Buying a 10+ year old car what could go wrong?

[BobMc]

Thx Dan. This whole I’ll get it done by sneaking someone a six pack is dumb. Most reputable shops are going to abide by the rules of any safety program or lose their license. A bigger issue is that if you have a shop that is willing to lie to pass your car they’re more than likely willing to lie to you.

[snowaddict91]

This was kind of exactly what I was thinking. It’s baked into the state Constitution of Ohio that it is your god given right to own and drive some piece of Detroit steel from 3 to 4 decades ago that’s on 4 mismatched tires and somehow survived as many winters’ worth of road salt and rust.

Those boys driving these seem to congregate on the eastern edge of the state in scenic hellholes like Youngstown and Warren where it’s just a short drive across the buffer zone of Erie to your lakes and Indian casinos in Western Upstate.

I made a joke recently to a friend about a pothole, "pretty soon we'll see a muffler lying in that." It took a lot to convince him that was something I saw multiple times in my childhood.

[neufox47]

Man. It's stories like that which make me REALLY appreciate places like Montana. It was so rad to never have to bother with inspections and the annual registrations were always a piece of cake. I also loved not having any window stickers screwing up your car's looks or outward vis. Even the DMV is a snap. The best is the one in Butte where it's like a trailer home with a couple friendly folks to help. I was in and out with a new CDL in like 5 minutes. No fuss, no muss. Always cracks me up hearing about the nightmare stories about the DMVs in New York and New Jersey.

Well Montana currently doesn't really have any cities. So comparing their system to a densely populated state with air quality issues like NY, CA, NJ, etc. is comparing apples and oranges. If NY had no emissions tests there'd be a significant increase in sickness and death, with a decrease in quality of life.

[gravitylover]

^^ So true but, in all honesty if my county did emissions inspections I'd have been fucked on a couple of cars over the years. At least part of the visual and safety inspection includes having to have catalytic converters and no exhaust leaks and when they plug into the OBD2 there's a bunch of other info it gives them that help to keep the vehicles running properly. I remember lots of days in the (early) 70's that the air around the NY Metro was so bad you couldn't see across the river from Bklyn to Manhattan, and it's less than a mile, or days where you could actually taste the foulness. I also remember more stories like "I don't know what happened, my brakes just went out" compared to today even though there is nearly double the amount of cars on the road now. I'm a fan of safety inspections.

[Dantheman]

Well Montana currently doesn't really have any cities. So comparing their system to a densely populated state with air quality issues like NY, CA, NJ, etc. is comparing apples and oranges. If NY had no emissions tests there'd be a significant increase in sickness and death, with a decrease in quality of life.

I remember lots of days in the (early) 70's that the air around the NY Metro was so bad you couldn't see across the river from Bklyn to Manhattan, and it's less than a mile, or days where you could actually taste the foulness.

It's simply incredible how most people have completely forgotten how bad urban air quality was just a few decades ago, when there were also far fewer cars on the road. Without stringent emissions regulation most US metro areas would be borderline unliveable today and the economic and public health consequences would be severe. I got stuck behind a 60s-era Vette for a minute not long ago and it was nauseating. Even with strict controls in place air quality is still shitty in many places. The switch to zero-emission vehicles can't happen fast enough.

[XXX-er]

In my experience with emission testing in BC on an 83 subaru even without doing any work I was at 1/10 of the numbers needed to pass, I would say it would have to be a real POS to fail that test

Vehical inspection was tougher but there were the work arounds, I drove to 1 block from the the testing station ran up on the curb and pumped the ball joints full of grease which got me thru cuz buddy couldn't feel the slop

Another time the brake were suspect, so I'm at the brake testing part, keep in mind this is early 70's so a full on long haired freak appears out of nowhere gets in the car and does the brake check a couple of times, the 8 track was playing Santana "soul sacrifice" the woodstock version so buddy sits in there for awhile just grooving I assume

gets out punches the card and sez " its an old car no worries man "

[Rideski]

Occured to me the other day that I haven’t bought a used car since I was 22.
Bought 4 new vehicles in a row. They were all modest, but new.
Might be why everything I’m seeing out there looks beat or over priced.
Would mitigate the problem to go up in price, obv.
So anyway poking around on cargurus last night, they have an interesting filter, maybe others do too but had never played with it. You can select cars that have been on the lot for say 250 days or longer. Clicked it last night out of boredom and there’s some seemingly acceptable finds in there. What’s up with that noise?

[gravitylover]

Occured to me the other day that I haven’t bought a used car since I was 22.
Bought 4 new vehicles in a row. They were all modest, but new.
Might be why everything I’m seeing out there looks beat or over priced.
Would mitigate the problem to go up in price, obv.
So anyway poking around on cargurus last night, they have an interesting filter, maybe others do too but had never played with it. You can select cars that have been on the lot for say 250 days or longer. Clicked it last night out of boredom and there’s some seemingly acceptable finds in there. What’s up with that noise?

That's in a few different listing sites. My guess is it's people or dealers that don't pull their listings or mark them as sold.

[liv2ski]

Save me from myself. I have always liked the Audi Q7 deisels. Found one at a great price, butper the below carfax, it appears to of been sitting for sale for a few years. Dealer states it is under a Audi warranty for 4 more years or 50k miles. Does that sound legit after having the deiselgate fix done?

[simple]

Yes that is a post dieselgate fix then.

