Thoughts on CPO Gold .. Theft.

[dvs78]

I am looking at a 2nd gen raptor with all of the options I want - and comes with CPO Gold advantage from ford per the dealer website.. as its currently going thru the 172-point inspection... 45k miles on a 2020 raptor.

The Car fax on it came up clean and good maintenace history. Only when i did a autocheck the below came up.

the big issue is that the car was stolen and found the same day with its catalytic converter sawed off.. the car and stolen converter happened back in 2021. I found the case number on it (auto check) and called the police department that handled it and they told me the specifics that it was stolen, and found with its converter taken off.

I guess my question is - should i stay away from it? or does the CPO gold warranty from Ford make it a bit easier to digest? or maybe I try to negotiate an ESP with purchase as well since it was stolen?

I don't even think the dealership knows it was stolen..the used car manager is supposed to call me back.

how much would you try to negotiate off the bat for it being stolen with CPO gold? or should i just stay far far away from this one

 

[smurfslayer]

Welcome to FRF

if all they did was hack off the catastrophic converter(s), and no other damage is listed on the police report, AND there is nothing else showing on carfax/oasis, then likely there was nothing else done.

It was found same day so, probably they broke in, drove to a safe spot and took the parts.

If you don’t know yet, all Ford F series from ’16 -’21-ish are pitifully easy to break into via the driver’s door lock cylinder. I can’t quite turn it with my bare hands, but close. it only takes a multi-tool, and 5 seconds if you’re totally unskilled. That gets you in, but getting away is a bit more challenging, unless someone left a key in the truck. If they did, it would fire right on up - even the push button start. there are also ways to get in with fancy electronics - key fob cloning, etc. I would be surprised at the latter for this issue because all they took were converters. Probably a target of opportunity and there was probably a key in the truck.

Anyway, I don’t think there’s much negotiating on this issue. It was stolen, one or 2 parts taken, presumably repaired to factory spec. New stealership is selling CPO gold. Knowing what you already know, if you’re at all concerned with it, get a 1-2 day test drive. take to a known mechanic and have them look over the truck.

I wouldn’t be offended with the given fact set.
NOW, if it was taken, and found later in the desert with body damage, cats stolen, interior trashed... pass.

good luck

 

[thatJeepguy]

There are way too many gen2 trucks for sale. Pick one that doesn't have a history like that.

 

[Sidetrack]

If it's the right color, the right year, and feels like a strong truck that you'll love, then continue to follow up with the dealer BUT at a discount. A previously stolen vehicle being sold by a dealer (depends on the size of the dealer i suppose) should be considered more of a liability for them to sell and for you to own. I think it's safe to assume that your insurance rates might be higher due to the theft. There's two main differences....if it was recovered quickly, the truck would likely only show up as stolen in the DMV system. If the truck was recovered after some period of time, the title would be branded, which results in a more definitive hit to the value of the truck and insurability. At auction, i'm told that a stolen vehicle would be worth 25% - 40% less (according to a friend that runs a dealership in NE). However, i guess value is in the eye of the beholder. Make sure it gets re-keyed if you end up purchasing. Personally, I agree with thatJeepguy. I'd prefer to fly across the country (and risk flying back home) to purchase the exact truck i wanted, without the bad history in the DMV system.

For CarFax, I've completely lost my faith in what they can provide. When my truck was stolen in February, the thief drove it through a pipe gate, damaging the front end. The truck was recovered 5 hours later, but the damage was done. My insurance paid out almost $4k for the damages. The claim was filed, the damage was recorded in all documentation, and I had the check from insurance in hand when I was able to make the dealer buy the truck from me. A couple weeks after selling the truck, i noticed that CarFax never was updated to show that the truck was in an accident & damaged. CarFax did show it being stolen and recovered, correctly. Since the dealership was concealing details about the circumstances of the theft, I was afraid that they'd do the same thing for this accident & the next potential buyer. The dealer only goes as far as the blue certified level for all vehicles on their lot, but regardless, they sold it to someone as a "Blue Certiifed" used Ford.

I reaced out to CarFax directly, and they said that since i wasn't the owner of the truck anymore, they wouldn't update the vehicle history to show the recent accident & minor damages. I gave them copies from my insurance claim, etc..., etc... and they still refused to do anything to correctly update their records to show the true history of the truck. To date, the carfax is still missing the accident & damage that occured during the theft.

Food for thought.

There's more fish in the sea. Don't settle for anything less than you deserve. Good luck, compadre'!

 

[GordoJay]

If it's the right color, the right year, and feels like a strong truck that you'll love, then continue to follow up with the dealer BUT at a discount. A previously stolen vehicle being sold by a dealer (depends on the size of the dealer i suppose) should be considered more of a liability for them to sell and for you to own. I think it's safe to assume that your insurance rates might be higher due to the theft. There's two main differences....if it was recovered quickly, the truck would likely only show up as stolen in the DMV system. If the truck was recovered after some period of time, the title would be branded, which results in a more definitive hit to the value of the truck and insurability. At auction, i'm told that a stolen vehicle would be worth 25% - 40% less (according to a friend that runs a dealership in NE). However, i guess value is in the eye of the beholder. Make sure it gets re-keyed if you end up purchasing. Personally, I agree with thatJeepguy. I'd prefer to fly across the country (and risk flying back home) to purchase the exact truck i wanted, without the bad history in the DMV system.

For CarFax, I've completely lost my faith in what they can provide. When my truck was stolen in February, the thief drove it through a pipe gate, damaging the front end. The truck was recovered 5 hours later, but the damage was done. My insurance paid out almost $4k for the damages. The claim was filed, the damage was recorded in all documentation, and I had the check from insurance in hand when I was able to make the dealer buy the truck from me. A couple weeks after selling the truck, i noticed that CarFax never was updated to show that the truck was in an accident & damaged CarFax did show it being stolen and recovered, correctly. Since the dealership was concealing details about the circumstances of the theft, I was afraid that they'd do the same thing for this accident & the next potential buyer. The dealer only goes as far as the blue certified level for all vehicles on their lot, but regardless, they sold it to someone as a "Blue Certiifed" used Ford.

I reaced out to CarFax directly, and they said that since i wasn't the owner of the truck anymore, they wouldn't update the vehicle history to show the recent accident & minor damages. I gave them copies from my insurance claim, etc..., etc... and they still refused to do anything to correctly update their records to show the true history of the truck. To date, the carfax is still missing the accident & damage that occured during the theft.

Food for thought.

There's more fish in the sea. Don't settle for anything less than you deserve. Good luck, compadre'!

Interesting. A cynic would wonder whether Carfax makes money by whitewashing reports for dealers. Dealer pays low trade in because Carfax, sells vehicle with clean Carfax.

 

[Sidetrack]

Interesting. A cynic would wonder whether Carfax makes money by whitewashing reports for dealers. Dealer pays low trade in because Carfax, sells vehicle with clean Carfax.

I don't think that's too far off. I don't think it's costing extra money to whitewash the reports. Instead, for dealers with a national footprint w/ several dealerships for several different car manufacturers, they do enough business with carfax to naturally have all the stroke they need?

 

[BBR]

I bought my 2018 just before it was being shipped to auction. Original owner traded it in at selling dealer in BF vermont where nobody could afford it. 49K miles at time of purchase but had gold ford warranty. Jumped some railroad tracks, did some burnouts and bought it. Now at 89k and zero issues.