05 RT AWD purchase

[wjbzone]

I've just made a commitment to buy a 2005 Magnum RT AWD with 72000 miles. (contingent on my inspection). No accidents reported.

The car was from PA, so I am concerned about rust. The dealer told me there is some surface rust underneath. Can anyone tell me if these are prone to rust problems in northern areas.

Thanks,
Billy

[HemiLonestar]

Yes they are, especially if not fastidiously washed during the course of the winter. You wan to look in the spare tire well, under the battery tray, in and around the rear fenders, the gasket channel under the hatchback and up by the hatch hinges.

[wjbzone]

Bought the car. After a two hour drive home, I'm happy with it!

I've always had a V8, but not like this one. Runs great, lots of power. Steering and brakes are tight and it drives and breaks straight. Everything works and the interior is in very good shape.

Problems include:

Tires seem to need balancing.

It does have surface rust underneath on the unibody platform. I scraped the worst looking spots off with a knife. It appears to be solid under the flaking rust.

A small rusty spot under the battery.

One rear wheel well has a small spot of rust starting to show through the paint. The other side has a scrape behind the back door.

I can detect the smell of coolent, but don't think it's a bad problem. Oil still looks good after driving a couple of days.

I plan to post more about these things later.

For what gave, I think the flaws can be fixed and still be a good deal.

Overall it is a great looking car

One thing I just noticed that has me concerned. I cannot see the VIN number and will have to get a out of state vehicle inspection.

[HemiLonestar]

How can you not see it? Even if the dash tag is hard to read, there's still a door jam sticker with it, like so:

[wjbzone]

Thanks HemiLoanstar. Hadn't looked there. Sure can't see the dash tag.

[dyeman64]

be careful with the coolant leak. Overheating these early 5.7s can be deadly. The valve sets have been known to drop into the cylinder causing lots of damage. Aluminum heads and steel valve seats...a common change is to replace the stock thermostat with a 180 degree unit and adjust the fans to come on sooner