Should I buy a car with a replaced engine?

It's my friend's car. He's moving to Japan, so he wants to sell it. It's a 1997 Ford Mustang. It had 248,000 miles. Does replacing the engine reset the miles?

He replaced it because it was out of water and a valve broke. He said he'll sell it to me for $1,500.

Replacing the engine only resets the miles on the engine. Everything else has over 240k miles on it, like the transmission, shocks, electronics, drive train… If the transmission is an automatic (and original), then then 240k+ miles should be a big concern.

If the engine is a 6 or 8 cylinder, then you have to consider the cost of gas. The EPA (miles per gallon) on a mustang (V6 = 18/27; V8 + 15/24). And that is for a brand new Mustang.

Also, see what that model/year goes for on craigslist.

There's no reason not to buy it IF-----the price is right-----you have the rest of the car checked out by a mechanic for things like transmission operation, suspension, brakes, electrical system working properly etc. At 248K miles a lot of these things might have been already fixed also.

The car still has 248k. And for all you know the replaced engine was used and had 300,000 miles on it.

If its not under warranty, it doesn't increase or decrease the value of the car. (Assuming the same engine was put in)

No, because usually it means the car was worn out and in a bad condition.