Is it an '88? or.......

[Neil Swanson <75377.3445@CompuServe.COM>]

Good morning,

I've got one for the collective wisdom of the group.

As I told you a week or so ago my friend Liz bought an '88 5000S Quattro.  Paid
at the top of the NADA but the car is real clean and only 65K miles.  Plus she
liked it.

Her finance company called her and asked her why she was financing it as an '88
when it was an '87!  HUH?  

The car was advertised as an '88, had a sticker on the glass as '88 and in the
newspaper as an '88.  It was priced as an '88.

The VIN #, now we check, is an "H" as in '87 model year.  My '88 is a "J" as it
should be.  I got a print out of the service the dealer did and they call it an
'87.  The car was delivered on 6/87.

The car was made in 5/87 yet the dealer shows a record of working on it in 3/87.
Before it was made or delivered.  Wierd.  And all the VIN#s match, I checked.

The dash is not like mine.  On the pass side the dash is more cut down on top.
The ABS switch is on the left of the column instead of the right in a row.  I
thought this may be just an S vs CS difference.  Is it?

The NADA does not even list a 5000S Q as available is '87 but it was available
in '88.  So is this a case of a model being released really early, an '88 in
'87?  This never raised a flag to me 'cause it never occured to me. Pass an '87
off as an '88?  Why bother.

If you go to a Ford dealer now you can get a '96 F250 or a '97 F250. 

So, any thoughts on just what went on here?  Early release of a 5KQ?  Anybody
really got an '87 5kq?   What about the dash question.

She hasn't called the dealer yet.  She can be SOOOOOOOOO tough when needed.
BTFT.  Plus she is a journalist and writes the car column with me and is the
managing editor of a newspaper.  The wrong person to screw if in fact she was.

I could see the salespeople geting this car in on trade and not knowing the '87
VIN# was for an '88 sales year.  We're calling AoA.

Thanks

Neil
CT