bernie,

sorry to hear about your situation and the frustration you have been through dealing with lying dishonest people....unfortuneately this car game is full of them and you need to just chalk this up to a learning experience.

it sounds like this motor hasn't been serviced properly and will only cause problems no matter what you do to it now...why spend $3-$4000 maybe more to get it repaired when it will be haunting down the road?

my car just hit 100K miles and was fully serviced it's entire life...i have a bill from DEVAK porsche for $3800 to seal the entire engine at 69K miles and another bill at 74K miles for the steering rack(which is bound to happen to yours)for another $1200

i was going to suggest being more patient, save up some money in the process contacting dC automotive or similar on the east coast and see about getting an exchange motor...perhaps they will have something that fits your budget and you will have the confidence that your car will retain it's value when you want to sell./SIZE]

william ceriale

There is almost always a suprise or 2 with a used car, whether the original owner knew about it or not. You've got a few more than typical, but the car has a lot of miles and sometimes it's luck of the draw (good or bad). I personally would never buy a car sight unseen because everyone (including shops) has their own opinion about what a good car is. However, I know a lot of people that have had great results buying site unseen. There are a lot worse (and much more expensive) things that could have been wrong with this car beyond what you are describing (knock on wood), so your luck's not all bad. I'd address the spark plug wires immediately and possibly the brakes if they are a safety issue. Your list looks like stuff that would typically need attention given the miles, so it sounds like a fun list of DIY projects to me. It would have been nice if the mechanic had ID'd the issues for you since that's what you paid him for, but it's probably time to move forward. I'd keep pushing a little on the seller and mechanic, but at some point, it's not worth the trouble. There are unbelivable resources available for DIY on these cars if you have decent mechanical abilty and the desire. The great folks on Rennlist will walk you through every step of the way.