used car values

[joeb]

i want to do another head gasket repair. money making effort. my time/skill is worth something. found a nice 99sts. 120k miles. crimson red. new radiator and waterpump. shop said coolant tested positive for combustion gas. owner will take 500. has driver side pass door damage. needs new skin. bumper covers are ok. is only 2 miles from my house and is drivable. does price seem ok? i look a lot and rarely find cars for under 1k needing repair.

[Cadillac Jim]

KBB evaulates a 1999 STS with 120K miles at about $4K, private party value, at your ZIP code. The numbers:

Car acquisition, $500

Head gasket repair, $2500 (my guestimate fora DIY job; put your number here)

Door skin and paint, $450

Total for car in presentable shape: $3450

This leaves a little over $500 for other repairs, detailing, etc. which seems OK for a car with basically a new engine if the interior is in really good shape.

I suggest that you read out the OBD codes and write them down and that you get a CarFAX to look for zingers. The ones that can go way over the remaining $500 are the A/C and the transmission, struts, and shocks, and you should be able to evaluate those from the codes and from driving the car.

It looks like a good deal to me, and it tells me that the door skin is the reason that the car is going for $500 instead of $1K+.

[joeb]

found a 99 motor. guy bought a non-running car that previous owner had new headgaskets installed. would not start. gave up. 2nd guy got car and could not start it and yanked motor for another. 2nd guy does not know what was done to motor. would not fire. timed wrong? fuel issue? guy says make offer. maybe it has been timeserted? could pull head and check? save me the effort of timeserting my project car?

[joeb]

went to look at car again with owner. it is at business. codes say, service suspension system, service air bag, service theft control system. car will not crank. owner says mechanic does something to make it crank. mechanic is away this weekend. owner said some suspension sensor is faulty. starting to look less desirable.

[Cadillac Jim]

The theft system is one likely cause that the motor will not start. You can short to the starter solenoid but the PCM will not tell the injectors to let fuel in or the spark to work if the theft control is activated.

Please write down specifically which codes are set, and whether they are Current or History. Perhaps we can figure out whether this car can be fixed easily or not.

[joeb]

thought pulling codes on a 99 would be similar to pulling codes on my 96. different buttons to use. owner never mentioned the suspension issues until today. and he said the air bag message is new. why or what the mechanic did to disable or bypass the theft control is strange. why would anyone mess with that while troubleshooting overheating issues? maybe tomorrow or monday the mechanic will return.

[Cadillac Jim]

Some people simply disregard wiring harness connectors that they deem unimportant or that seem to be related to computers and such. You can render most cars junk very quickly that way if they were made since OBD II became mandatory for US cars in 1995. It happens all the time.

[adallak]

thought pulling codes on a 99 would be similar to pulling codes on my 96. different buttons to use. owner never mentioned the suspension issues until today. and he said the air bag message is new. why or what the mechanic did to disable or bypass the theft control is strange. why would anyone mess with that while troubleshooting overheating issues? maybe tomorrow or monday the mechanic will return.

Bypassing security system with a specific resistor is usually (and often) done when a wire is damaged inside of the ignition lock cylinder.

[KHE]

I think the 99 STS has the transponder ignition key - no moving wires or mechanical contacts.

[adallak]

I think the 99 STS has the transponder ignition key - no moving wires or mechanical contacts.

Oops, you are correct.

[joeb]

got to shop at 5pm. dark now. guy started car from under hood. its a wire harness near pass shock tower. has purple wire for starter? jumped it with 1 wire and motor started. the code readout had about 40 codes. i lost track. p0300, p420 and many more. has loud rhythmic clack from under center of car. mechanic says rod maybe or torque converter? he has deville parked next to seville that he did headgaskets on so he knows caddy cars. sure does look nice though.

[joeb]

talked to another guy yesterday. he has owned 3 bad headgasket cars. gave up on them. has a RWD caddy now with 350. he is interested in the sts. says maybe we could go in on it.

[joeb]

car is sold. new guy is parting it out on CL. too many issues for me. security, air bag, suspension. motor knock, dented door. but 500 is not much money. its just such a pain to pull the motors in these cars. maybe thats why cars with bad headgaskets are so cheap.

[Cadillac Jim]

Any car that isn't running is basically scrap or a parts car if it is for sale, no matter what the year, mileage, or condition. That's the rationale for the $500 price. The other problems look too numerous and time-consuming to deal with for a 99 model year car in any case. I think you made a good decision to pass this one by.