Purchasing a 1996 850 GLT N/A with 279,500 Miles?

[dosbricks]

The front leather looks about as good as my '96 GLT wagon at 153k. BTW, the NA engine in it is a 2.4 so the engine in question is 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, or somewhere around there.

Now you have an offer on a tailgate that you can't refuse.

[mika]

Erik, pm sent.

He does have a 94 ( VVIS!) equipped white wagon on CL for sale, 200$ only. He maybe parting it out from what I heard.

will keep evryone here posted. Excited for the weekend!

[mika]

Forgot to mention, +1 on the ngk plus being taken out. Left on a roadtrip from socal before on a cracked ngk plug. ( at the time thought it was wires, they were original to car, replaced them and misfire went away temp). misfire got worse around grand junction i barely made it over mountains and coasted (downhill) into first volvo dealership on the map (denver). Spark plug cracked straight down the middle. Easiest fix ever!

think about it though, i was running on 4/5 cyl in a fully packed car and still made it over the rockies without a CEL until the last few miles

[northernlights]

If you are handy with these cars I'd skip the inspection and save yourself some money that you will need for repairs and maintenance. I don't know what it will cost, but ask yourself what answers you would expect to get from a mechanic that would make you not want to buy the car? Getting it up on a lift is nice as far as being able to see things, but if you take some time you can check wear parts yourself. Do you maintain your 98?

Looking at the ad shows a huge laundry list of recently replaced parts. I would see what the source of the parts is, i.e. did he buy the cheapest Autozone (sorry!) junk or quality parts? New cheap parts can be worse than an old good part. Replacing a funtional old OEM radiator hose as PM with a new cheap crap quality hose is not a good idea. You don't need a mechanic to tell you this - you can look at receipts.

With these cars, long term survival seems to be mostly about good maintenance. A 80k car can be neglected and still run, but it probably will not make it to 180k. A 280k car almost certainly wasn't neglected for much of it's life, or else it would be toast. If the car seems to run and drive right then I wouldn't give the mileage a second thought.

Look for evidence of leaks, especially coolant loss as that will ruin your day. Expect seeming weird things, usually made out of some kind of plastic, to start wearing out just from age.

$1400 is short bucks for a good car. Think about how little money this is compared to newer stuff. 99+% of people are scared to death of something this old, hense the low price. They don't understand the difference between a 1996 Ford Tempo a 1996 Volvo 850. This was probably 28-30k or so new, and they weren't completely made up prices, i.e. you actually got some quality for your dollar.

[northernlights]

http://fortdodge.craigslist.org/cto/4737054728.html

Met up with the guy, drove the car. accelerates and drives straight, solid car. A/C works somehow, no stains from heater core. (TB, brakes, all done) Things drives better than my 98 v70 to tell you the truth. Looks like he put some care and love into the car after he rescued it from the junkyard back in the summer. Got a mechanic's "used car inspection" scheduled this weekend (want them to check compression, and visual inspection.)

Asking price is 1400. What do you guys think?

Would any of you in a right state of mind considering purchasing a vehicle with such high mileage? Commute is 2 miles each way (rural town)

Looking at the photos, here's a few clues about the car:

Not ideal:
Autocraft Silver battery means someone tried to save a little money on a repair.
The coolant is not the OEM color. It might be G05, but it is not OEM blue/green.
Blue plug wires could be from just about anywhere. That means all of the maintenance/tuneup/wear parts could be of dubious quality.
The upper engine mount is a weird color - certainly aftermarket and possibly of dubious quality.

Good signs:
It still has the cassette player. This means it has been owned by old boring people who do not flog cars.
It does not appear to be missing protective covers and similar things under the hood, like the one over the throttle linkage. The first thing that hacker mechanics do is throw away things like that because they are too lazy to reinstall them after a repair, and the car will run without them.
Trim parts are not missing from the interior. Missing trim is also evidence of hacker mechanics. For example, a car this old almost certainly has had a door panel removed, which provided an opportunity to break trim parts if it wasn't done right.

You mentioned it came from a salvage yard. Why was it there? To me, it looks like it probably was a well maintained car until something broke that the owner decided or was told would cost too much to fix (because they were paying someone else to do the work) and it was junked. It was subsequently rescued and had some cheap repairs done to get it running again. This means it is probably a good car, just check the quality of the repair parts installed since rescue.

[mika]

Thank you guys for the input. Definitely helping me conceptualize what extra questions to ask next. (some that I was completely overlooking) Especially more info about how the owner got the car and was was wrong with it <yard?>

[cn90]

If you increase the budget to $2000-$3000, Des Moines and Omaha have some good 850 and S/V70 with 140K miles or so.

Personally, I'd not buy anything above > 200K miles. Although I can handle virtually any car repair, I just don't have the appetite for those labor-intensive repairs (steering racks, valve stem seals etc.).
Spend a little more money and go for cars with fewer miles, chances are you spend less time under the car. Unless you love to be under the car ha!

[mika]

If you increase the budget to $2000-$3000, Des Moines and Omaha have some good 850 and S/V70 with 140K miles or so.

Personally, I'd not buy anything above > 200K miles. Although I can handle virtually any car repair, I just don't have the appetite for those labor-intensive repairs (steering racks, valve stem seals etc.).
Spend a little more money and go for cars with fewer miles, chances are you spend less time under the car. Unless you love to be under the car ha!

Yes, especially in my carport when its 13* outside and the ground is not level

thanks for your honest opinion. (first poster saying "I wouldn't do it) cant argue with what you wrote. Its true. Looking at other cars, the selection:price ratio is far from what I am used to in Socal

At the same time, every hundred dollars north of 1400$ is money that does not exist. (first real job, no extra money, how does that happen?). I am handy with my v70 and has not needed much professional attention. Keep your fingers crossed, I will see what happens this weekend.

[cn90]

This car (98 S70 140K) is 100 miles from you:

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/ctd/4765790588.html

[FLXC90]

Just make sure the kid doesn't come with the car--Those are expensive to maintain!