I'll give two examples of vehicles that don't make any sense to buy but served my family well.
2008 I bought a 2000 Dodge Durango 2WD with 172K miles and a blown 318 motor for $1700 from a seller in Oklahoma on eBay. Had a 120K mile used engine installed for about $900. Drove the truck four years and to well over 230K miles before selling it with a bad steering rack for $1300. We also replaced the electric fan and the clutch fan under the hood after two years and if I hadn't caught them in time they would've cooked the engine. Solid truck. 17-19mpg mixed. Can't find them anymore except rusted out up here in Ohio though. Worst thing about that truck is it was a repo and there was a stupid starter interlock on it that you had to leave plugged in for a GPS signal. If you unplugged it the truck wouldn't start and you'd have to call them and get a code to enter to start it. Even after the company went out of business they still answered the phone (maybe they got bought by another company I don't know). But they refused to remove the interlock even after I offered them $400 to do so. Why did I want this interlock removed? Because it beeped CONSTANTLY. Every 5-6 seconds a little chirp. Every 5-6 seconds on or off, day or night. I'm so glad the steering rack failed because I still hear that horrible chirp even today, ringing in my ears. But the truck was a great deal.
2011 right before and probably the ultimate reason for selling the Durango, my wife and I bought a 2000 Chevy Suburban with 171K miles on eBay for $3000. We knew it had a bad transmission but other examples at the time were in the $6000-$8000 range and might ALSO need a transmission. We drove it 3,000 miles, the transmission finally puked all the fluid out, and we had a GM dealer install a new unit for about $2800. We kept that truck to well over 260,000 miles and four years and got 15-17mpg the whole time. Loved it, but the transmission finally failed just outside the 3 year 100K warranty, at almost 4 years and 80K miles. They wanted another $2800 to do another transmission so we passed. Drove it for another 10,000 miles and six more months in the "2" position. 35-40mph, city speeds, 10mpg. Sold for $750. So this one we took more of a loss but still, it was a great truck. I did insist on full servicing all the time while we had it. Had the brake fluid flushed. Power steering flush. New U-joints. Rear axle oil drain and fill. Transmission cooler and lines done with the transmission. Fuel pump changed when it started whining before it failed. A/C serviced every year. Michelin tires. The truck was definitely awesome and if it was newer I'd have kept it longer but if I can't Uber with it, forget about it.
I'd absolutely do that again. Buy a 8-10 year old truck needing a motor or a transmission but is nice otherwise. Get the major repair done. Drive it for a few years and then decide to keep or sell when the next major component fails.
2008 I bought a 2000 Dodge Durango 2WD with 172K miles and a blown 318 motor for $1700 from a seller in Oklahoma on eBay. Had a 120K mile used engine installed for about $900. Drove the truck four years and to well over 230K miles before selling it with a bad steering rack for $1300. We also replaced the electric fan and the clutch fan under the hood after two years and if I hadn't caught them in time they would've cooked the engine. Solid truck. 17-19mpg mixed. Can't find them anymore except rusted out up here in Ohio though. Worst thing about that truck is it was a repo and there was a stupid starter interlock on it that you had to leave plugged in for a GPS signal. If you unplugged it the truck wouldn't start and you'd have to call them and get a code to enter to start it. Even after the company went out of business they still answered the phone (maybe they got bought by another company I don't know). But they refused to remove the interlock even after I offered them $400 to do so. Why did I want this interlock removed? Because it beeped CONSTANTLY. Every 5-6 seconds a little chirp. Every 5-6 seconds on or off, day or night. I'm so glad the steering rack failed because I still hear that horrible chirp even today, ringing in my ears. But the truck was a great deal.
2011 right before and probably the ultimate reason for selling the Durango, my wife and I bought a 2000 Chevy Suburban with 171K miles on eBay for $3000. We knew it had a bad transmission but other examples at the time were in the $6000-$8000 range and might ALSO need a transmission. We drove it 3,000 miles, the transmission finally puked all the fluid out, and we had a GM dealer install a new unit for about $2800. We kept that truck to well over 260,000 miles and four years and got 15-17mpg the whole time. Loved it, but the transmission finally failed just outside the 3 year 100K warranty, at almost 4 years and 80K miles. They wanted another $2800 to do another transmission so we passed. Drove it for another 10,000 miles and six more months in the "2" position. 35-40mph, city speeds, 10mpg. Sold for $750. So this one we took more of a loss but still, it was a great truck. I did insist on full servicing all the time while we had it. Had the brake fluid flushed. Power steering flush. New U-joints. Rear axle oil drain and fill. Transmission cooler and lines done with the transmission. Fuel pump changed when it started whining before it failed. A/C serviced every year. Michelin tires. The truck was definitely awesome and if it was newer I'd have kept it longer but if I can't Uber with it, forget about it.
I'd absolutely do that again. Buy a 8-10 year old truck needing a motor or a transmission but is nice otherwise. Get the major repair done. Drive it for a few years and then decide to keep or sell when the next major component fails.
