Wet black stuff in the exhaust is normal for a car that has been sitting, especially over night. Carbon naturally builds up in the exhaust due to the combustion of gasoline. As a car sits, moisture can build up in the exhaust system as Condensation when it cools. This moisture can loosen some of the carbon and soot in the exhaust and come out as a thin, black liquid. The moisture should go away after the engine reaches operating temp. If it doesn't, you have bigger problems.
Oh and to "?", it is generally a bad idea to let gas get under 1/4 tank. Condensation can build up on the sides and ruin injectors, the rail, and rust through the tank.
I wouldn't buy this car because you don't need a special tool to get off an oil filter. The tool he is talking about is called an "oil filter removal tool" and they are cheap, less than 10 bucks. Oil filters are just hand tightened, you don't need a tool to take it off or put it back on, it screws on. If you don't have one of those tools and need it because the filter is too tight you can just use sandpaper in your hands to get a good enough grip to get the filter loose. Heck you can even stab a screwdriver into the side of the filter to make a handle to turn it.. your replacing it every oil change anyways, it doesn't matter if you destroy it taking it off.
I would not buy this car from this guy because hes been doing a lot of the work himself and clearly does not know what he is doing. you cant trust that all his maintenance and repairs hes done himself has been done right. you already know he cuts corners, he admitted to it. you NEVER change oil and leave the old filter on there. He skipped the filter because hes selling the car and wont have to deal with all the damage caused by improper maintenance. you have no way of knowing if hes even been doing proper oil changes at the right intervals.. heck that filter could have been left on there for 10 oil changes for all you know.
Oil sloshes around. When the car was on an incline and stayed there for awhile its normal for it to not be on the dipstick, it was all settled into the back of the pan. The dipstick does not go all the way to the bottom, it goes just far enough to tell you when there is enough in there and maybe 2qts short before the level drops low enough it wont read on the dipstick, Still would not buy this car.
What you need to do is find a huge SQUARE numb nuts that is sooo square he gets all his maintenance done at the dealership and is sooo square with cars that hes scared to let his gas go below a quarter tank. I guy that really goes out of his way to avoid living on the edge. That's the type of guy I bought my 07 Toyota from.
Oh, one more tip since you're looking at cars. Open and close all the doors, the trunk and the hood. If you have to bump them to get them to close, it means the car has been in an accident or has been jarred badly at some time. The doors, hood, and trunk lid are indicators of this because once those things are knocked out of place or taken off, its impossible to get them lined up right again. Don't buy that car.
The right tool is your HAND.
And listen to "?", she knows something.
Sounds like a personal problem.
Was looking at a 2005 sunfire today, 2.2 motor. I am a girl and no almost nothing about cars.
The car was parked on a slant driveway, my uncle took out the oil dipstick and it was dry. Drove the car onto an even ground on the street, dipstick was wet.
Oil was apparently changed a month ago, hasn't been driven since.
It was a goldenish color with some black in there (the guy hasn't been able to change the filter because he doesn't have the right tool, so apparently it might be black because of the dirty filter)
everything was good, engine sounded good, no smoke, no smell, nothing.
Uncle put his finger in the exhaust (or muffler or whatever it's called) and there was some wet black stuff on his fingers.
He said it worried him, but never told me what it could be.
What could cause this??
