request advice on buying a '02 Deville with 90900 miles ....

Hello----I am new to this forum and am currently looking at a 2002 Deville with 90900 highway miles.  The car runs great and looks like it was well maintained (the Carfax is clean and has maintenance records up to 75K miles).  Is there anything special I should be looking at on this year/model car?    I can purchase the car for $7000.  Looking at KBB and other sources, this seems to be well under retail.

thanx for any input.

bob

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MOD EDIT:
Title change

  highway miles are who cares wear .. next to none.

however, for PA, i be checking very well for rust in undercarriage and paint bubbling on edges of body.
Do all the electrics work? 
Lift the back seat and check battery area,
What does the maint record show for the coolant system ?
-  if none, i be doing a headgasket test just to be safe.  $100 prevention vs $3,500 fix.
See if there are any codes,
Make sure it is not a "flood" car,
Other than that, standard checks. 

if you get it, i be doing a coolant change out yesterday,
per the guidelines on the FAQ section.

welcome to  CadillacForum.com


 

Thanx for the input.
 
This is a local, one-owner car purchased at the local dealership, so there isn't any "flood car" problems.  I drove the car yesterday and all electrics seem to be working.  I do plan on asking the dealership for all of the detailed maintenance records.
 
You seemed concerned about the coolant maintenance.  From that, I assume these engines have a problem if the coolant isn't changed every so often????

quote:

ORIGINAL: rwolak@verizon.net

Thanx for the input.

This is a local, one-owner car purchased at the local dealership, so there isn't any "flood car" problems.  I drove the car yesterday and all electrics seem to be working.  I do plan on asking the dealership for all of the detailed maintenance records.

You seemed concerned about the coolant maintenance.  From that, I assume these engines have a problem if the coolant isn't changed every so often????

The rate of incidents is low, but the gamble is high.   I rather gamble in Vegas, where i can control
my loses and enjoy the excellent view of the stiletto waitresses.   But that is me .. many choose to
gamble, many dont know they are gambling.   Our archives show many people that bought a car last
month in "perfect" condition, only to have a weird overheat this month .. and a nasty surprise.

Us TECH's, at CadillacForum.com, EDUCATE you, so that YOU can decide.
I for one, do not take anyone's word, when the gamble, the risk, and the potential loss are mine. 

A head gasket repair can be from $3,000 to $5,000, the test under $100.
The tests are listed in our FAQ section. 

GM's 10 year coolant change out, has proven fatal to many aluminum engines, and you will find the
same issue at Ford with aluminum engines.  When it comes to aluminum engines,  IMHO, 24 months
is the absolute coolant change out period - not flushing .. read our FAQ's.

If a car has never, never had an overheat, the car IS most probably FINE.  But since the car being
bought was not under your foot control, you really dont know - sellers do lie.  The headgasket failure seems
to require two things to happen .. a "low coolant" combined with an "overheat".  That depletes the coolant
protection very very quickly, whatever protection was left before the incident is now gone ..  after that, 
IT IS VEGAS TIME MY BOY, pull the one arm bandit!

Our cars highest rate of issues are electronics (read the E-ghosts FAQ)  followed by coolant system issues. 
You control those two and the cars go 300,000 to 400,000 miles, 20 years .. easy (rust not included, but that
can also be controlled).  To my knowledge, the very 1st ever, Northstar engine,  put on the highway, is
still running, in a 1993 Allante in Texas, of course.  Its mileage, unk.

hee ya go .. enjoy some tech reading .. specially where you see the word "coolant"  or "headgasket"

http://www.cadillacforum.com/m_6733/tm.htm