The joys of used vehicle ownership

[JasonJ]

So I went to register my 95 Ford F150 this last Friday when the lady told me that the title paperwork never went through and she couldn't register it. Bear in mind I had financed it for a 2 year loan and I have been paying on it for a year now. The dealership I had bought it from was closed down right after I bought it and the owners were imprisoned. Turns out they were taking in trade-ins that money was still owed on, selling them, and not paying off the owed balance. The poor schmucks who traded the vehicles in had their new payment plus the payment for the trade-in to make. Not cool. So in my case the title paperwork needs to be found and processed withing a year. They went ahead and registered it for me, but they won't next year unless it gets straightened out. They assured me that the truck is mine and will stay mine, they just figure that when the shyte hit the fan my paperwork got lost in the shuffle. Fun.<br /><br />Today I decided to change the plugs/wires/rotor/cap, as I had not done that on this vehicle yet. It has always ran good so I didn't mess with it. Cap was shot (all the posts were burned away), rotor was severely burned away, plugs were vile beyond belief. The coil wire was not making contact with the cap contact, so the contact was burned away and the wire was shot. A couple of spark plug wires had the contact that affixes to the plug broken and the wires were just being held on by the grip of the boot. The engine ran pretty damn good, but after replacing all that, the improvement was dramatic. Usually when I buy a used rig I replace all fluid and tune-up items, but I didn't on this rig for some reason. Lesson learned: Keep your rig maintained....<br /><br />I also washed all the winter grime off and remembered that it is white, not dirty skanky tan colored....

 

[LubeDude]

Re: The joys of used vehicle ownership

Why cant we neglect our boats like that?

 

[JasonJ]

Re: The joys of used vehicle ownership

Lubedude, I guess thats the beauty of modern fuel injection, it will run decent even when the owner does a sucky job of maintaining it. It is embarrassing even admitting I was negligent, I am usually very anal about that sort of thing, but not with this truck. I am pretty sure the cap, rotor, wires, and plugs were original. They were all Motorcraft, and most people don't go to the dealership to get these items, they go down to the nearby Napa (like I did, but I bought the cap/rotor with brass posts rather than the aluminum posts). When I met my better half a few years ago I asked her when the last time she had had a tune-up done on her Jeep Grand Cherokee, she said she didn't remember if she had ever had one done. Her plugs were so erroded that the gap was well over twice the normal gap. Wires, cap, and rotor were a mess. Oh well, it is all done now.<br /><br />And yes, my boat has been getting much more attention than the truck was.

 

[Homerr]

Re: The joys of used vehicle ownership

WOW,<br /><br />Let us know how you make out on the title.<br />Sounds like you have your hands full! <br /><br />I had a similar situation here in Oregon, but the car didn't have a lien on it anywhere.<br />I simply found the last owners, and they signed it off.<br /><br />You have to deal with who 'owns' it... ie: the bank it's financed through (or was through).<br /><br />I'm curious... Do you know how much is still owed on it? I wonder if they bank will write it off and go after the old dealer.<br /><br />Ultimately it's the dealers fault.<br /><br />Betcha do a title seach before you buy another used car?<br /><br />H.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: The joys of used vehicle ownership

Its my loan that I took out to pay for the vehicle. The title is clear, they just never processed the paperwork, so it is floating around. I am surprised the bank didn't make a fuss, as they are the leinholder right now. I have faith that the system will fix it, I just feel bad for the guys who were stuck with two payments.