I've been offered a 2001 Ford Escape. It's black, theres no dents, no rips, its basically flawless. Except, it was a work car meaning that it was driven to sell things to customers, so theres about 202,000 miles. Also, the clutch plate is nearly gone on it. Now being its a first car, would It be ok to take this car. He's willing to sell it for 1000 dollars. I'm just weary because I dont want it to quit at say 250,000 miles. What are some things I can do to make sure it lasts me say four years? Like rebuild the engine, or buy a new one, special things to do to it. Whatever, but can someone give me some online sites to visit, like engine rebuild kits for it and online places to buy a whole new engine? Thanks and all extra information is guaranteed to be used. Also, if I decide on a new engine, would it be possible to make it a gas-electric hybrid? I also don't know what condition the engine is now, hes a good friend of mine and he says it runs good except for the clutch plate.

 

If your not sure what to look for yourself, then have a certified Ford mechanic or a personal mechanic look it over for you, and they will tell you what's going to be needed to get it to last a while longer. Those are a lot of miles, and there are probably many parts that are in need of replacement besides the clutch.

 

With that many miles and given that it is a base 4-cyl model with a clutch, I don't think its worth more than $500. Still, assuming the motor runs well do you have to worry about annual emissions testing? It may need a catalytic converter. The motor is a 2.0 liter 4-cyl so you might go ahead and price a rebuilt short or long block incase you need to replace the one that is in there. Or, see if any used motors are available through salvage yards. They didn't sell a lot of 4-cyl models back on '01 so they may not be common. Otherwise they are a pretty simple vehicle to maintain.

 

Is there any good websites that sell rebuild kits online for this?

 

i would never think that a $1k vehicle will last 4yrs without putting money into it. a rebuilt 4cyl shouldn't be very high, and replacing the clutch is no biggie, at least on a rwd, i've never pulled one from a fwd. if it was well maintained you should be able to let it ride. i always do the basic tuneup stuff on a used vehicle: plugs, wires, oil, tranny fluid. all filters. i'd try to get him down a little more on the price also. you can find these things pretty cheap for an early model, you have to look at whether you would come out better paying $3k for one in better shape, or buying one cheap then having to dump a bunch of money into it to keep it running.

 

How long do you want it to last?

$1000 is only 3 months of payments on an 08, so if it lasts longer than that, you've got a deal!

 

i always tell people that if you can get 6mos out of a $1k or less vehicle without putting any more major money into it, then it's paid for itself.

 

Get him down on the price a bit - If you even do all that you need to just to change all the fluids, plugs, wires, filters, etc etc - you are looking at a few bucks there, plus your time - The hybrid question is a no - and even if you could, it would cost a lot more than the truck is worth to have it done...

200K would scare me, but it all depends on the owner - My brother in law is in sales, puts 300K on his pick ups, and they still run like new when his company trades them in for a new one - but he never drives over the speed limit - I used to kid him about how he ever made any sales driving so slow - but anyways

also the maintance - Most people in sales don't have the time to change oil every 3-5K, so they will wait until they have time, etc...

Used cars are always a gamble - but, as was pointed out, if you get 6 months out of it, all the rest is free driving...

My rule of thumb, is 40% - if I have to put more than 40% of a cars value into it, I will usually sell it, etc...

But, let's say you buy it for a grand, and dump $500 into it total - (assuming the engine is fine) - $1500 is not bad for a 7 year old car, and if you junk it in a year, you did ok....

My 2 cents
Bob

 

Those miles wouldn't be too bad if most were highway miles.

 

So did you get the Escape or not? I've tried replacing parts to make a vehicle last longer and later regretted what I'd done.

A few insights from my close to 30 years of driving. First you will prob have to drive it a month before you find all the things that maybe wrong with it. This goes for most any vehicle. Do have it checked 1st by a mechanic but even they won't find all stuff, hopefully the major issues if any. Plus they can give experienced advice about the vehicle & model you're considering buying, which may sometimes be, "avoid any of these cars!"

I've learned NOT to replace anything in hopes of making a car last longer without problems. You will end up putting time & money into areas that were fine, then sometimes these parts will cause problems where the originals weren't. Other things may actually go bad that you didn't expect and you'll need to put your money there instead.

Also I've seen the whole vehicle get wrecked or just turn out to be too bad to keep using and then you've put lots of money & time into it that you can hardly get back out. UNLESS a part is gotng bad just ride all the miles out of it, of course doing all the maintainence as needed.

Check with other owners to find how reliable the vehicle is. Read online to learn what to expect.

Realize this too: sometimes a much newer, lower mile vehicle can get you more miles per dollar than an older one that needs regular repairs. Cost per mile of new or newer vehicles can be below $.10 per mile including the full coverage insurance.

A used $1,000 car with insurance & title costs would have to run over 10,000 miles WITHOUT ANY maintainence costs to be as cheap as this, $.10 per mile.

A $2,000 car would have to run over 20,000 miles when you include the insurance & other purchase costs, to get down to the $.10 per mile level.

Check new car prices and your insurance costs to verify your per mile costs of running a newer car.

I bought a 4 year old Ford Aerostar van many years ago and acheived about $.08 per mile over the life of the van which was 9-10 years! A friend acheived about the same cost-per-mile with his then new 4 cylinder Ranger.

 

"Cost per mile of new or newer vehicles can be below $.10 per mile including the full coverage insurance. "

I assume that you are not including a monthly payment in your calculation for a new car.

 

.10 a mile for a new car? what planet are you on?

Insurance depends on a combo of things, but anything that is newer than 3 years old with cost 2x as much to insure normally... all things being equal

Plus, if there is a Lien, the Bank makes you have collision, etc... if you own the car outright, and it's older - you don't care as much if you wreck it, etc

You can't buy anything decent for under $400 a month, including all the insurance you will need for owning a new car, but this does vary State to State...

So, it's better to think in terms of "days of the week" than mileage - most people put 15000 miles a year on a typical commuter car, so, that would mean it would only cost $1500 a year for a brand new car? That covers the insurance MAYBE...