I need advice for a new car.

[x5h21q2]

I am currently in the market to buy a new car. I have decided to upgrade from the 3rd generation (2002) to the 4th (2006). A good friend of mine is a used car dealer and had this car on his lot. It is a 2006 Ford Explorer (XLT?)?

I am looking to get a few opinions before I buy it.
It has 78,000 miles on it and is $7,600 dollars. It has all leather seats.

Problems:
It was involved in what appears to be a small accident. There is a crack in the center of the grill and the hood is ever so slightly seperated from the body on the left side. This exact same thing happened to my 02' when I hit a deer. Everything is still completely functional (hood, lights, etc), however a slight cause for concern. I would probably only replace the grille with one that is not cracked.

The back right lock is broken off and I believe just the top plastic part needs to be replaced.

I THINK the lumbar support is broken in the driver seat (I REALLY appreciate lumbar support)

The car is just generally dirty, you can tell it was used a lot. The steering wheel is just absolutely disgusting, the side panels are dirty too. When I drove it it had not been detailed yet, however I am picking it up to test drive tomorrow now that it is.

Tomorrow I am bringing the car home to test drive over night. I will take pictures inside and out to post back. I am looking to see if this car is worth it. I will also be getting a car fax tomorrow, I had forgotten to ask when I last had it. I believe the price is low (?) and if the car does not need TOO much I think it is good to proceed further. However I want your guys opinion. I will have more information tomorrow, however I am looking for the following:
-I assume replacing the lock is easy, any ideas?
-Any steering wheel replacements or reskins? Maybe swapping it out with one that has audio controls?
-Any idea where to buy new door handle panels?

All help is appreciated.

 

[edwx]

4wd? I'm assuming V-6. Service records? Look underneath......anything leaking.....axle seals, radiator coolant?

Does it need brakes, tires? Just find out as much as you can, and drive it a few times if possible. Of course I would talk him down as much as possible on the price.

Are you buying it from a Ford dealer? Warranty?

I really like my '06 XLS. I think '06 was a good year except for some radiator issues, and spark plug issues on the V-8's.

 

[El Duque]

It looks pretty good from that one photo. I don't know about the other stuff, but I think you need SYNC in order to have the audio controls on the steering wheel. I think the non-SYNC Explorers could only have the climate control buttons on the wheel. In which case, SYNC was only available on the 2008+ models, and would be cost prohibitive. But I could be wrong.

 

[kam327]

It looks pretty good from that one photo. I don't know about the other stuff, but I think you need SYNC in order to have the audio controls on the steering wheel. I think the non-SYNC Explorers could only have the climate control buttons on the wheel. In which case, SYNC was only available on the 2008+ models, and would be cost prohibitive. But I could be wrong.

Sync wasn't available in '06 (as far as I know) but my '06 still has audio controls on the wheel.

As for the OP, looks like a great price but I would expect that you get what you pay for. Expect to replace a lot of parts in the coming year to get it up to specs, but even then you may be way ahead of the game given you'd probably pay $12k-$14k ish for a very good condition one with those miles.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

My 2006 Ford Explorer XLT V8 2 wheel drive was $12,000 out the door at a dealership. That included new brakes, new rim, and 2 new tires. It had about 78 thousand miles. Having said that, that explorer you are looking at is a good price. However I would have a mechanic check it out.

I would ask how much it would cost to get the little things fixed by them, and then tell them that's how much you want off the price. I had a ding in my door and they said it would cost 300 to have it taken out! So I said I want $300 off the price of the truck so I could get it fixed by someone else, all of a sudden it was only $50 to get it done

 

[x5h21q2]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I took some pictures today. It did clean up nicely but will need to go for a full detailing for sure after I buy it. I took it to STS today as they have a 'used car inspection' for $50.00. They said everything was okay except the battery 'failed'. I talked to the dealer and he is replacing the battery.

Does anyone know where I can buy the plastic pieces on the door? I replaced it in my current ex before and it was quite easy to find and to replace. I assume a eBay search is in order? I am also looking for ideas on the steering wheel, it is not as bad as yesterday but it is still bad. Lastly, I will also be looking for a new lock (just the top plastic piece is broken) on the back right passenger door.

Car fax came back with no issues (accident was never reported I presume).

