Would I be crazy to buy this Aerostar? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Would I be crazy to buy this Aerostar?

chebucto

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Year, Model & Trim Level
Aerostar 97 xlt rwd
my stubby aerostar is falling apart. needs about $1000 worth of work at the moment. i've been looking at just buying a new van rather than keep mine on life support. sorta kinda wanted another aerostar if i could maybe find an extended awd one for cheap. so i found this today. keep in mind i use mine to move equipment and furniture around so the fact that its a stripped camper with a big roof rack is great. going to see it tomorrow. i hope those are the real kilometers.

thanks

http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-1992-Ford-Aerostar-Fourgonnette-W0QQAdIdZ232769941
 



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The paint job is a little on the wild side, and unique looking. I saw several other ones that look like a good deal: http://montreal.kijiji.ca/f-cars-ve...arMakeZfordQQAQ5fCarModelZaerostarQQCatIdZ174. I'm sure that any vehicle you will look at will need some sort of work unless the previous owner kept everything in 100% condition. You could always buy another one for a few hundred, and fix your 97 up a little at a time. What kind of work does your 97 need?
 






hey brooklyn,

my aero needs new control arm bushings (both sides), PS pump, tie rod end, exhaust flex pipe, tape decks broke and the registrations up in november ($240). also the winter's coming and last year was a nightmare with the rwd.

i just called the guy (barely spoke english) all i got from him was that the car is from the US with 27,000 original miles. i need this as a winter work truck and with the awd, big roofrack and extra 12" in the back it will perform better than my current one. i'm going to see it tonight. if i like it i'll come back tomorrow during the day so i can take it to a mechanic near by.
 






It's been my habit to buy the best one I can find & afford and then keep at it until it's not worth fixing. I'm talking 300,000 or more miles etc. As long as the sheet metal is in great shape and the vehicle hes not been wrecked & pieced together I will buy it if I need a vehicle.
My 95 RWD 4.0L XLTN with 2+2 Interior was just such a vehicle. The body is close to pristine, suspension is great & so on. Since it's 4.0L it's a bulletproof Cologne built engine and has one of the better A4LD A/T's in my opinion. I have had XLT AWDs & SWB Aeros with 3.0L but a clean tight XLTN with the 4.0L is the best I have found, of course where I am Winter is what sends the tourists here, so AWD is not what I need. I get better Mpg with the RWD.
I prefer 95 because it's still OBD-I and (IMHO) a more reliable, simpler and less troublesom Op Sys. I dislike OBD II which I find to be Overly complex & complicated only to suit a federal regulation. So I keep doing & redoing my 95 and we are right at 1/4 Million Miles on the same engine & Unit Body. I pull a 16' -2 axle Flatbed trailer. It's been as heavy as 13,780 GVW on a return trip from Norfolk VA to Central FL about 900 miles.
I modify things I don't like, for example I run 15 X 8 Alloy Turbine OEM Mercury Grand Marquis wheels with Michelin 215-75-R15 LT Radials. I also have gone to progressive sensatrack shocks up front & rear has the overload coils for 1,000 lb rating, they are the Sensatrack Loadlevelers.
I also trashed the OEM Halogen Headlamps in favor of a set of sealed beam headlamps from a 1985-1990 model but I run HAlogen Sealed beams in them. Mush cleaner & better nught lighting, and more easily adjusted to perfection. No bubble levels either. AND replace ment Sealed beams are 1/3 the price of 1 replacement "bulb" for the OEM set up, also there's no need for $225 dollar peplacement plastic housings every 85K-90K miles.

This '95 is my 4th & probably last Aero unles something catastrophic occurs to it which I can not avoid. Obviously this is my "work truck". I've instructred my wife to put silver handles on it & bury me in it when I die. I don't care if I put $1000 to $1500-yr in it. I lost 3-4 times that just driving disappointing
"new Vehicles" out show room doors in the past. The newer they are more complex & less reliable & costly to repair they become. . . Who needs that?
At $1000 a year I could drive this Aero 40 years & still save money & finance charges over a new vehicle with not nearly same advantages, Right?

I may be wrong, but not about this. I've 3 more 4.0L engines & an A4LD waiting in my shop, along with ECMs, door window switches & motors, sliding door buss connectors and so on and on and on. . . I am preparing to trim a Front end from an AWD (I've 2 complete AWD K Frames) for use in a RWD. It's bigger brakes, more swept area & Larger calipers + rotors are 1/2 price of those itty bitty 2wd Aero Rotors new, now is that a no brainer, or What?

So My reply is No You'd be crazy Not to if it is clean & solid structurally. The mechanicals are easy to R&R it's the bodies they qwit Making doncha see?


FBp

 


















bought it and sold it at a profit. interesting rig, but i could tell it's on its last legs.
 












too rusty, power steering was howling, needed new brakes and rear wheel bearings. had some cool bits though. both seats swiveled 360 degrees, super duty roof rack with mounts for camera equipment (it belonged to a tv station), air-ride suspension.

it had just been sitting on a farm rotting for too long.
 












there werent even shocks in the back. just 2 rubber baloons inside the springs, you could fill them with a bike pump.

everything on it was after market. heres some better pics.

DSCN2736.jpg

DSCN2734.jpg

DSCN2738.jpg
 












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