Chrysler Repair: 2003 Chrysler Intrepid: evaluate for purchase, local used car lots, chrysler intrepid

Question
I know this is going make me sound naive... but I'm looking a replacing my current car (its a 1996 Eagle Vision) the last 2 years have been hard on repairs, but for the first time I have a few thousand in the bank, and can afford to replace instead of repair (this year is not looking good for repairs either    lol).

I went to one of my local used car lots (same place I bought the Vision) and they have a 2003 Intrepid (Vision & Intrepid are basically the same car).  It runs nice, very quiet and looks to have been well maintained.  The only problem is the mileage... 318,000 km or 197,000 miles.  This car was obviously well taken care of inside and out.

I  do intend to have it looked at by a local mechanic before making a serious offer on it, but I would like to know, given a good maintenance record, what kind of life can one expect from a 6 yr old vehicle with 200,000 miles?
I realize you don't have a crystal ball, and anything can happen once I drive it off the lot and it is mine.


Answer
Hi Tony,
The best way to start the evaluation is to do a fault code readout of both the engine and transmission controllers. Then inverstigate the implications of the codes. If the transmission is original and not been opened and rebuilt, then I would be concerned that it will need to be soon. When new these transmissions were usually in need of rebuilding at 150,000 miles so it is on 'borrowed time' I would suspect. Also you would want to know about the miles on the timing belt sense it was replaced (for the 3.2/3.5L engine) and if it is the 2.7L engine you would want to evaluate the condition of the internal cooling and oiling systems of the engine because that one has a reputation for internal clogging up in the engine proper which may have been emiliorated over time but I don't know for sure where things stand for the '03 model year. You might do very well to go the local library and check the April issues of Consumer Reports magazine and look up the frequency of repair records from '00 through current to see if there are some relevant trands for these three engine/transmission combinations.
The mechanic can of course due a lot of evaluation of the compression situation and the running gear/electrical/cooling system etc. Those would be how I would approach such a purchase.
Roland