Got a 2006 Vibe with automatic transmission and 164k miles for $3800. New tires, exhaust, ice cold A/C, no rust, Very nice car except the engine seized up on highway 30 minutes into a trip to an inspection station last Friday. First, oil light started to flicker. Few minutes later a rattling noise at which point I quickly pulled over to the nearest gas station (5 minutes after I started hearing the noise). Oil level was almost full. Added pint of oil, started the car, surprisingly quiet, got back on the road and 1/4 of a mile later the rattling came back, instantly intensified and the car stalled right away. Local mechanic will get me prices for rebuilt engine with 3 year warranty and used 75k miles with one year warranty. Sounds like used engine might be a safer bet but I read that rebuilt engine could be as good as OEM. Any thoughts? Also why would the engine run like a champ during the test drive and a 15 minute trip home. Was the problem possibly masked by the seller's mechanic? Did the oil pump fail? $4k is a lot to swallow...not sure what to do honestly.
Update on the price- $5400 installed used engine 71k miles