edited June 2017, added part 2 below
List of things I'd look for when considering adding an SRT-4 to my fleet:
It should be noted that I prefer stock, non-molested cars. That being said, use this list to slowly chip away at the price of the car YOU are looking at, to what is reasonable given the wear, mileage, etc.
First, show up unannounced in the morning (if it's at a dealership). That'll mean the car is still parked where it has been at least overnight, and if there's a leak somewhere, you'll be able to spot it. Don't let them move the car until you can check. If it's a private sale, and street / public parked, you can look too. I would advise against crawling around someone's property (and under their car) unannounced.
You're going to do a couple of things:
1. Suppress your inner child and be calm; you don't want to buy a wreck. Or do you? Then this list doesn't apply!
2. Take a good, hard look in, and around the car first.
3. Take it for a test drive, with a "half-way point" in mind where you can get out and check things.
4. Have time after the test drive to check things again.
Things to bring with you:
1. Tire pressure gauge
2. Flashlight (preferably a bright one)
3. If you have one of those "extendable mirrors on a stick", bring it along too
4. Some papertowels
The one thing to keep in mind is that there are lots of SRT-4s out there. The right one for you will come along, if you're patient enough. The urge to have one RIGHT NOW is not worth the frustration of buying something you don't expect to be problematic.
Initial walk-around
EXTERIOR: Take a long, slow walk around the car.
- Commemorative Edition ONLY - Commies are all stone white with blue PAINTED stripes. The stripes end on the trunk lid with rounded edges, and on the hood on either side of the scoop at a point. Google images is your friend here. Also, click on the link to view the known status of Commies by number.
INTERIOR: good indicator of how well the car's been taken care of. Is it a mess? Rest of the car likely is too.
- ACR ONLY - ACRs, if equipped with Viper seats, have ACR emblems and racing harness slots.
- Commemorative Edition ONLY - Commies have blue "SRT-4" logos stitched into the seats, on the upper headrest portion. Seat, steering wheel and shift boot stitching is also blue. They have a numbered plaque between the cupholders,and blue-embroidered floor mats. There's also a Commemorative Edition booklet that should come with the car.
Before starting up the car:
Starting up the car:
Test drive:
Test-drive halfway point:
Halfway through the test drive, pull over. Preferably on a highway pullout where you can get away from traffic noise. You should have gone WOT at least 2, 3 times for a good couple of seconds in third and / or fourth.
Leave the car running:
Get back in, drive back to the dealership:
Back @ dealership:
So, still want the car? If you're 75% or more sure you want the car... spend the $50-80 bucks and take it to a 3rd party mechanic for a quick once-over in addition to a carfax. When you're spending a couple grand, it's worth the headaches you may avoid.
Check the following if you intend to buy:
IMPORTANT!
Check black-book values for your area. There's Trade-in value, and current market price. Trade-in is what a dealership will give you for the car, and don't kid yourself - they won't pay a penny more. Modifications mean it's worth less than that. Sucks, but that's the reality. For a private sale, just because someone is into the car for $$$ more than market value doesn't mean you have to wipe their debt out to buy it. Beware low-mileage cars, they have a unique set of problems (odd oil change intervals, potential seal damage from sitting too long, etc.). Remember, these are not Ferraris. They are meant to be driven fairly regularly.
Hope that list helps - that's usually the list I run though when I'm looking at a used car, so I might have missed something or two off the top of my head. I'm much more thorough with something like an SRT. Buying the right car will save you stress down the road. Never be afraid to walk away from the car. If something feels / smells funny, it likely is.
Remember - YOU are in control of the transaction.
Disclaimer: This is in no way a complete list; only a suggestion what to look for. Trust your gut and your head over your heart and your adrenaline.
List of things I'd look for when considering adding an SRT-4 to my fleet:
It should be noted that I prefer stock, non-molested cars. That being said, use this list to slowly chip away at the price of the car YOU are looking at, to what is reasonable given the wear, mileage, etc.
