A few general questions

[schach23]

Hello,

I am new to the board here, and not sure about how or where to ask, so I'll start here.

I am looking for a used explorer, ~50K miles and stumbled upon a 98 AWD 5.0L Eddie Bauer with 54,000 original miles, that is in pretty good condition The only thing making me think twice about it is that it's 12 years old. I was wondering what kinds of things go bad on these vehicles in 12 years, and if it's mileage related (eg. issues only with mileage or issues based on age) or not.

Another hiccup is that the dealer is high with the price. $7995. I think they are trying to get more because of the low miles. I wouldn't probably give them more than 7,000. So if that doesn't happen, all the above is a mute point. I don't want to buy this thing and sink a lot of money into fixing things because they are simply old. If that would be the case, I would look for a newer explorer with 50K miles, albeit it probably won't be as loaded as the 98.

Thanks for the help.

Scott

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I have a '97 Explorer 5.0 AWD with 225k miles. The 4r70w transmissions are bruits. I have never touched mine. The 5.0 is also a very strong engine. Look at how may years it has been around.

The only problem is Fords piss poor exhaust manifold design. They will crack at some point.

The blend door (for heat A/C) are an issue but I think they fixed the problem in '98.

Other than the price I'd be all over that Explorer like bees on bear's ass.

 

[schach23]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I am not so worried about the motor or trans, but other things, like front end components, AWD components, rear end components, electrical stuff, etc. Now granted, many of these things can go bad on newer cars with similar miles.

I do have limited funds, so I don't want to buy this and then have to sink money into it.

Anyone else with any opinions?


Scott