Nat

Do the keen eyes of Rennlist notice anything obvious and glaring that says, "Do not purchase this car?" Next to the clutch pedal, what's that dangling wire?

hawk911

engine looks "normal". The hanging sound material is normal. The wire could be the bonnet release cable, but it's hard to say without tugging on it to see what it's connected to.

YYC930

What is the stated mileage ?

At first blush.....I don't usually buy cars for sale that look like the inside of a dumpster. Man that thing is dirty.

From what I can see you have the rubber cover for the door buzzer missing.....someone installed an alarm or something, because there is a red light on the far left side of the dash that is not factory, always scary if the wiring was hacked by an an amateur at some stereo store.....the shifter **** has wear indicating high miles.....seat bolster needs to be dyed......aftermarket console of some kind in the centre console......it used to have a cell phone installed as well, you can see the plate on the passenger side of the center console......the back seats spent almost all of their life in the down position, judging by the wear marks from the seat belts on the side carpet......aftermarket stereo and speakers....K+N air filter (not good)......no distributor vent kit (not good)......that wire is not the hood release.....it is left over from something else.....the hood release is a latch on the left of the footwell and the cable is hidden.

All of this stuff is small.....but you had better get good pics......these are terrible.

joey bagadonuts

In the door jamb, there's a switch for the interior light: circular metallic trim ring surrounding a black plastic post. There should be a rubber boot covering this switch and isolating it from moisture and corrosion.

The dingy floor mat (over mat) isn't a good sign. When you sell something, you want it to look its best and confirm that it's been well-cared for.

Is that distributor vent kit installed correctly? (anyone?) I can't really make out where it connects to the distributor.

Back seating area looks great. What's up with the armrest/compartment, though? That's not Factory. There should be a cassette tape storage piece or empty tray. It appears to be an aftermarket cupholder.

What you really want is a picture of the engine underside. Especially around the cylinder heads. I wouldn't get on a plane until I saw that or else a receipt for a recent valve adjustment (within the last 15K miles). Just some evidence that the car saw some professional attention. I'm not getting the warm fuzzies, though.

joey bagadonuts

Looks like we picked up on the same things, YY930.

I would guess over 100k miles easily based on the amount of visible wear on the gear ****.

Nat

I appreciate the critique from all of you. I don't have the eye for such details but when I received the pics my first gut reaction was that this car is nasty. I won't bother getting a PPI. Pass.

joey bagadonuts

Probably the right move ... unless you're looking and a screaming deal and it's mechanically solid. If these cars aren't maintained properly, they can be very expensive to get right.

It's definitely case of If it sounds too good to be true then ask a lot of questions and get a PPI.

1pcarnut

That car was not someone's baby! +1 on YYC930.

frankvan

I'd betternot post pics of my car - boy are you guys rough!
I agree on the hanging wire being a concern and checking the underside of the engine but the engine looks decent externally from the top. I thought the seats looked in pretty decent shape front and back. I'd love to have a professionally installed alarm on mine inconjunction with the factory system. Of course we need to read the whole story on the car - the pictures don't tell the whole story. (And I think there is a dist vent kit installed as I see two lines coming off the heater tube - just can't see the connection to the distributor hall sensor.
If I had NOT bought my car based on the pictures I had vice the PPI, then I would have missed out on a great car (IMHO)

But then again just my $0.02....

MisterRisky

I'm sort of with Frankvan on this one. My interior looked pretty worn when I got it... but then again I got a good deal. I guess I am not a subscriber to the school that equates pretty interior to solid mechanical and well maintained car. But then if more people functioned like Frank and me, we would not be able to find the good deals on cars with interior wear.

So on further thought, avoid any car that does not look lovingly cared for from all angles. Any dirt means abuse. But send me and Frank the listing.

ddubois

I also agree with Frankvan and Risky. In fact, this car reminds a lot of mine when I bought it, it's even the same colors. Mine was at 60k and needed all of the usual 60k service. After DIY dist belt, adj valves, replace coils to plugs, all filters and fluids, hood shocks, door switch covers, etc. and pulling out the MILES of ridiculous wiring from the assorted ridiculous stereo/alarm systems I have a solid 'stock' car that runs great and has zero issues. I've now started on the little touches like replacing worn (stenciling) CCU buttons and the turn signal switch that has worn stenciling on the stalks to spruce up the interior. I'll probably even replace the worn carpet this winter.
Point is if the car has solid fundamentals who cares about the superficial trim. All of that can be easily replaced and is actually a fun project and relatively inexpensive.