How trashed can a six year old car be?

[fdcg27]

We've been looking for a car for my younger son.
I called a Ford dealer about an '07 Fusion S they had offered online at 6.9K.
It was sold, but they also had an '07 Fusion SE with less than 70K that they'd part with for the same money and it was even a stick.
Had to go and look at that.
The car ran and drove well. It is a pretty easy stick to drive.
The interior, though, was trashed with cigarette burns everywhere in the upholstery.
The exterior was pretty good with only minor dings here and there, as is typical of any car that's ever parked in any parking lot anywhere.
The seats would have to be recovered, though, since this car was too new and too expensive to be a beater.
I offered 6K, noting that the interior was trashed and that it was a stick, which had very limited appeal in the current market.
They declined, so I told them thanks, call me if you change your mind, and bye.
Whomever bought this car new, a 6/07 build, and then treated it so poorly should be ashamed.

 

[nitehawk55]

Sometimes those cars are diamonds in the rough and can see a big improvement with some elbow grease and TLC . Interior parts are getting plentiful at pick and pull and other issues can usually be cleaned/touched up so hardly noticeable .

One would wonder how it was maintained but a good eye can usually see that if you know what to look for .

Good luck with your search .

 

[jimbrewer]

You wonder where that comes from. My guess would be a spoiled child (teenager--college student).

 

[nitehawk55]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
You wonder where that comes from. My guess would be a spoiled child (teenager--college student).


I used to do the car cleaning and detailing of the used cars at a GM dealership I worked at years back . No better way to put it but some people are slobs and do not care what the car looks like .

 

[The_Jed]

I've been seriously considering a Fusion of that generation. I would love to find a manual transmission equipped model. They seem to be a bit of a unicorn, I've seen pictures but have yet to lay eyes on one in the wild.

 

[Astro14]

I would pass. Car that poorly cared for on the inside was unlikely to be well cared for under the hood.

 

[Hermann]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
I would pass. Car that poorly cared for on the inside was unlikely to be well cared for under the hood.


My thoughts exactly

 

[Cristobal]

I would pass too. 20 years ago I worked for a company that fired an employee for misuse of his company car. The interior was full of such cigarette burns. The car was a Chevy Cavalier with 20,000 miles on it and he did not maintain it at all. It was appraised at only $1000.00 and he had received it new a year before. Cigarette burns are a sign of bad stuff in the boiler room.

 

[DemoFly]

I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.

 

[salv]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.


People who smoke in their cars do not care about them. If the car was smoked in, that should be a huge hit to the book value. Car is worth $4800 tops. I bet that they didn't take it in for more than that.

 

[Dave Hess]

That's what I also noticed when looking for an RSX for my son, all we looked at were dogged.

 

[TallPaul]

Last March I bought a 1999 Plymouth Voyager in decent condition with 114,000 miles. It's a 4 banger and 3 speed automatic. I paid $2300 and had to put about $1500 into it (tires, radiator, etc).

The interior had a strong smoke smell and there are cigarette burns in the seats, probably half a dozen burns. I figure the lady's brother, who owned it, used it to transport a landscape work crew and that is why the interior is trashed, but we cleaned it up and the smoke smell is gone thanks to carpet cleaner, upholstery cleaner, and I think the pan of Clorox several weeks also helped a lot on the smoke smell, but we also washed down the plastic in the interior, and tried a few other smell killers.

It is now our favorite car and it runs beautifully.

 

[crazyoildude]

chances are they will call you and when they do dont budge! if it is meant to be it will.. Dont forget most car stealers are in the business to get the most money out of any deal and they are trained in being sneaky but they also need to sell and if nobody bites in a couple of weeks they will call just to say hi! yup i know a lot of stealers and one or two really honest dealers.

 

[Spazdog]

I had a client with a Lincoln Town Car. It was about 4 years old at the time.

When the ashtray filled up, he began to just throw the cigarette butts on the passenger floor.

The pile completely covered the passenger floorboard, no less than 8" deep.

Out of some sense of perverse curiosity, I dug through the pile. The carpet was completely burned. There was evidence that the pile had caught on fire a time or two. The leather seat was burned in many places.

when I removed the knee bolster cover, an ash cloud worthy of Vesuvius blew out. (I literally coughed just now just from thinking about it)

His identity will be withheld to prevent the BITOG army of Panther chassis enthusiasts from hunting him down and putting out cigarettes on him

Nearly as bad as the Altima SE-R

 

[KitaCam]

I went through the same exercise in "pughtility" when shopping for my next used car....fortunately I found Kitacamry, a non-smoker (upholstery and mechanically)...got lucky...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
I had a client with a Lincoln Town Car. It was about 4 years old at the time.

When the ashtray filled up, he began to just throw the cigarette butts on the passenger floor.

The pile completely covered the passenger floorboard, no less than 8" deep.

Out of some sense of perverse curiosity, I dug through the pile. The carpet was completely burned. There was evidence that the pile had caught on fire a time or two. The leather seat was burned in many places.

when I removed the knee bolster cover, an ash cloud worthy of Vesuvius blew out. (I literally coughed just now just from thinking about it)

His identity will be withheld to prevent the BITOG army of Panther chassis enthusiasts from hunting him down and putting out cigarettes on him

Nearly as bad as the Altima SE-R

Wow!

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.


I know a few smokers who are definitely not slobs... But they also do not smoke in their cars.

 

[Spazdog]

S Type

 

[KrisZ]

I noticed that as well, cars that were never smoked in, even if the owner was a smoker, are generally better kept inside and out.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.
+1