Buying help! 2000 Montero 95,000 miles

Protourlevi

New member
Hi I'm new here. I would search more but I'm on my way to look a a Montero right now. I've been reading a lot here over the last week and these Montero sound awesome.

It's a 2000. I don't believe it has rear lockers. It has 95,000 miles

What's a fair price? What's the most I should pay if it's nice?

They're asking $6,000 and that sounds high based on what I've seen.

Any other common issues I should look out for?

Cheers,
Lee
 

IncorpoRatedX

Explorer
Welcome Lee,

at 95k it's very young in terms of a montero. Most of them on here have near 250,000 miles these days.

At 95k, service should have been done, if the owner has no record or the records indicate anything other than a mitsubishi timing belt tensioner (hydraulic tensioner) was used, it'll need to be done again, aftermarket ones are prone to expensive failures (interference engine) if the water pump is anything other than an Aisin, the general concensus is to change it out. If there are no records, the seller can tell any story they want but there's no way way to know the truth until it's torn down, so without records, assume it has not been done, regardless of what the owner says, unless they can show proof.

check the back of the cylinder heads for oil leaks, the o-ring back there tends to leak, if it's leaking, that's generally a good indication of what kind of owner you're dealing with, sealing that leak takes minimal effort.

let the truck idle for 10 minutes with the AC on full blast, if the temp creeps, the cooling system needs reworked, after the truck idles for 10 minutes, give it throttle and bring the RPM's up to 2000 and hold them there to the count of 10 (seconds) let off and go look behind the truck, if there's any cloud of smoke at all (blue usually) then the valve stem seals are shot and they need replaced, which is somewhat involved for a newcomer but easy for anyone skilled with a wrench, if that's the case, Viton seals are the way to go.

before you start it, while it's cold, crawl underneath, look for oil leaks, where the exchaust crosses under the transmission the exhaust should be bolted to a plate, that plate diverts leaking fluid from the rear main seal or the transmission input shaft seal away from the exhaust, if you stick your finger up on top of that plate and it's wet to the touch, the engine needs to be removed to do the rear main seal or the trans input seal.

IF it passes all of those checks and the maintenance has been done, i'd say it's worth near what they're asking, assuming it's clean and rust free.

lastly:

buyers guide
http://www.adventuredrivendesign.com/mitsubishi-4wd-buyers-guide/

gen 2 quick start guide:
https://forum.adventuredrivendesign.com/index.php/topic,342.0.html

I'm sure I've overlooked some things, but others will chime in, we've got a great group of enthusiasts on here, the ADD forum and the facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1524789904446511/
 

mudraider

Adventurer
Well, 95k on a 17 year old vehicle is nothing. What is the price that you've seen on similar? With that low of miles, I'd expect a pristine interior. Garage kept? If so pristine exterior. Your still pretty many miles away from the timing belt change and all the expense that goes with that. Any service records? You're going to get some saying, "I'd never pay more than $2k for something that old!" And responses are going to be all over the place. Try searchtempest.com
Do a 1000 mile search, look thru the listings. See what's out there. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

Salonika

Monterror Pilot
Seems on the high end for the age but not ridiculous. But again, as others have said, it may be in great shape in which case you might be alright. I put $4-5k into mine over the years to keep it in shape so $5k would be about my limit. Take your time scoping it out! These are great trucks that can do a lot for the price!
 

Swank Force One

Adventurer
$6k sounds fair if you want one and it doesnt need much. I paid $3k for mine, am rapidly closing in on $10k "invested," and it's not done.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,827
Messages
2,878,618
Members
225,393
Latest member
jgrillz94
Top