Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
But the thing is they just bought this a few months ago and I don't think they've even taken it out of town. I know them very well and they're very cautious drivers, afraid to do anything that might hurt the vehicle. They've basically only driven it to work and to the store in a town with a 25mph town-wide speed limit and 35mph on the main drag through town.
Now did the previous owner drive it like a maniac and didn't change the ATF when he/she was supposed to?
It reminds me of my Prius. The Prius has galled cylinders at about 210,000 miles. I've driven it less than 50 miles so don't blame me. Everything that I've researched indicates it was from not doing the oil changes on time in accordance with the owner's manual. There've been people who have gotten 400,000 miles or more out of this same engine by properly maintaining it.
How do you know if the car has been properly maintained and driven? You can have the vehicle inspected by a mechanic, but are they really going to do a bore scope, an oil consumption test or tear apart the whole transmission to see if something is about to fail?
|
For maintenance you spend the $40 for a CarFax or go to a reputable dealer that provides that info for free. Every time a dealer or reputable service center does work on a vehicle that data is reported and linked to the vehicle VIN. CarFax pulls that database and provides a report with the work that was done. Go with the approach that if service isn't documented it didn't happen.
I've pulled the records on the last 5 cars I purchased before I signed the papers. It also shows where the vehicles were registered and I won't buy any car that has been registered in an area that uses salt on their roads.
For example - the 2011 Acura TSX wagon I purchased had been to the Acura dealer every 3,000 miles for an oil change. There were records of every transmission service, brakes, coolant flushes, etc.