hi there thinking of buying a 2002 neon has 101,000 miles. 1 owner, i went and looked at it ,she had maintence done on timley scheadule, i started it test drove the gears shift fine and smoothly,she replaced theupper and lower toruq strut.. does need tires and oil change..power doors cd player and everything works great

she asking 2300.00 she willing to low as 1700.00 do u think that sa pretty good deal.

im gonna take it to a shop and have them look it over.
the only thing thats worries me is the shop might say it needs work on and might take adavange of me.

i read the thread on buying used neon,just getting some opinions out there.
its hard to find an honset mechanic..

 

I think that is a good deal if the car runs well.
I have a 2005 dodge neon with 86k miles on it. I would try to sell my car around $2500, but then I don't have a car to drive around. Buying another used car at this price range is like buying another used crap. $1700 for this car is like buying a throw away car already so, you can't ask too much from it.
I think Dodge Neon is a decent car at this price. I did have many problems with my car in the past, but thanks god I'm a handy guy.
If you drive a high mileage used car, you just have to invest into it (Once in a while).
For example:
timing belt at 90,000 miles on this car
If she hasn't changed trans fluid, power steering fluid, engine coolant, ... You should do it now.
I think spark plugs is every 30,000 miles
Many mores, but you should create another thread for this.

 

whne doing trans fluid is it good to flush the whole tranny some people sya its not good to flush whole tranny fluid..

how do i know when the timming belt and water pump goes bad

 

Many shops use machines to flush the trans. I think it's not good because machines create too much pressure, which is not good for the trans.

If you drain the fluid, and then refill, half of the fluid came out only.
If fluid was in there for too long, it's good to flush the system.
Otherwise, just drain, and then refill. If you do this many times, the fluid will look cleaner, and cleaner.
trans fluid doesn't need to be replace often like engine oil.

 

It's hard to tell if a timing belt, or water pump is bad. They are just easy to break over time. You have to follow the manual and replace the timing belt at 90,000 miles. Many people on here had their timing belts broken. Some were just at 140,000 miles mark.

 

If the car tracks straight, sounds right, and runs well, there is probably nothing wrong with it.
If something seriously wrong, you would know it. For example: lost power when you accelerate, run rough, engine stall, ...
I bought many used cars without I took them to mechanics. Cars are as much as $17,000.
But if you are careful about this car, I say go ahead and take it to a mechanic.
If he can't find something wrong under the hood, he will find something wrong under the car (the suspension). Which is probably truth, because this car has many miles on it. You decide if you want to replace something or not.

 

If it drives fine, I think $1700 is a steal. you probably won't even find one in the auction. Nowaday, even a car that barely runs cost over $1,000.

Yes, something will break in the future, but it should be expected for a $1700 used car with 100k mile.

 

1,700 is a great deal.


Things to check would be. Outer tie-rods, sway bar bushings, lower control arm rear bushings. If the timing belt has been changed.

 

Timing belt, tensioner, water pump and other little things are due for a change at 105,000 miles. That's roughly another $500 if you take it to a shop. If all is fairly decent, I'd offer the $1,700 explaining it's going to need a $500 maintenance job performed on it in 4,000 miles. The fact that she has actually done maintenance on it means it's probably doing just fine overall, IMO.

 

thanks for the advice everyone ..really help me out..