Would you buy a used D from an out of state dealer? I still owe my parents on my current car, reason why i was going to try adn sell it, adn use cash. Just talked to my mom, and she said i could trade it in, adn still make my monthly payment, no problem.

Now, I cant find the D i am looking for here in MI, so i started looking out of state. I found 2 - 2000 Durango SLT, 5.9, 4x4, both with less than 60k. both less than $10k. problem is they are in the NY - NJ area. I would be buying them undruven, and driving my car out there to trade, if they will give enough on my trade. Prolly do this over a long weekend.

Now the question is, would you buy a used Durango only form pics, and without a test drive? and they are NOT at corner used car lots. One is at a BMW lot, the other a Honda/Acura lot.

Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions.[8D]

P.S. - while looking at some interior photos, i notice some SLTs with AWD. is this normal? i thought they were 4wd. can someone explain this alittle better? sorry for stupidity, i just thought they were RWD/4HI/4LOW, not AWD/4HI/4LOW.

 

I can answer one of your questions, Do Not buy a car from pics only!! You need to see it , drive it, and look it over, or you may get very disappointed.

 

There are mechanical inspection services that will go and inspect the car for you at a fair price. Might want to look into that.

 

Is it that far away from home you can't drive there?

 

Yes the SLT come in a AWD so no worries there ((i notice some SLTs with AWD. is this normal?)) ... My parents had a awd slt durngo and some times I wish I would have bought that in sted.. but out of state could be bad.. the good news if its at a deal that is not dodge or crystler then you can talk them down on price because they don't like cars on there lot that aren't the models or make they sell... and as well for sure take the trip to drive them.. but most likely they will be fine.. My body bought a used 4runner from a dude in NY and I live in UTah.. so he saw a sweet price for the 4runner he wanted bought it and then flew out and drove it home.. but that was the chance he took but it drove great for him... just talk witht he deal and say you are coming in out of state and see if they will work with you on some sort of deal like to drive it before you buy it or something like that... good luck on the new perchuse.... peace JP

 

Yeah, it would be about an 11 hour drive, form Grand rapids , MI, to almost NYC. If i went out there, i damn well better be coming back in a new car.

 

GR you definitely want to test drive it. Jp Your buddy was lucky to get a good car without checking it out 1st unless the 4runner came with maintenance records. I think I told you this on the other thread but you need to look at and smell the oil to see if it's burnt or if the oil smells overwhelmingly like gas. Also you have to check the plugs to see if any of the cylinders are losing compression. You need to check all of the other fluids too. But I will say I told you so on the mileage thing and price here in NY.

 

Yeah, you were right on the mileageand price thing. I'll give you that much. The one i found appears to be perfect, but i think i might wait and see if i can find one around here. I did find two R/T's on the other side of the state, where I'm going to be next weekend.

Why isnt the R/T not as well suited to offroading? is it because of the AWD, or what?

 

it was made more for performance like racing and if you look into bolth worlds there are miles apart.. but yeah green he was luck but then again it was a ebay buy and he talk to the dude that bought it when it was fresh out of the factory and sent him all the records of the car so he prety much new what he was geting into.. as for the RT if you are looking for performance more then off roading then go with the RT for sure just rember only the best fuel goes in that baby not the cheep stuff... and if you want your durango to have some ***** tow like a mother "f"er and yet take down a mountain go with the SLT.. difernces in are in the 1st wheels RT comes with a more performance wheel not suitible for off roading and the rims are like 17 inch.. if you want some nice tires to go off roading on those rims you will most likely have to lift you RT.. and then theres the suspention... but then again I just am talking out of what I know and thats not a hole lot.. but I have my SLT and boy ever time I see a RT I can't wait to set right up with it so I can race and smoke it because nothing feels better in being in a truck that wasn't made to be faster than the other but is if that makes sense... have fun shoping...

 

Like Jp said the R/T was made for the street and as far as I know it is only AWD and you don't have the option of switching into 4L to double your torque when you get into a sticky situation while wheeling. The only time I have taken my truck offroad we were running greens and I would've gotten stuck without the extra torque 4L offers because we were running up a hill with loose gravel/soil which was also wet.
*EDIT* Now that I think about it my avatar is the hill I had trouble coming back up because of that ledge right in front of my tires there. The pic is when I was going down.