So i went to buy this 1996 Blazer thats in amazing condition with 70k on the clock. I talked the guy down alot since it is a 96 so he went to his boss and the guy said ok but im taking my 3 month 3000 mile warranty off; and i said ok and told him i could come in last night to pick it up. well we get there and this sales guy is going over the paper work and everything is ok and he pulls out this paper saying under PA law i bought this car as is and i cant return it blah blah blah and listed below is what make this car FAIL inspection. so i was like ok but nothing fails right? since you did have a warranty on it before. and hes like umm... no it dosnt pass emissions. so after some talking i got him to get the owner of the car deal on the phone and he told me that he wasnt sure what made it fail but it could be a 02 sensor but he swapped the sensors and the not working oe worked in the other spot and the working on didnt work in the none working spot. So hes like ill get you the code tomorrow but it pisses me off that my sale guy didnt tell you this the other night and he felt really bad and all... so i really have an advantage to maybe get alittle more off on the blazer but i wont know for a few hours.

my question to this forum is: would you buy a 1996 blazer 2 door 4wheel drive in amazing condition that drove and looked fine but isnt inspected and might have a major problem with emissions for 3 grand?

 

Simple answer IMO...no.
I don't know a whole lot about emissions testing (we don't have it up here)..but it sounds like you'd be throwing money at something that may end up either costing you a lot to pass, or that you can't even drive because it's not passed. Especially 3k for a 96. I'd say run and find something else.

 

If someone pulled a stunt like that on me, I'd turn around and walk away. You would have bought that truck with that problem had you seen it.

02 sensors aren't cheap either.

 

yeah, I'm with Pat on this one. If he was an actual Dealer and pulled this on you...it says something about the business they run...

 

yeah its a big name dealer in the area. Ive been on the phone with the owner all day. He fired both guys helping me last night. and he said everything is perfect but the brakes just make it by inspection and the failed code is a P0154. Now he said he swapped the 02 sensors and it still failed even with one that was working.

Now this blazer is immaculate and owned by a lady and its stock as stock can be. So i dont really know what else could make that code come up.

 

I bought my '95 in GREAT shape with 104,000 miles for $2750.

 

Tell him you want him to throw in a new 02 sensor to replace the one that's failing. unless I misunderstood you and they swapped it out and it's still failing, if that's the case, I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole because there's another underlying problem there.

 

Walk away man.
Something is not right....just walk away and find another Blazer. I know it sucks, but it's not worth the headache it sounds like it would be.

 

They're $20, how is that not cheap?

 

I've sold cars in the past, and sometimes we're at the burden of the desk...aka the bosses who say yay or nay to the deals. Just tell them plain and simply that you won't purchase the vehicle unless it's repaired and passes emissions. I've sold countless cars to people that had a CEL light on, and we agreed on some arbitrary number that the dealership would agree to pay up to, say $1000 in repairs to get the CEL light fixed.

Being an OBDII car, there are probably 2-4 02 sensors, but the precat sensors are really the only ones that go bad. For example, i've got 4 02's on my BMW 740iL. The pre cat sensors read and adjust the the fuel mixture for the engine, while the post cat sensors are only there to confirm that the catalytic converters are actually present. Many have posted before that Chevy can use and ONLY use A/C Delco sensors, and that the Bosch sensors fail prematurely and/or fail immediately for some reason. Tell them that they if they wanna sell the car to you, or anyone for that matter, that this issue needs to be resolved. Tell them that at least you've gotten the assistance from Chevy forum members who deal w/ this stuff everyday, so our educated opinion is worth more than their Joe Blow mechanic who works on every car under the sun and doesn't treat them any different by using generic parts. They need to use specific parts, replace them and do it on their dime before you take this vehicle off their hands.

While BlaziNator may have purchased his car for a whole $250 less, it's also a year older and had 34k more miles. While the year may mean nothing to us, it means something to the dealerships AND the banks who finance you. I know that my other BMW, an X5, is the EXACT same engine, transmission, etc from 2000-2005, but prices will swing wildly due to the year difference, more so than mileages. If you're happy w/ the vehicle, the cost of them paying for the parts and labor (so your hands stay clean) could be well worth the price difference of what you're paying vs what Blazi paid.