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Old 11-26-2008, 05:23 PM
Gene Horr Gene Horr is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 343


Read through it and make sure the all of the problems have been solved previously. Everything but the cheap things (brake switch, CkPS) are mostly a one time issue. You run across the defect, fix it, then you never have it again. So make sure the the prior owner has fixed these things. One problem is that there are lot of vehicles owned by either ignorant people or young boys who don't fix the problems and then you wind up with far more expenses in the future.

Assuming the owner maintains the vehicle correctly once they get past 60k miles or so other than the cheapo items mentioned above and regular maintenance they tend to keep going. Transmission are reported to need rebuild in the high 100k's of miles. So your vehicle will probably need it soon if it hasn't been done already. I have yet to hear of a catastrophic engine failure that was not due to poor maintenance.

It probably needs another set of plugs and wires (moderately expensive) and the EGR tube cleaned again (not too expensive but can be a royal pain in the rear). Front end should be well inspected as well as center driveshaft bearing and wheel bearings. Brakes can be a bit pricey.

One a used vehicle I would expect in the US$500-1,500 range for immediate repairs. Get all of the fluids changed (including transmission and transfer case!), change the CkPS unless it has been changed recently, same thing with the brake switch. Plan on buying a MAF sensor in the next year or so if it hasn't been changed recently.

Note that you can find vehicles with half the mileage for fairly cheap right now.
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