stann01

its a 96 n reg. in white.
clean bodywork, stainless from front cat, k&n, some cheap vta. remap needed??? boot compartment smelt damp sti6 spoiler leaking through one of bolts. custom scoops on bonnet (not too keen on these).

looked at it the other day and asked him to start it up.
its at a small garage.

i have owned 5 classics in the past and had to have a look at it,
when it was running the fumes from the car did not smell right.

went back today to have a closer look, oil on the dipstick was black,
do not know when it was last changed as there is no history with the car.

opened the coolant tank and there is none in there!!
squeezed the pipes and no squishing sounds at all so presume there is no coolent in it at all

was walking away and the garage owner called me back saying its a lovely example!!
i expressed my findings and concerns and he said has not got a clue

i said maybe head gaskets to which he said we will look at it fill it with coolant and if i went back tomorrow could take it out and give it a rant

he said if they failed when bought they would cover those sort of things in the warranty.

would need to trade my bmw 325i + £200 and tax is out on scoob end of this month.

OPINIONS?


i so need another scoob in my life ! its been nearly 4 years without one

Raptorman

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a lot of problems waiting to happen, what's
it priced at?

I would doubt they would cover the cost of a rebuild
if it goes bang.

stann01

£1695 said he would give £1500 for my bm, i only bought it for £900 !!

smiffywhu

Get ya ***** out and do it Stan!!

(Please don't sue me if all goes wrong)

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

It's probably the end tank of the radiator that's cracked, have a look with a torch down the sides of the radiator (usually the drivers side that goes). I've changed loads of them with broken rads.

People do make me laugh though, you'd think they'd actually check when selling a bloody car.

I've got serious mechanical sympathy and wouldn't even let an old banger go unserviced.

I went to look at an Impreza for a mate a while back, had a similar thing with that one. Checked coolant, nothing in the header tank, radiator was cracked. Then dipped the oil and there was just a tiny dab of black oil on the end of the dipstick. The guy'd had it over a year and never serviced it, was last done months before he bought it too. He'd probably never lifted the bonnet. And people wonder why the bottom ends go! Especially with no oil and the ability to corner hard!

Then you get the newbie on here with the whole "just bought a scooby and bottom end went on the way home" like it's unreliable because they've "just bought it" when in reality it probably had no water and oil in it and they've just max'd it out on the way home.

stann01

the dealer has no knowledge of impreza's at all !!!

i had a wrx that had a rebuild at a.p.i and do not want to get caught again!
not long after the rebuild the rad blew on the side, (why do they put plastic on the sides?)
replaced the rad, few weeks down the road the head gasket went :-(

love the power just don't like the expectation something is going to go wrong !!

stann01

do you think the price is good or not >?

Raptorman

iTrader: (1)

Seems a bit rich to me with the known problems.

stann01

^
when taking into account of what i got the bmw for + the £200 the scoob is only costing around £1100 ish.
the no coolant could be something or nothing, will find out tomorrow !!!

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stan...tml?sort=3&o=0
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stan...tml?sort=3&o=1

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

those wheels and tail lights - oooooeef

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Not exactly an excuse for the car being up for sale with no water in it, it's a very basic check regardless of what make or model of car.

It's also a bit worrying that he was keen with the whole "if the head gaskets go we'll fix it" probably because he knows he'll get the sale and if it packs up you'll have one of those brilliant cheap dealer warranties that don't actually cover anything.

I'd personally take my time and buy one that's been owned a while by an enthusiast that's looked after it. That one looks like it's been owned by a chav with the look of it and sounds like it's not been looked after. It's a big headache waiting to happen in my opinion.

Dirk Diggler 75

Spot on ......

stann01

the wheels ect are not my taste either but they can be changed......
he is a local dealer that has been there for years so won't leave ect.
i don't need a headache lol so think it was worth looking at but that's it !!!

stann01

hi guys, he seems to have a problem!! he realizes hes been shafted by former owner!
and may sell it to me with suspected head gasket fault. (waiting to hear from him after his mechanic does a sniff test.

question is what would be a reasonable price to pay if i wanted to go down that road.....
i have done a head gasket before..... so won't be an issue.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

For god sake walk away!

Why are you even considering it? Plenty more out there.


Sounds like he hasn't got a clue and is just blaming his lack of proper checks on the previous owner. You found the faults, why the hell didn't he?

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Who's to say that after you replace both head gaskets, the engine doesn't spin a shell due to lack of oil? Sounds like it needs thousands spending on it, so as it is, it's worth the square root of **** all. May be offer him scrap money and then break it.

stann01

your showing too much common sense for a sunday lol !!

it's only an option and just pondering.

Dirk Diggler 75

Personally I wouldn't even consider it, listen to Gear Head and walk away .....

stann01

common sense is working!!

after 5 classics my next one is deffo going to be a newage sti, just missing the fun ...;-)