"Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man" (jordaneer1) 08/13/2014 at 02:56 • Filed to: None

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So oppo, I have been in the market for a car for a few months (basically since I got my learners permit), and I found the car on craigslist, and the guy who was selling it only lived about 5 blocks away, which was really nice so we didn't have to go very far to test drive it.

Its a 2000 mercury mountaineer, with 2 previous owners, but the people we bought it from had only owned it for about a year and didn't drive it too much, and the original owners took very good care of it, its in good shape overall.

Its pretty much fully loaded, power seats, power windows, AC that actually works (which is wonderful, especially this year becuase its been about 10 degrees hotter than normal for the past month), an aftermarket sony stereo, a "computer" with fuel left, miles left, average mpg, and temp. and full time 4x4 (does this make it 4WD or AWD if i can select auto 4X4, 4HI, or 4LO

It has 170k miles on it, and fairly bald tires that will need to be replaced in the next year or so. its the AWD (or 4WD) V6 model, no V8, which makes it feel slightly underpowered considering how big it is, and the turning radius is fairly large, visibility is much better than I would think for such a big car. I only paid $2300 for it, and it has a very new fuel pump (literally 12 hours old) A review should be coming up fairly soon, I've only driven it around a parking lot for a few minutes, so when I get a little more seat time I'll try and write up a review.

and no, its not a stick, its an auto, the car had to be an auto and a decent price (fairly low since I paid for it with my own money)

Leave a comment as to your first car buying experience, and if you could get a different first car, what would it be. and good night oppo

(P.S. I'll try and post some pictures once I get some good ones during the day).

Squid > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 08/13/2014 at 03:19

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Just a word of advice with that truck, when you replace the tires make sure they are matching in diameter and tread depth or else you will destroy your transfer case. They are decent trucks and if your v6 gives up the ghost you can always drop a 302 in it as that is what the v8 ones came with. Just keep an eye on the tires or else you will end up with t-case or diff problems.

Enjoy your truck.

Nibbles > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 08/13/2014 at 09:07

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When I was fourteen, I bought a 1985 Camaro. I don't know how many miles it had on it. It was Krylon red that had faded to pink, mismatched wheels, and wouldn't stay running. I paid $2000 of my hard-earned cash for the thing.

Got it home and we cleared out the cat. Found out it was running on five out of six pots, so new distributor cap, rotor, plugs and wires went in. Now I had all six screaming cylinders! One bad point though - once we got it running smoothly, we found the knock .

Pops told me I had a rod knock and to take it easy. Make it last as long as possible. That didn't happen. I was cruising about 20 mph, getting ready to turn into the school parking lot, when my idiot friend screamed "WATCH THIS!" as he grabbed my shift lever and drug it down into first. Something along the lines of VRRRRRR RRRRRRMMM MMmmmclackaclackacrackaclunk...clunk... thud happened. I limped it home and it died as I was turning into the driveway, inches from pops' freshly painted fence. He comes out screamin' about me hittin' the damn fence, I said lolnope.jpg (except this was 1997, long before lolnope) and told him what happened.

He handed me a Chilton and said "better get to work then, eh?" That's how I fully realized my Jalopdom.

JR1 > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 08/13/2014 at 09:21

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Congrats on the purchase!

Meatcoma > Nibbles 08/13/2014 at 09:22

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Didn't the '85 v6 Camaro's have FI, the 2.8 multiport fuel injected V6? I bought an '85 Camaro with the V6 in like 1990 for $3500 with 50k on the clock. Drove the piss out of it. Although when I turned left the catalytic converter would scrape the pavement. That only lasted so long before it ground down enough it didn't make the noise any more lol.

Nibbles > Meatcoma 08/13/2014 at 09:52

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Yup 2.8 MPFI with a (not bad for the '80s) 135 hp.

shop-teacher > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 08/13/2014 at 11:24

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Since you have a low range (4LO), you have a 4WD vehicle. I'm surprised there's no option for 2HI, which would basically be rear wheel drive. That would save you a little gas. Otherwise, use the Auto 4x4 mode. Auto mode basically functions like AWD, mostly using two wheels (the rears for your vehicle), and only kicking in the others when necessary.

You will probably never use 4LO, unless you go real off roading, or get yourself REALLY stuck. Oh, and if you live somewhere that gets snow, get yourself some new tires before winter. You're going to want to have some fun in the snow with your 4x4, and you won't be having ANY with worn tires.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > shop-teacher 08/13/2014 at 12:44

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I live in northern Idaho, so we do definitely get snow, some years are very weird where we will get tons of snow, but others we don't get hardly any. I've looked on tirerack and the cheapest set that fits them is like over $400, I think it might be advantageous to look at Costco or walmart though (sadly Costco and the nearest walmart that mounts tires are both 30 miles away).

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Squid 08/13/2014 at 12:52

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I know high mileage cars, especially American ones can tend to be fairly unreliable, but I'm hoping this thing has at least another couple years left in it. Tires are definitely going to be the first thing to be replaced once I come up with the money.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > JR1 08/13/2014 at 12:52

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thanks!

shop-teacher > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 08/13/2014 at 16:06

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$400 is actually a pretty good price for a set of truck tires. You're not likely to find much better at Costco or Walmart. Don't forget to include the cost of the four gallons of gas you'll have to buy to get there and back in the prices they give you.