Well we met up with the fellow selling this car. FrenchblueC2 provided a carfax report, and the car was owned by his aunt for about 8 yrs. Now the nephew is facilitating the sale for her. He really seemed like a reasonable guy. We took it for a test run and it handled better than a car with 120+k on the clock, but what do I know I drive an SE. My friend, who is looking to buy just had a prepurchase vehicle inspection done and they found it about needs a brake job, couple of new tires, a bulb in one of the license plate lights is out, seepage at the rear head gasket and a small leak at the oil pan. This thing has 127k on it and doesn't look like a 100k car inside. There are a few scratches and scrapes like an older lady who is not paying attention to curbs may acquire. He didn't understand why his aunt actually ever got a car like this. There is no sign of abuse or young drivers to it and no mods have been done.
On the way over to meet us the fellow said the check engine light came on. It is a hard code since it stayed on but it just had the tags renewed. In my questions about the car, the fellow mentioned that he had just put $10 regular gas in it not the good stuff it requires. That could be the source of the light..... my friend is on the way to Auto Zone to get the code read now.
I am more than a bit concerned about the head gasket leak / seepage whatever while that would just be something to fix if you already had the car getting a car with that as a problem is another matter. Then there is the issue of why did a head gasket start seeping, is it maybe due to the water pump going out and it over heating? one thing seems to follow another down that line. You know what I mean I'm sure.
P0151
Upstream Heated Oxygen Sensor circuit out of range - Bank No. 2.
P1151
Lack of Upstream Heated Oxygen Sensor Switch - Sensor Indicates Lean - Bank No. 2
What my final recommendation on this was to see if the seller was willing to deduct the full cost of the replacement of the head gasket around $1400 by a shop w/ warranty. If so then consider the purchase. IF the purchase was done then to do the work immedately. Then enjoy the car.
IF not WALK AWAY, there is another tour down the line.....
What do you think?
My 2 cents,
AF