Check Maintenance Records [Car Buying Tip]

If you're shopping for a used car, look for one that has had extensive and regular maintenance.

Years ago, I sold a slightly modified Audi 200 Quattro for $4,500. During the preceding 18 months, I had fixed nearly every major problem with the vehicle. During my ownership, I religously changing the oil every 3,000 miles (or less). I put in a new timing belt, water pump, power steering pump, suspension, wheels, european headlights, and performance chip (+ waste gate spring). Another (older, wiser) enthusiast bought it, getting over $4,000 in recent (documented) maintenance.

Yeah, I got more than the average price but not by much. Certainly not enough to make up for $4,000 in work I put in. The buyer basically paid $500 for the car.

Why did I sell that Audi? Part of it was boredom. The other was a misguided belief that the car had become an endless money pit. The truth was that during my ownership tenure, I fixed nearly every major maintenance item on the car. I also learned all the major systemic failures and how to repair/replace them.

That Audi is long gone. The take home lesson for you, dear reader, is that if you're out there shopping, look for a car that has had extensive and regular maintenance. You can find real gems.

Here's a Volvo 240 Wagon, for example. Not only are 240 wagons becoming harder to find, ones with documented maintenance records for under $1,000 are super rare. In case the CL listing disappears, here's the description:

1991 Volvo 240 Station Wagon

Navy Blue

Automatic Transmission

230,000 Miles

Good Working Condition........Interior is in decent shape as well

Many new parts and recent work have been put into this car....

New Alternator

New Battery

New Spark Plugs and distributor cap

New Belts and Timing Belt

New Pulleys

New Mass Air Flow Sensor

Brand New Winter Tires and Brand New Three Season Tires

This car has treated me very well and i have invested a lot of work into it... these volvos really last forever..... I am only selling it because I was recently given a Toyota with very few miles...

I just cant afford two cars.... Asking $950 because the tires and recent work are worth at least that....

Please call if interested..........

Yeah, like the boys at Jalopnik, I seem to have a curious obsession with Volvo 240s.

Here's a closing thought. A car with about 80,000 miles on it is usually due for a huge variety of services, in particular the timing belt and water pump. On a european car, that can be a $1,000 service call or more. A car with 100,000 to 120,000 miles on it has likely already had that service. If the car was otherwise been well maintained, you're probably better off with the higher mileage option. You'll pay substantially less for it and you can spend the money on suspension or other tuning upgrades, rather on upcoming scheduled maintenance.

image: Dave_7

Tire Repair FAIL

Update: 7 of the 8 tires were OK.   1 had a hole.  

First trip back - they couldn't find the hole so they dismounted the tire, cleaned the rim, and remounted.   The tire still leaked. 

Second trip back, they found the hole.   A nearly new Eagle LS was rolled out and mounted.   24 hours later and it's still holding fine. 

I still bought 4 tires with 70% or better tread for about 75% less than new.  The added hassle of two trips to the tire store sucked, but I had some free time.    If they last 12 months, they'll be worth it.  

Saving Money on Tires

Flat tires suck.

Luckily it rarely happens.   Most last until they wear out and then I just go to Costco for a new set. 

But what happens if you run into this kind of situation? 

Both of our cars were parked on the street and now each had two flats, all on the street side. Turns out some clown with nothing better to do slashed our tires overnight.   He also slashed the tires of more than 20 other cars parked on the street.   Thousands of dollars of damage, liklihood of the guy getting caught - low. 

Now what?   Replacement tires were needed immediately.  

The tires on the Lexus were nearly worn out but the Michelin LTXs on the 4Runner were practically new.   Meanwhile Costco doesn't have 'em in stock and we didn't have time to wait for an order. 

Costco has brands other than Michelin available, but it would have meant buying 4 new ones for the 4Runner at a cost of over $800 installed (again).  And we'd still need tires for the Lexus.  If we went with Costco for that as well,   the damage would be over $1,600.  Ouch! 

Craigslist to the rescue.  

Searching by tire size, I found a couple of options - in an industrial part of Denver about 30 minutes from my house.   One seller even had Michelin LTX's in precisely the size I needed and claimed the tread was 80%.   

Since I had a little extra time, I decided to give it a whirl.   I felt a little uneasy about buying used tires but the way I looked at it, both cars already had used tires.  What did I have to lose (or save?).    Money, of course.   So  I exercised my negotiation skills and over the phone, we agreed on a price. 

I pulled all wheels on the Lexus and just the two slashed tires on the 4Runner.  With a borrowed pickup, I hauled 'em in.   

I saved some cash but it didn't turn out exactly how I expected.  

Here are the results:

4 Eagle GL's size 225/55/17 with about 70% tread:  $150 (mounted and balanced)

4 Michelin LTXs in 275/70/16 with about 70% tread: $210 (mounted and balanced)

Total:  About $360 + 2 hours of driving and some more time spent waiting at the shop

The catch:  There was an unexpected $10 upcharge for cleaning one wheel's mounting bead with a wire brush.   I wasn't expecting that but worse, it turns out they should have cleaned more than this one wheel.  I  ended up having to drive back the next day when one of the tires on the Lexus developed a slow leak.   Meanwhile, the Michelin LTX's turned out to be A/T versions, a little meatier and gnarlier looking than the regular M/S versions.   So I ended up visiting yet another shop to have the other two tires installed so that the set matched (price included in above).   

The tires are in pretty good shape and will probably last another 2 or 3 years.  And when they wear out on the 4Runner, I will only need to buy 2 since I still have 2 practically new tires. 

Caveat:  I found one guy selling nice wheels and tires, for about the same price of just tires.   Unfortunately, he didn't respond to my email fast enough.  I would have preferred to simply buy his full set of wheels and decent tires (from a 2007 4Runner) for a negotiated price of $275.