my friend is selling his mother's car...(details below of what he sent me) should i buy it?

Question

-Purchased NEW in '94,
-a little over 206,000 miles(seen some serious road time, but she's still in great condition)
-a steal at $2250 (price is negotiable)
-It does as well as a 13 year old car with a V6 can do on gas. About mid- to high-teens in the city, mid-twenties on the highway. The transmission slips a little when you start it for the first time of the day, but once she warms up it's smooth as silk. No major engine probs. I have all of the maintenance records for the past several years for you to review.

im sorry!!
its a 1994 Lexus ES300

Answer 1

No, tranny is going bad unless you get 700 - 1000 off the price for the repair of the tranny that will break in the future

Answer 2

Never buy a car from a friend, if you mean to keep your friendship.
A car with more than 200k, 13 years old for 2250, yes it is a steal, they are trying to take advantage of you. It doesn't matter the make, a car with problem transmission is junk. The only difference between import and domestic it is that import will be more expensive to fix, but you are losing a bunch of money, anyway.

Look for another car.

Answer 3

Since you didn't give the make and model of the car, its kinda hard to tell you if that price is a good deal or not. Instead, goto www.kbb.com and plug in the information and see for yourself.
According to Kelly Blue Book,

Private party sale, which this would be considered, here is what its worth.
Excellent $4,225
Good $3,750
Fair $3,175

Since the tranny slips, I would give it a fair value.

If you did buy it and decided to trade it in, here is what its worth.

Excellent $2,850
Good $2,450
Fair $1,775

Now, if you can deal with the tranny slipping, then go ahead and buy it. We can't stop you. One thing I will say, if you do buy it, and if it does break down on you, you could always sell the parts, or try to.

Answer 4

You did not specify what kind of car it is. If this is some kind of a ford - and based on outrageious gas mileage it is - you should run away as fast as you can. Whoever told you that "mid to to high teens" is normal for a car, even 6 cyl, played a bad joke! My 4Runner gives me 20 in the city...
Hint: for about $3K you can buy a '98-99 Civic that needs no transmission, and has close to 40 mpg.

Answer 5

No, the tranny is about the fail and the mileage is very high. With this many miles, you need to start thinking about the brakes, timing belts, and almost everything else. I'd look for another car.

Answer 6

the way you typed the details it sounds like you are trying to sell it. It's like your doctor telling you "i'm sorry but you will never walk again....but instead you can have this shiny new wheel chair!!!". Thats a lot of miles on that thing, and the tranny will just get worse and worse. I would pass.

Answer 7

Considering the fact that the transmission is about to fail and could cost as much as the car to replace, what would you think my recommendation would be? Pass on this one.
206,000 miles, it is on its way to the salvage yard.

Answer 8

First if you are going to buy it you need to have a mechanic you trust look at it. Second I wouldn't buy it simply because you shouldn't buy from friends. Most can't accept if things don't work out the way they think it will and blame the friend somewhat.

Answer 9

what kind of car is it. IF its a toyota or honda maybe if some other company no. I think you could find a car thats better on sites like ebay or autotrader. The only positive is that your friend probably woulndt want to sell you a bad car.

Answer 10

what kind of car ???