First, show up unannounced in the morning (if it's at a dealership). That'll mean the car is still parked where it has been at least overnight, and if there's a leak somewhere, you'll be able to spot it. Don't let them move the car until you can check. If it's a private sale, and street / public parked, you can look too. I would advise against crawling around someone's property (and under their car) unannounced.
You're going to do a couple of things:
1. Suppress your inner child and be calm; you don't want to buy a wreck. Or do you? Then this list doesn't apply!
2. Take a good, hard look in, and around the car first.
3. Take it for a test drive, with a "half-way point" in mind where you can get out and check things.
4. Have time after the test drive to check things again.
Things to bring with you:
1. Tire pressure gauge
2. Flashlight (preferably a bright one)
3. If you have one of those "extendable mirrors on a stick", bring it along too
4. Some papertowels
The one thing to keep in mind is that there are lots of SRT-4s out there. The right one for you will come along, if you're patient enough. The urge to have one RIGHT NOW is not worth the frustration of buying something you don't expect to be problematic.
Initial walk-around
EXTERIOR: Take a long, slow walk around the car.
- Look for dents, dings, mis-aligned panels
- Check for flat spots in the paint
- Look for curb rash on the rims
- Check for missing paint on the brake calipers (may indicate wheel rubbing issues)
- Check to make sure the front underspoiler (long, thin, flat blade-like panel) is there
- Check to make sure the power steering cooling blade (smaller, blade-like panel) is there
- Open the gas cap flap, check for rust
- Examine the inner wheel wells, especially around the plastic liner, for rust / bubbling, and check for wear / rubbing from potential mad stance
- Check the tailpipe alignment; drivers' side carries most of the weight down that side of the car, and usually sags first
- Check for moisture in the taillights, headlights, and lift the trunk carpet / check the spare tire well for moisture, rust
- Check the spare; pressurized? Used?
- Is the jack present in it's little black baggie?
- Since you're in the trunk, check the top of the strut towers; has there been a strut bar installed?
- Check the VINs - they're stamped or on stickers on various parts of the car (drivers' door sticker, engine bay strut tower, etc.), make sure they match the one displayed on the dash and the paperwork
- Check the tires for uneven wear (should have even wear across the entire surface). If you have a tire-pressure gauge, bring it along and check the pressures. Stock size (or close to) should be around 32PSI. Check for wear if the tires are larger than stock size (205/50/17) from rubbing.
- Stand back and "eyeball" the alignment. Stock, the front tires should look fairly "straight up", while the rears have a slight tuck under the fenders. If the tire inspection above indicates odd wear, an alignment is in order.
- Check the ride height and ask about suspension mods. Compare the tops of the struts to the stock engine bay pic below (ACRs have adjustable suspension from factory, so they do differ). Aftermarket springs tend to shorten the life of stock struts if they've been installed later than the struts.
- Commemorative Edition ONLY - Commies are all stone white with blue PAINTED stripes. The stripes end on the trunk lid with rounded edges, and on the hood on either side of the scoop at a point. Google images is your friend here. Also, click on the link to view the known status of Commies by number.
INTERIOR: good indicator of how well the car's been taken care of. Is it a mess? Rest of the car likely is too.
- Use the fob, unlock all the doors (press unlock twice). Check that all doors lock / unlock. Pop the trunk. Try the PANIC mode.
- check the bolsters for rips, tears, mis-colored pieces from replacement or repair (repair will likely fail)
- Check the pedals for wear on the rubber nubs. While you're down there, check to see if the brake light wire has been re-routed in front of the clutch pedal instead of behind it. Over time, the clutch (if it's hitting the wire) will wear through it. If you buy the car, reroute this line.
