[quote="Silverfox58"]
Hi all this is my first post so be gentle with me
I'm currently running a grand Cherokee 27crd auto overland auto and I'm looking at getting a x5,
I have about 5.5k to spend but all the ones I've seen have over 100k , so my question is does it matter how many miles it's done as long as it's been fully served.
Your thoughts and advice please.
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I think you have to think beyond servicing. for example aa service will look at light bulbs and oil and so on, but how many services will check the condition of the rear lower rose bush (which can cause excessive camber) and so on. Service evidence is must but more important, in my book, is evidence of regular maintenance.
And yes you should walk away from the rough ones, as there are plenty of vehicles available, but the better the car you find the more it will cost. Please please please be aware that there were £50k+ cars in their day. None of us have endless pots f money bt be aware that these cars are not often cheap to repair. For example, north of 100k miles you may need a gearbox rebuild, and yet you may not (but will eventually) - that wills et you back £1600 minimum without even thinking about it
I would say make yourself a cuppa and sit down and red as many pages of this for as you can. After a couple of hours (yes that much) you will have a fear idea of the regular problems that can occur. i say that not to put you off but to encourage you to get under the skin of an X5 and understand what they are about. In not time you will learn that if you don't replace the battery after 6 years (especially if you don't know when the existing one was bought) then it will undoubtedly lead to other electrical gremlins showing up as false positives. Etc etc etc
I think when you buy a second hand car, you have to budget for further immediate cost to cover off a few things as piece of mind. if I was doing this over again, I'd immediately stick in anew battery £100 or so (the forum will tell you the right spec) and I'd get an oil and oil filter change lets say £50 or so (uses almost 8 litres oil - don't buy cheap here ). Read up on gearbox oil changes and then decide for yourself if that should or should not be done (another couple of hundred quid or more there) - Get the tracking done, saves wearing out £500 or more quids worth of tyres, all the prices ar for rough illustration and may be slightly more/less than Ive said. my point is you may wish/need to spend another £500 to be on the road with piece of mind. and those jobs are just my opinion. You may need none of that but better to go in eyes wide open.
If you already have a cherokee then you have an idea in principle as to what these big beasts are about
Good luck
Smee
