Ok so I have been browsing through these forums the past couple days, and lots of great info, so i have a couple questions.

I am looking at purchasing a 98 3.0 CL. The previous owner has had it a year and a half and put 17,000 miles on it. Bringing total mileage to 127,000.

On the downside he has curbed all four wheels by driving drunk and hitting curbs. The last time it happened it damaged the drivers front wheel and now the wheel at the bottom tilts in, he said it is just the lower control arm, he had apparently done the same thing to the passenger side when he got the car. What else should I look for??

Secondly, the car has been sitting for 5 months without being cranked at all. I checked all the fluids yesterday and jumped it off, and it won't keep idle, it jumps constantly like the car is wanting to die, so the computer is compensating by reving it like crazy. Could it just need driven, or what else could I be getting myself into?

 

Honestly, I would keep walking... current owner shows no signs of responsibility at all. With that glass trans and drunk driving amongst the other obvious abuse, I would not go near it unless you are ready for a whole lot of expenses to get it running properly.

The idle problem may be the IAC valve needing to be replaced, the wheel that is kicked in at the bottom could either be the LCA like he said or the tie rod could be bent. But it could go deeper, wouldn't know without looking at it.

 

Stay away. Who knows what else is wrong with the car and what other maintenance was neglected such as the timing belt?

 

even for 1500.00 bucks, he has records of maintenance, i will have to check on the timing belt though.

 

$1500 is very cheap. If you're willing to do some of the work yourself, you could probably get the car back in good running order and still spend less than fair market value.

However, I personally wouldn't buy it. Other than the problems he mentioned, there could still be more waiting to surface. Sounds like it's already had some abuse.

 

You can get something better for 1500...this is going to be a hassle. New wheels, tires, suspension...endless alignment issues. Who knows what else. Just stay away.

 

if you're handy and have tools/shop access, buy it. fix it up, sell for 3-4 grand.

if not, keep looking

 

is the car auto or manual? if it were manual id say maybe, but if it were auto id have to say no. there seem to be too many problems that the previous owner's alcohol abuse have caused. the reason i say no to auto is our car's automatic tranny's are notoriously bad. if it hasnt been rebuilt yet, it will need to be soon, especially with 127k miles.

good luck

 

^there is no manual 3.0's


To the OP: Just walk away from it, as everyone else has said there is so much abuse done to the car by the previous owner that it's not worth it.
The engine is in bad condition, the wheels are curbed, alignment/suspension issues, along with the notoriously bad auto transmissions of 3.0's...
i see way too many negative things here to think it's a good choice to buy the car

 

wow, im an idiot. guess i missed that part

check to see if the tranny has been rebuilt recently. if not, no sale.

 

ok so i know i am going against what everyone is recommending but i will have a local acura shop check it out before i completely agree to purchase, but the trans has been rebuilt, timing belt done. so basically it is a lower control arm or whatever is wrong there and a set of rims?? seems pretty good to me

 

Well, see what the shop says and go from there

 

Thats not that bad then. I'd get it.

 

I agree with that, although i wouldn't buy it

 

how bad is the body? for 1500 you could buy it and throw in a new engine and have a suite Cl for less than 5k total

 

a tranny rebuild is 1500$ in itself. a few suspension quirks can make or break your day, but get it on an alingment rack, see whats going on.

 

^we're just making sure you get all the facts, so you can make an informed decision..
btw when was the tranny rebuilt and when was the timing belt done?
cuz timing belt should've been done twice by now i would think, it's a standard thing around here to do it every 100xxxkms and yours has twice that mileage
and i'm pretty sure some ppl on here have rebuilt their 3.0 trannies more than once... but i can let them tell you about that
...but it does seem like an alright deal, and if you really like the car then do it...that's all that matters IMO

 

ok so from your responses i have more questions.

how often should the timing belt be replaced, i thought it was every 100K miles??

transmissions -- how many times has everyone rebuilt theirs and at what mileage?

GNate -- body needs rear bumper and front right fender thats it, but thats the least of my worries, i have an uncle that does auto body repairs and one that is a mechanic, but the mechanic won't work on anything that isn't a Jeep/Dodge product.

I don't know when everything was replaced yet, haven't seen the paperwork, the guy is in the process of moving and has basically just given me the keys and told me to do what i need to figure out whether I want it or not, and then get in touch with him. he is trying to get all the paperwork together in one folder as he is unpacking and moving everything

 

If its not in that bad of shape, and you dont have to worry about autobody, i'd buy that OSB for 1500 and then swap the motor out for an h22. If you want some nice rims to accent a nice new motor, PM me.

 

I'd say see what the dealer says. If your handy with tools get it do the work yourself and either keep or make a few k.

 

I agree....wait till the cars inspected and to get a better idea how much work is needed to get the car up and running.

First instinct would be to pass it up and keep looking, because even the initial low price could cost drastically more after all the work/time/money is sunk into it.

 

He'd have to change out the subframe since its a 3.0 to swap in an H22.

 

completey different engine bays, mounts and frams between 3.0s and 2.x
and stop whoring your wheels.

 

I had no idea of the engine bay differences!

 

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