I've seen the car and it's in good shape. It's automatic with 80k miles. The deal is the dealership put in a new engine and the dude couldn't pay for it. So I'm buying the car really REALLY cheap.


What things should I look for?

Auto.....Bah.......

2000 bucks dude, i don't mind the auto :)

AT is cool, go ahead and order a turbo timer.

get it.At's have less chance of CW. :P

leaks of any kind would be a good start. :D they may be satan, but they WILL NOT be perfect, even for the millions of dollars they charge for labor. ha.

clicking noise from the bottom of the engine bay.

Ok you're going to look like a madman here, but see if you can do all of this stuff, if possible. Ask them to pull it into the garage and ask the mechanic to do the stuff that requires minor disassembly under the hood if they're hesitant.


Look for drilled holes or any glue residue near the steering column and surrounding trim pieces (from guages, etc---basically see if it was modded). If they let you, take a look at the dump tube, too, and see if it was cut. Look for small signs of ground wires from aftermarket crap..I found some electrical connectors by the drivers side trim screws, which worries me b/c it means the previous owner did SOMETHING, hopefully just a timer, and I could've gotten the car for less. I garantee the dealer didnt' check for that (connectors, dump tube mod) and if any of its there, its a sure sign the car's been dogged/modded, and you can talk them down even more. Also, is it a rebuilt 7-bolt motor? gouge them on that if it is, its a potential Cwalk if its rebuilt(you can prob assume the car was slightly mistreated if it needed a rebuild at 80k---hopefully he broke it and it didnt' walk).

If it is a 7-bolt, ask them how they rebuilt it--i.e. overbored the sleeves, new sleeves, whatever. What you're looking for is to see if they mention the oil squirters. I've heard that if you "plug" them, it rectifies crankwalk, but thats only a VERY unconfirmed urban legend, and I think it isn't true. From what I understand, a rebuilt 7bolt that walked the first time will walk again. Look under the front bumper and see if anything was "shaved" down or drilled into---you're looking for a former FMIC. (not a biggie or deal breaker, just another excuse for a better deal).

Check the tranny and see if it quasi-smoothly downshifts when driving into 2nd, and preferrably 1st (probably won't for 1st, but 2nd is crucial). See if the car kicks reverse out of gear or grinds in R. Mine does it (grinds in Reverse) and the tranny ist still OK, but i'm only at 58k..... Most of the trannies won't be smooth at all, but if any of these things are REALLY bad your 2k car might turn into a 4k car sooner than you planned.

2k is a steal assuming the tranny/engine are really OK, but if you find this crap you CAN legitimately talk them down--but you do run the risk of them just booting you out. Look at it this way, though, if they tell you politely to f-off, then you know something is amiss.

As with any car at a dealer, dont' fall in love with it! There are a million for sale elsewhere, so find a good one!

Good luck! :thumbsup

Matt

Am I missing anything here guys?