99 Aurora worth it

My parents are looking to by a 99 Aurora that has 92 k miles. A carfax report came back clean, but a look at the undercarriage on the passenger side looks a little fishy (see pics below). Other than the damage, the car is fairly clean and seems to run ok, other than a pull to the left and the 12 disc cd changer not working. The dealer is asking between $7000 and $7500. Is this repairable or acceptable damage? Would you pay $7000 for this car?

Thanks for your time.

Tom

http://us.f1f.yahoofs.com/bc/3fa7f659_3f7f/bc/My+Documents/aurora1.jpg?CC4eeYAB88FjrA9A
http://us.f1f.yahoofs.com/bc/3fa7f659_3f7f/bc/My+Documents/aurora2.jpg?CC4eeYAB9mdFqjXI
http://us.f1f.yahoofs.com/bc/3fa7f659_3f7f/bc/My+Documents/aurora3.jpg?CC4eeYABVkS7u9Aq
http://us.f1f.yahoofs.com/bc/3fa7f659_3f7f/bc/My+Documents/aurora4.jpg?CC4eeYABv0FU4Z5q

Is this car worth $7000? Only you can answer that question, what is it worth to you? I paid $8100 out the door for my 97 with 55,000 on it last summer and I think my car is worth it. Its only missing the heated seats and the autobahn package options and the interior is in mint condition. It has a few scratched on the outside but what else would you expect out of a 6-7 year old car. One word of caution though, I purchased my car BEFORE finding this forum and reading all the problems people are having with them. Ive yet to spend any money on my car other then what you would expect to spend, oil, filters, brake pads, ect, but if you read all the posts here you will read about people spending lots of money.


BKVic

I wouldn't be happy seeing all that rust on a 99. Maybe I'm wrong...

HL

i paid only 2300 for a 95'.

it does not look to be very serious,it likely made friends with a ditch at some time,i would be more worried about the pulling to one side... it seems rusty on the frame for a climate that has green lawns this time of year...you can hide that rust with a good quality undercoating like rustcheck

It looks like rust from salting the roads. Where are you buying this car from? In some cold states they still allow the DOT to salt the roads. This is what causes the rapid rusting. A number of states have made this illegal because of the damage it causes. What states has the car been through from the carfax?

This car looks as though it came from the Mid-west area, you know where it snows a lot and they use salt on the roads. I would say that the rust will not affect the car to much becuase it is only 5 years old but it could help get the price a little lower. I would worry more if the car were say 15-25 years old. If they do buy the car I would recomend to have someone prep the underbody and undercoat it as to prevent the rust from doing any major damage over time. I drive demolition derby cars and know a good deal about how rust affects a car's frame and the cars I run are from 1967-1968 with lots of rust that is why I recommend to buy the car at a cheap price and get the underbelly coated and it should last a good while, you could even do it yourself if you wanted to. Good luck.

The Kelly Blue Book "Used Car Retail" value is 8,210. The private party value for "Good" Condition is 5,770. I have seen 1999s with the underside in much better condition with less miles go for around 6-7k. I have a 1996 with 85k and mine looks nothing like that. All of the frame pieces still have glossy black paint on them and the only damage is where they have scraped a driveway, steep incline, etc.

I personally would pass this one up. There is a beautiful 1999 with only 75k on it on ebay right now with no reserve and it is only up to $3k right now. It is from Texas where they are not allowed to salt the roads. It will most likely finish for about $7000-8000.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2467586692&category=6404

My 95's got a lot of rust like that but mine definitely came from the NY snowbelt area!

I have a 96 with 114k on it and I live in NH (snow/salt ect.) and mine doesn't look like that. I paid $5000 for mine w/105k on it and its in beautiful shape

I paid 6K for my 96 with 72K on it.

These posts are meaningless. There are too many variables.

I wouldnt buy a car with that much rust

Well, there are a lot of variables, but he did sort of ask for opinions, not necessarily facts... Given that- my 95 with 180k miles on it, all in Iowa I might add, doesn't have that much rust. I'd look for another. That seems too much given what I know I'd have to spend on other repairs.

Forget the year or the mileage; those pictures look nasty to me. I’d almost say it looks like that vehicle had bottomed-out rather hard. It “pulls to the left” sounds like a sign of a problem to me. Take it to a mechanic get it up on a lift, and get it looked at completely. Mine is a ’95 (original owner) with 115K driven in St Louis area winters (salt is the preferred snow-removal technique). None of the underside of my vehicle looks as bad as what I see in those pictures. I think the Aurora is a good auto overall – I would pass on that particular one. (Just one observer's opinion from the facts at hand.)

I just got my 99 aurora a few months ago. It was originally owned around the St. Louis (midwest) area. I continue to drive it here. I paid 10,000 two months ago for the car. Well worth it to me. It doesn't have even one door ding in it. Truely amazing considering the car is over 5 years old. VERY minor scratches (barely visible). I would let a mechanic check out the one in question. My undercarriage looks nothing like those pictures. If the mechanic says it's ok, it is worth that price. Mine was on the expensive side but the car is well worth it to me. It has 60k miles, autobahn package, gold exterior emblem package, sunroof, chrome wheels, awesome bose stereo with the factory amp and mini-sub, and every other luxury item these wonderful cars come with. I've been an aurora lover since I drove my first one in 1995. They have never given me problems. (I guess the aurora loves me as much as I love them). BTW, the 99's auto leveling rear suspension is a nice upgrade from my last one.

I have a 96 and with these cars veing so heavy they rely alot on front end suspension.

I would not buy a car that looks like there front end undercarriage is rusting especially an aurora. YOur parents can easily find a better aurora for $7000. Forget all the other posts. If you but this car you will spend another $4k just fixing the front end.