Chilkoot

Aside from power steering, brake and transmission fluid my car is all caught up on maintenance. plugs/wires/rotors, wp, tb, idlers, tensioners have all been replaced within the past year. My only dash light is the air bag light, which used to go away with a good wap to the side of the dash but doesn't anymore. I don't have any real reason to believe that my car is about to fail on me, but the idle doesn't sound smooth enough to put me at ease. The following are things I notice:

I can hear the lifters ticking a little (has reduced slightly with my second synthetic oil change, can still be heard though), which doesn't bother me too much as I've read that it's normal. However, my car doesn't have anything close to what I would consider a silent idle. Occasionally on start-up I'll hear the mechanical fan MUCH louder than usual, at the same cranking RPMS (~1800 peak on startup, IIRC). This also doesn't bother me too bad as I figure I'll eventually get around to converting to electric. The thing that really gets me is the sound the firing of the cylinders makes. It's hard to describe, but somewhere between a 'chug chug chug' and an older diesel engine. It's very consistent in the sound it does make, but it doesn't seem like I'd be able to set a glass of water on the intake.

So my questions is this: with consistent fluid levels, a steady idle and a consistent sound am I safe to assume my engine's in OK condition? Would it be obvious if there were more than normal wear that would keep me from joining the 300k+ club? I'm almost tempted to dump the LS based on its history

It was abused for probably the last 30k of its 130k life (the few years before I owned it), but before that I've got maintenance records that include 02 sensors in '01 and pump/rank/pinion in '04. I'm sure it's gone through at least one 10k+ dino oil change between 100k and 130k. I can see oil buildup inside the crankcase when I take the filler cap off, after dumping half a bottle of seafoam into the crankcase and driving 50 miles before my last oil change. Do all LS's start to sound "old" when they hit 100k+ but still continue to run another several hundred thousand, or do they continue to sound like new cars?

My issue is that I can either keep my LS and get a job at a gas station working off my $3k in credit card debt over the summer at $8/hour, or I can trade my LS in for an '02 Taurus for about $2k out the door to a dealership that doesn't know about the speedo/tach that don't work above 80f, my less than reliable gas gauge and hopefully won't notice that one corner of my hood is raised about 1/2" and my suspension bushings are all shot, and the front right strut creaks when it's under 40f. Then I could go back to delivering with the Taurus like I used to (before I got my LS I had an '02 SES), averaging about $12-15/hour. After the summer I'll probably sell the Taurus for $4-5k.

Either way the goal is to axe that 3k debt by the August, and as much as I love my car and read so many good things about it, if I can get a dealership to give me $4k for it I'll be getting more money out of the car than I really deserve to be paid for it, given what's wrong with it, and I wouldn't feel right about selling it to a private party without telling them everything that was wrong with it, in which case I'd never be able to sell it. Anyone have any thoughts or advice? My old Taurus treated me very well, and delivery is good money...but I can't deliver in the LS.

How thoroughly do dealerships check out their trade-ins, and is it their loss if they don't notice a particular issue with my car before it's traded? Will I get a better offer if I make sure the fluids are all nice and clean, or do they only care if it runs and/or needs immediate repairs?

Argh, I don't know what to do. thanks for reading.

Dutch

i say do whatever you think will put you ahead of the game. if you think sellling the lex will put you better off in the long run then do it. just make sure to put your ducks in a row before you do anything