Manufacturer Buyback, I need some advice.. Options

[Jen]

I have been driving my mother's Avalon for the past 5 months. She now wants it back, and I am forced to trade in the Z. =(

However, the car I am very interested in purchasing is a manufacturer buyback. Which is in short, a car that was bought back from the consumer because there was something wrong with it that could not be fixed after 3 times. The problem on this car was a mechanical problem.. in which they ended up replacing the entire engine. It has a 12 month, 12k mile factory warranty on it. I have the option of buying an extended warranty if I choose to.

I've been doing some research and some people are saying stay away, as others are saying it's an excellent deal. But I could run into problems if I were to trade this car in further down the road.

I'd really like some input on this.

It is a very good deal from a prestigious dealership that only sells exotic and luxury cars. According to them most of their lot is manufacturer buybacks.

This is the best price I could find for this type of vehicle with low miles. Most of the ones in my price range have very high mileage.

Advice, comments, questions? Help? I didn't know where else I could turn. =)

Edit: This has all been documented, and the carfax is completely clean except for this.

This post has been edited by Jen: Mar 29, 2010 - 8:56 PM

[Jen]

According to the buyback documentation, the only issue was the engine had been making a clunking noise.

[Bitter]

According to the buyback documentation, the only issue was the engine had been making a clunking noise.

does it have an external oil cooler like part of a hauling/towing package or anything? it sounds like the engine just up and failed like a bad bearing or broken rod. the reason i ask about the oil cooler is because that should have been changed because it would have been contaminated by metal debris from the bad engine and could have done or be doing damage to the new one. i'm not familiar enough with the pathfinder to know if it has an oil cooler or not.