I'm about to buy this 2000 Excursion. It is an LE, has 146k miles, and never really towed anything but a boat.

The story about the vehicle: It was owned by a very rich and prominent family and was used for a soccer van since new. About a year ago, it was sold to one of their friend's as their son's 18th birthday present. He's a typical rich 18 year old that likes to hunt so he took it to go hunting with him without a care about the truck's cosmetics.

I got the price down to $2800. I need to use this as a work truck (towing stuff) and as a big billboard for my construction business so I will definitely have to have the body repaired and repainted. I have no idea how much that will cost.

Pictures: I tried to document all of the bad stuff.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/stdb4bj27dhcakt/_HukY2JcMP

What do you guys think?

 

It's a v10, they don't hold hteir values as well as the diesels but they're not to bad. 146k is nothing to ANY modern engine as long as it has received REGULAR maintenance. Every engine is a 500k engine if treated properly.

There's some pretty serious body imperfections. While this isn't a huge setback, depending on what you want to use it for, it creates a point for cancer to get in, if it hasn't already. Engines are 500k, body's are not. The rest starts and seeps in, and it's relentless. Check the oil and coolant, if they're clean, I'd offer them $2500 or walk away. It's not a steal, they'd be hard pressed to find anyone willing to buy for more than scrap looking the way it does, depending on your area. It would cost twice it's worth to fix it's blemishes, and would never sell for anywhere near that.

If you plan to own it forever, and you protect the spots where it can rust, sure it seems like a decent deal. If you want to buy it, run for a while and sell in a year or two, pass it up, because you'll get nothing but headaches trying to sell.

Wealthy people can neglect their vehicles just as well as poor people. Wealthy will just replace it if it dies, and poor can't afford to fix it. Middle of the road would be your target seller if you're shopping around, because they can afford to fix it, but replacing it would be difficult.

Just my two cents.

 

I think you should........nevermind, a second is up

 

haha

 

Imagine how "well" routine maintenance was done...
You will likely end up spending more in the end fixing this than if you bought another ex for $6-8k that was in reasonable shape.

I would never be seen in that.

Sent from my Sprint PC36100 using IB AutoGroup

 

i seem to always fall for the cheap "bargains" and even this one has me a little worried.. always have to measure your cost of initial investment. Mentioned earlier, it will probably be cheaper, and easier in the long run spending more on a truck that has a cleaner and less abused foundation.

 

That poor truck has been neglected like it's nobodies business.

The wear on the steering wheel, pedals and drivers seat (holy crap) look like more than 146k miles. I'm trying to look at the odometer because I wouldn't be surprised if it has been rolled back.

Does the carfax/autocheck come back clean? Can you get a closeup of the odometer?

I think $2800 is steep for that.... I'm not sure I'd want it to be my problem.

 

He's rich, and doesn't care about the vehicle. As is clear from the pictures. You should be able to haggle him pretty good but be willing to have some good repairs just in case. Money saved now could be spent later on a major failure but you never know. It's a gamble for sure

 

It might be good if you look into it some more. He probably had something on his hands to make that wheel like that and much of it just makes it look worse that it is. Give him 2 grand, he won't care.

 

I'm on the fence about it too....

The interior looks ok, it's the exterior that needs some serious love...

It'll cost a pretty penny to get the body fixed up. If you do decide to buy it, I'd also be ready to do some exhaust studs.

My general opinon, pass on it...

You can find a much better looking truck with much less mechanical and cosmetic issues.

You'd have to drive for a few of them but:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...Index=10&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...gIndex=2&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...Index=21&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...Index=17&Log=0

This one's got a few miles on it, but looks way better than the one you looked at for about the same price:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...Index=24&Log=0

 

Undercarriage looks like it spent some good time on the beach, say Nags Head or the like. I'd be wary.

 

*shrug...for that price id just have someone wrap it in your company logo/colors and drive it till the wheels fell off.

 

Unless you have time (and it soounds like you're busy with a business) and money (everything is available for a price), walk away from it - its parts.

 

Absolutely walk away.