96 lumina

i am car shopping (with low funds) and i am going to check out a 96 lumina. the guy says there is nothing wrong with it but it was 1500 and he said he would take 1000. that is a red flag to me. i don't know anything about these cars. is it a worth while vehicle? it has 160k miles. how long do they last?

Welcome to AF. Like any 14 year old car lots of things could be wrong, one big issue with these cars is the lower intake gasket failing and allowing coolant into the engine.

Is it blue? I just sent one to the lot - '96, metallic blue, plain-Jane sedan. Everything worked fine at 178K but the body was starting to show signs of rot, with the rockers going and seams around the quarters starting to bubble. It also had new tires. I would have driven it to Australia and back if there were roads and gas stations, but the body was getting to that point where it needed more attention than I wanted to give.

Blue Book was about $450 for trade-in value and actual retail sale is about $1,000-1,300 depending upon condition. It's probably not the same, but considering your proximity...