- Check the boost gauge; OEM should be at zero with the car off, all dashboard needles should be at zero. If the OEM boost Gauge needle sits at "0" when engine off, then it should be around -20 at idle, swings to zero when you give it a quick throttle blip, then a brief drop to -25, then back to -20. If the needle is off from 0 when the car is off, it'll be off by that much when the car is running (so if it rests at -5, then the car will "seem" to idle at -25 vac, and boost only 9 PSI instead of 14 at WOT).
- Open the glove box and check the function of the trunk release. Congrats; you've already found something a lot of owners missed the first time around.
- Owners manual present? Service manual? '04s and up will also have some yellow single-sheet "additional information" notices. If I recall correctly, one is about a change in the oil viscosity, and the other talks about letting the turbo cool down for 3 minutes after "spirited" driving
- Open the center console and check for moisture, gunk, etc
- Lift the floor mats and check for moisture in the carpet. Sunroof-equipped cars have drains that travel down the A-pillars, and when they get clogged, it tends to leak into the cabin
- Check the movement (back, forward, tilt) of both front buckets. SRS (side-airbag) equipped cars will have standard Neon buckets with SRT cloth.
- Check that the door panels have SRT cloth inserts, and silver door pull handles.
- Check the sun-visor clips - these break often
- Check the sunroof operation (if equipped) - there's a how-to on the forums if it gets stuck / doesn't work. Two little steel pins may / may not become the bane of your existence for a brief time.
- Check the power windows - listen for straining / grinding noises
- Check if the "Check Engine" light is flashing - that may indicate the car was recently wiped of trouble codes
- Turn on the lights. Check for burned out interior lights; boost gauge should be white, rest of interior lights green unless modded (rev counter has red accents). Specifically look for dark marks on the light strips on the HVAC dials - this may indicate someone has splashed pop / liquid in the interior. Sunroof switch and drivers' window switch have little lights in them too.
- Check the fogs - listen for cracking from the steering column. Wiggle the light / fog switch - if it flickers, you have multifunction switch issues. There's a how-to on the forums here to replace it.
- Check the turn signals - a "fast / hyper" blinker on one side means a bulb is burned out.
- ACR ONLY - ACRs, if equipped with Viper seats, have ACR emblems and racing harness slots.
- Commemorative Edition ONLY - Commies have blue "SRT-4" logos stitched into the seats, on the upper headrest portion. Seat, steering wheel and shift boot stitching is also blue. They have a numbered plaque between the cupholders,and blue-embroidered floor mats. There's also a Commemorative Edition booklet that should come with the car.
Before starting up the car:
- Pop the hood, check the engine bay as well as the ground under the car for leaks, drips. Be on the lookout for any stains on the block - you're going to see if there's new deposits after your test drive. Leave the hood open.
- Check the top of the thermostat / relief valve housing. It's the bright silver (or black plastic if replaced) circle on the passenger side above the steering fluid reservoir. There should not be any coolant stains or drips around there. If there are, wipe them with your paper towel.
- Check the oil. Is it in the safe area? Is it light brown (recently changed), brown (used), or black (sweet Jesus)? Smell it - does it smell burnt?
- Check the battery terminals - lots of corrosion / build-up means the cars' been sitting a while, and the owner / dealership doesn't care about the corrosion.
- Pop off the "SRT-4" black plastic fuel rail cover. Take a look at the black injectors - '03 stock have a purple ring, '04s and '05s have a blue ring. Different color? Aftermarket. Also, this is a good spot to check the overall cleanliness of the motor and view the upper gasket seal for leaks. Also, '03s have schrader valves on the fuel rail, '04s and up do not. Keep in mind some early '04 builds have '03 components too (like the weaker '03 axles).
- Check the spark plug wires - especially number 4 over the turbo: white spots mean they've been heated / cooled quite a bit and likely haven't been replaced at the proper interval. The Mopar wires are straight for 1-3, but 4 has a right angle to keep the wire away from the turbo heat.
- Pop off the fuse box cover. Any rust / corrosion in there?
