Tips on Buying Cars: Purchasing a Fleet Vehicle, ford service department, jim sears

Question
Hi,  I'm thinking about buying a fleet vehicle.  it's a Cargo van that shows up as havning been under a commercial lease for 6 months.  It's a Ford E150 Econoline Cargo Van.  I'm curious if you know if the factory warranty would still be in effect (since it was used commmercialy).  Also, after agreeing on a price with the dealer, the dealer is now saying their finance company will not finance that particular vehicle.  Sounds strange to me, but I was wondering if banks don't want to finance used commerical lease (or fleet) vehicles.  

I'm in Illinois.  Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Brian; Only two things stand out to me with the info that I have. The finance company, like most, is hesitant to lend on a commercial vehicle, unless your credit is good to excellent. If credit wasn't the issue, then perhaps the mileage on the vehicle is over what the recommended miles are for that year. A lot of finance companies have parameters on the mileage to year scale. The remainder of the factory warrantee should be in effect, unless some kind of weird deal was made when the truck was first leased. Check with a service advisor at the Ford Service Department. He can look it up on his computer using the VIN Number. I am suprised to hear that the financing fell through. There are a "zillion" people who finance a used fleet vehicle, even if they are secondary finance. Sounds to me as if the finance director at your dealership hasn't done some homework....Thanks, Jim Sears.