Looking to buy a small pickup either Toyota or Nissan . My budget is low so most of what I can buy are 150k mileage and up. This would likely not be used every day by me. Is there anything to check for besides the normal mechanic used car checks on engine, suspension, transmission, etc.
I’d give it more consideration if it was a one owner car. Odds are if it lasted that long for one owner they took care of it and if asked will tell you why they are getting rid of it and what there they think it may need next.
If it was a one owner that got sold to a dealership and then was passed around by a couple of other dealers (without a private buyer) there is a good chance it was in a wreck.
One thing you might do is get a vehicle history report which will show wrecks and how many owners. Carfax is the company most people know.
With that mileage I would definitely check status of the timing belt. Besides that, I think the normal stuff is all you really need.
@ 150k, it probably should be on it’s 2nd timing belt.
I spend enough money with a garage that they inspected a used car for me and told me what is wrong with it.
It certainly should be. The last car I bought had lots of miles, +250k and as far as I could tell from the vehicle history, none of the owners ever replaced a timing belt. They just drove it until the engine blew up, replaced the engine and drove it another +120k miles before selling it to me. Once I owned it, I drove it 2 miles to my mechanic for a new timing belt.
I drive old cars, and have purchased a number of them with over 100K miles.
IMO regular oil changes are the #1 thing. But unless there are records, it’s impossible to know if it was regularly changed. So if it’s a one- or two-owner vehicle without records, I’ll simply ask about it. Of course, they always tell me the oil was changed regularly, and then I have to decide whether they’re telling the truth or not.
I pop the hood and check fluids. Google signs of a blown head gasket to know what to look for. And then look for obvious things like leaks, bad repairs or mods, etc.
I ask how long the vehicle has been parked in this location. I then get on my hands and knees and look under the vehicle for evidence of oil, coolant, etc. on the ground under it. I also look at the condition of the undercarriage, and will usually pass on vehicles that have a lot of rust on the underside. I also look at the condition of the exhaust system.
I check the condition of the tires. Installing new tires on an old vehicle can easily cost half (or more) of the vehicle’s value. If the tires are in bad shape, then I try to use this info as leverage to negotiate a lower price.
I start it up, then look at the color of the exhaust. With the hood still open, I’ll stick my head in the engine compartment to look & listen. I’ll then check the level and color of the transmission fluid (assuming it’s an automatic and has a dipstick for it).
I take it for a drive and look for obvious things. Including whether it’s shifting O.K. Afterwards I (again) look at the color of the exhaust.
Having said all of that, I am not looking for perfection when I’m buying an older vehicle with lots of miles. But I also don’t want to deal with major problems. The two biggies are the transmission and engine.
Toyotas since 2005 have a timing chain, not belt. I’d feel more comfortable with a high mileage Toyota than Nissan.
I’m no expert, but the NIssans I’ve worked on (owned) have had chains. 96 Hardbody truck, and 3 Frontiers 99-2001. All very good vehicles. Better priced than Toyotas of similar age/milage.
Your Milage May Vary. See what I did there?
I’ve bought nothing but high-mileage cars. 'Cause I’m cheap, AND those are much more interesting cars than modern souless ones.
Our experience is “I wish we could get a new car, but that dadburn Toyota won’t die!” Or even need major work for 200k or so.
This is huge. Last wagon I bought was born in the 20th Century, but the original owner had kept meticulous records (he was an old statistician with a three-inch thick folder of every little thing. I’ll bet there are even gas receipts in there: “Bought 11.3 gallons of Hi-Test Ethyl at Lloyd’s 83rd Street Esso Station for $13.13, received plush Tiger-In-Your-Tank antenna topper at no additional cost.”)
If it has one. Toyotas and Nissans have used timing chains for quite a while now. It’s easy to find out if a vehicle you’re interested in has a belt or a chain. Just go to Rock Auto or similar car parts website and select the truck in question and then search for the timing belt or chain.
Personally, I will never again buy a car with a timing belt.
The first thing I look at is the owner’s house, and try to maneuver an invitation inside somehow (use the restroom, etc.). There’s as much visible information about his maintenance habits there, as at the car. Look at the paint, gutters, yard, furniture etc. He’ll clean up the car before you come, but not his house.
I look at the tires to see if they match. If they are a variety of brands/ages, then he’s a patch-it-and-go type of maintainer, and it’s probably time to leave.
If at all possible, just take it to your regular mechanic. The last thing you want is to buy a vehicle and have it fail inspection.
Before Suzuki left the US market they had a pickup truck called the Equator which is a rebadged Nissan Frontier, so if you can find one it might be a little cheaper than the Nissan of similar age/miles.
This. If you’ve got a regular mechanic, have them check it first. If you don’t have a regular mechanic, ask around for a reliable one, and have them check it. You may have to pay them for the check; but you may save quite a bit more by not buying yourself a lot of problems.
– if it has a pretty new paint job, be very suspicious of rust under the paint.
I’ve done this with EVERY used car I’ve bought. I even show the (Craigslist/Facebook/Bring A Trailer) ad to my mechanic before I go to meet with the seller. I’ll even get advice like “Check and see if it’s really the 2.5 liter. If it is, run away. But it might be the 2.2, which is solid.”
I leave my driver’s license (and in one situation my car keys) with the seller, run the car over to “my car guy” and it goes up on the hoist. The entire team gets in on the “Where’s Waldo” hunt for what’s going to go wrong and how soon. And they tally up how much it’s all going to cost me.
When they did that for the First-Gen Honda Insight I reeeeally* wanted to buy, they showed me $700 worth of joints, pads and hoses it’d need “before you drive it over 50 mph”. I took 700 out of the envelope of cash I’d gotten from the bank, and the seller took it.
*Car guy: “Anybody else, I’d say don’t buy this. But you’re quirky enough that you should buy it and look funky… while you have me jerry-rig all the little things that’ll be going wrong with it.”
When I sold my MG Midget (as is) my first interested party asked if they could take it for a mechanic to check. The air went out of my sails, as I knew the manifold was cracked and repaired with muffler tape. A new manifold was needed but I hadn’t been able to locate one.
He left his car, keys, and driver’s license. When he returned he gave me my asking price in cash. I always wondered whether his mechanic was lousy or the fact British Leyland was shutting down made the car more valuable.
Was it garage kept and/or does it have a lot of rust, especially important in in wet/wintry areas.
Signs of flood damage, especially if the car is coming from an area where flooding is a problem.
Take a $20 code reader and see if there are any codes, which would be recent or current problems.
I bought my first brand new car in December 2019 and I have kept every single piece of paper and every receipt for every single thing I have ever done to it. All the maintenance invoices and receipts are in a folder arranged chronologically, as well the original Monroney sticker and sales paperwork. I also have every single fuel receipt from every single time I’ve put any gasoline in it since the day I bought it. Oh. Yeah. I also write down in a book the date, location of fill-up, total mileage and trip mileage, price per gallon, total gallons purchased, and average MPG as calculated by me, not the computer.
I have no idea if this meticulous record-keeping will be any use to a future buyer, but frankly being a bit OCD about it gives me peace of mind so I’ll continue to do it.