I need another vehicle and I really love the look of the Limited. A few years back I bought my wife a CX9 and almost bought a used Limited instead. Now I need a 2nd car and really wanted a good fuel economy car, but budget is tight and this fits the bill and I have 4 kids so I could use the room even in a 2nd vehicle.

The Limited I am considering has only 90k miles on it and appears to be in perfect order. I can get the SUV for under $6,000. My question is what is there to be concerned about with the Limited? What tends to go wrong near 100K? The timing belt and water pump have been changed. Tires in good shape.

According to KBB and JD Power reviews this model is built like a tank and the main common issue is the poor fuel consumption. According to most it gets about 15 mpg in both highway and city.

Thanks for any input.

 

I have an 06 limited. When driven with care you can do OK with mileage. As an extreme example, I got 24.55 mpg when we got stuck behind a slow car on a no passing road. We hovered from 45-55 mph. It was a highway so there was no stop and go. And it was an honest 24.55 mpg. As far as trouble, I've only read about the factory stereo woofer being bad. Mine needs replacing. I haven't heard or read about anything else. I came from an 07 Xterra and the Montero is head and shoulders better.

 

I have an 01' that I just purchased in July...I REALLY like it for highway driving, not so much on the curvy roads. I have 91K on mine and it runs great.

Rod

 

Thanks for the replies. Do you think it an extended warranty is a wise idea? I never buy them, but again never buy vehicles with 90k miles. This may just be a personal decision, but initially I felt comfortable without one due to the reviews about this SUV stating it was a tank with minimal issues.

 

I can highly recommend the Gen III. It has been an amazing vehicle for our lifestyle. We do minimal driving around town, and tons of back country/off highway driving where we camp with a family of four and a dog.

If you follow the specified OEM service schedule for your driving style, you should be good for years. I just turned 120k, and completed a major service- you don't want to get stuck with a broken timing belt in these rigs. They have zero tolerance, and broken t-belt will destroy your engine. Also changing the tensioner, pulleys, and bolts will keep the timing belt operating perfectly.

The handling issue that Montyman mentioned is easily solved by installing a quality after-market suspension.

The fuel consumption is the only fault that I can find.

Pull a Car-Fax on the vehicle to check the history.
IMHO, if you get a good report than I wouldn't go for the extended warranty.

Good Luck

 

I'm not a fan of the extended warranty. It typically doesn't cover what you need. But like you said it's a personal choice.

 

Looks like I lost the vehicle. I called the guy on Thursday and Friday. He was out of town till Monday night for the Holiday weekend. He told me to call him at 6pm on Monday, I did and he said it just sold. Nothing I could do.

 

Rinaldi,

If it helps, my '01 Ltd has 163k on it. Just had the belt done at 160k by Mitsubishi ($450). Don't bother with a warranty, the cars are near on bulletproof if maintained (oil etc).

At 90k miles for 5k, buy it next time, don't wait!

Good Luck!

 

Too bad, better luck next time.