Buying Used 2001 Buick Lesabre

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  kyfdx Moderator Posts: 237,316

  June 2020

  Any car in decent running condition is worth at least $1000.
  
  That doesn't mean you won't have repair and maintenance bills, but it will be a lot cheaper to own than anything you'd have to make payments on.
  
  Plus, if it doesn't work out, you only have $1000 into it, and you can move on to something else.

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  imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154

  June 2020

  lsills said:

  Hey, so I have recently been offered a 2001 Buick LeSabre with 130,000 miles on it. The car was previously owned by this family who gave it to their daughter for school and now are trying to upgrade. The car was garaged and maintained well (oil change and transmission fluid change on time), and they are asking $1000 for it. It has been in no prior accidents and no major repairs have had to be done. My mechanic friend told me about it and checked it out, he says its running really good, he was even about to buy it before I expressed my interest. I cannot afford a lot but I'm really just weighing the cost of this car and potential repairs as opposed to financing something that is going to take me a long time to pay off. Your thoughts.

  The only sort of major expense might be an intake manifold gasket leak between the lower intake manifold (aluminum part) and the heads. Those gaskets can deteriorate with time and 100K and up in some cars is when they start to seep a little coolant. Repair by a good mechanic might run a few hundred $$$. A do-it-yourself type can do it much less--if it's needed.
  
  Based on the care the car has been given I'd not expect other problems that are predictable.
  
  The intake manifold may have been replaced and you can check by taking off the gray beauty cover by removing the oil cap IIRC and lifting it off. The black upper intake manifold is ABS and has 3 circles on top that show the data stamp of the manufacture of that upper intake. If it's a few months around the time of the car build (look on door sticker on B pillar on driver side below latch, it's not been replaced. If there are NO circles there, then it has been replaced which likely would be done in a full repair of the upper and lower gaskets.
  
  A lot of cars have gone a long time with a small seep through those gaskets on the heads/intake connection. If you change oil frequently 3-4000 and use regular oil, it reduces the build up in the oil. If you go a long time on synthetic oil, the coolant can accumulate more. An oil test for $25-35 where you send in an oil sample from the car after thousands of miles on it will find the sodium and potassium from the coolant if any is there.
  
  The other occurance is a transmission that gives a hard shift after it's run extra warm in city traffic, e.g., in summer. Turning the car off resets the transmission computer timing and everything is fine again. This gave a P1811 code. I drove mine 70K or more before trading it in with that occurring when it was hot.
  
  I"d buy it in a heartbeat.

  2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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  imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154

  June 2020

  I'll include the article and pictures for the 3800 engine just so you know for the future. I do not
  want to scare you off of the car.
  http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/forum/engine/topic1061.html

  2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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  markcckb Member Posts: 1

  November 2020

  Nice car!

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