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Checked a 96 CSE Auto, with mixed results
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Posted by masupra (more from masupra) on Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:20:33 Share Post by Email
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I am in the process of buying a used 9k, and checked out a 1996 Auto with 100k miles. The result was mixed, just wonder if people on this board can help me on the decision.

Basically, the car is in fair shape, not fantastic, but does not look beat up either. Things I found worrisome:

Coolant was dark and 'maybe' oily. I said maybe, because the coolant felt slippery on finger, but I did not see any oil floating on top of it. I felt the clean coolant in a bottle at home, it also felt slippery, but less than that in the Saab. There was black deposit at the bottom of the coolant tank, is this a definite no-no?

Engine oil looked ok on dipstick, but kinda black on paper towl, the guy said he changed the oil with Mobile 1 and they got dark very quick. I did not see anything foamy or like milk shake on the dipstick or the oil filler cap.

The auto-transmission fluid was ok, did not see any foam, did not smell burnt. I did a pretty complete check on the auto tranny following the methods I found on this board:
Count gears from start, there were 4;
Let go gas right before it shifts up, very slight jerk;
At a long straight up slope, drive the car up with full boost, the car shifts ok with no revving between gears (although I need to let go the gas a bit to let it shift up);
Floor the gas to force a downshift, there was a little hesitate, but no engine rev between the gears.
The tranny shifted very smooth, I could not feel it without looking at the rpm; and when it shifted up, the rpm dropped immediately without any going up. I tried shifting between P, R, D several times, it always engaged in D without hesitation, but R always took 1 second to get in.

Now the last thing was the engine noise, which was pretty loud. I did have a two feet long heater hose with me, trying to locate it, but without success. It was not a 'slapping' or 'clunking' type noise. It was a 'quick' metal noise that I think either a chain or a loose pulley will generate (although it sounds louder than what a pulley would be able to produce). With my ear on one end, I put the end of the heater hose on the timing cover, the valve cover, and over the several pulleys, and the none of them seemed to be the obvious source of noise.

The guy was selling for his grandma. He asked $3500, but said $3000 is OK. He said his grandma bought it from dealer, which made me assume it was a one owner car. But after I got home and I ran the VIN through carfax, it showed the car was registered as 'coporate fleet car' for the first 4years/45k miles. The car drives pretty tight and smooth at 80mph+ on freeway.

Does this sound like an OK buy? Not sure if the seller would go down even more on price because it was a coporate car. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

posted by 68.116.19...
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