Hello, everyone. I'm new here.
I have a good amount of experience with cars--mostly European. I'm not an expert, but I've had multiple finicky cars that I've taken to 350k-400k miles while doing all of the work myself. (Except tires, of course. Not much experience with AC either.)
I've also been on tons of forums over the years. So I'll try to be respectful by getting right to the point and asking clear questions. (I'll try)
I'm currently looking at a 2008 GX470. It has 95,000 miles. The dealer is asking 16k.
First, is this an acceptable price? It seems to fall in line with the KBB numbers.
Now, the ambiguous stuff: what, overall, should I be looking for?
Cosmetically, it's great. It's a southern car that doesn't seem to have ever seen salt. Interior is in really good shape from what I can tell, minus a heated seat button that's not illuminating. Exterior is also very good.
The tires are almost bald and I started to spin out accelerating from a stoplight. But the brake rotors and pads are new.
My biggest concerns:
The radiator was replaced, so I'm concerned about a possible overheat in the past and head gasket issues. I'm thinking about asking for an independent exhaust gas coolant test.
There's a burning oil smell when parked, mainly outside of the cabin. I'm assuming--purely assumption--that this is the valve cover gasket. Is there another common fluid leak for this car that would cause a significant burning smell at idle? I couldn't see any smoke. I was stupid and didn't look at the exhaust after the ~25 minute test drive. I'd planned to look for any evidence of burning oil or coolant but I smelled the burning oil/fluid around the engine compartment and forgot once I started investigating that.
There's a bit of pulsing vibration within a certain wide RPM range when pressing the gas at idle. I'm assuming this is engine mounts? Is there something else I should be considering here?
The ride height adjustment is only visibly noticeable to me on the rear, and seems slow. But I honestly have no idea how long it's supposed to take. Also seems a bit jerky, not totally smooth. But it did indeed adjust.
So these are the things that caught my eye.
Are there other things I should specifically be looking for? I'm currently planning to FaceTime with a tech at the dealer while it's up on a lift. (The car is a few hours away from me, and the service department had been closed for two hours when I did the test drive. So I never got to look at it under a lift or see under the engine cover.)
Many thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and reply. Please ask me any questions you can think of. I plan to move relatively quickly on this--possibly Monday.
I have a good amount of experience with cars--mostly European. I'm not an expert, but I've had multiple finicky cars that I've taken to 350k-400k miles while doing all of the work myself. (Except tires, of course. Not much experience with AC either.)
I've also been on tons of forums over the years. So I'll try to be respectful by getting right to the point and asking clear questions. (I'll try)
I'm currently looking at a 2008 GX470. It has 95,000 miles. The dealer is asking 16k.
First, is this an acceptable price? It seems to fall in line with the KBB numbers.
Now, the ambiguous stuff: what, overall, should I be looking for?
Cosmetically, it's great. It's a southern car that doesn't seem to have ever seen salt. Interior is in really good shape from what I can tell, minus a heated seat button that's not illuminating. Exterior is also very good.
The tires are almost bald and I started to spin out accelerating from a stoplight. But the brake rotors and pads are new.
My biggest concerns:
The radiator was replaced, so I'm concerned about a possible overheat in the past and head gasket issues. I'm thinking about asking for an independent exhaust gas coolant test.
There's a burning oil smell when parked, mainly outside of the cabin. I'm assuming--purely assumption--that this is the valve cover gasket. Is there another common fluid leak for this car that would cause a significant burning smell at idle? I couldn't see any smoke. I was stupid and didn't look at the exhaust after the ~25 minute test drive. I'd planned to look for any evidence of burning oil or coolant but I smelled the burning oil/fluid around the engine compartment and forgot once I started investigating that.
There's a bit of pulsing vibration within a certain wide RPM range when pressing the gas at idle. I'm assuming this is engine mounts? Is there something else I should be considering here?
The ride height adjustment is only visibly noticeable to me on the rear, and seems slow. But I honestly have no idea how long it's supposed to take. Also seems a bit jerky, not totally smooth. But it did indeed adjust.
So these are the things that caught my eye.
Are there other things I should specifically be looking for? I'm currently planning to FaceTime with a tech at the dealer while it's up on a lift. (The car is a few hours away from me, and the service department had been closed for two hours when I did the test drive. So I never got to look at it under a lift or see under the engine cover.)
Many thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and reply. Please ask me any questions you can think of. I plan to move relatively quickly on this--possibly Monday.
