Burnet oil on engine cap - Should I buy this car?

Hyundai i20 2014 (75,000 miles)
Uploaded here an image and video to let you hear the engine noise too.

Some say I should avoid this car, and some say it’s not a big deal. Need expert advice

That looping of a two second sound bite doesn’t tell me much.
I would be leery, engine may not have been serviced appropriately.
Have an independent mechanic examine the vehicle.

Walk away, the cap should be clean, this could be a sign of a head gasket leak.

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Walk away, there are better cars out there.

Pass up on that one!

If you need expert advice, pay for a prepurchase inspection by a mechanic you trust.

I agree with the others. Hard pass.

I also agree with @jtsanders that when you do think you’ve found a car you want to buy, get it inspected by a mechanic first. And if you’re looking at a dealership, don’t do what a lot of people do: Don’t let the dealership mechanic be the one inspecting the car the dealership is trying to unload on you. Take it somewhere else.

But in this case, I wouldn’t bother spending the money on any mechanic because you already know the car has problems. :wink:

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Me, I wouldn’t make a decision on that car until I’d see what under the valve cover looked like. That black substance appears to be oil sludge, which can be a sign the engine oil hasn’t been changed frequently enough. If that’s the case it will usually show up in spades under the valve cover.

If it looked ok under the valve cover and my own shop said “ok” after a pre-purchase inspection I’d consider this car though.

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I wouldn’t avoid this car because of the oil cap, I would avoid it because it is a Hyundai. If you still want the car, then get maintenance records and be sure it has been fully maintained. Likely it has not. You can only purchase these engines from the dealer, we have replaced a couple of them but have seen several in these years hauled off to recycle heaven.

And that would be silly because Hyundai is no longer churning out the junk boxes it was making in the 90’s. The modern Hyundai is a very good car.

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A lot of purchases are made based on perceptions, whether they are realistic or not. I watched an Auto Mundial episode last night, and they reviewed the Camry sold in Europe. They hated it: poor handling, unimpressive acceleration, ugly. With reviews like that, it’s no wonder that Toyota is close to pulling the Camry from the European market. Here in the US though, the Camry is much more desirable. Different priorities lead to different sales results.

Burnett Chrysler Plymouth used to be a big dealer in our area.

Burnet Burgers was a fast food joint in my area, but they apparently closed because too many of their burgers were “Burnet”.

:thinking:

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Have not said who these some people are . Asking for expert advice so they go to the web instead of a local auto shop . By the screen name they might be in the United Kingdom so the strict MOT inspections could keep this from being a wise purchase .

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