Originally Posted by Dominus

I also noticed that the car has an aftermarket stereo, which is NEVER a good sign for a car. Otherwise, the car tested and inspected fine.

Originally Posted by 67Continental

why is that never a good sign for a car? My car when I bought it had a beautiful Eclipse system installed, far better than any stock car stereo. I don't understand your comment.

Originally Posted by Dominus

An untouched car is always far more likely to have been treated well than a car that was messed around with. A car that was simply driven lightly by an old man as his transportation is far more likely to be in good condition than a car that was somebody's toy.

It's a correlation I have seen in living proof many many times over the years. If the car has an aftermarket stereo in the dash, it almost always has signs of mistreatment on it. This car happens to have a transmission in poor shape, and a mirror that is oddly warped. Yes, the mirror is warped. Coincidence? I think not. These problems would not be out of place on a car with maybe 40k more miles, but 60k? Something ain't right here. It's obvious this car has never had a transmission service in its life.

I decided to pass this one over. A car as "well maintained" as the owner claims it was would at least have had a transmission service done to it. Hell, he should at least make the effort to have it serviced recently and lie to me about it so I would have at least seen some good colored fluid. He didn't even replace the mirror. So much for "well maintained".

This car seems more like a nice looking problem child somebody never loved, and is looking to get rid of, more than it does a well maintained car driven by a caring driver.

Originally Posted by Dominus

An untouched car is always far more likely to have been treated well than a car that was messed around with. A car that was simply driven lightly by an old man as his transportation is far more likely to be in good condition than a car that was somebody's toy.

It's a correlation I have seen in living proof many many times over the years. If the car has an aftermarket stereo in the dash, it almost always has signs of mistreatment on it. This car happens to have a transmission in poor shape, and a mirror that is oddly warped. Yes, the mirror is warped. Coincidence? I think not. These problems would not be out of place on a car with maybe 40k more miles, but 60k? Something ain't right here. It's obvious this car has never had a transmission service in its life.

Originally Posted by Dominus

Perhaps you both should actually read what I wrote. You're both disagreeing with something I never even said.

I never said that an aftermarket stereo was a guarantee of misuse. I said that it is more likely it was misused, and experience has shown me that this is most certainly true. Cars that have been treated to electronics upgrades and are in general good shape are in the minority.

Originally Posted by 67Continental

I am going to have to completely disagree with you here. I have put 20k miles on my mark since I bought with the aftermarket stereo, and i have had to do nothing buy basic maintenance.

Originally Posted by 67Continental

honestly, this is just your singular personal prejudice -

Originally Posted by Dominus

I also noticed that the car has an aftermarket stereo, which is NEVER a good sign for a car. Otherwise, the car tested and inspected fine.

Originally Posted by fossten

Good decision. It might have been just fluid, but it could have been a TC which would have meant rebuilding the tranny.

Originally Posted by torquemonkey

Good call, most people have either the "one dollar install" fire hazard or a friend or cousin that knows all about car stereo installation. Definitely one good rule of thumb to have, when purchasing a used car.

However the Lincoln and Cadillac crowd as owners tend to have the money to do the job right at a reputable shop or have the skills to do it right themselves. Whether it is a socioeconomic deal or a maturity issue, cars of these brands tend to have owners that take better care of their ride. Any change from factory design ought to be considered a red flag to question. Should you be satisfied by the answer, then by all means proceed.

My example of a red flag; A person selling a car w/ a performance tranny and a chip? The car was ragged on, low oil pressure, bad brakes and needs major maintenance. Who would upgrade a car and then sell it while it ran good with no issues? (Outside of monetary or loss of license issue) My personal VIII experience; the kid I bought my car from told me of the good maintenance he did. Lots of receipts from oil changes and He had a new alternator and a set of sub woofers installed. A new Alt? I found that the cigar lighter didn’t work, A/C kept blowing fuses. Whoever did the amp install had done a crappy job under the dash and kept shorting stuff out. Now why do you think he sold it?

Originally Posted by Dominus

2 car dealers in the family, 3 mechanics, and 2 electronics experts, but nice try anyway. Prejudice is a heavy word to be used in ignorance.

Multiple experiences from multiple parties> your singular experiences. I'm glad we could agree.

I didn't paint everything in the same light. I spoke of the majority, not the totality, but thanks once again for exaggerating what i said.

Originally Posted by 67Continental

my singular experiences? You've bought 8 cars....no clue how old you are, but i'm only 25 and i've bought well more cars than you.....Again with making assumptions....I am glad you have car dealers and mechanics in the family, I don't see what that proves, my dad just finished restoring his 30th some odd car....I didn't feel the need to mention my family's car history, but I guess I could if I thought it would bolster my argument.

Originally Posted by Dominus

If you knew anything about sound equipment, which you either do not, or are pretending not to, you would know 2 things:

1. Most sound equipment out there is crap, and the installations are no better.

2. People don't hand you an expensive professional system for nothing.

Since your father restores cars, perhaps you might ask him if a car is worth more with its stock radio equipment, or with the dash hacked to pieces and an aftermarket system shoved in there. I already know the answer, but it seems you might be surprised

Originally Posted by 67Continental

actually, I own a record label, am out on vinyl, toured extensively over the last 2 or 3 years, and am currently producing another artist in my studio - so I do know a little bit about sound equipment. And I am willing to wager that I know more about it than you do.
As for "handing over" a professionally installed system, you can't recoup the money you spent having a system installed by removing it from the car...as was written earlier, car audio equipment usually has resale much lower than retail. Maybe removing head units or subs, but components and wiring usually stays in the car, if it was a very clean pro install.
But honestly, this conversation has gotten way out of hand, and my professional audio equipment opinion has nothing to do with your vehicle quest. If you have any questions about "real" top of the line audio equipment, send me a pm

As for the value of my car, it's not a collectible, so I could care less about the OEM state of it's equipment. Although I did leave the stock stereo in my 76 Benz when I restored it.

Originally Posted by scott9050

I used to buy and resell cars for a living (did so for 10 years) and made pretty decent money doing so. Out of the couple of hundred cars I have bought and sold over the years I can say that it does not make a hill of beans difference whether the car has an aftermarket stereo or not, I have seen cars well taken care of and ragged on with both types of stereos in them. I have seen low mile cars totally neglected and high mile cars that were taken care of. Not everyone who installs a stereo is deficient in skills to do so nor are they all teenagers. And why is this suddenly turning into the pissing match forum on the board?

Originally Posted by JoeyLincolnMK8

hmm.... well that year has the upgraded 1-2 shift springs in the tranny. so it might be something else like torque converter maybe? but i would just do a complete flush of the the tranny fluid and of course use Mercon V.