Hello.

I just started a new job, and my car decided to blow up on me. I am going to possibly buy a used van off of a woman who I know. I told her that I need to make sure that I approve of the vehicle inside and out before I purchase the vehicle off of her. I pretty well know my way around a car, but have no experiance with the history of this van. It's a 95 Green Caravan with 140k miles on it.

The big thing with this van is, that is was rolled a while back. They have fixed a lot of stuff on this van, including the dents, windows, and some stuff under the hood damaged by the rollover. They also said they have 'heard' that it is 'possible' that the steering could go out in it soon, but they said that this could 'possibliy' happen, and that it's not for sure, etc.

Anyways, I don't want to screw myself over and walk into this blindly. What should I look for while driving this vehicle looking under the hood, etc to ensure myself that I'm going to possibly be able to get myself a sturdy work van.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

Personally, before I ever even looked under the hood, I'd order the Carfax report. How many miles has it been driven since the rollover? I'd ask them for detailed information on what's been fixed since then, that will give you a good idea how badly it was damaged. There's no telling what all was jarred loose, and is just waiting to come apart. I'd be leary of it, and have it thouroughly checked out by a dealership before buying. Might cost you a few bucks that way, but safety is #1.

 

Transmission! Find out when the transmission was last rebuilt and by who.

 

I don't know when or if Dodge stopped using the 3.0 Mitsubishi engine but if it has one, I'd look for oil burning. Just let it idle and see if you get blue smoke within a few minutes. The one in my 91 was notorius for valve guides going bad and leaking oil into the cylinders. Very expensive repair if the guides have slipped down and the heads need to be pulled.

 

they ran the 3.0s in them 'till '00 i beleive, maybe '99, the 3rd gens don't have them

i say:

find out tranny info

if its a 3.0 check for the oil burning, & when did they do the timing belt

3.3/3.8 engines, well nothing to really worry about on these motors...

...just as long as they were maintained, oil changes, PCV, wires plugs, sometimes they blow a head gasket, but that tends to be rare, & i doubt she ever ran the van like i do to mine....

um, inner & outer tie rod ends, upper strut mounts, fuel filter, brakes, pretty much general stuff that i can think of

-greg

 

yeah, you're right about the timing belt. I forgot about that. I think mine went at 75k.