Possibly buying a '91 diesel tomorrow, what to look for?

[blusubaru]

Yes, that's right, a '91. Now, before I tell you exactly WHAT it is, I'm just curious of what I should look for. I've already checked into the service record, the mileage (121,000), etc. My questions are more geared toward the age and the diesel components. Any suggestions? It's 45 min. away, so I'll hopefully have a good feel for it by the time I get it home. I'm confident that I can resell it and get all the money out of it that I pay.

[MacArtist]

On a quality built diesel engine; 121,000 miles would be low.

My Dad had an early 80's Toyota Diesel pickup with 245,000 miles on. I borrowed it to drive from Colorado to South Dakota when I was going to school. Thing ran like a champ. It wasn't going to break any speed records but it got great mileage.

[mattkime]

I'd verify that the track hasn't rusted up and the turret moves smoothly.

[blusubaru]

[quote mattkime]I'd verify that the track hasn't rusted up and the turret moves smoothly.
What? Rack? Turret? No, not a tank. Close, though.

[voodoopenguin]

It's a 1991 model.

[Racer X]

Unimog?

[cbelt3]

makk. a 91 will have a stabilized turret. test it by taking it offroad and have the gunner try to hold a stable target line while bouncing over 2 meter humps. Don't forget the 60 percent slope climb- forwards AND backwards (the backwards gets some of the cheaper models). And remember to use the training rounds when you test the Chain Gun- the HEAT rounds are kind of expensive. But lots of fun to shoot.

And whatever you do, get the applique active armor if you're going against AFDS rounds. The Chobham armor just waves at that stuff as it goes through and doesn'' break it up at all. Ruins your whole day.

[JoeBob]

I am with RacerX, Unimog.
Local guy has one on craigslist for $15K.

[jdc]

check the price of diesel gas on the way there, see if you can find something under $4.50 a gallon...

[olnacl]

If it's a Merz, it isn't even broken in yet.