Followup question:
There was another Ford van I looked at with a misfire. I took it to a mechanic to check it out, and he said rain water got in there. (I checked the Ford forum and saw this is a common problem with these vans, a design flaw, there are some fixes.)
Mechanic fixed it an said the van is good to go, I could go ahead and buy it. He is a Ford truck specialist, but a stranger to me.
Was this mechanic BSing me?
I learned after the fact, from the dealer who has that van for sale, that he does some work for them. (I said, 'Oh, so he is YOUR guy, not my guy!' Dealer said, 'He's not our guy; we take our cars to all the mechanics around here.' I said, 'Oooo... they are ALL your guys :( '. This does seem a wise strategy if you are a dealer, but not so great for me.)
