Going to look at a 325 Sport tomorrow - any tips?!

[Adammcf]

There's a nice sport in the trader which Im gonna have a look at tomorrow.
The car doesnt have any rust apart from a small bit on the sunroof edge.
The car doesnt have any tax and he has lost the key fob for the alarm.

Apart from that it sounds good.

Just wondering if there's anything I should look out for on them in general?

Cheers!

[vroooom_ptssssh]

Dunno if these are common areas but check chassis legs are solid, corners of the boot and perticularly round the rear light cluster inside of the boot. not sure what else to check for on E30's

[Karan]

check rear arches and rear panel behind the plastic mtech valance

these all tend to rust

when i say teh arch i mean check it properly underneath

check wells in boot on sides to check for water, if it is wet its likely these areas are absolutely rotten


good luck theres not many rust free cars around, look at mine in the [pics section and see how clean that looks yet that had rust under the kit.....

Karan

[placey]

i think that viewing any car takes a little planning...

take a change of old clothes, a good torch, a decent length of steel bar, a jack (or ramps, a jack is better), a magnet and some cloths.

the general aim of the game is to find as many faults as possible - for you firstly and the owner to listen to secondly (for haggling purposes)

take everything i say from here on in generally.....

when you get there evaluate the owner and look in the dustbin(s) if you can. if the inside of the dustbin is clean then it's a pretty good guess that everything the owner has is looked after. rough owners sell rough cars.

first walk around the car and check all panel gaps carefully. walk away if any resemble a v. next crouch at each corner and check along each line of the car - look for true lines overall and panel ripples. walk if you see them. also check the car is all one colour at this point - walk away - i'm guessing you've got the hang of the walk away bit by now.

now jack the car up and in your change of clothes and with the torch carefullly examine the complete underside for rust, straightness, leaks and general condition. check the inside of the tyres and all rubbers for splits while there.

tyres are worth noting - 4 matching branded tyres shows a caring owner - non-matching worn out remoulds tells their own story.

go over any usual rust spots with your magnet (wrapped in cloth if good paintwork is present - the owner won't thank you for scratching anything)

if satisfied the car is straight and still made of metal then the interior and engine require consideration. the interior is easy - a visual inspection that everything is present and correct, matches and works as it should shouldn't take too long. the state of the interior should match the claimed mileage - drivers seat and pedal rubbers in particular.

now ensure the engine is cold. (ask this of the owner before setting off) let the owner start the car while you watch (at the same time!) the exhaust and the oil light - they should both go out pretty much immediately. excessive smoke of unusual colours mean trouble. once running take your long bar and place one end against all four corners of the engine in turn and the other against your ear - it's amazing how obvious anything untoward will be. nasty noises mean nasty bills soon.

if you're still interested it's time to drive it - aim for at least 30 minutes on all road types. make sure everything works as it should and no strange noises occur. it should heat up to around the half way point in around 5-10 minutes and stay there! don't be fobbed off by insurance worries or a stereo - you need to drive it yourself and listen to the car carefully.

when back at the owners house it's time to list every fault you've found and complain that all garage repair bills are outrageously expensive! then walk away and make them sweat for at least 10 minutes. if you want to buy it return and make a low but not insulting offer.... haggling started.

hope this helps. it took me over 2 hours to examine mine before i started haggling and i got 300 quid off. score!

paul

[vroooom_ptssssh]

Or ask placey nicely to go and view the car with you

[Guest]

Yeah, sheesh! Hope you never come to buy any of my cars Placey

[johnono]

yes placey

although it seems comon sense, i forgot most of that when looking at mine, although i did manage to ask some questions they werenԚ´t expecting

threw them right off and saved me 400 notes

check for leaks in the boot and under the floormats

[E30WEZ]

Got mine off ebay and did not go and look at it first just went with my gut feeling not let me down yet But then i am not about to sell it as it was a good one.Thing is if the owner has nothing to hide they will let you look at the car well, jacking it up etc,if they have something to hide they will not.When i sold my last car (Gsi cav)it had lot's of work done on it which i told the buyer about he still came with jack in hand and i had no problem with him checking he had been caught out before.But a test drive is a must tells a thousand storys.

[Adammcf]

Thanks for all the info folks!

Ive thought about it a little more and have decided not to go look at it. It all sounds too dodgy and even if its not I couldnt be arsed with the hassle of getting a new alarm fob and taxing it etc as I only taxed the Astra on monday for selling on wednesday.
I spent lots of late nights recently on it fitting new parts which were a pain in the ass such as the rear engine mount and CV joints. I want a car which needs no work.
I want to be able to just come home and spend a weekend cleaning and polishing everything to bring it up to the same standard as the Astra and not have to worry about fixing anything.


Any more info however will be great as Im constantly on the lookout now that the Astra is gone.

[mzmz]

adam hows it goin mate, its me LLW of KM, remember me with the red civic

[Simon13]

Adam you're never going to find an E30 you can just drive around and clean! there always a job that needs doing on these cars now!

[Adammcf]

adam hows it goin mate, its me LLW of KM, remember me with the red civic

Hello there! Are you still driving the 328?

Simon - I know what you mean. Normal repairs etc arent too bad but I dont like the sound of trying to get a new key fob for an alarm. It might work out to be straight forward but at the same time it could be the opposite and need a whole new alarm fitted. Plus the fact that the owner doesnt have it and the car has no tax is putting me off.
Im in no rush to buy so the right one will come along eventually.

[mzmz]

yeah still got the 328 and the red civic

ive got a e30 325 cab aswell, the one in the middle of my little pic.

[placey]

simon - mine is that very e30 he's looking for....

i forgot a couple of really important points too - check carefully that the logbook numbers match the engine and chassis numbers. check the numbers on the car for signs of tampering. check the centre section of the car on the underside for signs of cut and shut work (covered in the original post but worth a mention.) check the oil and water (all fluids in fact) for level and purity.

me and my father traded many cars when i was younger - we learned many hard lessons....

here's my favourite trick - when selling a motor have an assistant (missus or daughter is perfect) bring a landline phone out to you and say 'love, there's another call about the car - is it still for sale?' - as many times as not the buyer takes it there and then!

paul