Here's one that's not very far from me: https://newjersey.craigslist.org/ctd...344865696.html

 

The NJ thing for rust may have you running around. The ND car looks good except I'm not comfortable starting at 189K. Again 4k for an engine and a couple of thousand for a tranny-worst case scenario so if you are comfortable with that then it's a good deal. Body looks good. Interior -average. However unless they've had new seat covers, most are average. You would think in a 5 year span they could keep the color on a steering wheel=or just don't do it in the first place

 

That one looks promising, but the worry is it is not just exposed to salt, but its literally a plow vehicle....hmm....

I would have the underside checked thoroughly, but who knows, if it was intended for this life, maybe someone with a couple extra brain cells actually had the underside lined with something that is protecting it properly, you never know.

 

Thank you both. I'll pass on this then to avoid the rust headache. I'm looking at the ND one and have asked for photos of the underside. If they don't respond, I'll pass on that one.

@Watcher58 :

I think you meant you're not comfortable starting at 8.9K, right, not 189K? For 189K, I'd want 15 Excursions or so.

So 4k for the engine, 2k for the transmission, but what about the rest? Could you clarify what you're calculating when you mentioned the engine cost and transmission cost?

Thanks,
Tim

 

189K is the mileage bud

 

Oh, ok. I was looking at the NJ one and I got confused.

So you're saying, you wouldn't buy a vehicle with that many miles? What's your cut-off point?

Regards,
Tim

 

This probably won't help much but it depends. Are you going to be towing a big travel trailer and heavy loads or are you just planning on enjoying it, family trips etc etc.
The most miles I have had was 150K on a V-10 and I got it with 16k miles on it and put the rest on myself. I maintained it extremely well. A friend at the service department at the Ford dealer told me "You're the first person I've seen that over maintains their vehicle". I guess the point is how comfortable are you driving a truck with 189K miles on it. At that point it gets harder trying to determine if its been well maintained. When they ask $30K, they are USUALLY in reasonably good condition-not always but a good bot of the time Since I don't know you personally, I don't know your likes and dislikes. Many of us get grease under our fingernails (because gloves tear) on the weekend. If you enjoy working on things you are in good shape. These are not overly complex vehicles by any means and you can learn quickly. Folks on here will bend over backwards to help you with any question ie I signed on to see what the part # is for the correct gas cap. I think I would say this: If you don't work on things and you think you will have to take it to a shop for repairs-you'd better look hard. Shopping is a bit of a grueling process as you know. It's fun for a while and then it gets painful when you think the right one isn't out there. You'll figure it out. If the hair stands up on the back of your neck, you have found yours. If you get a pit in your stomach, run!

 

If I tow anything, it would be an RV or maybe my BMW 530i (with 191K miles) if I don't sell it.

I'm not the type to get grease under my fingernails and do work on the car myself. I can charge the battery with a trickle charger and add fluids, but that's about it.

I'm using rust as a major starting point to determine if I should inquire further. If I see any rust at all, I move on. I asked for a picture of the underside of an Excursion from IL and they sent it to me quickly and mentioned there was a "little rust" on the underside. What I saw was that it was full of rust, so I will definitely skip any car where they don't send me a picture of the underside (or where I see any rust at all).

Regarding mileage, when the mileage is lower than 150, either the price is 17K at a minimum, if not higher or if the price is lower, I get suspicious as it has something wrong with it, like a salvage vehicle. So to keep the price reasonable (under 15K), I may have to compromise on the mileage as long as the car has no rust. Then I would move on and get it inspected.

Thanks for your input!

 

Folks from the rust belt may describe a car as having "just a little rust" where the same vehicle would be considered completely rusty by folks in the warm dry states, when nearly all 5+ year old cars are rusted it easy to start see rust as a normal thing. If you aren't going to be doing any needed rust repair yourself, definitely search for completely rust free examples, body work gets expensive quickly.