My boss is looking to purchase a new car for his wife. The dealer is offering him $3500 trade-in for her old car. He is offering it to me for the same price.
The vehicle is a 2002 Hyundai Sonata LX, 6 cyl blk/blk with 102K (mostly daily highway commute).
Body: Pretty good, no rust through and only two blistered areas by rear wheel wells. Front fender was replaced when she hit a raccoon. Small scrape on rear bumper.
Interior: quite nice, just minor wear as expected.
Maintenance: Some dealer, some indy, all records.
Tires are fairly new Hankooks.
Now, the questions.... there is a high-pitched noise when the brakes are applied. Seems to come from the right rear. I don't hear it when the parking brake is applied. I don't think the car has ABS. Any nasty surprises possible here? I can replace the rotors and pads myself, unless there is some factor I don't know...about $100 and a day's work?
Two, the "check engine" light is on. He says he's been told it's a code for the "fuel sensor". Something in the fuel tank. It's currently past due for inspection. Will I have a problem with NYS inspection since the light is on? I'm willing to buy an OBC-II scan tool, or whatever, to turn the light off/ identify the problem. Any thoughts?
My last car was an '85 Camry, my current car is a '92 Sentra. I just finished putting in exhaust, right control arm, rotors and pads in the Sentra and am able to do most repairs myself if I know what to replace. By my standards, the Sonata is positively luxurious and I don't mind putting some work into it. However, I don't want to play "replace $1000 worth of sensors trying to make the light go off". I am not familiar with Hyundai so I would welcome any advice as to this car's quirks.
PB