And does anyone have any idea how that XM radio is installed? I have one in my current ex however it has a FM tuner. This has a 'line out' on the back of the radio and no tuner. I assume its directly connected to the radio some how. I tried hitting the 'aux' key on the stock Ford radio to no avail. I can't figure it out for the life of me.


It's still an explorer but its so much different and I feel lost.
Thanks for all your help guys.

Here are all the pictures I took today:
http://imgur.com/a/DKP7v#2

The final price is $7,600.

 

[El Duque]

Here is a link for new panels for the doors, but they're around $80 each. I don't know if you want to spend that much. These are OEM Ford.

http://www.fastpartsnetwork.com

You could probably try to paint the steering wheel. I've seen stuff on car detailing boards where guys paint leather seats, I imagine it would work on a steering wheel. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a new wheel, and would look a lot better than having it recovered or putting a cheap cover on it.

You know what, you could probably even paint the door covers too

 

[edwx]

You are really going to like your '06. I went from an '03 to an '06, and the '06 is a much improved vehicle over the '03.

 

[kam327]

"Does anyone know where I can buy the plastic pieces on the door? I replaced it in my current ex before and it was quite easy to find and to replace. I assume a eBay search is in order? I am also looking for ideas on the steering wheel, it is not as bad as yesterday but it is still bad."

I would look into plastic spray paint for the door panels. I'm thinking about doing this on mine since the top parts under the windows are faded and discolored.

You can get a real leather steering wheel cover for about $50 by several online vendors. Here's a pic of mine. I predict most folks would glance right over it without realizing it's an after market cover.

 

[x5h21q2]

Thanks again everyone for the replies. I will hopefully be getting the car tomorrow, there has been a lot of red tape with the loan. The two lenders won't do it saying the car is 'too cheap'. I am using a credit union now to just take out a 'cash loan' not an actual auto loan per say. Hopefully that will solve this problem. Apparently if it is too small of a loan based on year / mileage / etc it is not profitable for the lender.

Do you know where you got that wrap from? In the picture it does look very very nice. How does it feel? I feel like I would be bothered by it while driving however I'm sure that is completely false. It is most certainly hard to pick out.

 

[kam327]

Thanks again everyone for the replies. I will hopefully be getting the car tomorrow, there has been a lot of red tape with the loan. The two lenders won't do it saying the car is 'too cheap'. I am using a credit union now to just take out a 'cash loan' not an actual auto loan per say. Hopefully that will solve this problem. Apparently if it is too small of a loan based on year / mileage / etc it is not profitable for the lender.

Do you know where you got that wrap from? In the picture it does look very very nice. How does it feel? I feel like I would be bothered by it while driving however I'm sure that is completely false. It is most certainly hard to pick out.

Sure, I got it at www.wheelskins.com. It's real leather, so it feels soft just like the OEM wrap. The wheel's a little thicker now because I didn't remove the old wrap, just wraped the new one around it. I like it. The only thing you might notice is the thick stitching and gap in the wrap where the spoke meets the wheel, if you typically put your fingers there while driving. But over time I'm sure you'll get used to it and it's a heck of a lot cheaper and easier than buying and installing a whole new steering wheel like others on here have done.

That's funny about the bank balking at such a low purchase price. I'd try to work out a deal with whoever you're buying it from to take what the bank thinks it's worth but then give you the difference in cash, minus a small "commission" for their troubles of course. Then you'll effectively be financing all the upgrades / repairs you need to do at a low rate. Win-win.

 

[x5h21q2]

Thank you! The dealer is a good family friend and got me my last ex for 2800 dollars just over two years ago. I am supposed to meet with him tomorrow and I think he will suggest doing the "make it more expensive / swap cash" deal if the credit union does not work through. He tradionally works with people who have bad credit and he says his lender has a high rate so I'd rather go through the credit union. I believe it should go through based on the information presented to me today, however they won't have an answer until Tuesday (if not a bit sooner). The other alternative is to look for a nicer Explorer that costs more haha.

Interestingly enough this is not the one I wanted, he was going to auction for me and said by the way I have one on the lot why don't you come test drive it. I love the color (which surprises me) and with that price I can't beat it. We will see where things go and see whether or not its meant to be. Thanks to everyone who has reply'd so far, I truly appreciate it!