Joko48

Hi,I’m looking at potentially buying 157,000 mile 2002 WS6, fully optioned, all stock. Can this vehicle make it another 30-40k without major drivetrain replacement? Body and interior is clean. Planning a 3k mile cross country trip this summer, don’t want to come back on a flatbed.
Should I bother messing with this? What would be a reasonable price to get? Thanks in advance for your advice!

JoshHefnerX

It's not necessarily about the mileage, it's about how it's been taken care of. 200k is usually no problems on the engines.

Trans/rear may be better for others to answer. But I have heard of the axle seals leaking after a while.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I generally agree with the above; the engine can certainly last that long (and much longer), but what really matters is the type of life that the car has lived. Personally, I would not trust any new-to-me 20 year old car with 157k miles on a 3k mile road trip unless, perhaps, I knew the previous owner very well and was quite familiar with the car and what sort of care it had received over those two decades. Even still, lots of things beyond just major drivetrain failure can land you on a flatbed and force you into repairs at an unknown shop when you're on a long trip. At that mileage and age, even an example that's been well cared for can still be expected to suffer from the occasional parts failure - which is always a hassle, but is especially bad when you are hundreds or thousands of miles from home.

This is not to say that it can't be done or shouldn't be done, just some things to think about. Even brand new cars have fluke failures so nothing is a sure thing, it's just that the odds generally get worse when the car is older and high mileage.

NC01TA

We are contemplating taking our 20 year old Trans Am on a Rte 66 vacation this year. It's nerve-wracking to think of all the failures than can occur, from a/c dying in the Texas heat to any other 20 year old item deciding to fail. That's with a one owner (that's us) car with 71,000 well maintained miles. As RPM WS6 pointed out above, car trouble can arise from ANY car, even new off the lot. Anytime you leave your driveway for a long trip, it's a gamble of some sort. It sure has not stopped us from hitting the road (life is too short) but all our rides have had much lower mileage with minimal wear and tear on every component of the car since we know the history of our cars so well.
Picking up used cars to drive home has only been a mistake once for us in the past. Then again, these were extremely low mileage rides with minimal wear and tear.
With a multiple owner car with an unknown or sketchy maintenance history?? I would NOT do it unless you feel like an adventurous thrill ride with hopes of no issues. You may get lucky and have a flawless fun ride but you may also be needing things every few hundred miles. Highway miles are certainly the easiest on a car so that works in your favor. Hopes this helps a bit.

BandDirector Blk98ZM6

iTrader: (21)

...it's not the engine that concerns me, it's everything else... For example, a couple of summers ago I pulled my '98 Z28 with only 10K miles on my LS6 longblock out to go on the Hot Rod Power Tour. The volt meter was acting funny and started jumping all over the place. Fortunately, I wasn't but about 15 mins. into the drive when it happened. I turned around, put it back in the garage, and ended up taking my daily driver on the Power Tour. No where near as much fun, but I didn't get stranded anywhere. After the Power Tour was over, I replaced the alternator due to the voltage regulator going out...

HAte

317,xxx and still going strong

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

Extreme due diligence is required to sort through potential candidates. Honestly it's all about if the car was lovingly maintained by prior owner(s).

Ideally you'll want a month or two month to daily drive the car and sort it out and make sure maintenance is up to date if you buy it BEFORE undertaking a 3,000 mile road trip.

If the car is a daily driver that's driven frequently its worth considering. If the car had been sitting for a while it will probably need a lot of love before being ready.

I'd want to know if that car had a new fuel pump as ~150,000 to 200,000 miles is often the life of a stock fuel pump. I've had a new purchased old car have a fuel pump failure 500 miles from home. That sucks It was an extremely well maintained 91 RS Convertible Camaro with a full note book of maintenance records. Had 104,000 miles but still had the original fuel pump per maintenance records

1 in a 1000 - high mile 02 Z28

In 2018, I paid $4,500 for a 238,000 mile 02 Z28 that was in excellent cosmetic condition The 02 Z28 has no driveline issues and no major problems and currently has 253,500 miles However this 02 Z28 had 13.5 years of dealer maintenance records and had been extremely well maintained. Documentation proved 3,000 mile oil changes and that issues had been fixed as soon as they arose
The car also also passed my very thorough visual inspection for leaks. Much to my surprise the car didn't have any. The maintenance records showed typical issues had been addressed. The car even had nearly new budget tires. They rode a little hard and had road noise but otherwise were good.

I've joked that about 1 car in a 1,000 is gets proper maintenance like this high mileage 02 Z28.

The rear pinion seals tend to leak on these cars and if they leak enough oil out the bearings will run hot and set up an expensive repair.

After purchase the car went to a friend's shop and on the lift. We checked everything very carefully before I drove the car 600 miles back home. We did a basic oil & filter, transmission fluid, differential fluid changes.

The trip quickly revealed the car was in excellent condition getting 27.5 mpg highway and that it needed two rear shocks . Two new shocks and two weeks later fiance and I took the 02 Z28 on vacation and a ~1,000 mile trip with no issues.

FWIW - My T top 91 RS Camaro had 385,000+ miles and I road tripped the car all the time on 1,300 mile trips. Maintenance was done and the car extremely well cared for mechanically. The RS still does those sorts of trips but less frequently after the LS swap.

ghardester

Well the OP is from last April and the poster has only had 2 posts, so he has probably made a decision by now, but it all depends upon how it was maintained. Mine has 140k miles on it but it has been over maintained. Full synthetic oil changes spring, summer and fall even though the car only gets about 12k miles per year on it. Uses maybe 1/2 quart of oil between oil changes or every 3 months. Pulled the valve covers off last year and it was clean as new inside. Not a leak or drop of oil on the very clean engine. No leaks from under the car either. Rear axles, bearings and seals just changed recently because a bearing was starting to growl. All fluids, auto trans, power steering, brake fluid, all changed every year or two. Belts, brakes, everything that needs periodic maintenance gets it.

It is driven each and every day of the year except a couple in the winter if there is too much ice or snow. Because It is driven so often I do not tolerate anything not working. Every little light, switch, everything is expected to work like new. That is the measure that I would use if I were looking to buy another one used, how much stuff doesn't work anymore? These are very serviceable cars, most anything to goes out can be fixed, so ask yourself, "how hard is that to fix and why hasn't it been?" Because that is the real measure of if the car has been cared for or just driven.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

I bought my wife a 2000 Lexus ES300 in CA last summer, 130k, dealer maintained, service records, etc. Drove it all over the state and then on the way back to Kansas it stalled out twice in high altitudes in Arizona. Found an extremely dirty air filter (shame on me for not checking it at first), replaced it and it was fine for the next year.

So we decided to drive it back out there this summer. Same thing: stalling at high altitudes, wait a couple of minutes, starts back up and stalls again after awhile. Then still later it threw a knock sensor code which also has the effect of disabling overdrive. And these cars are known to burn up transmissions when driven for long periods at highway speeds in third gear.

Luckily I had brought my handheld code reader, and so we had to clear the code and reset multiple times on the way out. After 50 or so miles, it would throw the code again, and then every time it would downshift to third, it would not upshift again. Stop, clear, reset.

I had the sensors replaced before the return trip, and in doing so, it was discovered that one of the bellows was cracked on the underside, admitting unmetered air into the intake - hence the stalling. The drive back home was uneventful - other than the weather, that is.

The moral of the story: no more long road trips in old high mileage cars. How much more true of one you're not familiar with.