About to buy my 1st V. Plz help.

[jwall09]

Im so excited, i have wanted one of these cars for a long time. I found a great deal from a guy local here that is going to sell me a 2005 V @ $22,500 in perfect condition. Only problem is 51k miles and no warranty. A lot of highway driving.

Can you help me with some of these questions:

1. should i be worried how the car will hold up post 50k miles? any of you have a 50+k mile car?

2. what should i check when i meet this guy to look at the car tomorrow? anything obvious that you know is a common issue?

3. rear diff. i read a lot saying they have theirs replaced. is this something going on with all cars? a recall? or just a small percentage?

4. any other suggestions?

[StealthV]

1. No. There are Vs with over 100k.
2. The usual stuff. A beat car will look the part.
3. No. No. Yes.
4. The shift key is your friend.

[rand49er]

Originally Posted by StealthV

... 4. The shift key is your friend. ...

Might want to do a carfax and check for fender benders. And, Rick's right, if the car looks too used (paint chips, dings, worn interior, etc), then maybe it is a bit tired ... however, price is on the low side, IMHO, and may be reflective of condition.

Drive car at 45-55 MPH, radio off, accelerate very slightly, and listen very carefully. You may hear a very subtle whine in the rear, and that's probably okay. Too loud, and there may be a diff issue.

Good luck.

[trukk]

I'd take a look at the following:

1) Examine the jack points (little triangles on each side of the car front and back). This will tell you how many times the car has been up and down. If it looks pristine you've got a winner. If it looks used, no worries. If they jack points look like Beruit on a bad day, pull out your fine tooth comb (this doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad car, but worth some extra eyballing)

2) Turn the front wheel to full lock to the left, and then look in the front drivers wheel well, and take a look at the power steering pump. It if looks haggard, the car may have been tracked. They tend to leak when ridden hard on the track.

3) Do the standard under hood inspection. Look for any leaks. Take a look at the clutch resevoir. It should be topped off. If it's not, then the owner hasn't been staying on top of their maintenance, as this tends to get low on occasion, and cause harder shifting.

4) try and drive the car very slowly over some speed bumps to see if you here any squeeks.

5) Take the car to a parking lot, and do some very low speed figure 8's and listen for binding/groaning of the rear diff clutch packs. This will give you an indication of rear diff health, in addition to listening for the howl at 45 mph in 4th (note: if you hear absolutley no howl, it's probabaly a new diff. If you are driving at 45 mph with the windows down, and hear the howl, the diff will probabaly need to be addressed at one point on the future.)

6) If the car has a moon roof, try to do a nice high speed highway blast (find a cloaed course in mexico, and hit 90+), to validate that there is no excesive wind noise being generated by the moon roof. If you never plan to go that fast, then don't worry about it. Additionally if the car has a moonroof, check the rear sail panels, to make sure they aren't about to fall off.


Try to find a car with a GM 100k warrantee, and then don't worry about a thing . I have an '05 out of warrantee. 69k miles. Thus far I have spent 1k in maintenance on the car. I do track my car though, so a lot of that is preventative maintenance, etc.

-Chris

[jwall09]

Below is the claim history. If it looks mint, you think its ok after all these repairs? Rear Diff ect.

