What would you pay for this car?

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Apr 1, 2008
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Arizona
Good morning all,

We're thinking about purchasing a vehicle for a friend of ours who is having a child soon and could use one. We don't want to spend a ton of money on it and it's actually just to get around town (we live in a small town) so no longer than 10 mi each way commutes.

My father-in-law has a 2004 Buick LeSabre that he doesn't use very often. It runs pretty well, has an occasional hard shift from the transmission. It is a Midwest car, so it does have some rust on the rocker panels, gas cap area, etc and I believe it has 175,000 mi. I can't say for sure but I do believe that the AC works.

If we did buy it I would plan on going through it changing fluids that needed to be changed, spark plugs, fuel treatment and a good once-over.

Without accounting for the potential family factor what would you folks pay for this car?
 
$300 tops...the transmission is not long for this world.
Thank you for your honesty! Is it pretty common for these GM trannies with a occasional hard shift to be on their way out? I don't know much about its history it does have nice red fluid but that's about all that I know for sure. Could it be a solenoid?
 
It is probably a $500. car tops.
Because it is your FIL, and family is generally more important than money, I would offer a grand.
Who knows, he might be so touched by the offer, he offers it up for free.
 
Thank you for your honesty! Is it pretty common for these GM trannies with an occasional hard shift to be on their way out? I don't know much about its history it does have nice red fluid but that's about all that I know for sure. Could it be a solenoid?
It’s likely a P1811 - Maximum Adaptive and Long Term Shift. Some will say they can go tens of thousands of miles, so report that once it showed up, the trans grenaded not long after. I had it in my old Impala and installed a TransGo shift kit. It lessened the harshness, but you could still tell that the hard shift was there. I replaced the transmission 5k miles later.

There are tons of resources online about the P1811 code. More than you’ll ever want to know. I wouldn’t pay much more than a couple hundred bucks, but not because of just the trans. The rust is the big killer for me.
 
I might buy it if it's cheap enough. But I wouldn't be investing in spark plugs, fluids or filters anytime soon. Drive it like I stole it until it goes no more.
 
Is the owner actually interested in selling it or just guessing he would? I know it was mentioned it doesn't get driven as much. Plus you don't want to insult him with a low offer. Maybe ask what he wants for it. That would be interesting to know.
 
If your plan is to donate this car to a needy person who is soon to be a parent then keep in mind that if they can't afford a car now then they likely won't be able to maintain a worn-out used gifted car in the future. They'll be stuck with an eye sore in their driveway once the transmission dies and then they're in a worse position than they are already.

If you want to help a needy soon-to-be parent then at the very least get them something that is dependable. It's an honorable idea to gift a vehicle to someone but it needs to be a serviceable unit and not a piece of junk that will be dead within a year. They'll then be stuck with the disposal of the vehicle. Are you willing to maintain the vehicle for this lady? Are you going to be on-call when it dies on her at the pediatrician's office?
 
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I respect everyone's take on it, respectfully I wasn't asking for advice on whether I should help someone out with a car or not but I get it!

Appreciate the feedback, sounds like the trans is dicey and that would defeat the point of an at least somewhat decent car 🍻
 
+1, there is a shift kit for these trannies that bodges around the poor computer/ solenoid control. I'd run one if I were in a situation that required it.

Does the state this car is winding up in require inspections? These Lesabres get unibody rot in the front "frame rails" just aft of the firewall. Look there when evaluating the car. I'm not a stuctural engineer but there are a couple years between when the first illegal (in Maine) hole appears and when the car is "actually done."
 
+1, there is a shift kit for these trannies that bodges around the poor computer/ solenoid control. I'd run one if I were in a situation that required it.

Does the state this car is winding up in require inspections? These Lesabres get unibody rot in the front "frame rails" just aft of the firewall. Look there when evaluating the car. I'm not a stuctural engineer but there are a couple years between when the first illegal (in Maine) hole appears and when the car is "actually done."
No inspection in the county we live in but still a consideration for safety
 
Sounds like you'll have to look at the car!

The 92-99 Lesabres used to pop subframes at the bolts where they met the firewall. That is unsafe.
 
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