Warranty on powertrain is great. Still on the hook for typical Audi failures like door actuators, suspension bushings, etc.

[Bobcat Sig]

Save me from myself. I have always liked the Audi Q7 deisels. Found one at a great price, butper the below carfax, it appears to of been sitting for sale for a few years. Dealer states it is under a Audi warranty for 4 more years or 50k miles. Does that sound legit after having the deiselgate fix done?

Go drive it before you buy it. I had a Cayenne Diesel, which I loved. It's the same V6 3.0L V6. It was the silky torque monster euro engine I've always wanted. Then the Dieselgate fix dropped. It fundamentally changed how it drove, so bad that I can only characterize it as a laggy turbo from the 80s. It was horrible to the point of being dangerous. You let off the throttle to slow, or brake; and when you pick the throttle back up, the delay is indefensible slow. It was so bad I traded it for a truck so I could finally get my ski-camper set-up.

[liv2ski]

That will be tough, as I am in So Cal and the car is in Bountiful Utah.

[Bobcat Sig]

That will be tough, as I am in So Cal and the car is in Bountiful Utah.

Pass; too much salt used out there.

[simple]

There was a second recall for the TDi called the 23Z8 that mostly fixed that hesitation.
Check to see if it got that.

[Bobcat Sig]

There was a second recall for the TDi called the 23Z8 that mostly fixed that hesitation.
Check to see if it got that.

FML. Of course there was. Damnit. That's what I get for impatience.

[stealurface831]

Thinking about trading in my Suburban for a Discovery. I know everyone loves to knock Land Rover for their maintenance issues but who out there has owned one and what was your experience? Would I be digging myself into a money pit?

[simple]

FML. Of course there was. Damnit. That's what I get for impatience.

You weren't alone. Merging onto a tight freeway entrance was horrible after the first fix.

[johnnyg82]

Thinking about trading in my Suburban for a Discovery. I know everyone loves to knock Land Rover for their maintenance issues but who out there has owned one and what was your experience? Would I be digging myself into a money pit?

So this was now 7 years ago, but here’s what you’re asking for. I’m not Doug Demiro, but still relevant;

https://youtu.be/FvJCCoLoKRA

[Mazderati]

Save me from myself. I have always liked the Audi Q7 deisels. Found one at a great price, butper the below carfax, it appears to of been sitting for sale for a few years. Dealer states it is under a Audi warranty for 4 more years or 50k miles. Does that sound legit after having the deiselgate fix done?

It's an Audi.
It's a used Audi.
The 35k mile service was 8k miles late.
Sold at auction twice.
Sat for two years.

No offense Audi owners. No first hand experience with the post-Dieselgate diesels but people like them as evidenced above.

[BmillsSkier]

Hey Stealurface:

I had a Discovery Series II, from new, for just under 2 years at one point.

I’ve had the dealer buy back two cars of ours in my life, which seems high, but I like cars so hey. One of which was our third, and by far most troublesome X5. Shame on us for being stupidly brand loyal. BMW took pity on us and took it back hat in hand.

The Disco II on the other hand had to be damn near forcefully pushed back on the dealer.

No really, besides LR being total dicks about it, we couldn’t it get off the flatbed at the dealership the day we gave it back. Something in the drivetrain broke and wouldn’t let it go back or forth.

We left and bought a 4Runner the same day (that we sold with 237,000 on the clock - problem free) for the first of the aforementioned X5 problems.

[stealurface831]

Hey Stealurface:

I had a Discovery Series II, from new, for just under 2 years at one point.

I’ve had the dealer buy back two cars of ours in my life, which seems high, but I like cars so hey. One of which was our third, and by far most troublesome X5. Shame on us for being stupidly brand loyal. BMW took pity on us and took it back hat in hand.

The Disco II on the other hand had to be damn near forcefully pushed back on the dealer.

No really, besides LR being total dicks about it, we couldn’t it get off the flatbed at the dealership the day we gave it back. Something in the drivetrain broke and wouldn’t let it go back or forth.

We left and bought a 4Runner the same day (that we sold with 237,000 on the clock - problem free) for the first of the aforementioned X5 problems.

Yah know, I think I'm gonna look at Land Cruisers or wait a few years and get a new Bronco when some used ones hit the market. Thank you for the wisdom. You may have saved me many moneys.

[gravitylover]

Thinking about trading in my Suburban for a Discovery. I know everyone loves to knock Land Rover for their maintenance issues but who out there has owned one and what was your experience? Would I be digging myself into a money pit?

They're not all bad, just most of them I'm about to tempt that Lucas POD guy when I pick up an 06 RR SC next week.

[MontuckyFried]

Thinking about trading in my Suburban for a Discovery. I know everyone loves to knock Land Rover for their maintenance issues but who out there has owned one and what was your experience? Would I be digging myself into a money pit?

Don't know about the Discoveries, but perhaps stay away from the new Defender. Check out TFL's. Thing just can't stay out of the dealer shop! WTF is wrong with Land Rovers?! Haha.

[liv2ski]

It's an Audi.
It's a used Audi.
The 35k mile service was 8k miles late.
Sold at auction twice.
Sat for two years.

No offense Audi owners. No first hand experience with the post-Dieselgate diesels but people like them as evidenced above.

That sitting for 2 years is my major concern. The Carfax listed it as a Washington state car before going to the 2nd auction where the Utah dealer bought it. What do you guys think about it sitting that long?

[m2711c]

rust never sleeps......