It has been almost a year since I sold my last fd, and I'm looking to get into another. Anyways, today I went and looked at a 1993 VR touring, w/ black leather. The interior and exterior is in awesome shape. Car looks to be dropped a bit, not sure what the suspension is, nor did the seller.

He just bought it from an auction and knows nothing about rotary motors. There is roughly 83k on the odometer, and he claims to know nothing about the motor being replaced. I fired it up and noticed steady accelerated warmup, then dropping down to about 800-900 rpm. Rich smelling smoke cleared up within 5 minutes. I checked to see champagne bubbles in the coolant tank....none. I pulled the throttle cable a bit and noticed a strange sound coming from the turbo area followed by a steady flow of smoke and burning oil smell. I knew these were probably toast.

I mentioned it to him, but he didn't seem bothered by it and insisted I take it for a test drive. The tranny felt sloppy, but it didn't have any grinding problems, and like I said, there was NO BOOST!. The thing drove like I was pulling a boat anchor behind, and eventually I could smell the turbos through the vents. I turned the AC on and it didn't blow very cold, so I'm guessing it needs a recharge. I could hear the compressor kick on, but immediately the car started to limp a bit. I have no idea what this meant, so I parked it.

Here is the good, and bad layed out.

*the Good*
- nice interior, with the exception of a few pieces missing (triangles etc)
- everything electrical works fine, windows are a bit slow tho (cold weather)
- exterior is almost perfect, maybe one ding?
- good tread on tires

*the Bad*
- Unknown mileage on motor, visible signs looked okay, but I'm not a mechanic
- Smoke from turbo area
- Sloppy tranny (Perhaps linkage can be tightened?)
- AC needs recharged, and car tends to limp when turned on

He said he is willing to sell it as is for $9k, but he looked like he was in a hurry to sell it. He also mentioned the idea of getting it checked out, but if it's small I'm sure he would up the price. I'm interested in the car, but not sure what to do. Tell him I'll buy it for 8k as is and see if he bites? Or have it checked out and potentially pay more. OR RUN AWAY?!? Let me know guys. Thanks much!

 

almost forgot, 2 owners and clean title

 

i wouldnt buy it, seems like a bit too much work, you might as well wait, cuz from the sounds of it, it sound like that thing is pretty much a roller, and you can find a good clean roller for alot less, but thats just my .02

 

Inspect pretty much any FD and you will find many things wrong. With this car I would guess that you would find a huge array of problems and the chances of the owner being able to reduce his price after this inspection approximately zero. You would be loopy not to inspect the car. At the very lease, do a compression check.

 

for 8k sounds good to me.


At 8k the car sound like a good candidate for a rebuilt motor (if compression comes back sucky) with a single or upgraded twins.

As far as the AC is concerned: If any of those lines are bent then the car will suffer bad idle an and run a little crappy.

 

wow...i didnt even know that...

 

SAY WHAT?

 

Buy that sucker. The most money you will spend to get it in good condition is $5k. Probably not even that much.

 

Do you know of a shop with mechanics you can trust where you can take the car? If so, ask if you can take the car and get a complete inspection done (from bushings and suspension to motor).

Once you find out what has to be replaced you will be in a better position to know if you should buy it or walk away.

If he balks or insists on taking it to the shop for an inspection himself, walk away.

 

Sounds like a piece of crap. You'd be better off buying a roller from Fritz for less $$, and at least KNOW what it needs and be able to add in good parts.... you're paying a couple grand there for stuf that you basically know is bad.

 

unknown miles on the motor, F that

 

I have to chuckle at the wide differences in opinions...

Not inspecting the car myself, I would try to give you an estimate of what I would pay..

Just consider the motor on the verge of rebuild....you will need turbos....a fair amount of trouble shooting .... AC work or replacement...all that to get it back to stock-ish condition which can be had for maybe less than 12K if you bought another car. All that work could be $4000 in an instant.

Now what is your time worth?

I would be thinking in the $6500 range.... This car is going to have some surprises...

 

Do a compression check on the motor and see.

 

Like many people said get a comp check, even then if you buy it be sure to have some extra $$ around for a rebuild/reman