- If the car has a CAI, check to make sure the vac line harness (the black cylinders with 1-2-3 marked on them with all the vac lines coming out of them) is mounted securely. Zip ties do not count.
- Hold your flashlight up to the side of the coolant reservoir on the firewall, passenger side (stock location). Flip the plastic lid open and look for stains. Coolant should be between the Add marks, and there should be fairly clear, not murky.
- Using the stock engine-bay reference pics below, look for differences. Ask the dealership / owner on mods. If something looks out of place (like the air intake sensor dangling somewhere in the engine bay instead of installed on the stock intake or aftermarket CAI), call it out and ask why.
- Check the vibration isolators (commonly referred to, incorrectly, as motor mounts). There's one on the top and one on the bottom of the engine, both on the passenger side. The actual motor mount is between them. Stock mounts / isolators have rubber in them, after-market / solid mounts don't. A common mod is to put inserts in the stock mounts. If the rubber is cracked, you'll need new ones, and likely feel additional vibration from the engine when it's running.
- One (or both) of the wiper nozzles is likely broken, leaving the wiper hoses dangling from the hood. This is normal, and a regular PITA for SRT-4 owners. The short-short version is that the constant heat / cool cycle makes the plastic nozzles brittle, and they disintegrate. Neons, Calibers have the same nozzles; $10 at your local Dodge dealer, or $2 at your local wreckers. Keep spares along with zip ties in the glove box when you buy the car.
- Speaking of zip ties, check all the boost / vac lines. The infamous ones that like to misbehave are the red one that goes to the inter-cooler hose on the driver side (look straight down by the airbox), and the white line that gets kinked / bent / caught in the stock airbox on the drivers' side. Check this diagram from Modern for reference. The intake line is one I would suggest you zip tie well if you buy the car - this pops off, and you lose considerable brake assistance and have all sorts of wonderful engine issues while driving.
Starting up the car:
- KEY DANCE: Key in the ignition, turn key from off to on (without starting) 3 times in a row. This will call up any codes on the odometer. If there are codes, they'll cycle through, followed by "dONE". No codes, then just "dONE" will show. If you do have codes, jot them down and look them up here.
- Start her up. Starter should not chug, and since it's injected you do not have to give it gas.
- Boost gauge needle will wobble on startup
- Listen for a whine from under the rear, passenger-side seat. The OEM fuel pump is suited well to a STOCK car, but if it's been modded, be on the lookout for early failure. If it's loud before, during, or after your test drive, it needs to be replaced.
- Look for rough idle / smoke when at idle.
- Check that the heat / AC works (might have to let her warm up first).
- Power steering doesn't whine when moving the wheel back and forth.
- E-brake holds the car (doesn't roll).
- Get out and listen for "odd" noises. The engine will tick a little - normal for SRTs. But you shouldn't hear belt noises (squealing), grinding, obvious leaks, etc. Check for leaks, drips in the engine bay and on the ground.
Test drive:
- Car goes into 1st, reverse without having to reach for a hammer. While moving, you won't be able to go into first until nearly stopped - this is normal.
- All gears upshift and downshift smoothly. 2nd and 3rd gear syncros are a common point of failure. Difficulty going into gear in all gears indicates a worn out shift fork.
- No clunking when going over bumps from front and back. Minor squeaks and clunks could mean something simple like bushings, or a strut's gone.
- Check for play in the steering wheel (it should not have a massive dead spot where turning it doesn't affect the wheels as an example). Steering wheel should be centered properly.
- WOT couple of times (when safe to do so!) after the car is warmed up (don't beat on it; just because you don't buy it doesn't mean the next person wants it beat on).
- Check brakes for good feel and response, no wobble in steering wheel when braking at speed. Listen for squeal.
- Watch the temp gauge - it should not stray more than a needle's width above or below the mid mark after she's warmed up, and should definitely NOT be in the red. If the temperature stays well below the half-way mark regularly, it's likely got a different thermostat than OEM installed.
