I think I might go take a look at this. $7,600 does not seem like a very bad deal. Miles are higher than what I would like, but it looks clean. No seat/dash pad issues. Good deal??

http://www.dandeerytoyota.com/auto/u...13-ia/9813704/

 

Looks decent for the 121K miles. Surprised the seat isn't ripped/torn. So someone was careful getting in and out of the car. Or they were light.

Can't say it's a good deal until it's verified the drive train doesn't have any bangs, rattles, whines, etc. How good is the suspension, brakes, AC, cooling system, electrical. What major components have been replaced already so that you won't be the one doing them? Was it driven much in winter (doesn't appear so). How about paint scratches and dents? The dealer went through it....what did they find and fix? You're making a long trip so impress the need for them to be fully up front. Talk to the service mgr if you have to as I'd trust them before a sales person. Have a GM warranty service/repair history run on the car....they can do that. How's the Carfax/Autocheck even if they can miss things?

I'd contact the dealer and verify what SLP options this car came with as called out on the passenger door sticker. As I recall a Y2Y option code means "SLP content." The CME exhaust is a plus....and even better if it was born with one. I don't see a Blackwing air lid but I'm not sure if those were standard with CME on 2001's.

$7600 isn't cheap for that kind of miles. It could be fair as well for a cream puff...as unlikely as that is. Though I know there are some around here who have snagged 50K-95K mile 2001/2002 SS's for that same type of money. KBB list is a lot lower than the asking price ($5400 privately and $6600 from dealer IF in excellent condition). And for that many miles KBB and NADA aren't that far off. You're driving 3 hours to go see it. Long distance deals are tough. I've dozen a couple dozen of them and none ever worked out with a purchase. Why does it seem like that the further you travel from home the more likely a seller is to lie to you or stretch the truth?

This was a trade in so have the dealer query the last owners on maintenance items, history, how many owners, etc. If you get back nothing, that's all the more reason not to go see it. It went through auto auction so all trackable owner maintenance history prior to that could have been lost.

 

They had the Autocheck on the dealer's site. It's a bit spotty. Brings up a lot more questions.

1 accident report 2007 - minor or major?
a corrected title
no less than 3-4 previous owners
went to auto auction in 2012 with 117K miles. 4K added since then.
got about 12K miles per year into 2010. Then driven very little.
1 failed emissions test 2010 at 115K miles - did it sit after that?
last owner may have only had this for 16 months - not happy with something?

I recognized the Carol Stream, IL "auto auction" as the home of one well know internet collector car dealers that likes to stock clean '98-'02 F bodies. But, most of theirs are low mileage cars. If this went to auction auction, maybe it wasn't so clean. Since the accident the car doesn't appear to be as loved. The car was first sold right around the 3 yr/36K mile point...a lease? While going through the auto auction could the front seat cover have been changed/improved?

I don't get why there are so many frequent registrations in ILL. Some are only a month or a few months apart, especially in 2005. A month after the accident, the car was registered again by the same owner? You should be able to research the accident report.

 

That price is a bit high. If you are serious about picking one up, wait a month or so when the driving season starts to wind down; that is when you will start seeing better deals. In other words: be PATIENT and use the seasonal market slow-down to your advantage.

 

They lowered the price another $300. I'm thinking I can get them to go even lower.