2006 xlt with 87k mileage...should we buy it?

[wensilver]

Newbie here on the board...currently have a 2006 v8 xlt and it is coming off lease next month. We are way over the mileage allowance, and are considering just buying the thing. I use it for work, and to haul around the dogs and tow a horse trailer a few times a month.

Routinely maintained and inspected as per guidelines. Only concern right now is with exhaust related "ping" or "chugging" when starting up...it goes away when engine warms up. Am keeping an eye on that.

However, with 87,000 miles on it...what major repair nightmares may possibly come our way?

Any help or advice appreciated.

 

[michael loibl]

without knowing the specifics of your lease its hard to say but if you were allowed 36,000 miles...and then about 15 cents per extra mile....50,000 X .15= $7,500 to give it back....maybe $12,000 to buy it? Or burn it

 

[wensilver]

The lease specifics aren't the issue. It would be several thousand $ in mileage overage...and we know the purchase price. We can deal with both. In in the past, we usually returned our vehicles at the end of the lease and rolled into something else (always a Ford) .

I like this vehicle and would like to keep it...therefore, my question is if we just decide buy the thing, what major repair may rear it's ugly head with regards to 2006 xlt with 87,000 miles on it already? Cost analysis and all that.....

Can I expect something to blow at 100K that will have me smack my head and say "why did I keep this thing?"

 

[HiImElvis]

Planning on working on it yourself?

If you plan to spend some personal time under the hood in the next year or two as you near and pass the 100K mark, keep it. If having to do maintenance (a lot of little stuff starts coming up, belt, hoses, trans and differential fluid changes, coolant flushes, new tires, brakes, etc...). None of that is your truck "blowing up" it will just need maintenance.

That aside, it doesn't matter if Ford, Toyota or whoever builds your truck, as they get older stuff breaks. If you go back to a website like Edmunds you'll see a whole bunch of reviews with every rating from best vehicle I ever owned to I hate this thing nobody should buy one. A lot of the bad reviews come from people that have somewhat minor problems like ball joints, vibrations, alternators etc... If you see those things as the truck falling apart, as a hassle, and they bother you to have to deal with I'd say pay the mileage penalty and keep leasing. If your credit is decent Ford will probably bend over backwards to keep you as a customer right now.

I will say my bias is towards keeping a vehicle and driving it and driving it and fixing it and driving it some more. I have a 97 explorer that's rolling up on 220,000 at the moment with the original engine and transmission. When I worked in the oil and gas fields in Wyoming we only had Ford trucks, many of which had well over 200K on them and still kept on going strong.

 

[ericautopart]

FWIW my father traded in his Expedition 4.6L with 212,000 on it. No major repairs ever and it ran like new. He only traded it because he's got more money than he knows what to do with and got sick of driving an older vehicle. He also traded it before CARS but thats neither here nor there. What I'm saying is..nobody here can tell you that you can EXPECT somthing to blow. It all depends on how it's taken care of..

 

[wensilver]

Thanks guys...chatted today with a friend at the barn that has the same year and model, but a v6, which she drives for work in sales. She's got 117,000 miles on hers. Replaced the transmission at 100 k, but can't vouch for how she's kept it maintained.

However, her company pays for the vehicle...

Any other opinions? I'll print this out and show the spouse.

 

[kert0307]

If you buy it, you won't have monthly payment, so you'll have more cash flow each month. Just something to think about.

 

[wensilver]

If you buy it, you won't have monthly payment, so you'll have more cash flow each month. Just something to think about.

True. Just concerned with a hefty "cash outlay" with a repair problem that may rear it's ugly head in the next year or two.

Gotta put all numbers to paper and analyze.