My brother is searching for a new car. He knows of my love for the 3800 and Bonnevilles and is finally starting to think what I've been preaching makes sense!

He spotted this the other day and asked me to go with him to look at it:
http://chevy.alserra.com/Preowned-In...oryId=21577754

I did. It'* a VERY, VERY nice 2000 SSEi, but has super high miles. Everything on the car is cherry except for the hood herpes. At some point it was repaired because the bubbling on the bottom side has been oversprayed. HUD, heated seats, moon roof, windows, all electronics work beautifully. Gets 60 lbs. of oil pressure. Tranny shifts great. Tons of power. Leather is suble, not cracked or faded. One owner car (I saw the title - was bought in December, 2000 with 43 mies on it). Two minor accidents (did a Carfax report). The accessory bag is included and are the remotes. The keyless remotes look brand new.

Two issues - hood herpes and a cracked tail light lens.

What do you guys think of the car and price? NADA and KBB book out at more than what they're asking, but I still think their price is high. Or, would you guys run away from this car/deal and keep looking?

Looks pretty nice. I got my 2000 SSEi in October with 109k on it for $7400. Some say that I might have overpaid but they're hard to find up here.

EDIT: Based on what Iglarum bought his for with 70,000+ miles less at $7400 I'd say $5,000 is very high for that 2000. Especially if $7400 is on the high end for his.

The car looks great for the miles, but it does have a lot of miles. If taken care of it should last a long time. But I'd be concerned about how much life the trans has left in it – unless it'* been replaced which wouldn't surprise me.

How much does your brother drive? If he drives a lot I wouldn't spend $5,000. With almost 200,000 miles I'd be thinking $3000 would be better.

-My 2003 was in amazing shape when I bought it this past July, minimal hood herpes, all options, with 108,000 miles @ $8800.

I would classify this car as the same as yours, Pete - amazing shape, even with all the miles.

But, the bottom line is that it still has all those miles!

He doesn't drive much at all. He'* an HVAC service tech and 99% of his driving is in a service van. This is essentially a second car for weekend/evening use. Last year he put ~6,000 miles on his personal vehicle.

Ironicallly enough, his goal is to be able to pay no more than $5,000 total for the entire deal, if he were to proceed.

The salesperson was dumb enough to open up the entire file on the car and reveal the title. I'm in the process of trying to look up the owner'* number to see if I can do some more research on the care of the car. In that file was the trade-in slip. They brought it in on trade for $3,000.

Good price for those miles.

As you know cars are built better today and can reach 200k+ just fine if you do your work. Look at Travis.

I just talked to him again. He'* pretty serious about proceeding. We're going back tonight to look it over again. I think he'* going to offer $4,200.

Yeah, if I were him I'd go no more than $5000 grand total, with all taxes, interest, etc.

I know these cars are reliable, but I don't think I'd ever buy one with 180,000 miles myself, unless it was a second one for winter use. If he only drives 6,000 miles/year then it could be a good choice! I on the other hand tried to find one with lower miles since I drive 5 times the amount your brother does. I ended up sacrificing a little due to the really low price of the car. No sense in paying $15,000 for a car that will have 110,000 miles within a year, when I can get a car with 110,000 for almost half the price.

EDIT: $4200, they'd be stupid not to accept that offer.

I think you should show them the carfax and offer maybe 3500-3800 With a 180k and 2 minor accidents I wouldnt buy it myself.

They provided the Carfax.