine bay but not in real noticable spots also looks like there was some muddy water under the dash above the gas/brake pedals. I had a carfax ran and it came back clear. Do I have any recourse?

 

You have been ripped off. there are a ton of vehicle from Katrina, that are being dumped on the market. It's illegal not disclose when a vehicle has been in a flood. Contact The Better Business Bureau. http://www.dr.bbb.org/index.asp Here is a site you put your vin. # in to see if it was an insurance claim. https://www.nicb.org/cps/rde/xchg/SI.../hs.xsl/79.htm check this out also http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/NIC...d_Vehicles.pdf

 

I believe CarFax has some kind of guarentee about the info they provide. But it may be tuff to get someone (insurance agent or whoever) to say it was in a flood. Then you would have to get CarFax to agree that it was.

 

check the seat hardware to see how rusted it is also, I play in the mud and have plenty of mud in the engine compartment. I would look inside the doors. Pull up the plastic running board piece that looks like diamond plate when you setp in the vehicle. Under that is a cradle that hold all the wire and suck there is no way that could be cleaned enough if it was in a flood. All you have to do is pull up the plastic it is on clips and it just pushes back down. you can pull up the carpet when that is off. I know I duck hunt and have placed my muddy shoes behind the petals before. I think you should do some more investigation. If it is all clean you still might think about changing the fluids in the diffs just because whoever had it if it wasn't in a flood had it off road, in mud. I am not kiddin about the mud in my engine compartment it gets everywhere even a wattery puddle will do it.

 

I believe that same thing happened to a friend of mine. And was told that carfax does not work for some states. Or some states do not report to them. So even if the report came back neg. there still might be a problem.

 

Carfax is worthless. I bought a 2003 F150 (traded off now) that had been wrecked and repaired while it was in a fleet. Carfax gave it a clean bill of health. Do not trust Carfax, it is nothing more than a marketing tool for dealers to try and convince customers there is nothing wrong with the vehicle they are about to purchase. Carfax is !!!

 

CarFax only works if something was reported to an insurnace company that is willing to supply them with the info.

If a dealer was to wreck a truck during a test drive, they could repair it, put it on the lot as used and it would never show up on a CarFax report.

 

There were also a couple of states in the south that could wash a title clean. Alabama was one of them. They were trying to get the law changed, but I dont know if they did.

I'd check the seat hardware as mentioned. Its not good business to sell a flooded vehicle. It may run fine forever. It may go a month and have nothing but crazy bugs. The dealership may try to say that there was never a problem that they knew of. Try to get an oasis report to see if it has ever been repaired like ECU or wiring harness.

 

mud under the hood can happen 4x4 as mentioned. and it also a very good idea to get your diff fluids changed just in case.

as for mud under the dash, right at the pedals I would say is okay. mud near the center of the console and up in the door panels is not.

hope it ain't a flood recovery

 

did you talk to the previous owner? if not i would obtain it from the dealer (do not tell them why).the last owner will be able to shed any light on this at which time you can approach the dealer if it has had flood damage.
the advice to check inside the doors is spot on and you also might lift the carpet to see what the floor panels look like as that can tell also.
jim

 

You can do a "title search". Inquire about it at you local licence branch or BMV. It will give you name, address, and mileage of every owner since new. I did this once to document the history of a low mileage classic car that I was trying to sell. I think it cost me 25$, but that was years ago. This wont tell you if it was wrecked or damaged, but it will prove if it was ever titled in the Katrina area and give you the name of previous owners.

 

The link to put the VIN in did not work I will have to check some of the other spots you'll mentioned. I tried to get the previous owners name from the dealer so I could get the 5 digit code for the door locks, They said that they bought it at an auction and didn't know the previous owner's name, but they offered to hook my truck up the the computer and get the numbers for me.
Here is the Oasis
*06/07/2007
23:42:22
FCXWS446*

© Copyright 2002-2006 Ford Motor Company. All rights reserved.

VEHICLE INFORMATION
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION
2004 F-SERIES LD BODY STYLE
F-150 SUPERCREW 4X4 ENGINE
5.4L 3V SOHC
TRANSMISSION
4R75E 4 SPEED AUTO AXLE CODE
B6 ENGINE CALIBRATION
4F614B0A

NO WARNING MESSAGES FOUND FOR THIS VIN

ARN MESSAGES
ATTENTION TECHNICIANS AND SERVICE MANAGERS:
BEFORE ADRESSING FRONT BRAKE ROUGHNESS/SHUDDER WHILE BRAKING, SEETSB
05-21-19
<http://www.fordtechservice.dealerconnection.com/pubs/content/~WT/~MUS~LEN/3631/tsb05-21-19.htm?LINKSOURCE=OASISRESULT>

BEFORE REPLACING POWER FOLD MIRROR, PLEASE REFER TO TSB 06-02-05
<http://www.fordtechservice.dealerconnection.com/pubs/content/~WT/~MUS~LEN/3576/tsb06-02-05.htm?LINKSOURCE=OASISRESULT>

BEFORE ADDRESSING VEHICLE VIBRATION CONCERNS, SEE TSB 07-04-05
<http://www.fordtechservice.dealerconnection.com/pubs/content/~WT/~MUS~LEN/3597/tsb07-04-05.htm?LINKSOURCE=OASISRESULT>


GENERAL WARRANTY INFORMATION
*WARRANTY START DATE*
05/30/2004 *BUILD DATE
* 04/14/2004 *SALE MILEAGE
* 00018

OUTSTANDING FIELD SERVICE ACTIONS
NO CAMPAIGN MESSAGE(S) FOUND

EXTENDED COVERAGES
NO ESP INFORMATION AVAILABLE

WARRANTY REPAIR HISTORY
NO RECENT REPAIR HISTORY ON VEHICLE

 

OK I got the link to Flood Vehicle Database to work and it shows all clear. I have not told the car dealer my findings yet. I figured I had better get all the info I can before I go to them. If I could get ahold of the previous owner I'm sure they would give me some anwsers. Any other advice? And thanks for everything.

 

The previous owner may have dunked it at one time . If he cleaned it himself and didn't bring in insurance car fax won't show it.

With the deductible on most insurance policies today you will see allot more of this. For example at $1000 deductible I can repair a door fender and hood out of my pocket and insurance wont go up. So many light fender benders won't be reported.

I have owned several flood rides as long as motor wasn't running ,trans is clean they are fine . Its the switches ETC that go bad early the will suck . As it was a auction vehicles you get what get . The dealer warranty is all you have to go back on. The better buisness will just check what you checked and you will be out lawyers fees. But good luck

 

I would be using the truck itself for the #1 sourse for research. The serious evidence will tell what happened to the truck. Start checking behind moldings, panels, and under carpet.

Why was it at an auction. Was it a fleet truck of something. Maybe its different here where I live. The only cars in auctions around me are either fleet vehicles, or they can't be sold the other ways (dealer,private) and have some messed up histories.