Considering buying a high mileage SHO. I am not looking at a specific car yet but shopping around. Thinking 80K-110K miles to find a 2013+ in my price range.

Only considering the PP because I want the PTU cooler. And the ability to easily exchange the PTU fluid.

Aside from inadvertently buying something that someone beat to within an inch of its life and butchered with poor tuning and bad mods. Anything that should make me reconsider and shoot for lower miles and more money?

I am not afraid of fixing little things here and there. A high mileage car is a high mileage car. But I don't want to be pulling the engine or trans apart a month after buying a $1400-$2000 car...

I am a fairly experience mechanic. Skilled in both the mechanical and electrical side of things. I have a few frame off restorations under my belt and can do body work, paint, etc. as well. I am also a mechanical engineer that has been working for over 10 years. So I can handle myself when problems arise but there is a point where my time is worth more than money when it comes to always futzing with a lemon.

I bought my 2010 SHO non pp with 145,000 miles on it. It looked clean as a whistle when i went to look at it, and didn't show signs of abuse, so i took a gamble. It was only $11,000 on road.

It was fully loaded too, every single possible option right down to massaging seats and radar cruise control were optioned.

I was worried about the miles but the car runs very well.

I think that miles tells only some of the story, if the car is well looked after and has high miles it might be a steal. If you abuse a car for 50,000 miles then you may be paying for a problem you thought you wouldn't have.

IMO you can tell how a car has been treated by looking at things like the trim,paint, wheels (gutter rash etc), check the in dash AVG MPG and see how close it is to 20MPG (it probably hasnt been reset since the last owner drove it)

You can tell a thrashed/abused car by the way it looks.

Also - is there a service history log? If so even better.

Oh and by the way - welcome to the forums!

Quote from: paokara777 on March 27, 2017, 03:17:51 PM
Oh and by the way - welcome to the forums!

Thanks. I joined a while back to lurk and learn about the SHO and Explorer Sport.

Either I am going to get some screaming deal on the owner of my company's lease buy out of his '16 Explorer Sport or I am going to by a bottom dollar '13+ SHO.

I have a pretty good sense of what a well looked after car vs. a beat car looks like. I figured that went without saying.

The down side is I need to be willing to travel to get the deal that I am looking for on an SHO. This could mean flying somewhere and renting a car to look over a potential purchase or a 400 mile each way road trip with my truck and trailer.

Unless those high miles are mostly highway, my concerns (besides the PTU) would be injectors, cats, and coolant pump.  So basically engine related mostly.

EDIT:  please do post an intro for yourself here:
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/board,14.0.html

If this was a motor with a timing belt, replacing the belt at 100,000 miles would be a pretty typical preventative maintenance step. I always did the water pump at this time too. If it was easy enough to get to, the oil pump as well. I am guessing there is nothing in the timing chain drive I should worry about? Didn't some people have issues with a cam phaser or chain tensioner or something like that?

Considering budgeting a Livernois stage 4 kit with the price of the car. That would Take care of replacing the spark plugs and cats.
I would replace the water pump while I had the cooling system open installing the t-stat.
Tans fluid & filter
PTU fluid
Rear diff fluid
Bore scope the intake valves and check for build up
Drain the intercooler

Anything else? Common electrical failures like bad door switches or anything like that?

The water pump in this engine is driven by the timing chain, so you have to dig out the belts, timing components, etc. to get to it.  Typically a 1500$ repair at an independent, twice that at a dealership.  It is DIY-able, with skill & care, but not a 1 or 2 hr project.

VCT solenoids have typically been the weak point in the transverse engines, though a couple cases of stretched timing chains (typified by extended startup rattle, or ongoing rattle) have been seen.  Phasers & tensioners, virtually nil.

Water pump sounds pretty involved but nothing I couldn't handle. Sounds like if I went that far into it, I would be close to doing most of the gaskets in the long block. Knowing myself that is what I would end up doing... My last vehicle project started out as just replacing a rotted freeze plug in the back of the block of a Cummins 5.9L into a full frame off restoration.

If you have access to a lift that will certainly make things less complicated.
Its sometimes those unforeseen hidden gremlins that gets me worried especially with the higher mileage vehicles which entails a warranty.
Due setup an intro by following the below link,thanks.  Z
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/board,14.0.html

I just had a conversation with the owner of the company that I work for. Unconfirmed yet but I am likely to receive the his 2016 Explorer Sport when his lease runs out. And it could be SUPER cheap. Bad news is I might have to anxiously wait for another year... This alters my plans of SHO shopping a bit. I think I am going to have find an even cheaper DD for the next year.

Quote from: cj68 on March 28, 2017, 02:12:42 PM
I just had a conversation with the owner of the company that I work for. Unconfirmed yet but I am likely to receive the his 2016 Explorer Sport when his lease runs out. And it could be SUPER cheap. Bad news is I might have to anxiously wait for another year... This alters my plans of SHO shopping a bit. I think I am going to have find an even cheaper DD for the next year.

Due to my SHO being totalled (unfortunately) I had to recently get a new DD. I ended up in a fusion titanium, I got one that was somewhat loaded and payed a bit more for it, due to that, but the fusions can be found pretty cheap, even brand new depending on options. I've seen some good deals on Focus STs as well, or for a generic commuter just get something cheap with a warranty, and use it for a year then sell it. What about doing a lease yourself?

Nah going to go cheaper especially for only a year. I have a guaranteed buyer for my 2 door Subaru Impreza for $5K that is useless with my new daughter. I have a turbo charged Subaru Outback XT saved on my auto trader account and have been monitoring it for a couple weeks. They are asking $8900 so I am thinking that would be an upgrade before the major upgrade of the explorer sport.