A 2020 Ford Explorer ST might not be everyone’s idea of a project car, but YouTuber Matt Ryan – aka NYKAuto – flipped that notion on its head when he rescued an Explorer that was worse for wear in a junkyard. Ryan put a bid on the Explorer, winning the ailing crossover for $8,000 on Copart, which is an absolute steal for something with just 26,000 miles racked up, but there’s a reason for its cheap price. It needs a ton of work.
The 2020 Ford Explorer ST – which had been stolen and abused before being thrown out – arrives in Ryan’s care on a forklift, missing all of its wheels. There’s evidence that it had some shoddy front end work done and no telling what else happened to it, so Ryan slaps a set of $1,900 wheels and tires on it and sets it down, ready to fire it up and see if it runs. Problem is, the transmission isn’t exactly in good shape and won’t go into gear, preventing the crossover from turning over at all.
Ryan pops the Explorer on a lift and discovers that the front end suspension was pretty much destroyed, and a bunch of wiring was cut and in need of repair. A new wiring harness is installed, the front end reassembled, but unfortunately, the no-start condition persists. That’s a problem for another time, though, because the next item on the list is fixing the bodywork and painting it.
Once it’s all smoothed out and repainted, it’s time to address the issues with the onboard computers. Once everything’s reprogrammed, the 2020 Ford Explorer finally starts, and Ryan is actually able to drive it home. He put about $24,300 worth of parts and labor into getting the Explorer up and running again, which is a lot, but it’s not going to take much to get it sold. There are already customers lining up for a chance to buy it. It’s almost too good of a deal to be passed up for $27,995, after all.
There’s nothing wrong with taking in a beat-up vehicle to restore, but expect to do some work. Take this Ford Transit van, which was formerly an Amazon delivery vehicle, which needed some TLC to get back up to speed. An absolutely disgusting Ford Flex wound up in a detailer’s bay with about six inches of grime inside and out, but they made it work.
Comment
Electrical wiring is what separates the men from the baby boy mechanics.
More than half the mechanics I’ve met are absolutely confused and flustered by the most basic automotive wiring.
It’s DC. It is elementary school wiring. Yet these hair brained mechanics manage to screw up the wiring harness 9/10 times.