Originally posted by BIG daDDy:
What should my biggest concerns be about my car and the fact that it has been driven twice since 3/2003 and only started up a few times? I am finally going to sell it and I just want to know what things I can do to prepare her for the sale. It is a 99 se v/6 5 spd with 80k miles. Brakes were done at 60k, roush springs and st/200 struts were put in at 78k, new plugs and ford racing wires were done at 70k. I also had the tranny fluid changed and added the friction modifier(it already has a synchro problem) My biggest concerns are things like gaskets drying out. Anything else I should be worried about? Anti freeze was never changed since I bought it so I know that should be done. Are the other cheap and easy things to do like cleaning the intakes that I could do myself? I am somewhat mechanically inclined but not great and my access to the car is limited because I live in NYC and the car is in Boston. I would be coming home for 2 days at best to get things done to it.



I doubt that you will have many problems. Cars often sit on dealer's lots that long and sometimes even longer with no problems. From what you have said, I would be most concerned about the original anti freeze.

Stale gas has a very distinctive odor. Sniff the gas tank and if the fuel smells normal (if the gas is stale, you will know immediately, it is that unusual) go ahead and start the engine then see how it runs with a short road test. If everything seems OK, change the oil and drive it home. Do change the coolant very soon, and carefully check to make sure that the radiator has not sprung a leak where the side tanks join the main core.

If you know you are going to store a car, it should be stored with a full tank of fuel and reasonably fresh oil as well as anti freeze that isn't much more than a year old.

I doubt if the picture is as gloomy as some have painted it.

Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited