Questions and Answers

Considering Buying A Chevy Prizm LSI Q. Dear Vince: Thanks a lot for your advise. Unfortunately, I received your advice after I got the car fixed. I paid $400.00 for diagnosis, part, used camshaft, labor, towing, oil change, new spark plugs and fixing one spark plug hat had crossed thread. God bless you for your help all the time.

I am thinking buy an used vehicle. Here is the story. I trust you and would greatly appreciate your advice on this. So here it goes. 2001 Chevy Prizm (Corolla TWIN) LSI, 4-Speed automatic transmission, 35,000 miles, P/S, P/B, P/W P/L, ABS and moon roof. I like this car. Asking price $7,250.00, my offer $6,500.00.

One problem. The car has solid "Check Engine Light" on all the time. The dealer is willing to fix it before delivery. However, in NH, the warranty on used car is 30 days/1,000 miles. From my knowledge, these "Check Engine Light" problems are notorious and can go away for a month or two and can come back if not diagnosed and fixed thoroughly.

So my question is what could be the most expensive problem to fix and price tag with "Check Engine Light" fault. As you can understand, my decision is based on this; hence I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Note that I am dealing with a Chevrolet dealership. What surprised me is they invited me to see and drive the car, which has standing "Check Engine Light" on.

Best Regards,
Naren

A. That is such a general question, there are so many things that can turn the Check Engine Light (CEL) on. But one thing you have to keep in mind is that not every malfunction will turn the CEL on. By law, only emission related faults will turn the CEL on.

But if I had to pick the most expensive item that would turn the CEL on would be the transmission. If it can not be repaired a transmission will run about $3,000.00 plus labor to replace.

A 2001 with 35,000 miles should have some factory warranty left. It would be worth checking into. Also, the 30 day/1,000 mile warranty is the minimum as set by law. You can negotiate a better warranty, certainly a one year/12,000 mile warranty is not a lot to ask for.

In any case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have your mechanic inspect it top to bottom and then see what code is stored in there. Who knows? Maybe someone left the gas cap loose and that is what turned on the CEL.