well i was looking to buy a 97 trueno bz-r as i said in my other thread (dunno if making a new thread is frowned upon but i kinda need help fast here)
the bloke selling it was the actual compliance workshop. he repeatedly said the vehicle was 'perfect' and i was welcome to get it inspected cos i wouldnt find anything. also apparently a 'friend of the family' was interested but they were overseas at the moment. well i almost bought it but decided to get an independant inspection done anyway... heres what it turned up...
first, and most worrying is that he thinks there is a coolant leak between the head and block, over the starter motor. said he could barely see it, but the aluminium was oxidised in that area and he thinks its leaking coolant as the inside of the head has begun to corrode... HRRRM
also the left CV boot is broken so i guess that means i could be looking at rebuilding the CV joints sometime soon?
one of the suspension bushes i think is broken too, tho he wasnt familiar with the superstrut system so it might have been an error on his behalf... he said soemthing about the wheel turning when he had the car jacked up...
said the valve train was noisy and you should assume you need a new timing belt since there is no service history. and idle was too fast??
and a bunch of other stuff, but i think he would have to get this all sorted to pass the pits anyway. including...
several oil leaks
no immobiliser
left stop light not working
spoiler light not working
left headlight not working
windscreen washers not working
and its had some spray work done...
SOOO... i think i will definately avoid this car, unless there is some unique feature of this engine that would make it look like the head had corroded and was leaking radiator fluid??
the rest of the stuff i guess i could live with...replace the broken boots and bushes and hope that it will come good? and some of it perhaps the seller was planning to fix before he took it over the pits, but this sounds like a serious engine problem!
and anyway, the car is pretty far from 'perfect' despite him insisting it had been fully tested, fixed up... he had a 20 page report of things that i don't understand to prove this!!
do you think he could have genuinely not noticed these problems or perhaps he was trying to flog me a lemon?? i agreed to buy the car depending on the condition report and registration. i think this is grounds to say 'no thanks' but should i trust this guy to get me another car? i kinda need to get back to him on monday at any rate...
and lastly... am i living in a fantasy world where a car this age will not have these problems? is this sort of condition to be expected?