looking at a '98 taurus

my daughter has treed a '98 taurus. i went to look at it and drove it ,a few problems were noticable. first the speedometer didn't work ,temp gauge not working as no heat.at guessing driving 55 or 60 the rpm's were at 3000 ,should be lower? i would guess around 2000 or 2500. also the plastic resivoir for the coolant had coolant coming out of the top. the top looks as it is supposed to be tight but something going on with the threads. the fellow told me they had put a new radiator in it . the car has 150,000 miles on it. is it worth the trouble of puttting parts on ? thanks for all replies...

You could be lucky enough that the speeometer isn't working because the VSS came unplugged, which may also effect the overdrive. However, with the coolant temp guage not working either, there may be a damaged wiring harness somewhere that's yet to be discovered.

Are you planning to do the work yourself or pay someone to do it? I take it you don't have more than liability insurance on the car. Have you checked the blue book value? Do you know the maintenance history of the car for the last 80,000 or so miles?

-Rod

If you can't do the repairs yourself, you should not buy a car with a cooling system malfunction, bad speedometer, etc. The cooling system problem could be caused by a bad water pump, head gaskets, etc.
Any car with defered maintenance is not a good investment, unless you can get the car for about $500 and it has no body damage. The car may need more than just a radiator. It may need a rebuilt engine or transaxle. Will the car pass the safety and emmisions tests?

Run !!!! away from this vehicle. The,Bad Things About, list for Taurus's is a lengthy one !!!!!!!!

Silly me, I didn't put two and two together. When I read "treed" I interpreted that to mean she hit a tree. I guess I don't go hunting enough. If I did, I'd probably suggest, like others here have, that based on what you do know about the car, you shoot it and put it out of its misery. You'd likely spend more making this car look and run right than you'd spend to get one in better condition already.

-Rod

I agree with the above posts. My daughter-in-law bought a 99 Taurus a year ago with a "few" problems. Mostly electrical stuff, but we're still working out the bugs. Thankfully so far not alot of $$ invested, but still alot of work. However I'm learning more about the 99 Taurus than I ever cared to know!! With the problems you've listed, and those are the ones that are known, sounds like it should be someone else's problem. Besides from the sounds of things it would not be on the road much but your garage, or that of a mechanic! Usually when you buy a car you want it for the purpose of having on the road!

Brian

she "saw"[treed] the car sitting in a yard for sale .the persons owning the car paid to have a new rad put in.but when i looked at it closer it appears the problem is the coolant resivoir bottle won't hold pressure as the top will not tighten up.as for the speedometer it is like you say the vss or a broken cable.the heater core usually stops up on these cars for some reason. i have worked on just about every make of car and truck over my life and a few tractors. but the people that own it have to have someone else to work on it and i figure that they have been ripped off enough on it to part with it at a cheap sale price.i have to think on this a few days and see if i want to be worrying with it.the body and interior are in great shape .it does not run hot ,it just pushes the coolant out a little at the top of the coolant resivoir due to the loose top. but for what i have seen fords still do not have the problems that g.m.'s have. thanks.

I agree with the above posts. My daughter-in-law bought a 99 Taurus a year ago with a "few" problems. Mostly electrical stuff, but we're still working out the bugs. Thankfully so far not alot of $$ invested, but still alot of work. However I'm learning more about the 99 Taurus than I ever cared to know!! With the problems you've listed, and those are the ones that are known, sounds like it should be someone else's problem. Besides from the sounds of things it would not be on the road much but your garage, or that of a mechanic! Usually when you buy a car you want it for the purpose of having on the road!

Brian ballpark how much did your d.i.l. give for her '99?

ballpark how much did your d.i.l. give for her '99?

$2800 cash. The car itself has 200,000 miles on it, but a cradle assembly (entire engine, trans, struts, etc) with 90,000 was installed. Body and interior pretty nice shape, but did come with a few electrical problems still being worked out!

Always assume the worst when looking at a neglected car. What else was not repaired? Parts and labor are not free! Why buy a lemon?
By 100,000 miles many parts begin to wear out. By 150,000 miles even more parts wear out and the car may be ruined if it was not maintained. For example, if the ATF had never been changed, then you would need a rebuilt transaxle.

$2800 cash. The car itself has 200,000 miles on it, but a cradle assembly (entire engine, trans, struts, etc) with 90,000 was installed. Body and interior pretty nice shape, but did come with a few electrical problems still being worked out! if i can get the '98 for around $300 to $400 i will still have room to work some small parts on it and still be below book on it. i love a little challenge anyway.....keeps the brain young:naughty:

Last year there was a Taurus at an estate sale that had a lot of body damage, but it still sold for around $2,000. Even the roof was dented. With so much body damage, it should have sold for $300.
I got my 1998 Taurus wagon with no body damage from a Toyota dealer for $3,000. It had a defective starter motor, which would intermitently fail. About a half hour after failing, it would start and then wait several weeks or months before repeating the failure. So, after the starter was replaced, it never happened again.
When I bought my wagon, it was months before the starter did this. The alternator failed before the starter problem surfaced.
The buyer has to beware of cars with too many obvious defects, as there are also hidden defects. So, a neglected car at $300 may or may not be a good deal depending upon what is actually broken.
It is not a good deal if it is your only car and it isn't reliable!

it would be a fourth vehicle and i guess my daughter to drive to school. the owners are still up around $900.00 so it will take a little while for them to get tired of it sitting in the yard.so i'll wait until they blow their income tax refund and offer $300.00 again. then it might get junked out by them any way but if so no big deal.