I bought a 2011 Ford Explorer from a high class ford dealer “ROWE Ford WESTBROOK “ I bout it in 2016 was new at buying so I had no clue what I was doing. As for the sales man told me I shouldn’t need a extended warranty for there was one owner and he showed me the history of how well the man maintenances it. Five months after I pulled it off the lot my engine blow, not 2 1/2 years later after paying 24 thousand dollars my truck that I still owe 16 thousand on will not pass inspection for the bumper frame under the cover is so rusted out it will not pass. What the hell do I do the metal frame the supports my back end of my truck needs to be replace must I remind I just paid for a new engine already…
Didn’t you get this vehicule inspected by an independant shop before you bought it?
Is it just the bumper that is rusted? or the frame of the truck that the bumper mounts to?
I’ve never heard of a salesman not trying to sell an extended warranty. Usually, they are trying to push that garbage all over everyone.
What does your independent mechanic have to say bout all of this?
For future reference, you should have bought a cheaper car in the financial position that you were in at the time of the purchase. Owing $16,000 on an eight-year-old car isn’t good.
If your Explorer has so much rust that it won’t pass a safety inspection, there is really only one thing you can do: get rid of it and buy something else. The fact that you owe a lot of money is likely going to be the lender’s problem, because you’re probably going to have to default on the debt. It is unlikely that you will be able to roll more than $15,000 of negative equity into another loan (nor should you) so your only option is going to be to stop paying this one, and let it go to collections.
If you are sued for the balance, you may need to declare bankruptcy, but that would be many months (or possibly several years) down the road. Right now, you need to focus on finding something safe that you can afford. If planning to finance another vehicle, you need to do that before your credit takes the hit, i.e. you need to buy the other vehicle before you stop paying on this one.
That being said, if your Explorer really has enough rust to the point that it can’t pass a safety inspection now in early 2019, then it certainly had a lot of visible rust 2-3 years ago when the engine failed–or 5 months prior when you bought it.
Before I acted on the conclusion of any particular emissions/safety inspector, I would get a second opinion. It would not be the first time an inspector made a judgement call that another might not agree is quite so severe. And that’s what this is, a judgement call for when rust is severe enough to warrant denying a safety inspection sticker. It’s not a binary switch that’s either on or off, it’s a grey area that is up for debate unless they can show you definitive evidence of impending structural failure…