Is a tracked vehicle a dealbreaker?

[Zrussian13]

As far as pre purchase inspections go...im bringing this to a ford dealer nearby for a multi point inspection.

Is a diagnostics test and a compression test worth it? Or do you only do a compression test if you discover other issues.

Saw a video on YT about testing for compression at each cylinder and checking for variances and that #8 is the one that usually is lower.

Is YT Honey Badger same as @honeybadger here?

A compression test will give you a good idea of the engine health on a tracked car. I do one or two every year when I'm changing plugs. I'm boosted with high mileage though so I'm extra paranoid.

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[Rb1987]

A compression test will give you a good idea of the engine health on a tracked car. I do one or two every year when I'm changing plugs. I'm boosted with high mileage though so I'm extra paranoid.

Process seems fairly simple. I doubt the seller would let me do that as he seems very particular about who touches his car. His buddy has a shop so perhaps we can do that there.

This is a 2019 with 17k miles. Not boosted. Novice tracked a few times. Doubt there is an issue. But who knows.

 

[key01]

You got the warranty. A compression test would be nice to have, but it’s a little involved process.

 

[Zrussian13]

Process seems fairly simple. I doubt the seller would let me do that as he seems very particular about who touches his car. His buddy has a shop so perhaps we can do that there.

This is a 2019 with 17k miles. Not boosted. Novice tracked a few times. Doubt there is an issue. But who knows.

If his buddies shop can do it I'd take advantage of it. Only because it was tracked. If he got that thing too hot cylinder 8 would probably show signs. There's been a few threads in the past where NA guys lost cylinder 8 tracking it. Although I believe most of them, if not all, were running the ford power pack. It's not very common though.

If maintenance was done as well as he says your probably good to go. I beat the hell out of my gt on a daily basis and at 82k it still runs like a champ. These cars take abuse very well.

 

[honeybadger]

Leak down tells you a lot more than a compression test, but it's far more time consuming. IME, you can tell if you have a compression issue by the way it runs - if it's missing or blowing smoke out the exhaust/crankcase, you have an issue. Without signs of those, not sure it's worth the effort to do a leak down test on a car that still has the warranty. IF you're worried about numbers matching, I'd give a 350 a second thought. A lot of them are going to have replaced motors in a few years.

 

[Rb1987]

Leak down tells you a lot more than a compression test, but it's far more time consuming. IME, you can tell if you have a compression issue by the way it runs - if it's missing or blowing smoke out the exhaust/crankcase, you have an issue. Without signs of those, not sure it's worth the effort to do a leak down test on a car that still has the warranty. IF you're worried about numbers matching, I'd give a 350 a second thought. A lot of them are going to have replaced motors in a few years.

No I want the car to have a good time in for years to come. Sure I could kick in 6k more and get a M1 brand new with a warranty. But I want a 350.

Does Ford even have warehouses full of spare engines to replace these?

 

[honeybadger]

No I want the car to have a good time in for years to come. Sure I could kick in 6k more and get a M1 brand new with a warranty. But I want a 350.

Does Ford even have warehouses full of spare engines to replace these?

They do at the moment - not sure what everything will look like in a few years. As far as I know, dealers are still replacing engines pretty often on 350s, but I haven't been caught up to speed in the last 6 months or so. Not sure what's going to happen as warranties expire en masse. I'll be curious to see how Ford handles - they really should have extended warranties to 8-10 years, IMHO.

 

[Rb1987]

They do at the moment - not sure what everything will look like in a few years. As far as I know, dealers are still replacing engines pretty often on 350s, but I haven't been caught up to speed in the last 6 months or so. Not sure what's going to happen as warranties expire en masse. I'll be curious to see how Ford handles - they really should have extended warranties to 8-10 years, IMHO.

Well mines under warranty until July 2027 so I guess I will find out then.

Hoping to have many more years after that of fun.

 

[Kachow]

Well mines under warranty until July 2027 so I guess I will find out then.

Hoping to have many more years after that of fun.

You've got the warranty. Send it! When you picking er up?

 

[Rb1987]

You've got the warranty. Send it! When you picking er up?

Yeah I know. Toyotas spoiled me with reliability and longevity. Im getting it Friday. So excited. Driving it to my dads house and surprising him. Hes a big ford guy. Then im spending the week with him for his birthday.

 

[Egparson202]

Yeah I know. Toyotas spoiled me with reliability and longevity. Im getting it Friday. So excited. Driving it to my dads house and surprising him. Hes a big ford guy. Then im spending the week with him for his birthday.

That rocks! Perfect way to start.

 

[19gtaz]

Congratulations! I'm sure everything will be fine.

 

[Rb1987]

A GT3 hitting a wall. That never happens….

Temp tag - just have the bill of sale and related paperwork. You can also ask the owner if you can keep the plate for the drive back and then send it to him. Either way, no big deal.

Don‘t forget to add it to your insurance policy.

And have fun!

Looks like the states I drove through only required bill of sale and insurance so I drove plateless.

A few cops passed me and I thought for sure I was going to get pulled over, but nothing.

I watched inside a restaurant where a couple sheriffs were looking at the car and chatting for a few minutes.

So the car was even more beautiful in person. The owner was yelling at the inspector for revving it too much while the oil was too cool.

Seeing my dads face when the car hit 7k was priceless. Glad I was able to buy the car and drive it over this house for his birthday.

 

[Kachow]

Pictures man!

 

[milner_7]

It's a car designed to be tracked.

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