VX on craigslist: Is 60 mpg an unrealistic MPG claim?

[suspendedhatch]

Originally Posted by smccall

Nicely put...and true

I paid $2200 for mine and it had less miles. People will try to inflate the price but bluebook always wins.

I don't think it's right to make any mileage claim without also giving the official spec.

It may be hard to find a VX right away, and impossible to find it in your local area, but you can always find one if you're patient and willing to travel. There is no reason to go crazy on the first one you see. I passed on two before getting this one.

If it doesn't have the original alloy rims, don't pay more than $2000.

You can get them even cheaper because everyone knows that the O2 sensors cost a fortune (on the federal models). I have two spare sensors that were from previous projects. I'm part of the reason for the inflated price of the sensor. We bought them all up to use with our standalone engine management systems.

If you're buying a VX, you should plan on buying a replacement engine. They're quite cheap. Even if the car had low miles, it's still 15 years old so you should just replace the engine right away. A low mileage JDM engine is cheap insurance. If you try to keep the old engine alive let alone in good mechanical condition, you will easily spend more than the $500 it would cost to get a new engine. So factor that in to your buying price.

[smccall]

I like the advice. I'm thinking about getting a replacement engine just in case. I have 160k on mines now and there's nothing wrong with it, but I know in the future, they will be hard to come by. It took me about 4 months before I found mines. I passed up on a few too.

Suspendedhatch: How's your project coming?

Originally Posted by suspendedhatch

I paid $2200 for mine and it had less miles. People will try to inflate the price but bluebook always wins.

I don't think it's right to make any mileage claim without also giving the official spec.

It may be hard to find a VX right away, and impossible to find it in your local area, but you can always find one if you're patient and willing to travel. There is no reason to go crazy on the first one you see. I passed on two before getting this one.

If it doesn't have the original alloy rims, don't pay more than $2000.

You can get them even cheaper because everyone knows that the O2 sensors cost a fortune (on the federal models). I have two spare sensors that were from previous projects. I'm part of the reason for the inflated price of the sensor. We bought them all up to use with our standalone engine management systems.

If you're buying a VX, you should plan on buying a replacement engine. They're quite cheap. Even if the car had low miles, it's still 15 years old so you should just replace the engine right away. A low mileage JDM engine is cheap insurance. If you try to keep the old engine alive let alone in good mechanical condition, you will easily spend more than the $500 it would cost to get a new engine. So factor that in to your buying price.

[monroe74]

suspended: "I paid $2200 for mine and it had less miles."

Not to be too anal but I'm trying to get your numbers straight. You say "less miles." The car at the top of this thread has 195k. What you said here is that you bought a car with 220k. And in the other thread, you paid $2000, not $2200. I could be making an incorrect assumption. For example, maybe you're talking about two different cars. Just curious about why the numbers don't match up.

"People will try to inflate the price but bluebook always wins"

The car at the top of this thread is a '95. Your car is a '92. The car at the top of this thread has A/C (for the moment I'll put aside the fact that it needs repair). I'll assume your car has no A/C. I looked up the two cars at kbb.com. Here's what they came up with, for a private-party sale:

Your car ('92, 220k, no A/C, one airbag):
excellent condition: $1960
good: $1635
fair: $1250

The car listed at the top of this thread: ('95, 195k, A/C, dual airbags):
excellent condition: $2965
good: $2590
fair: $2150

So the blue book value of the other car is 50-70% higher than yours, because it's newer, has fewer miles, and has some important equipment you're missing (A/C and the second airbag). All those things should probably be taken into account when making the comparison.

There's something else that should be taken into account: gas prices are up about 33% since you bought your car (8/07). I assume that this factor is not reflected in the kbb results.

I'm not saying I think the other car is worth $4900 (I already made a comment about that). I'm just raising some questions about the comparison you made.