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YOUR RESEARCHShould I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
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best response i've seen in this thread
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Probably the best response I've seen in this thread.
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
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Leading evidence: 'best response i've seen in this thread' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'best response i've seen in this thread' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Run away, (2) depends' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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If the bottom of a 12-year-old car that doesn't have "UNFAIR" on the license plate doesn't have some dirt on it, there's probably a reason it got pressure washed...
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
Run away, (2) depends
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Suggestion · Original poster
I guess there are three possible answers: (1) run away, (2) depends on the price and what you want from the car, and (3) no worries.
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
Run away, and if i don't need
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Suggestion · Original poster
So IF the answer isn't run away, and IF I don't need to worry about big repairs in the next 1000 miles or two based on what we see here, then the question boils down to how much better or worse the car is than average for an '04 with 80k miles.
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
Run away, and if i don't need
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Suggestion · Original poster
So IF the answer isn't run away, and IF I don't need to worry about big repairs in the next 1000 miles or two based on what we see here, then the question boils down to how much better or worse the car is than average for an '04 with 80k miles.
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
reason it got pressure washed
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If the bottom of a 12-year-old car that doesn't have "UNFAIR" on the license plate doesn't have some dirt on it, there's probably a reason it got pressure washed...
Should I buy this car? Or should I be worried about how it looks underneith?
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Here are some pictures of a car I'm interested in buying. As you can see, it's not quite as bright & shiny as when it left the factory. The guy who took the pictures (not the seller, but not someone I would 100% rely on either) says it's just never been cleaned. But there is clearly some rust, and what might be a small crack in the muffler (picture 1, in the rib that runs under the muffler).
I guess there are three possible answers: (1) run away, (2) depends on the price and what you want from the car, and (3) no worries. Regarding number 2, I won't keep the car long, so what I want from the car is that it doesn't blow up quickly, and that I can resell it. And I think the price is exactly what I would expect for the average car of this age ('04) and miles (~80k). So IF the answer isn't run away, and IF I don't need to worry about big repairs in the next 1000 miles or two based on what we see here, then the question boils down to how much better or worse the car is than average for an '04 with 80k miles. And if worse, how much that should impact the price.
Any thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated! I unfortunately need to make a decision about this quite quickly.
Looks like a normal underside wear. Unless the car lives all its life in AZ, there will be normal surface rust on any 10+ year old car's undercarriage.
If you want it to be spotless with shiny new headers and oil pan, well I hate to break it to you, but you're 12 years late.
Most however will say: No oil leaks!!! Jump on that ASAP!
The cracks around the muffler seams are not necessarily indicative that the mufflers leak.
In my opinion, I'd rather the underside be dirty so you can see gunk accumulating everywhere oil is leaking. If the bottom of a 12-year-old car that doesn't have "UNFAIR" on the license plate doesn't have some dirt on it, there's probably a reason it got pressure washed...
Hard to tell for sure, but the undertray (plastics) seem in decent shape.
There are lots of things that would make me avoid a used car, but this isn't one of 'em...
It appears to be the road side of a 12 year old vehicle. Vehicles age. Life is like that.
Given that you're likely in the-mid$30s, the presence of a bad muffler, even if present is hardly a deal breaker.
Looks like surface rust - maybe the car has been stored and unused for a while. There are much more important things to base your decision on, such as maintenance history, PPI, price, driving impression, options, do you love it.
Looks normal, the crack on the muffler housing is not that uncommon, there seems to be a stress point during the manufacturing process, my old mufflers and even the current Fister modified mufflers have them, they don't seem to leak, plus the mufflers are in the far back of the car anyway so I don't really care.
As others have stated, that's what an engine 6 inches from the road looks like after 12 years outside and 80,000 miles driven. Normal. I bet you looked a bit fresher 12 years ago!
the question is; do you intend to clean it up, fix it up so it looks like new?
Or are you going to leave it alone and drive it like it is?
If you are going to leave it like it is, then you care about it as much as the guy you buy it from
Oh no, not another should I buy this car thread again! I say we ban these post. To the OP's out there posting the " Should I buy this car?" thread, buy the car first then ask us, lol. To many times we get asked this, give all of our time and answers only for the OP to post back later they bought a Mustang
I just wanted to thank everyone for the very helpful responses. The main message was clear, and you helped me make up my mind quickly. The car is now parked in my garage :-)
Thanks again!!!
OKB's post definitely also caught my eye, but I can't figure out which of several ways to interpret it. I'm hoping you guys know something I don't know.
The last time I bought a Pcar, it was also this time of year, and I knew I'd drive it in winter, so the first thing I did was go to the forum and try to figure out how to protect it from rust. I ended up posting a thread, and received many helpful responses. But the overall conclusion was that there really isn't much you can do except to make frequent visits to an underbody car wash - and I can't do that - I just can't find anything like that anywhere near here :-(
Am I missing something that the people who replied to the other thread also didn't know? Some way to either prevent rust to begin with, or to do something about surface rust like that in the pictures, at least to stop it from getting worse?
