Hi guys, came across an 03 escape xlt fully loaded with 100,000miles AS IS for $1500cnd (im in canada).

Emailed the owner about it and recieved the following reply:
"The engine had a misfire which damaged both front and rear catalytics. The 2nd catalytic was replaced. The source of the misfire was the ignition coils. All 6 were replaced. Also, both lower control arms (with ball joints) have been replaced. All four brake flex lines also replaced."

Seems like a bit of work done to the car already, but can misfires kills the cat? Should i be walking away from this or consider this if all i need is 1 new cat hopefully. Just trying to understand if there is a differnt reason for the cats failing...

Wanna give my lexus a break from dirty camping trips...

Thanks

 

Keep looking. "Engine has a misfire", "runs rough" "just needs a tuneup" "I replaced all these parts but it just needs a new (insert random cheap part)" "needs a new cat converter" are all craigslist speak for:

"Car needs a new engine, good luck sucker".

 

Yeah bit suspicious of it. My thought process is why it happened not what was replaced... Ive never had a cat fail and these escapes have 3 of them, 2 on the monifold and 1 downstream...

On the flip side, found an 04 mazda tribute, girl driven (not always a good thing lol) 110,000miles. They are very open about not having issues with the car and as a result never doing anywork to the car...No work done at all, runs well, no leaks but lots of suspension noise so control arms/ball joints, disks, sway bar end links need replacing. And the car is a rust bucket under all the plastic ext trim. But v6 engine and tranny in good working order. Suspension work wouldnt be to hard and cheaper then dealing with cat issues... Asking 1000cdn as is... Cant excpect a rust free car for 1k in canada.

 

Put the car on a lift before you buy it and poke around. If you don't know what you are looking for, pay somebody to inspect it for you. You don't want to spend $1000 on a vehicle to find out later it has no floors, a terminal case of rust in a shock tower or where the steering box attaches, etc that would make it completely unsafe to drive and force you to scrap it.

 

Went over the car with someone, just wheel wells, bottom of doors on the inner side...the common areas with pinch welds. The strut areas looked fine and undercarriage was ok. Suspenion and brake work would be a pain with the rusty bolts though.