andrewmillichamp

Hello,

This is Andrew. As you may know I am here in Houston (TX)on a work assignment (legally) from the UK, maybe for another 1-2 years.

My fiancee has just moved here as well and needs a commuter car. We want to keep our expenditures low as we are in a transition period at this point, and unsure if we will be in Houston or in the USA long term, or just for 1-2 years.

We are looking for a used car within $5000, and used sources like autotrader and craigslist to begin our search. Our first preference was to purchase from a private buyer, in order to save on the dealer markup.

We used autotrader and identified an used 2002 Chevy Tracker with 119,650 miles. It is from a private seller in our part of town and we viewed the car and took a short test drive in the parking lot. The sellers are a young couple like us.

It is a 4WD vehicle, although we do not plan to use it off road, it may get a better resale value if we do/can sell it later.

The asking price is around the 'good' condition assessment vehicle of this mileage on KBB and for a clean retail on NADA.

We do not have a carfax report as yet, but the seller is willing to provide one if we are seriously interested.

It is supposedly two owner, i.e. the first owner was the wife of the seller, and then the car was used by the sellers brother for the past year. The title is in the sellers brothers name but the seller has the title in his hand and is willing to get his brother to sign it off as required.

I will follow the procedures and precautions outlined in the TX DPS (equivalent to DMV) website on buying/selling used cars from private party sellers.

The car has some worn paint, a missing hub cap, slight work needed on the bumper. It has 4 new tires and seemed clean as the seller had it detailed recently. Some pics attached below.

The seller is willing to meet me at my mechanic this week for an independent inspection at my cost.

Do you feel this is a good buy if the inspection comes out clean or with minimal work required? She is looking for a commuter vehicle that will last for a couple of years, at which point we will have a better idea of our future plans.

Thank you,
Andrew

in2pro

Welcome to the form...
I can't say if its a good buy or not but it sounds like you definitely have a good plan for checking it out, the miles a fairly low for the age...
Don't place a lot of faith in a clean oil dip stick as engine oil is easy to change...

Have the mechanic check for any stored codes and to also check that all OBD readiness monitors are met, also verify that the check engine light does work when you turn the key on no crank...

If someone disconnects the battery to clear the codes, any problems won't show up until the vehicle is driven for 50+ miles or up to several days and the monitors are all set...

If the monitors are not all in a ready state I would be cautious about the purchase as they could be hiding a check engine issue...

Check under the vehicle for leaks around the transfer case, wheel bearings, CV boots, brake calipers and cylinders...

Make sure all door locks and handles work as well as all windows roll up and down...


Use this as your guide.. http://www.cars.com/go/advice/shoppi...inspection.pdf






.

JKATHRE

Welcome to the US Andrew! If this Tracker is a true "Southern" vehicle, as the saying goes here, it will have little or no rust, especially underneath. This is a plus for older autos as many become "Rust buckets" up north, where I live, due to road salt. I have owned my 2002 ZR-2 for 8 months and enjoy driving it. They ride like trucks--tough vehicles as I have read on the internet. One of the areas which rust likes to affect on these is the opening of the rear gate (door). You should see it opens and closes easily. The exterior handle will rust up and freeze (as mine). Repairing it yourself is relatively easy as long as you have some skills and hand tools.
The Chevy Tracker is basically a Suzuki brand vehicle which Chevrolet bought in 1999. I say this only to add that the Suzuki Grand Vitara is similar to it and there is a crossover in many parts. Because the Tracker is no longer made, Chevy no longer stocks many of the parts. So, if you go to a Chevy dealership looking for Tracker parts, you will likely hear "Discontinued" as a response--as I did. It does not scare me because the internet is a vast network of info on parts and ability to acquire them. Rockauto is one place mentioned a lot on auto forums. I also got some of what I needed at a local salvage yard.
The cost of these vehicles from what I have seen on the internet ranges from a low of ~$2,000 all the way up to ~$7,000 depending on mileage and condition. Having a part time 4 wheel drive in Texas may not be so important as it would be in Wisconsin (where my Tracker came from). I look forward to owning my Tracker for a long time. The only problem I have been unable to deal with so far is that my dome lights are dead, and electrically these are tied into electronics with the Daytime Running Lights--so I disconnected them. This problem seems to repeat on discussions on the net for this vehicle. The DRL module I need is unavailable and I would have to fix a shorted wire somewhere in the ceiling before I could repair them (So I have no map/dome lights nor DRLs). Good luck. Houston heat and humidity is brutal in August/September as I found out in 1983.

JR

Pasgerson

Please recommend, what is better to buy now, so that the fuel consumption was not so great, as well as be able to comfortably ride to work and around town. Since I currently have an old Chevrolet Captiva, I want to get something newer.

Sivhors

I would recommend you to buy a used Audi https://www.rollsauto.com/used-vehicles/audi at this time. The price tag on a new one is still pretty high, and used cars are easier to buy. I bought an Audi A5 on credit for two years at this dealership. On average, I pay 500 bucks a month. On my salary, this is an acceptable price. My spouse is thrilled with this car. At first, I thought this car would bring me problems finding parts, but I was wrong.