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Catman5442	I hope to buy a Prowler in the next several months and wonder what problems I can expect to have with OEM parts on the vehicle(I.E. which ones are short lived), replacement parts (hoses, etc.)and also what to be careful of when buying a super low mileage Prowler. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance for your time!!
idive	Replacement parts are dwindling, but many are stepping up to the plate and offering after market solutions to many things. You can expect parts supplies to reduce on these cars as they are out of production and were limited production when made. Lower radiator hoses are no longer being made, but Jan is working on that. Make sure all recalls have been performed. Just call a dealer service department with the VIN# and they can tell you. Low milers can either be a blessing, or a problem, depending on how it's been cared for. And "low mileage" is different from person to person. We all can agree that 90 miles is low mileage. Some consider 5000 still low mileage. Some say anything under 10K miles on these cars is low mileage, and others yet may consider even 15K miles low. If the car has not had miles put on it, it still may be well cared for. Maybe they started it regularly, maintained it regularly, and kept fuel stabilizer in it. Just starting it and letting it run for 5 minutes isn't necessarily good. It doesn't run long enough to burn off the condensation buildup. Running it for 15 or 20 minutes (without driving it) would be better. There's also nothing wrong with putting 50-100 miles on the car in a months time. Generally speaking, 1500 miles a year is acceptable (high end) mileage for a collector car to maintain it's value. For the most part, these cars are all alike, with some minor changes thru the years. A softer suspension was made for 2000 and up. One year they added a computer to the rear view mirror and auto volumn added to the radio. In late 99 they started having chrome wheels. The wheels pitt and peel on them, unlike the painted wheels. The chrome center caps also seem more brittle. I have never heard of a painted center cap breaking. Other than that just pick your favorite (available) color. The 97 had an iron horse with 214 horses and the rest are aluminum blocks with 253 horses. Don't let that deter you from a 97 tho. I put mine on the strip against 1buddyc's 99 in 04 and it was a good even race. I'll admit he took the flag tho. There's another 97 out there, spoons, and he runs pretty fast times with his 97. IMO, I have noticed that for some reason, the 97's don't experience most/many of the issues that the following years have. (I'll get flack for that comment.) I have 2 97's. One with 22K on it, and one with 6K on it. If you're interested in it, I'll part with the 6K mile 97. All Stock, brand new optima battery, well cared for, and no issues. I hate selling it but I need the garage space back and I could also use the money. Good luck and welcome to the POA.
spoons	The 1997-1999 seem to have less issues because the suspension is not upgraded (2000+). The 1997-1999 do have a propritary Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) which can be changed for $500. The 2000+ models have the passenger air bag shut off and trip computer in the rear view mirror. Just make sure the Chrome wheels are not flaking...if they are run. I guess it comes down to what color you want?
SHOW CAR	quote: Originally posted by Catman5442: I hope to buy a Prowler in the next several months and wonder what problems I can expect to have with OEM parts...and also what to be careful of when buying a super low mileage Prowler. Unfortunately, it seems it's fairly likely the OEM hood lift supports either have failed or will fail --- even if the car is a super low-mileage vehicle. The consequence of that is that after opening the hood, it will come crashing down on your head, your hands, or whatever is under the hood at the time of impact. My OEM hood lift supports failed some time ago, despite seldom having been used on my owned-since-new, low-mileage Prowler (now with 3,200 miles on the odometer). I suggest not bothering with purchasing new OEM hood lift supports, because there is a better, but still simple solution. Purchase a set from Lift Support Technologies instead, as I did, after reading the recommendations of others on this forum. The hood lift supports of that Canadian company ( http://www.lstechnologies.ca ) are easy to install and well-made. And now, for the first time in years, the hood of my Prowler stays open after raising it.