Am looking into buying a 03 Elantra with 90K miles. Not any
defects I could see, everything works. I test-drove it, it rides
silky-smooth. Its the base 4-dr model, I think the GTS. The owner is
an A&P mechanic. He says he has done all the maintenance work himself,
he is the original owner. Since he did it all himself, he has no
maintenance records/receipts. He hasn't had any break down on it yet,
he says. He wants his payoff amount which is $6K. THe Kelly BB price
is currently $6700. Don't think he is going to come down on his
price, since he wants to get it paid off and get his wife a new car.
Asked him if he had changed the timing belt...he says no. Its not a
concern to him, but is to me. I'll bet he hasn't power-flushed the
tranny either. Probably to get the timing belt replaced will cost,
I'm guessing, $200. His lackadaisical attitude towards changing the
timing belt makes me wonder if he has diligently changed the oil and
filter, as he claims he has.

The other issue I have about buying it is the mileage. He was
commuting a long way each day in it, and so it has the same average
mileage as a 6-yr old car, but is only 3 yrs old. This devalues the
car for sure...but by how much? I am probably going to have to sell
it in one year, and since it has lost $800 in value over the last 12
months, I think it is likely to lose another $800 over the next 12
months. On a 48-mo car note at 4.9 percent, I will have paid only
around $100 of principle. So my payoff will be $5900.

My concern is that I might get inverted on it with 48 or 60-mo
financing. Maybe even 36? I guess what I need to know is how much to
subtract from the cars' value for the given high mileage. I probably
would not add more than 15K miles over the course of driving it for a
year, so it is likely to be at 105K miles next July when I have to
sell it.I have to be a sure as possible that I won't be inverted by
hundreds of dollars.....2 or 3 hundred? Tolerable.
Probably I should then set up the loan for shorter term. On the
60-mo terms they offer, The monthly would be only $112.00, financed by
the credit union where my savings account is. But I could also leave
it at 60-mo, but just make sure to feed the savings account an extra
$40 a month or so, then I have a little reserve built up to pay the
inverted amount, if any. This gives me the flexibility to pay a very
small car note if I have a bad month financially. Or perhaps give the
seller $500 cash, in return for him reducing his asking price to
$5500?