How 'bout this one?

OK, I'm throwing this one open to you all......
'Fox and I have been going back over this one for a couple of days.
Wagon's in Albuquerque, NM, being sold by a small-time dealer who picked it up at auction. Story goes that previous owner donated it to a place in San Diego, although the wagon seemed to be in the Albuquerque area its whole life. Odometer (supposedly) shows only 41,xxx miles, and I ran a Carfax which sort of confirms that. Not many entrys. First entry was at 35,xxx in 1996, so I'm thinking it could have gone around once in the first 6 years easy. Trouble is - absolutely no 'official' entrys in the 'system' for that whole period. Interior looks excellent. Body has some minor issues. I've got a bunch of pics. Here are the ones that show something....






$3,950.........

 

Am I being overly suspicious in thinking nobody would 'donate' a 41,000 mile wagon like this? I looked up the previous owner's address on Google Earth - just a rather ordinary middle-class neighborhood in Albuquerque. Nothing special.

 

What was the organization it was donated to? NPR?
Liberals love to donate stuff to NPR, even good wagons. It just MAY be as good as it looks.

 

A lot of older people get talked into donating their cars to charity. Maybe the person no longer drove and just did that. Sure looks nice and has almost $40 worth of fuel in it.

 

What model year is it?

 

Isn't that sad... since I noticed that too!

 

Some people do donate if they go to trade in and the dealer tells them their old boat is only worth $200 and will go to scrap because nobody will buy it. They figure something good will come from it donating plus the perk of a write off.

Also could be family thinning their parents/grandparents estate to move them to assisted living.. never know.

I'd be suspect of the mileage.. however the steering wheel is leather and looks wear correct for year/mileage?

 

There is a guy locally that buys high end estates and has told me in person on more than one occasion that he would rather donate older cars to the highs schools than mess with selling them. I have tried buying two different cars from him.

I do not believe the mileage based on the steering wheel and driver's seat.

 

It's an '89.
I can undersand the seat - no rips or tears, and it looks like sweat stains - typical for New Mexico i would think. The steering wheel looks sun-baked, and maybe some sweat stains there as well.

Donated organization was 'Charitable Auto Resources' in San Diego.

 

The leather on the driver's seat doesn't look too bad; it looks like the seat back just needs to be cleaned, while the seat bottom could probably be improved dramatically by dying the cracks and cleaning/conditioning. The leather steering wheel cover should probably be replaced, but that isn't particularly unusual on a car of this age.

It's hard to say if this is a 41,000-mile car or a 141,000-mile car, based on the photos.

 

I posted up only the pics that showed issues. The rest of the pics are routine stuff.....

Take a close look at the right side pic. Check out the trim line about 3" down from the top of the woodgrain......

 

I'd vote for 141K based on the steering wheel. I have a 1985 Riviera with 99k miles which still has the original factory leather-wrapped steering wheel, and it looks quite a bit better than this one.

 

I would look at the carpet around the "dead pedal " The brake pedal , gas pedal , all signs of excessive wear. Good luck , still looks good for the money.

 

Really doesn't matter about mileage or price , it's all about condition. Who cares if the owner gave it away for free or sold it for a Million dollars. All anyone should be concerned with is the condition and what you plan on doing with it based on that. Good luck if you like it , buy it ! it's your money , not ours

 

Its hard to say by that alone. The New Mexico sun can be brutal on things like steering wheels and dash pads.