A little car advice

**FatalException0E** · September 9th, 2004, 07:53 PM

My girlfriend managed to total her 94 Olds 88 Tuesday morning. Too bad, it was nice....fully decked out, low miles. Man, it was smooth.

Anyway, a friend of one of her coworkers is selling a '94 Ford Explorer with 133k miles. He just put new tires on it, did some unspecified brake work, and is getting a tune up this weekend. She didn't find out what the engine is in it, but I would assume V6. I don't think the V8 was out yet, and I doubt they still put 4s in them in '94. Its selling for $3800. She needs cheap right now. She borrowed from her 401(k) to get the Olds and wasn't quite finished paying it back. Now she'll have to borrow again for her next vehicle.

What are the thoughts on this thing? If bad, what are some better alternatives? Frankly, I'd rather her be in something better handling.

Oh yeah, the guy claims to get 25 miles per gallon. I think he's lying. Could there be any way he's telling the truth?

**imaeditedbysowulo** · September 9th, 2004, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by FatalException0E

My girlfriend managed to total her 94 Olds 88 Tuesday morning. Too bad, it was nice....fully decked out, low miles. Man, it was smooth.

Anyway, a friend of one of her coworkers is selling a '94 Ford Explorer with 133k miles. He just put new tires on it, did some unspecified brake work, and is getting a tune up this weekend. She didn't find out what the engine is in it, but I would assume V6. I don't think the V8 was out yet, and I doubt they still put 4s in them in '94. Its selling for $3800. She needs cheap right now. She borrowed from her 401(k) to get the Olds and wasn't quite finished paying it back. Now she'll have to borrow again for her next vehicle.

What are the thoughts on this thing? If bad, what are some better alternatives? Frankly, I'd rather her be in something better handling, but I don't think she'd really end up using the full capabilities of something more flickable.

Oh yeah, the guy claims to get 25 miles per gallon. I think he's lying. Could there be any way he's telling the truth?

http://www.carsurvey.org/modelyear_F...orer_1994.html

^^^good site for checking out any type of used car you are interested in purchasing.

I would have a look at the vehicle in person. If it has a trailer hitch on the back I wouldn't even consider buying it. If there's no hitch and it looks like it has been meticulously maintained inside and out and under the hood, I MIGHT pay 3000 for that vehicle. They are expensive to maintain after 100K, especially if the first 100K were thrash miles. Oh and the 25 mpg I don't think that's possible unless he's driving it downhill 100% of the time, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got 20.

If money isn't just oozing from every orifice of her body, I think a car that got 30+mpg would be a very smart idea. One with under 100K miles.

**CeeBee** · September 10th, 2004, 07:05 AM

Too old and too many miles, you *will* end up paying for maintenance and "small" repairs more then the car is worth within 2-3 years. And I don't know how it is in your state but here it would have to go through inspection to get registered if it's more than 10 yrs old.
If you're willing to shell out more $$$, look at www.enterprisecarsales.com , you can get some great deals on newer cars (2-3 yrs old with 30-40k miles at $6-7k). I negociated mine $2000 under the lowest price I could get at any other dealers for same model, year and mileage, and they also include a 12,000/12mo warranty in the price.

**Tacklebox** · September 10th, 2004, 07:19 AM

I'd keep looking. The Fords I've had began falling apart at around 75,000 miles. It was always one thing after another and I spent alot of time doing starters, fuel pumps, radiators, water pumps, etc at the garage or in my driveway.

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

IMO

**3fingersalute** · September 10th, 2004, 07:29 AM

OK, making a few assumptions (good body condition and guessing it's not an XLT, etc.).......Kelley Blue Book lists that as being worth $2995 if you are buying through a private party, and I will never pay full blue book value for any vehicle I buy.

Also, like mentioned above, you are jumping into the maintenance age of this vehicle - the mileage is high and you are talking about a 10-11 year old vehicle, so she needs to be prepared to replace parts on it soon.

Does she really need an SUV or something 4WD? Her last vehicle wasn't, and if she has 3 grand or so to spend, she could pick up a newer, less mileage vehicle that gets better mileage for that kind of $$........something smaller and easier on gas.

I have a 97 blazer and I get 15-18 MPG around town, and about 24-25 MPG when I am doing strictly highway driving (long trips, etc), so I think it would be a stretch for it to get 25 MPG, unless he is talking strictly highway driving, and even that would be the very top end of the spectrum.

If she really wants this vehicle, I'd tell him $2400 - $2500 top end, but that is just my opinion!

**Ya_know** · September 10th, 2004, 07:42 AM

I don't care how well it's running right now, that price is too much. High mileage is high mileage.

If she's taking out loans on her 401k, is it because her credit isn't good enough to be financed? I am not asking to belittle her, just trying to get the facts straight...cause financing a much newer car, or perhaps new would be a lot better then 133,000 miles, I don't give a damn how new the tires are!

As mentioned, maintenance on this thing is going to be high, also gas mileage is going to suck.

If she wants cheep, yet reliable, there are a ton of civics out there for just a few thousand more, with a lot less miles, and great gas mileage. The money saved there would counter the extra cost of the car, and you would have more piece of mind, providing that no high prices repairs come out of the deal.

**3fingersalute** · September 10th, 2004, 07:42 AM

Oh, btw, here's another cool site to look at when buying used. You can read reviews of vehicles (I linked you to some for 94 explorers)............looks like most people get around 20mpg in an explorer, but when running hi-grade gas. Might be worth a little time to read some of these reviews.

**FatalException0E** · September 10th, 2004, 01:29 PM

OK, I emailed her about the thing and included a link to this thread. We're going car shopping tonight. All the dealerships are heavily loaded with trade-ins from the Labor Day sales.

**PuterGeekGirl** · September 10th, 2004, 01:33 PM

Was she ok in the wreck? Didn't get hurt at all?

**3fingersalute** · September 10th, 2004, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by PuterGeekGirl

Was she ok in the wreck? Didn't get hurt at all?

Good point, PGG..........all us guys just blew right by that part of the post and started reading the stuff about cars!

**PuterGeekGirl** · September 10th, 2004, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by 3fingersalute

Good point, PGG..........all us guys just blew right by that part of the post and started reading the stuff about cars!

Shocking......

**Camaro80z** · September 10th, 2004, 03:00 PM

I hope she is okay and no one was hurt in the wreck.

As to the car, do not go near the exploder! Over 100 thousand miles, they become a nightmare. There are too many issues to count.

There are many good cars out there, the main thing to look for is what will work best for you in the long run. Hope all goes well!

**opiate** · September 10th, 2004, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Camaro80z

I hope she is okay and no one was hurt in the wreck.

As to the car, do not go near the exploder! Over 100 thousand miles, they become a nightmare. There are too many issues to count.

There are many good cars out there, the main thing to look for is what will work best for you in the long run. Hope all goes well!

have her go get a brand new or slightly used hyundai. My neighbor just bought his twin girls both new hyundai's for like $7500-$8000 each.

What ever she does I would highly advise not buying anything with 133K on it. Tell her to put a small down payment on a hyundai and then pay $125-$175 per month for it.