Looking to buy a 2002 sport, any advice

[Mr geller]

I have found a 2002 sport and above average condition for the year with 117,000 miles on it I was wondering if there were any super common issues with this vehicle that I should be looking for I know the history of the single overhead cam motor just looking for other advice and whether or not you guys think it would be a good idea to buy The asking price is fair already

 

[shadowless127]

Transmissions on those are made of glass. Also check for proper t-case operation.

 

[koda2000]

Transmissions are prone to crapping out. Also make sure there' no engine rattling noises when started cold, or when running. The rattling is a sign of the "timing chain death rattle". If you hear rattling, don't buy it. Very expensive and labor intensive to repair. Check out carcomplaints.com for this vehicle.

 

[Mr geller]

My mechanic looked the car over it has zero motor rattles and the transmission fluid is the proper color overall the vehicle really only could use new pads on the brakes and that's about it oh by the way it has zero squeaks so the upper and lower control arms ball joints and bushings are all at least OK for now
The interior is a solid eight and the X terrier paint is good enough to take wax and look good. ended up buying it for $1500. Fairly pleased and I'm only looking to get one decent year out of it. Keep my fingers crossed

 

[swshawaii]

Without squeaks, chances are the body mounts are OK. 2001-03 Sports and and 2001-05 ST's have commonly
failed foam body mounts in most of the locations. Easy to visually inspect. Sport has ten total, eight are foam.

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/183

 

[Robman]

I've only really had "squeaks" out of the rear leaf springs, I can tolerate squeaks.. clunks I worry about.

Anyone else notice how the rear hatch clunks around when going over uneven terrain? Due to ze twisting. I watched a video once of some sort of vehicle testing where they set the vehicle up like a pig on spit and spin it around. It was explorer vs volvo suv and it wasn't pretty the amount of flex going on.

Actually no, I can't really tolerate squeaks either.