Car Shopping - "Yes, This Has a Tow Package!"

[mstephens]

I'm sure everyone has had the experience of your sales person pointing to the receiver and saying, "Oh yes, this one has the tow package and can tow 10,000 pounds!"

We've been shopping for a used TV. The toughest thing is being sure what options are on the specific vehicle. I know a few RPO codes to look for on the GM platforms like Z82, Z85, but there are so many more. And on the Fords I don't know where the options list is on the car.

I've located a few VIN Decoders, but none are reliable. Most of the time, I get "VIN not Found" or other errors.

Does anyone have a favorite VIN Decoder, or Window Sticker lookup? Even a pay version might be worth it. I tried the COMPNINE demo, and entered 10 VINs - - not one of them was FOUND! So, paying for it didn't seem prudent.

[gandttimes]

I am not sure how this works with all the dealers, but at the GM dealer I worked for for may years, all one had to do was ask the parts department to look it up, as it is something they have to do anyway to verify parts they are ordering for a vehicle.
George

[xrvr]

I think you are correct on this, if the parts guy knows his business. Jim

[wahoonc]

I have alway just taken the VIN to the local dealer and asked for a build sheet printout.

Here is a VIN decoder for Fords, from Ford.

Aaron

[mstephens]

Right. I think the parts department guys would know how to look up the features. On the weekends though, you have only the sales guys and they are not aware of how to find this stuff. We had a sales department yesterday looking for half an hour trying to learn what features were on a Denali we were looking at. I finally went in and using their computer found a free vin decoder that just luckily had that vehicle. The two sales guys were shocked that VIN decoders existed.

The problem I am finding is that most free vin decoders have very few vins in the database.

We might have to be sure we talk with parts department before buying.

[phbarnhart]

Buying a car is a lot like dealing with the USSR: trust, but verify... everything.

[phbarnhart]

Just came across this little article and it seems apropos.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/how...son-1537041492

[mstephens]

We just bought another TV from an excellent salesman. There are some out there! One hour and 15 min. to drive out in the new ride.

[Stefrobrts]

We had a terrible salesperson, he told us (among other things he got wrong) that it could tow 7500#! Luckily we already knew it topped out at 4500#!

So, what did you get?!

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

We had a terrible salesperson, he told us (among other things he got wrong) that it could tow 7500#! Luckily we already knew it topped out at 4500#!

So, what did you get?!

Look in the thread called "Suburban w/ Quadrasteer" We bought the '05 3/4T Suburban pictured in there.