Advice or 2nd opinions needed

[Expaddiction]

I'm in the market for a 1st gen Expy and have set a limit of $3500 but really not trying to go over $3000. Is cash too if any y'all close to me wanna sell or try to sell me yours lol. I've been on Craigslist and Cars.com everyday for about a month so far and have only looked at 6 of em,that were still for sale by the time I could go see em. The ones I've really been interested in have sold before I had a chance lol,guess they saw what I saw too or maybe I dodged a bullet. I looked at an 2002 EB with 220,*** for $3500 that was decent shape and needed a o2 sensor and a few nicknacks but it had the infamous "Leak" on the right rear between the block and the head. The owner claimed to not know of it before that moment of course but said he would take $3k for it after I shot him a $2k offer. He drives it daily and it's been in his family since new and has been maintained so the story goes. Everything option wise did work on it as well. The oil wasn't pouring out of it but was on the starter and little bit (quarter size) on the ground. My brother (master tech/shop owner)was with me and scared me off it with horror stories and possible engine replacement. I've looked at 2 other EBs that had seen better days and didn't even test drive em bottom line those 2 dudes were out their damn minds. I ran across some 4.6s that were nice but no tow and really want a 5.4 sooo... looked at 2 XLTs today one was 97 other was a 2000. The 97 was for $1900 and looked ok and had 174k miles but ran rough and the owner wouldn't let me drive it???? Scared it might blow up was my thought so I walked. After that I was on to see the 2000 model with 184k miles for $3k. Pulled up seen rust I didn't like under the doors and a 3 inch or so hole of rust in the right rear quarter panel behind the tire with a couple other spots bubbling up. Now down to $2500 I take it for a spin over to my bros. shop to lift it and see what's up. Well it need upper and lower balls and swaybar bushings and maybe a radiator on top of just being rough. The motor ran the best of all I'd looked at so far though but wasn't enough for me to want to spend $2500. My bro said he wouldn't give $1k for it,by the way he also owns a 97 Expy XLT and 2001 Navigator and got em for next to nothing. So I go back to the guy and offer $1500 for it since it runs good and 4wd high and low worked. He was thinking to long and the more I thought about it I just wanted to leave so I did. So am I asking to much for to little or am I doing right. I see alot of em that seem overpriced to me and yes I'm a tightass, but I've been screwed just like the next man has before and don't want to repeat past mistakes of jumping on something just cause I want that make/model so bad. I keep thinking bout the 2002 EB I looked at and wonder if I should try to make a deal on it. What's some thoughts should stay away from it and pass or is it a decent deal there I'm not seeing. Love/hate shopping for vehicles.

 

[Expaddiction]

Looked at 3 more today 2 XLTs and 1 EB. The 98 EB was straight up junk and falling apart for a dealer price of $3200 hahaha...no. The other 98 XLT was so rough didn't bother starting it and said no thanks see ya. It was also $4000 so I was gonna step up but darn thing was way to gone for that. The 3rd was a 99 XLT and was decent but was 4.6L and was rigged up a bit and someone didn't do to good of body work either. Oh well but did run across a 97 EB when this lot was closing and its nice. I told the dude I'd be back in the morning for the test drive and good look over. He wants $4000 cash for it but I'm gonna try to get little lower if I can. If it's worth whatever we decide on I'll get it and put some pics up soon.

 

[Stoned06]

Good luck. Unless you absolutely need one now, wait for the right one at the right price. You just have to be willing to wait if needed.

 

[niowa98eb]

Honestly I'd wait until summertime to buy one. If gas gets anywhere near what is being forecast there should be a lot of people selling theirs.

 

[WhoaTed]

I'll repeat what others have said: wait for the "right" one at the "right" price. Scour Autotrader and especially Craigslist, set up alerts from both with keyword "Expedition", call on any that you're interested in as soon as the alerts notify you and don't be afraid to travel, say maybe 100 miles or so for the "right" car. I've done all of the above looking for certain vehicles and it pays off huge. Here are the last few, these are all particular cars that I searched hard for:

'98 Volvo V70 T5, gorgeous condition, low miles, all records since new, etc...took 5 weeks but found it in Minneapolis for $3000 under Kelleys (it was totaled six months later, insurance paid off much more than I paid for it).

'04 V70 T5, like new, same as above but newer, low miles, factory bumper-to-bumper warranty thru 100,000 miles, $2500 under Kelleys, in Rochester, NY after a month of searching (there weren't many T5's made after '02 so nice ones are hard to find). Sold it 3 years later for slightly less than I paid for it after I found:

'07 Freestyle Limited AWD...same condition as cars above, every available option. Funny thing is that I searched all over the midwest for a loaded Freestyle in this condition, but the nicest one by far was at a Lincoln dealership a mile away from me. They weren't very flexible on the price, so I kept searching. Out of the blue after three weeks the dealer called and asked if I still wanted the Freestyle. I drove over that afternoon and the sales manager asked how much I was willing to pay. When I told him a fairly low but not totally ridiculous figure, he said fine, and we had a deal. I couldn't figure out what the sudden change of heart was, but a week later the cars were all gone and the dealership was closed. I ran into the saleswoman a while later and she told me that the morning that the manager called me they'd all been called in and told the place was closing and they were all being let go. The sales manager was pissed so he started dumping cars. Lucky for me, and we love the car.

'01 Expedition Eddie B, loaded, beautiful condition inside and out, runs like new, all records, etc. This one only took a few days to find, I was about to buy a real nice '04 XLT down the street from me for $7500 after looking at a lot of junk that sound like your stories, then that night the '01 popped up on Craigslist. I called right away, drove about 50 miles to see it, inspected it, drove it home. Paid him the $5400 he was asking for without hesitation, it's that nice (was his wife's "soccer mom-mobile"). Kelley's private party is somewhere north of seven grand on this car in very good condition. I figured even if it needed something once I got it home and crawled all over it it would still be worth the price but after having it over a week and completely checking it out top to bottom the only thing that isn't right or doesn't work is the driver's side heat pad. Awesome truck.

I won't even mention the rare Alfa Romeo sedans, Lancias and old Fiats that I've searched for and found. THAT can be a real test of patience, ha ha.

Sorry for being long winded but I can't stress enough that hard digging, dedication to searching and patience turns up some real nice cars. When you find "the one" you'll know it, don't hesitate to pull the trigger when you do find it because someone else will if you don't. Fortunately I'm willing to travel a bit depending on the car, and although I really dislike buying from dealers in general I'm willing to consider it if I'm coming up empty in the private party market. Just when your patience starts to run out and you're thoroughly exasperated something good always seems to drop out of the bushes right in front of you, so hang in there.

Sorry for the lecture, good luck with your search.

 

[SkyJumper]

This thread is dead. The OP has started another thread with the one he bought already instead of continuing this one.

 

[WhoaTed]

This thread is dead. The OP has started another thread with the one he bought already instead of continuing this one.

DOH...didn't see the new thread, I'll have to check it out. Glad he found something.