to buy or not to buy
 

Hi , I need some advice about an escape hybrid that I would like to buy , the car is a 2K5 and got 140000miles , the deal is good but I'm a little afraid about the 140000 miles so I would like some advice about problems or other concern that people get with their hybrid year over year .:D


Thanks for your time!

Re: to but ot not to buy
 

140,000 miles? If they were mostly highway miles, then yes, buy it. I would not pay more than $10,000 if the cosmetics were perfect. Less, if there are dings/dents or if it looks "dirty".

140,000 stop and go, city miles? NO! Do not buy it! If it was a Taxi, or deliverey, or mail vehicle, then NO!

Slow speeds and lots of stop and go will put lots of wear on the battery.
Highway use puts very little wear on the battery.

If you don't know the type of use, or if the use was 50/50, then I say no, it has too many miles.

-John

Re: to but ot not to buy
 

Make sure to get a Carfax report on it. That will have any rental, taxi or commercial use listed on it, as well as a lot of other vehicle history and give you a good idea of how the car was used.

I would be extremely hesitant if you can't get any warranty on the powertrain, including the hybrid system and battery. If the battery goes out, it costs in the neighborhood of $6000 for a new one last I heard.

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

A 2005 with 140,000 miles on it? Wow. Personally it wouldn't matter what those miles were (city/hwy). You're beyond Fords original hybrid warranty (Unless you're in one of the green states), and that's a lot of miles; that's over 46,600 miles a year!

I'd also like to know why it came up on the market; did the owner merely upgrade to a newer vehicle, or was there something wrong that prompted said owner to get rid of the vehicle? I'd absolutely get a vehicle history for it.

There's also a ton of other variables at play as well. What does it have (Nav system, side air bags, etc?), what's the condition of the vehicle (surprisingly clean and shiny, or got some wear to it)? What's the seller asking for it?

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

I don't think CARFAX really works. I looked up 2 cars that I knew that had flood damage and both showed up clean on CARFAX. I took one of my cars that had an accident and again, clean.

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

Yea, CARFAX relies on what has been officially reported to the authorities. CARFAX doesn't try to collect any data on its own.

On the other side, CARFAX likes to lure people in by claiming it has several reports on the vehicle. Could they be major accidents? Could they be flood damage?

Or could they simply be yearly state inspections? Pay us $$$ and we'll tell you.

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

If it has Ford step bars and/or daytime running lights, then it was very likely a taxi or commercial vehicle. Also, I would look for heavy wear on the rear seats.

If they're selling it for a few thousand, then maybe this would be a good candidate for a PHEV conversion?

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

Great idea Don. Way to be thinking!

Re: to buy or not to buy
 

I agree, Carfax misses a lot.

I work in the IT dept of a local car dealer & we run both Autocheck & Carfax reports daily. I see cars all the time with very obvious collision repair etc that are showing a "clean as a whistle" Carfax report........

Also, as Walt said if you run the report & you don't have an account, it invariably tells you there are 7 "incidents" & then they want you to pay to see the results. 99% of the time, all the incidents are harmless things like a title being issued or a simple repair to pass an EPA inspection etc....

~John