Test-drive halfway point:
Halfway through the test drive, pull over. Preferably on a highway pullout where you can get away from traffic noise. You should have gone WOT at least 2, 3 times for a good couple of seconds in third and / or fourth.
Leave the car running:
- Check for leaks, drips, fire, explosions. Check engine bay and under the car.
- Listen for different noises compared to initial startup. There may be some extra fan noise, this is normal. Car has two fans, low-speed and high-speed.
- Turn interior vents on - check for burning smell. NOTE: Car may have sat for a while, and there may be some dust burnoff. You're looking for a mechanical burning smell.
- Turn the A/C on - this should automatically kick in the high-speed fan.
- Listen to exhaust at the back of the car - should not be any odd loping or misses.
- Fuel pump whine - is it louder?
Get back in, drive back to the dealership:
- radio off, AC / heat / blower off. Listen closely to the car, and for clunks / rattles. Repeat with with your window (and possibly passenger window too) down.
- Granny drive - shift at low revs, avoid blowing off (if the car has an external BOV). Ensure all gears engage properly, no odd noises / grinding.
- Apply brakes, listen for squealing, steering wheel tugging back and forth.
- Once warm, car should idle at about 800RPM.
- DO NOT WOT. You want the car nice and cool so you can shut it off without excess heat as soon as you get to the dealership.
Back @ dealership:
- Car still running OK? Did it throw a check engine light? If so, do the KEY DANCE below and check the codes on the intarweb.
- Listen for fuel pump whine before you shut the car off.
- Turn the car off. Listen for odd noises. You will probably hear the engine ticking, and a distant gurgling noise. The gurgling is the coolant. It should not be bubbling noisily and overflowing.
- Check for codes - key in while car is off, turn key from off to on (without starting) 3 times in a row.
- Pop the hood again. Check for leaks, drips in the engine bay and on the ground. Remember the stains you looked for earlier? Check to see if they're damp with a new deposit.
- Check the oil again - does it smell burnt?
- View the coolant cap / thermostat housing - any new coolant deposits? DO NOT OPEN HOT!
So, still want the car? If you're 75% or more sure you want the car... spend the $50-80 bucks and take it to a 3rd party mechanic for a quick once-over in addition to a carfax. When you're spending a couple grand, it's worth the headaches you may avoid.
Check the following if you intend to buy:
- remove the intake pipe from the turbo (when cold! COLD! Overnight / several hours cold!) and check the turbo for play. Basically, grab it and wiggle. Using a flashlight, check for chips on the fins, and oil residue too.
- while at your mechanic, check the underside of the car. Often overlooked, it can tell you a lot that is not plainly visible on a quick inspection.
- for the love of god, get a Carfax and do your due diligence by having a 3rd party mechanic check it out. There are accidents that go unclaimed that people repair "off the books", so a clean Carfax may mean jack squat. Nothing wrong with accidents - but that affects the value of the car, and how much you should be paying for it. Rebuilds do not command top dollar.
IMPORTANT!
Check black-book values for your area. There's Trade-in value, and current market price. Trade-in is what a dealership will give you for the car, and don't kid yourself - they won't pay a penny more. Modifications mean it's worth less than that. Sucks, but that's the reality. For a private sale, just because someone is into the car for $$$ more than market value doesn't mean you have to wipe their debt out to buy it. Beware low-mileage cars, they have a unique set of problems (odd oil change intervals, potential seal damage from sitting too long, etc.). Remember, these are not Ferraris. They are meant to be driven fairly regularly.
Hope that list helps - that's usually the list I run though when I'm looking at a used car, so I might have missed something or two off the top of my head. I'm much more thorough with something like an SRT. Buying the right car will save you stress down the road. Never be afraid to walk away from the car. If something feels / smells funny, it likely is.
Remember - YOU are in control of the transaction.
Disclaimer: This is in no way a complete list; only a suggestion what to look for. Trust your gut and your head over your heart and your adrenaline.