CLAIM HISTORY
R.O Date R.O Number Type Labor Operation Odometer Reading
09/07/2006 459652 # E0725 - SENSOR, LOW TIRE PRESSURE WARNING - REAR - LEFT - REPLACE 38386 miles
09/07/2006 459652 # Z7902 - 2-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 38386 miles
05/19/2006 451484 # C4021 - TRIM ASSEMBLY, QUARTER - LEFT - R&R OR REPLACE 33481 miles
05/19/2006 451484 # C4020 - TRIM ASSEMBLY, QUARTER - RIGHT - R&R OR REPLACE 33481 miles
05/06/2006 C94119 # Z2080 - ROADSIDE SERVICE (TOWING) 33000 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # F2143 - CARRIER ASSEMBLY (COMPLETE) - REAR DIFFERENTIAL - REPLACE 33163 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # Z7904 - 4-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 33163 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # Z5001 - VIP FREIGHT/POSTAGE REIMBURESEMENT 33163 miles
01/04/2006 442099 # Y0039 - INVENTORY UPGRADE - REPROGRAM POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (P 27299 miles
01/04/2006 442099 # N6634 - WIRING AND/OR CONNECTOR - WINDOW SYSTEM - REPAIR OR REPLAC 27299 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # R0754 - RADIO RECEIVER-RETURN TO AC/DELCO ESC 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # R0760 - RADIO, REMOVE AND REPLACE 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # B9650 - HIGH MOUNT STOP LAMP REPLACEMENT 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # Z7903 - 3-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 16428 miles
07/15/2004 566998 I Z6999 - PDI RELATED FLUID ADDS 6 miles
06/18/2004 A10644 I Z7000 - PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION - BASE TIME 0 miles

[trukk]

Honestly this is one of the shortest ones I've seen. My comments in red.

Originally Posted by jwall09

Below is the claim history. If it looks mint, you think its ok after all these repairs? Rear Diff ect.

CLAIM HISTORY
R.O Date R.O Number Type Labor Operation Odometer Reading

Reaplaced a tire pressure sensor (expect to reaplce them, every 50 - 75k miles, no biggie), and both real sail panel (known issue, not a biggie)
09/07/2006 459652 # E0725 - SENSOR, LOW TIRE PRESSURE WARNING - REAR - LEFT - REPLACE 38386 miles
09/07/2006 459652 # Z7902 - 2-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 38386 miles
05/19/2006 451484 # C4021 - TRIM ASSEMBLY, QUARTER - LEFT - R&R OR REPLACE 33481 miles
05/19/2006 451484 # C4020 - TRIM ASSEMBLY, QUARTER - RIGHT - R&R OR REPLACE 33481 miles

Owner was someplace else, and the rear end took a crap. It happens, I wouldn't worry about this. I've had 4 replaced (all due to whine).
05/06/2006 C94119 # Z2080 - ROADSIDE SERVICE (TOWING) 33000 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # F2143 - CARRIER ASSEMBLY (COMPLETE) - REAR DIFFERENTIAL - REPLACE 33163 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # Z7904 - 4-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 33163 miles
05/06/2006 450555 # Z5001 - VIP FREIGHT/POSTAGE REIMBURESEMENT 33163 miles

Window issue, probabaly moonroof. This is a known issue, no big deal. Reprogram PCM was probably a TSB. Neither issue is a big deal
01/04/2006 442099 # Y0039 - INVENTORY UPGRADE - REPROGRAM POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (P 27299 miles
01/04/2006 442099 # N6634 - WIRING AND/OR CONNECTOR - WINDOW SYSTEM - REPAIR OR REPLAC 27299 miles

Radio replaced (probabaly for peeling buttons, no big deal.), Looks like a brake light bulb, no biggie
06/15/2005 584385 # R0754 - RADIO RECEIVER-RETURN TO AC/DELCO ESC 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # R0760 - RADIO, REMOVE AND REPLACE 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # B9650 - HIGH MOUNT STOP LAMP REPLACEMENT 16428 miles
06/15/2005 584385 # Z7903 - 3-DAY COURTESY TRANSPORTATION 16428 miles
07/15/2004 566998 I Z6999 - PDI RELATED FLUID ADDS 6 miles
06/18/2004 A10644 I Z7000 - PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION - BASE TIME 0 miles

To me if the car checks out well, then this service history is no problem. The only 'big' thing was replaced rear diff that stranded the old owner somewhere.

I wouldn't have an issue purchasing this car.

My $0.02,

Chris

[jwall09]

so a question. i read a lot about rear diff going bad. whats causing that? driving it hard?

how much to fix? this car is out of warranty.

[LUVMY04V]

Originally Posted by jwall09

so a question. i read a lot about rear diff going bad. whats causing that? driving it hard?

how much to fix? this car is out of warranty.

yes (even though it was made to be driven hard launches and second gear power shifts will cause problems eventually but that is common sense)