Hi all

Haven't been on here for a while - long story (no need to bore you with the details). I'm finally looking for a daily drive for myself - and I do around 500 kms per week mostly on open road @ 100 kph. I've always thought that if I went for a big six I'd go for LPG, just to keep the expenses as low as I could. Imagine my annoyance at the 20 cpl jump in LPG here lately! :hmm:

Anyway - I've located a 2002 Verada on LPG with just over 180,000 km on it. My question is - is that considered "high Kms"? I only ask that because if I was to purchase it - I would immediately begin adding about 20,000 per year and I guess I was hoping to find something slightly lower in K's?

Steve

From what I understand 180,000km is not even the cars "half life".
200,000km service will be nearing which won't be cheap.

From what I understand 180,000km is not even the cars "half life".
200,000km service will be nearing which won't be cheap.

Thanks Spetz. The ad claims that it's already done - so great news there. Hey - who knows, owner might even be one of the "wised up" members on here? :woot:

Steve

Thanks Spetz. The ad claims that it's already done - so great news there. Hey - who knows, owner might even be one of the "wised up" members on here? :woot:

Steve

Wised up on here isnt nessecarily always a good thing, seen some pretty shifty sales, but you get that everywhere, just a matter looking for potential damage and even though you cant see the in innards of the car, you'll still get a fair idea of the level of what overall condition the cars in.

If you don't know that much about cars or what to look for, take someone with you who does, in the end you'll be glad you did.

Last time I bought a verada with 178000 ks, was my first car, and even though it had a roadworthey, it had oil leaks, handbrake didn't work at all, rear tail lights out, all kinds of crap that was shifty, but it was my first car and I didn't know what to look for.

depends on what type of 178000 klm to date. check the history if you can on maintenance.
well serviced third gens prove to go beyond twice this on original motors (and transmissions at times)
check out threads on here on odometer readings (or tachometer) as some call them

My 2000 KH has over half a million kms on it, only paid $500 for it.
Sure, there is a long list of stuff that doesn't work - but that list doesn't include the engine or trans.

The most major mechanical issue with it is that it needs wheel bearings in the front, and is overdue for a timing belt change, and has leaking rocker covers.

The rest of the stuff is minor crap that the owner neglected (I bought it off the original owner) after he was offered $2000 trade in at under 200,000kms. So he decided that anything other than minor servicing was going to get neglected, and he would see how far it would go.
I have it now, and have been fixing up all the minor, and not so minor, issues - still have to get the air con regassed and the heater core changed ...

Make sure its been well maintained in the past and keep on top of future issues will give you the best chance of longevity.
Mine has almost 245,000km on it now (bought it with 179,000km in February 2012) and the only unplanned (but not unexpected if you know of 3rd gen issues) expense was a heater core/pipes/o-rings replacement. It has otherwise been largely routine and age-related maintenance (including a timing belt kit and water pump at 189k). No leaks, no untoward noises, no transmission issues.

Thanks guys - lots of really good feedback!

On the surface it looks as though the current owner is a fussy one; he claims to only use quality parts and lubricants. It's about 3.5 hours from here, so I would use the RACV to inspect it prior.

In the past 2 months I've used the RAA (South Australia) and the RACT (Tas) to inspect a couple of other interstate cars. Each time has cost me $200+ but each time put me off of a car that may have potentially cost thousands if I had done the inspection myself (they were very thorough). I consider that a saving in a weird sort of way! :nuts:

Steve