Lonewolfjustin

So a buddy of mine came over this morning with an interesting story. He was at a 7-11 yesterday with his 2013 F150 Lariat. He had parked on the side of the building, got out, locked the doors and went in to get a drink. When he came back out he got in, started the truck but when he tried to put it in gear the shifter just moved back and forth. It was completely loose and didn't engage. Add to this, he had his door closed and was sitting in the seat blocking the view for the most part from the outside.

After a few minutes a guy, who looked homeless, tapped on his glass and asked him if his shifter was loose. He said it was and the guy said he used to work for Ford and knew what the fix was. My friend let him work on it, which was this guy lifting a panel off the side of the console, adjusting a cable around a rubber device (sorry neither of us are mechanics) and closing the panel up. After that the truck was able to be placed into gear just fine. The guy then asks for $60 for the repair. That is where it got really fishy for my friend.

How did this guy know he was having shifter problems, know the exact easy fix, and the ask for money in return. Had it been something where he helped and then walked away it would have been one thing, but just all of that aligning just perfectly just was odd. Was this guy a blessing in disguise or was my friend getting scammed?

The truck was locked so there was no access to the inside, but could this "good samaritan" have accessed a cable underneath the truck and pulled it to make the shifter loose? My friend gave him $20 for helping him and even told him, had he tried to walk off like he was just doing it to help, he would have paid him more. But asking for that specific sum just sat wrong.

So what do you guys think? Was this guy just in the right place and the right time to help my friend out? Or is there a easy way to scam people with the shifter cable where this is a known thing out there? Thanks for any thoughts on this!

Martian

No way to really tell. If it was my truck, I'd be opening it up to see what all those pieces were.

AK4wheeler

I say a scam...way too convenient.


AK4wheeler

Franchi Motorsports

iTrader: (9)

I would be highly suspicious....

Too much of a coincidence.

But that is really odd too, that could have a issue like with such a simple "seeming" solution....