2003 Sienna CE for $10500 with 95,000 miles...Good Buy?

[sienna716]

One of my friend that owns a use car dealership received a 2003 Sienna CE trade with 95000 miles. He knew that I needed a van and is offering it to me for $10500. Is this worth it? I check carfax and the car drove over 65000 miles from April 04 - June 05. The body looks great with no accident. I am just worried about the high mileage and $10 is alot of $$$ to buy a use car with 95k miles. The reason I am looking for a use van is because I park in the street and getting a new one is just too risky. The Sienna CE has the following options... (Power door locks, Power Windows, Driver / Passenger air bags, roofrack, rear Privacy Glass, steel rims with Hubcaps, Cruise Control, daytime running lights, power side mirrors and 4 captain chair.

One other question I have is I test the AC and its pretty cold for both front and rear, but when I turn the heat on, only the front vent blows the heat and the rear vents have no air blowing out at all...But when I turn the rear a/c control to cold instead of hot, then air start blowing again. Is this normal?

Can anyone give me any advice.

[wag]

Originally Posted by sienna716

One of my friend that owns a use car dealership received a 2003 Sienna CE trade with 95000 miles. He knew that I needed a van and is offering it to me for $10500. Is this worth it? I check carfax and the car drove over 65000 miles from April 04 - June 05. The body looks great with no accident. I am just worried about the high mileage and $10 is alot of $$$ to buy a use car with 95k miles. The reason I am looking for a use van is because I park in the street and getting a new one is just too risky. The Sienna CE has the following options... (Power door locks, Power Windows, Driver / Passenger air bags, roofrack, rear Privacy Glass, steel rims with Hubcaps, Cruise Control, daytime running lights, power side mirrors and 4 captain chair.

One other question I have is I test the AC and its pretty cold for both front and rear, but when I turn the heat on, only the front vent blows the heat and the rear vents have no air blowing out at all...But when I turn the rear a/c control to cold instead of hot, then air start blowing again. Is this normal?

Can anyone give me any advice.

$10500 is an excellent price for the 2003 Sienna! 95000 miles is not a lot of miles on a Toyota when you consider that they have to be mostly highway miles. Highway miles only put about 20% of the wear that stop-and-go city miles put on a vehicle. It is the warm-up cycles that wear a vehicle out mechanically, 95% of the mechanical wear occures in the first 5 minutes of cold start operation. But, the van still would had to have been properly serviced to be in tip top shape. PAY to have the van looked at by a professional that KNOWS Toyotas!!! Have him pay particular attention to any possible sludge build-up inside the engine! Have him also check the CV boots and brakes (if the pads & shoes are original you KNOW that the miles are ALL highway). If everything checks out OK, the bottom line is that you are better off purchasing a 2003 with 95k miles than a 2000 with 50k miles and you are MUCH better off purchasing a Sienna than any other minivan! It is not uncommon to see Toyotas go over 300k miles when carefully maintained and not abused, 300k miles won't happen with any other minivan (even a Honda) and with some makes you will be VERY lucky to get half of that!
You will need to replace the timing belt in about 10k miles.
The top vents in the back are A/C only. Heat for the back comes from ducts under the front seats.

[sienna716]

Thanks Wag for your reply. I had my mechanic check it out already and it seems to be ok. I purchased it this morning. Hopefully it will last a while. As for the vents, thanks for the heads up, as I was curious and hearing air blowing and can't find it where its coming from. I guess now, I just have to tune it up with fluid changes. Althought the engine is extremely quiet, what else do you guys recommend I do after taking ownership of a use vehicle. As for the timing belt, is it hard to change and about how much will the dealer or mechanics charges. I am also considering extended warranty....is it worth getting?

Thanks again.