Another Taurus CV Boot Question

S

Samiam9

Guest
I am considering purchasing a 1988 Taurus for my 16 year-old daughter. The engine seems sound, but the seller says the CV boot on front driver's side has a crack. She thinks it needs to be replaced and thinks it will run around $50 to $100 parts and labor.

My question is whether or not it has to be replaced and if so, how soon? It appears not to be making noise when driving and she only wants $400 for it - there are several non-mechanical issues that wouldn't affect drivability, such as the back doors don't open from the outside, the a/c no longer works, the dash has an unsightly crack in it, etc. And it will need different tires.

I'm leaning toward getting the car - at $400 it seems to be a fair deal for a first car. My daughter will only be driving it in the town where we live - not on trips.

Thanks for any advice/feedback.

Samiam
 
That sound like a good deal. The shop might want to replace the whole shaft rather than just the boot. That might cost 200 - 300. You can do it yourself and save 100.
 
$50-$100 for parts & labor sounds real light to me considering you basically have to disassemble the suspension on the side that needs replacing to get the halfshaft out. It really isn't too bad of a job to do yourself, but a shop will charge well more than that I am guessing. You have a couple of options 1) either pay someone or replace the boot yourself or 2) they do make split CV boots that you can put on without removing the halfshaft from the car. I'm not saying the split boots are the greatest thing in the world or that it will last forever, but if you are just looking for a cheap fix then that is probably the ticket for you. I went through two on my Taurus before I sold it. A cracked or broken CV boot will over time let grease out of the joint and let dirt in which will ruin the joint. Better to replace the boot now than the joint later on.

What engine does it have? My '90 had the 3.0 v6 and ran like a top when I sold it with 215k miles. Either way $400 for a safe roadworthy car probably isn't too bad of a deal.
 
Back
Top