Considering buying a GSL-SE
 

Yesterday I saw a GSL-SE for sale pretty close to where I live and I stopped to take a look. It's an 84 with 169K miles on it and an absolutely perfect body. I talked to the brother of the guy who owns it and he said it was owned by an older guy who wanted something newer.

My question is this. How much should I offer him? I checked KBB and it listed a price of $1030. I do know that KBB doesn't know shit from shinola, but I figure it's a relatively decent gauge of market value.

2nd Question...how many miles can I expect out of a GSL-SE engine? I know engine life can vary in extremes, but I'd like to get an idea of how long the current engine will last me if I don't drive the car to hell. I of course will get a compression test done, but as long as a GSL-SE engine is a bit more reliable than say a 3rd Gen engine, then I'm sold.

It's obvious I don't know shit about 1st Gens. :-D

quite a bit of miles...however, if well taken care of, you can get 200,000 or so, but in my opinion, the engine is on its last leg. make sure the car runs well (of course), check for leaks, especially the dowell pins. If it leaks there, the engine may have overheated and that is bad. check the oil cooler for leaks. if it leaks , you may be able to do a fix for it that can cost 40.00, but if not, to replace an oil cooler 350-400. bucks. Check all the normal wear and tear items and figure what you will have to put into it. If it is real nice and it all looks pretty good, I would offer 1100.00 , but not much more ...if it were me...The miles are really a killer in my book...I recently paid 1500.00 for a 84gsl-se , leather seats , and real nice...paid $1500.00...that might give you a gauge on your offer to this guy...

Which Trail to Take?
 

Well Zach, let me tell yuh....

That's a lot of miles, and that's just the engine....There's the cooling system, exhaust, brakes, clutch, trans, every bushing in the suspension, shocks and struts....Truth is if you like to work on cars, and love rotaries, this car sounds like a good foundation.

I've been refurishing mine little by little for 3 years as it was good foundation. Did front suspension rebuilt, new brakes rotors, bearings, clutch, master brake cyl, and power booster, new driveshaft, radiator, and POR 15 the undercarriage. Many other small fixes, but 'ol Silver has 188 k on original engine, and still pulls super hard.

So, if yuh like 'er, and wanna go restore, get 'er. Offer $1,500 for 'er, but get stubborn if he wants more....

That Retro-Cowboy,
Denny:D

Oh, if you don't want 'er, let me know. She may be well suited for my corral....

Man, i wish i could get my hands on a SE.

one of my friends bought a gsl-se in high school with 160 somthing thousand miles on it. it now has 250k on the original engine, and it runs the same as it did 10 years ago. the only thing its needed was transmission bearings (180k) and a radiator cleanout. i have another with 183k on it original everything, and it smokes a lot, but its beat

mike

My biggest concern is that to buy this car, I will have to sell my 94 Protege which is my daily-driver. See, I want to get back to driving an RX-7 daily, but I want to be able to count on the car to get me to school and work. I do know that an 18 year old sports car with 169K on the clock is not the most reliable vehicle out there, but as long as it starts up regularly and doesn't require a huge amount of money to keep it running (that's for my TII!) then I'm willing to turn a wrench to keep it going.

Anyways, I'm going to take it for a test drive in about an hour and if it drives well, then I'm going to see about getting a compression test done on it.

Who knows, I might start becoming a regular of the 1st Gen forum. :D