...and I consider half you guys on this forum as accomplices.
Last week I came across a black on black LSE with just over 45,000 miles on the clock. She was sitting at the back of an Infinity/Nissan dealership, and the sales staff clearly didn't know what they had on their hands. Her previous owner had traded her in on an Altima, so I had to make sure he didn't leave his balls hanging from the rearview mirror.
I've been thinking about buying an LS for the last little while, but I had only driven a 2002. I really liked it btw, but thought I should drive a 2003 or later to see if I could feel the "500 improvements" that the auto journalists were on about.
Such a low mileage 2nd gen had caught my interest, but I could see the CEL was on in the pictures so I was skeptical to say the least. The salesmen pulls it up and she's running a little rough at idle. Hmmm. I popped the hood and saw some oil seepage around cylinders 7 and 8. Alright, good to know.
So we take her out for a rip. She's chugging pretty good off the line and the saleman is trying to distract me. Hey, this thing has heated seats! Whatever. Now I know a miss when I feel one. (Just ask me about the Optispark failure on my LT1) So I'm noticing the miss-fire to about 2500 rpm then it takes of like a rocket. The handling is tight and she's really quite nice when she's not struggling.
Before I left the dealership, I told the salesman that I may be interested, but the rough ride is quite a concern. I asked him to have his mechanic run the check engine codes and get back to me so I can make an informed decision.
So here's the part where you guys come in. After reading thread after thread about the infamous coil problems, some brilliant poster(s) shed light on the ford dealership free COP fix. Hwaahh?
Back home, I run the VIN at compnine and she comes back factory loaded. pretty much every option but NAV and HIDs. So I run a carfax and it comes back with a clean sheet. No accidents, salvage or rebuilt status. Feeling pretty good at his point.
The next day, the salesman calls and tells me that the codes came up as Coil on Plug errors, and they got a quote of $600 to fix them. I'm giggling inside, because I know Ford is going to fix them for free, and I can use the $600 repair bill as leverage.
A deal was done, and just this afternoon a Ford service tech replaced the Coil and plugs on cylinders 7 and 8. Exactly where I spotted the oil, and sure enough, it didn't cost me a penny.
So a big thanks to everyone who has posted on this issue, you helped me land a dream car! But come to think of it, I should of sued the saleman for selling me a V6 and saying it was an 8!
Last week I came across a black on black LSE with just over 45,000 miles on the clock. She was sitting at the back of an Infinity/Nissan dealership, and the sales staff clearly didn't know what they had on their hands. Her previous owner had traded her in on an Altima, so I had to make sure he didn't leave his balls hanging from the rearview mirror.
I've been thinking about buying an LS for the last little while, but I had only driven a 2002. I really liked it btw, but thought I should drive a 2003 or later to see if I could feel the "500 improvements" that the auto journalists were on about.
Such a low mileage 2nd gen had caught my interest, but I could see the CEL was on in the pictures so I was skeptical to say the least. The salesmen pulls it up and she's running a little rough at idle. Hmmm. I popped the hood and saw some oil seepage around cylinders 7 and 8. Alright, good to know.
So we take her out for a rip. She's chugging pretty good off the line and the saleman is trying to distract me. Hey, this thing has heated seats! Whatever. Now I know a miss when I feel one. (Just ask me about the Optispark failure on my LT1) So I'm noticing the miss-fire to about 2500 rpm then it takes of like a rocket. The handling is tight and she's really quite nice when she's not struggling.
Before I left the dealership, I told the salesman that I may be interested, but the rough ride is quite a concern. I asked him to have his mechanic run the check engine codes and get back to me so I can make an informed decision.
So here's the part where you guys come in. After reading thread after thread about the infamous coil problems, some brilliant poster(s) shed light on the ford dealership free COP fix. Hwaahh?
Back home, I run the VIN at compnine and she comes back factory loaded. pretty much every option but NAV and HIDs. So I run a carfax and it comes back with a clean sheet. No accidents, salvage or rebuilt status. Feeling pretty good at his point.
The next day, the salesman calls and tells me that the codes came up as Coil on Plug errors, and they got a quote of $600 to fix them. I'm giggling inside, because I know Ford is going to fix them for free, and I can use the $600 repair bill as leverage.
A deal was done, and just this afternoon a Ford service tech replaced the Coil and plugs on cylinders 7 and 8. Exactly where I spotted the oil, and sure enough, it didn't cost me a penny.
So a big thanks to everyone who has posted on this issue, you helped me land a dream car! But come to think of it, I should of sued the saleman for selling me a V6 and saying it was an 8!
