Hello!

I'm currently seeking to buy a second hand Pathfinder in the region of AED 15,000 - AED 25,000.
So far I've found a few I'm really keen to have a look at, but considering I don't know much about cars, and even less about the actual maintenance of them, I would really appreciate a little advice as to the costs I can expect to pay when taking it to the garage!

I've been looking for 3.5L Pathfinders between from '02,'03 and '04 thanks to searching through this forum for advice (and have stayed away from Jeeps of the same price for the same reason)!
A couple of the sellers have said that I'll need to get a new set of tyres, and one said that I'd need to replace the gasket at some point.
How much can I expect to pay to get this done?

Also, I've found a guy selling three Pathfinders at what seems to be a reasonable price- he said they were company vehicles and as a result have been regularly and well maintained. The maintenance is something I've asked them all about but due to language restraints I can't really communicate properly with a lot of sellers.
But going with an ex-company vehicle would seem to be a safe bet, given that (you would hope) they have been serviced properly and just used for normal commute!

Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

Joe

Ask for service history, if they are company cars they will have service history.

Then get the car checked out at Al Masaood the Nissan dealer, they will be able to tell you what the condition f the said car is fr a small fee.

Tyres fr the Nissan, good nes like Pirelli or Yokohama are reasonable at around AED 650 a piece.

Any work like changing the gasket, which involves openingup the engie will be a bit expensive.

In the car with the gasket issue check the engine coolant and look for traces of oil and check the engine oil dipsticl for traces of water. If found then the gasket is going

Thanks so much Wasif for the advice!!
I shall bear all this in mind when I go for viewings...

meerkatdrummer wrote: But going with an ex-company vehicle would seem to be a safe bet, given that (you would hope) they have been serviced properly and just used for normal commute!

I'm not too sure about this logic, Joe: ex-company cars normally see very heavy use, especially if they are 4x4 (means the company expected off-road use, or they would have used Camrys). It's true they're maintained, but so are ex-taxis and ex-rental cars. I'd rather look for the expat who's leaving deal.

My gut feeling is stay away from guys selling ex-company cars - they buy them at auction because they're cheap, and look to re-sell them to make a fast buck. They have no maintenance records and will say anything just to close the deal.

Also, there are many gaskets on a vehicle. Which could be a simple as a water pump gasket that takes, at most, 1 hour to change and the gasket itself shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred dirhams depending on the size. Or you could go the RTV (liquid gasket) route which will cost even less.

Or, as Wasif said, it could be a pretty serious operation which needs to dismantle such things as the transmission, transfer case, head (top block) of the engine or some parts of the differentials.

I wouldn't jump at anything just because it's a good deal. You will usually get a feel for the one that suits you as soon as you speak to the seller but a good way to start is to look at the engine bay and see if there are any misterious greasy areas. This may mean that engine oil and/or coolant are leaking from somewhere. This would be a no go in my books as you're not mechanically inclined...... Yet!

Also check under the vehicle for the same tell tale signs (greasy/wet patches, big rust spots, dents/crakcs in unusual places). Don't be shy to to take your time and inspect absolutely everything that "seems" improtant on the undercarraige. If you think it looks important, chances are it is.

Good luck and hope you find something good!

Thanks PR and Tintin for the replies! Both great pieces of advice- I hadn't thought about it from that perspective PR, thanks for throwing new light on it for me!
I suppose my logic revolved around the idea that a company car would have had to be regularly maintained, whereas a privately owned vehicle may have been poorly looked after regardless of what the seller says in an attempt to sell it.

I should think my best bet is to take anything with a pinch of salt, and have a thorough look myself and trust my instinct. Also to take it to the Nissan dealer and pay a small fee to get it properly checked over before buying.

Do you guys think it's best to avoid anyone who says they don't have any records of maintenance for the car? Or do people tend not to bother keeping track of things like that out here?

Thanks again!

Btw, the ex-company vehicle I was interested in is a '04 Pathfinder with 88,000km on the clock going for AED 25K which seems like a great deal to me if it's been regularly maintained. At a shade under 10,000km per year that seems like very light use to me!

meerkatdrummer wrote:Btw, the ex-company vehicle I was interested in is a '04 Pathfinder with 88,000km on the clock going for AED 25K which seems like a great deal to me if it's been regularly maintained. At a shade under 10,000km per year that seems like very light use to me!

Post some picss of the car. Also ask them for the service history as a company will definitely have one on record. Then check with the Nissan dealer if they have service history on it.

Always better to go with a car that has service history that can be verified by the dealer.

Hi Wasif!

I'm currently on my phone so will post photos once I'm back on my laptop.

I just rang the guy selling the car, and am starting to feel as though the deal could be slightly too good to be true...

When I asked if the price was negotiable, he said it was fixed at 25k as it was already below market value.
I'm wondering why then he's not selling it for market price, if he knows he can get more for it?

When I asked if he had maintenance records for it, he said he wasn't sure if they have them but that he'll check.
For some reason they haven't really used the car for the last few months and as a result stopped maintaining it since that time.

However he said when I come to test drive it I can take it to a garage he mentioned (which I assume is the garage the company uses) to get it checked over for 120 dhs and get some sort of report.
I'd personally be more inclined not to use a garage they're connected with, in case there are vested interests between them.

He also said that the car had just been used for city commuting, but said it had been fitted with new, larger off road tyres.
He said that because it had mainly been standing still for the last couple of months there may be battery issues, so they would give me a new battery if necessary.

Then he said that if I liked it I could pay a fee to sign the insurance over to my name with an Omani insurance company they use, and as a result get relatively cheap insurance for a year compared with using another company. It would cost something like 1000 dhs.

I know I may seem really suspicious, but I feel as though I'm either going to get a genuinely great deal, or I'm potentially being taken advantage of by a guy who has friends in different companies around him!

Considering they seem to have used another garage if they have been maintaining it as they say (records or not), would the Nissan dealer have any sort of record that you say I should ask about?

Apologies for the huge amount of text!

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Joe

Clench your wallet tight, and run! The guy is scamming you.

If, however, you decide to nibble at the bait - which I wouldn't: plenty of other good cars to choose from - then the inspection must happen only at the Nissan dealer, and not only produce a clean bill of health but also impeccable maintenance records.

You are not being really suspicious, it's your instincts ringing alarm bells. Listen to them.