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I've read many posts before buying '96 850 turbo wagon, but a newbie on this board. You'll probably get more and complete list from others, but here are some of the things I looked for. I actually took each and every one I considered buying to my mechanic, who checks for any body/paint work, lifts it up for more inspection, testdrives it, and prints out findings for me. Some will do it for free, some will charge. I know some dealers offer pre-purchase inspection as well.
- oil leak
- a/c
- fender/door hinges for re-attach mark (but you already checked body) I make it a point of carrying a small fridge magnet, and made sure it stuck on different spots on fenders & doors. Actually found one car with a fender job the owner claimed didn't know any detail of - the work was pretty good. Having a filler isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending on how picky you are. I was very, very picky, since it was for my wife and small kids.
The following items are minor items I paid special attention to before/during testdrive. I ended up using some of them to lower the price.
- driver's side wipers (it was lifting off, got the dealer to lower the price, then I used bay13 method to save money, for now anyway)
- leak from sunroof (a little water stain near the trim. Couldn't tell whether it was from keeping it open during rain or actual leak. Fortunately, it rained pretty hard during the test drive, and made sure there was no leak. Some suggest taking it thru a carwash).
- all electrical switches, including cruise, windows, mirror control.
- radio - make sure to test cassette player and don't use a good tape. Once the tape got stuck and I'm still trying to get it maied back from the owner. It happened to be my son's Barney tape, so it's no big deal. :) Test the speakers using balance/fade control.
- alignment on the highway.
Someone suggested checking engine compression, but my mechanic says if it's bad, he can tell it easily just by driving it.
These are general, not specific to 95 model. Hope it helps. I'm sure I felt some out, but search should turn up quite a bit more. Good luck.
-mxo
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