Looking into low-mileage 09

Montez

If you get it make sure that you pull the fuse before you have the steering lock issue (or check to see if it has been done) that alot of 09ers have so it does not leave you stranded, there is a post with a write up on how to do it.

Jimmyusmc

jza

Thanks for the replies. I checked the car out. It drives great. The tire wear seems in line with 7k miles worth of use (i.e. they are half bald ). Another thing I noted is that the average MPG is at 23 MPG, which I think suggests it was driven conservatively. Haven't decided whether to get it or not yet...

USINC97

Obtained ours new 01/10. Currently have 4810 miles on it. HVAC garage kept. No problems.

Jsolo

Don't get hung up on 'dealer services'. My cars only see the dealer for warranty work. Either I do my own maintenance, or I take it to a local shop for something I can't do.

jza

True, but there's about 15 months of powertrain warranty left and without documentation I wonder if I will be able to use it if something goes wrong.

Jimmyusmc

Is this a certified Pre Owned Z? I have a 09 and it has been great with no problems.

edub370

Picked up my 09 with 15k on it last year and i'm the 3rd owner. 0 problems

__________________

jza

Took a closer look and noted a few red flags:

TLDR: uneven wear and rear tires need to be replaced, no record of oil change, poor mileage over the last 450 miles of use.

1. The rear tires are actually not as good as I originally thought. I did the penny test and you can see all of Lincoln's hair on the right rear. The left rear has a little more. I know these are performance tires, but this seems wrong.
2. There's no service records, except for an oil change. Also, I looked at the upper windshield and there's a faded out sticker from a quick lube. It was hard to read, but I think it said next oil change due on 5/2012 or at ~10k miles. The 10k miles bit is weird because the car has less than 7k and they usually recommend oil changes every 3k miles in these kinds of places.
3. In an earlier post I mentioned that the avg. mpg was ~23-24, but apparently this was wrong (maybe this was the mileage during the previous drive?). After pressing the menu button a few times I saw that the avg. mileage was ~14mpg(!) and avg. speed was ~24mph(!) over ~450 miles


Looks like I'm walking away from this one

Jsolo

1) Most of these tires only start out with ~10/32" of an inch. Not a whole lot.

2) What services should be done at such low miles? Granted, if it was my car, being 4 years old, everything but the coolant would probably be changed out by now.

3) Sounds like it was driven in the city only. I only reset my trip meter these days. Record the mileage/gallons in the phone and call it a day. Maybe on a long road trip i'd reset everything else.

Consider the car as a whole. You can tell if it was kept up or not. If something bothers you about it, then by all means walk away. Otherwise you'll be forever bugged by it

Market should be ripe with 08/09's, maybe even some '10's. You'll find what you're looking for eventually.

jza

Is it normal that the rear tires of rwd cars wear much faster than the front with regular driving? You don't think the fact that the right is more worn than the left is an issue?
an oil change a year would be nice

Does the city mpg sound about right?

Jsolo

Uneven rear wear can be caused by a number of things. I was going to ask if the car had the sports package (with the vlsd). Looks like you answered that in the post above. I'm not sure why the wear is uneven. It would help to know the type of uneven wear. For example, is the inside more worn than outside. Could also be the road crown, but I would think this would be noticeable on the front tires too. And yes, rwd vehicles will wear the rears faster. Just how much more are the rears worn than the fronts? Maybe those 7K miles were harsh/abusive miles...

Agreed, an annual oil change at the least. But then again, you don't really know if it was done or not. How's the color of the oil? Light honey, or dark honey, or black? To the day, it's been exactly 6 months since my last oil change. 3200 miles later, the oil is a dark honey color - not very dark, but more darker than lighter. I'll do an oil change after my road trip (1K miles).

City mileage on these cars is bad. I think I can squeeze out 14-17 mpg by granny shifting and being in 5th gear by 35-40 mph. If mpg is a top concern, you're looking at the wrong car . There is a price to pay for all that power.

jza

The fronts I could see Abe's head, but not his hair . For the rear right tire, it was worn more on the outside. Didn't check this on the fronts.

Hmm, didn't check it

Yeah, that's understandable. I was just checking