Wow, that's pretty high milege. I think you could probably find a 95 with lower miles for maybe only a couple thousand more.
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I'll try to give you some input on this since I was in the same situation earlier this year, but it's late & I may ramble a little 
I bought my 94 VR-4 with a little over 126K on it in April. The previous owner had bought it new in Dec. 93, and had kept it garaged. The car was in excellent condition and appeared to be well-maintained, so I bought it feeling pretty sure that it wasn't going to be a big headache.
It is showing some signs of aging, but nothing too bad. Mechanically it has some 2nd gear synchro problems (hard to get in 2nd, some grinding while down-shifting) and does smoke some after idling for a few minutes. Other than that, I've had no major problems out of it. Other than routine stuff (oil, filters, plugs), I've had to replace the IAC motor (fairly common failure, easy to replace), the thermostat, and front rotors. The thermostat should be part of the 120K service and shouldn't have been an issue, but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet.
As far as maintenance issues - There is the above-mentioned scheduled maintenance at 120K, the details of which are available on numerous websites - but that's about it. Just remember that all cars are going to break down at one point or another, and the VR-4 is no different - but there is no 'magic number' that you hit and suddenly the car starts falling apart.
It used to be that a car with 100K on it was about ready for the junkyard, and I still sometimes catch myself wondering why I bought a car with so many miles on it. However, these cars are designed and built to last a long time if properly cared for. There are quite a few people on the board with a lot more miles on their cars than I have, and most have had very little problems out of them.
As long as you are satisfied with the way the previous owner took care of the car and trust the mechanic who will be doing the inspection, you should be OK.
Hope this helps...
I bought my 94 VR-4 with a little over 126K on it in April. The previous owner had bought it new in Dec. 93, and had kept it garaged. The car was in excellent condition and appeared to be well-maintained, so I bought it feeling pretty sure that it wasn't going to be a big headache.
It is showing some signs of aging, but nothing too bad. Mechanically it has some 2nd gear synchro problems (hard to get in 2nd, some grinding while down-shifting) and does smoke some after idling for a few minutes. Other than that, I've had no major problems out of it. Other than routine stuff (oil, filters, plugs), I've had to replace the IAC motor (fairly common failure, easy to replace), the thermostat, and front rotors. The thermostat should be part of the 120K service and shouldn't have been an issue, but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet.
As far as maintenance issues - There is the above-mentioned scheduled maintenance at 120K, the details of which are available on numerous websites - but that's about it. Just remember that all cars are going to break down at one point or another, and the VR-4 is no different - but there is no 'magic number' that you hit and suddenly the car starts falling apart
. It used to be that a car with 100K on it was about ready for the junkyard, and I still sometimes catch myself wondering why I bought a car with so many miles on it. However, these cars are designed and built to last a long time if properly cared for. There are quite a few people on the board with a lot more miles on their cars than I have, and most have had very little problems out of them.
As long as you are satisfied with the way the previous owner took care of the car and trust the mechanic who will be doing the inspection, you should be OK.
Hope this helps...
$15000 is too much! Now $10000
I think our cars start having maintenance problems at umm... ok miles! (j/k) I do think, however, that it is all in how the previous owner took care of it. If they serviced it right and stuff like that, then you should be okay even if the car has 600k.
(j/k) I do think, however, that it is all in how the previous owner took care of it. If they serviced it right and stuff like that, then you should be okay even if the car has 600k.
I'd say it's probably not worth it, unless it can be proven that they are all highway miles, and they have receipts for oil changes every 3k miles, and the 60k service proof.
At about 100k miles, there went my engine, then tranny, then turbos, then clutch, etc
Of course, I didn't know any better -- the guy I bought it from told me (!!) he only changed the oil every 6k miles, and sometimes it went 10k between them !! I figured that I had done that sometimes with my Honda so surely the Stealth could take it. Over 10k dollars later, let's just say I make sure every thing is changed when it needs to be, and if there is any little problem even, it is fixed before it can be a major one !!!
At about 100k miles, there went my engine, then tranny, then turbos, then clutch, etc
Of course, I didn't know any better -- the guy I bought it from told me (!!) he only changed the oil every 6k miles, and sometimes it went 10k between them !! I figured that I had done that sometimes with my Honda
so surely the Stealth could take it. Over 10k dollars later, let's just say I make sure every thing is changed when it needs to be, and if there is any little problem even, it is fixed before it can be a major one !!!
Well, I bought a '91 TT with 160k and was into an engine rebuild less than a year later, but I blame myself for that. It's been a GREAT car. It came w/ a turbo timer and I forgot to take the keys out one night when I came home. It was idling for over SEVEN HOURS (don't laugh, this is MUCH easier than it seems with a turbo timer - I'm used to walking away from the car while it is still running)! The idle oil pressure caused it to spin a rod bearing weeks later. GREAT car though. THAT won't happen again!
-Chris Wood
P.S. I'm still not done rebuilding
(don't laugh, this is MUCH easier than it seems with a turbo timer - I'm used to walking away from the car while it is still running)! The idle oil pressure caused it to spin a rod bearing weeks later. GREAT car though. THAT won't happen again!-Chris Wood
P.S. I'm still not done rebuilding
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