Hey everyone, new guy from Indiana. Found a really nice 1996 Formula WS6 today. Went and checked it out, has the following

6 Speed, 61,300 original miles, no t-tops, cloth, aftermarket cd

The Bad:

Check engine lights on (owner says due to catalytic convetor)
Low coolant light (messed up sensor)?
headliner slightly untucked
Headlight gear grinds when going down (driver's side)
AC does not work (says needs new AC compressor)

I talked him down to $5,000 dollars which I thought was fair considering its faults. I ran the autocheck which comes back clean no accidents and good miles. Do you guys think this is a pretty fair price? Thanks all for reading, let me know if you need any more information.

-Ryan

 

take it to autozone and get the codes for the check engine light, that will tell u if its the cat or if its a more serious problem.

Other than that, yeah, 5k sounds reasonable...

 

They only made perhaps 500 WS6 Formulas in 1996 so that'a a somewhat rare car. If it is th converter you can get a replacement Magnaflow converter from Advanced for $120 and replace the original one. Does it rattle?

 

Figure $600-$800 to fix the AC system with a quality brand compressor. I wouldn't stick one of those cheapo $200 brands in it. With the compressor comes the LP line + receiver + orifice tube/exp valve. If there are leaks in the evaporator or condenser it could be a lot more money. You'll be into this car at $6-$7K when it's done. Seems a bit high to me. You have to find out how much money it will cost to clear the check engine light. If the drivetrain makes little to no noise (no rattles, bangs, bumps, whines, etc.) it might be a nice car if 1-2 owner and signs it was well cared for. How much life left in the tires/brakes? When was the last time the fluids were changed (trans, coolant, PS, brake, clutch(if manual), rear differential). Figure another few hundred bucks to make all that right. In an automatic I'd be very leery if there was no history on the trans fluid changes and it made even the slightest sound or shift bang/pop whatsover that seemed out of the ordinary. That car should have had at least 2 or 3 auto trans fluid changes by now. Seems nuts to me that an owner would not fix a check engine light before trying to sell the car. You can't get top dollar that way unless there's a lot more to do on the car. I'd rather by a clean used car from someone who just did all these things (no CE light, fresh tires-brakes-exhaust-fluids, etc.). At least that shows they cared about their car.

Autocheck can only report accidents that were "officially reported" by the police or a repair shop. There can certainly be the potential for unreported damage. Run a magnet, spot rot gauge, or tap your knuckle around the metal body panels to ensure the paint is of uniform thickness and therefore likely original.