I found a 93 5spd FD with 88K miles on it. It hasn't been modded or raced. If I were to go look at this car, what should I check that you all would consider to be problems at this stage in the car's life?



If the engine is bad should I expect the guy to give me a break?



I would appreciate any advice!

 

you want to maybe make a list and look at the following stuff:

look under the car, is it wet with oil?

does the suspension clunk when you drive it?

open the hood with the car hot, do you smell coolant? oil? gas?

does the second turbo come on?

does it grind going into 5th grear?

does it pull under acceleration, or braking?

look at the top of the fender where it bolts to the car, there should be two round pieces of tape covering the alignment holes, if there arent its been wrecked

look at the top of the bumper, there is an aluminum plate that holds it on, there should be no paint on it at all, if there is its been wrecked

how it the drivers seat? its anywhere from $200-$1500 to have it redone

any peeling on the matte plastic stuff inside, i little is normal



mike

 

Wow. This is invaluable information. Thank you!

 

no problem.



mike

 

With 88K miles make sure it has a new motor cause if the original the remaining life span is going to be somewhere between 10 and 10,000 miles. A rotory with 88K miles is fixing to die.



Does it smoke at all when you crank it up? If so what color? Does it smoke if you get the rpms up pretty high like 6K then take you foot off the gas (dont hit the clutch just remove your foot so the rpms stay up).



STEPHEN

 

Wow Mike, that IS some good info...

 

Thanks j9fd3s and SPOautos, I'm going to have a little chat w/ my dad so we can go look at it. I'm only 17 so it's more his decision than mine. Any ideas what the insurance will be like? I have a clean record and good grades.



I'm about ready to get rid of my SWEET Jeep Cherokee. Hehe.



One more question: if the engine is ready to detonate, how much does it cost to get it rebuilt? I honestly think the asking price of $9,900 is too much if the engine is blown.

 

17? I wish you good luck on your journey. The price w/ a blown motor would be more like 10k. Since it isnt blown, the car would sell for about 15-19k and insurance would be somewhere in the range of 350 a month (thats what i was quoted by USAA for a leisure car not even a daily driver) And im 19, with a clean record and good student. I recommend a TII untill you have enough money for it. Also, when something goes wrong (which tends to happen quite a bit with 3rd gens ... ) its very expensive to fix unless you do it yourself, and to do almost any engine work you have to pull the whole engine.

 

I was going to get one when I was 18 with a clean record and they said almost $400 a month thats why I got a 88 T2 $125 a month

 

my t2 is only $150 a year, but i'm old and its car number 5 (!)



mike