Check over used cars carefully - Houston

[Dave9]

Originally Posted By: George7941
Dave9 - The car still runs and it runs well enough that the owner does not notice any misfire. He told me the engine runs well when he asked me if I knew anybody wanting a used car.
It is possible to have leaking compression without misfires. The leaking compression is vented through the cap when it reaches the release pressure, usually 15 psi.


The question is still whether there was a confirmed head gasket diagnosis or a best guess and if a guess, how was it obtained?

It was stated that there was coolant on the ground. A minor enough loss of compression to not cause misfires, tends to just bubble the coolant a little, not cause loss out the reservoir. Surely it has a coolant reservoir, not just pressure cap to the ground?

Regardless, it looks like a fair DIY repair vehicle. If someone would rather a $1K Corolla or Civic, to me that would be more of a type of vehicle preference. Reliability can't be assumed on either of those once they depreciate to $1K value, is more about the owner maintenance at that point instead of being a Corolla or Civic.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Originally Posted By: funflyer
It's a PT Cruiser, he'll have to pay someone to haul it away, even if it were running

I remember when they first came out that the dealers were adding several hundred $$ to the sticker price because many buyers thought the PT was the thing to have. Nothing more than a hoked up Neon.

 

[George7941]

I don't see the Neons anymore. I suppose the owners have given up on them. I still see the occasional PT Cruiser.

I don't see the Chevy HHRs either. I don't think Chevy sold many HHRs.

 

[kc8adu]

yes do a proper diagnostic before falling for all the they are all junk talk.
i know of 2 in my area with 300k+ on them.
and i performed the only major repair on both.
coils short and take out drivers in the pcm.
new coils and a pcm repair which for me is easy.
btw fords fail the same way.
Originally Posted By: Dave9
Originally Posted By: George7941
Dave9 - The car still runs and it runs well enough that the owner does not notice any misfire. He told me the engine runs well when he asked me if I knew anybody wanting a used car.
It is possible to have leaking compression without misfires. The leaking compression is vented through the cap when it reaches the release pressure, usually 15 psi.


The question is still whether there was a confirmed head gasket diagnosis or a best guess and if a guess, how was it obtained?

It was stated that there was coolant on the ground. A minor enough loss of compression to not cause misfires, tends to just bubble the coolant a little, not cause loss out the reservoir. Surely it has a coolant reservoir, not just pressure cap to the ground?

Regardless, it looks like a fair DIY repair vehicle. If someone would rather a $1K Corolla or Civic, to me that would be more of a type of vehicle preference. Reliability can't be assumed on either of those once they depreciate to $1K value, is more about the owner maintenance at that point instead of being a Corolla or Civic.