Going to pick up my "new" E85 tomorrow

[Savage]

I'm setting off tomorrow to pick up my new (old) E85 3.0i Roadster.

In all honesty it's a bit of a punt as although I have seen and heard the car I haven't actually driven it yet (it was SORNed so i couldn't). It's been off the road since it was parked up in October 2016 as the owner had a change of circumstances.

The battery was off the car, but when he connected it up it started first time and sounded fine, no knocks, rattles or bangs. He drove it a couple of hundred meters to the front of the barn it was parked in.

i tested most of the electrics, including the roof (all worked) and we have agreed a fair price.

It has rust on all 4 wings, it hasn't come through the paint yet but it's there all the same, it also has rust on the panel around where the roof stores (again not through the paint yet, but it will be in time obviously).

I know I paint a pretty dire picture but the car passed my "5 foot rule" it's only when stood within a couple of feet that it looks a bit "rough".

It's an auto (I didn't have any particular view on Auto vs Manual) it had a new box a couple of years back (at around 100k) and now shows around 155k miles.

Service history is "patchy".

I've paid a deposit and will be going back tomorrow with the remainder of the cash, I've taxed and insured the car for the (80 mile) drive home.

Given everything I've said, what would your thoughts be on a reasonable price for the car (I'm not going to negotiate, I've agreed the price already) I'm just wondering how silly I have been

[maxman]

The z as you have described is one you should have passed on.There are some good buys out there,the one you looked at does not sound like one.What is it worth £500.

[RickRob]

Hi and welcome.

I have no idea on prices, so I'll just wish you good luck - you're a braver man than me!

[paddy wright]

Hard to say without pics etc use the ref to look at not history online. As a rough guess I'd say if it has a clean long Mot it's worth 2.5k

[john-e89]

Hey Savage.

There are lots of things that cross the mind reading your post, but the overriding one is forget the deposit, chalk it down to a good night out, stick around on here, keep your eye on the for sale section here and elsewhere, and wait for a better example to pop up, you can bag a good car that's been well looked after for little outlay. High miles and a good history can bear fruit on a long term owner car. Sorry mate but the one you're going to see sounds a horror story, I bet the seller can't believe his luck.

Sorry to piss on your parade but you did ask.

[mr wilks]

I'm with John , so many half decent ones for fair money the one you describe would have to be below £1500 to even consider it
155k , auto , early 3.0 with rust galore hardly shouts "buy me " does it
Lose the deposit & keep looking

[Savage]

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Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses and I know you're probably right. I'm going to go along tomorrow and now that the car is road legal I'm going to ask for the test drive I've not been able to have and if that's a problem I will indeed walk away.

I've attached a couple of pictures, in all honesty I tend to buy/sell a lot of cars (too many probably) and I have bought a few "sight unseen" ( I bought a Camaro Z28 IROC and it was delivered on a low loader before I even saw it) I've bought a couple of TVRs without going to see them too - so far I have been "lucky" shall we say as the problems that seem to drive people to sell them on are all reasonably simple if you're handy with a spanner (or a laptop in some cases).

The car is at a "pocket money" price, so it's not like it's a lot of money to burn (if the worst comes to the worst). Just reading through the forum today I am now a bit concerned about "Transport Mode" as I know the chap would have disconnected the battery as soon as I left and I doubt he would have waited for it to go to "sleep" beforehand. If that's the case I'll just excuse myself at that point.

I'm not too worried about the rust, I can take care of that myself if needs be.

I must say i do really appreciate your comments though, when i bought my wife an Audi TT I joined the TT forum and to say that the responses were "rude" would be underselling it.

[Savage]

A couple more...

[Scooba_Steve]

Worst case you could end up swapping things out to get it right and pay more than it's worth, but if you're happy with it in the end it doesn't really matter.

[Paulr]

I think you are all being a bit harsh. Every car is worth something. The 3.0 is always worth more that a 2.5, the auto makes it feel a bit posher, and if the op knows his stuff and can work on a car then it may very well be a great bargain. He who dares and all that, good luck to you sir!

The other side of the coin is that if you are a bit clueless about cars, cannot work on them, have terrible instincts and jump in to things before considering the consequence, then buying any 155,000 mile 13 year old SORNED car unseen, that has just been dragged out of a barn and is too much money is a recipe for disaster!

[Savage]

LOL - I don't think anyone is too harsh, and you are spot on about it depending on the skills/experience/knowledge and desire of the guy buying the car (me LOL).

I've been working on my own cars and bikes for 30+ years so I am pretty competent, I'm a qualified electronics engineer and electrician too and my day job is in IT, so as things have changed from the "select the appropriate hammer" to "enter the appropriate code" I've managed to keep up.

It's not "unseen" (this time) it's just "undriven" LOL, although he did drive it out of the barn not drag it - but I take your point

[Chris_D]

I hope you can make a solid determination as to its' mechanical integrity.
You've obviously spent a lot of effort in doing a preliminary assessment and have managed to find some significant 'surface issues' and credit to you for that.
Going forward, I would strongly suggest getting hold of an OBD scanner and giving the car a scan to ascertain if there are any significant issues/fault codes which you would not be able to see from a visual inspection.
I would also be looking as thoroughly as you can in and around the engine as oil leaks are common and definitely at this age/mileage, if they havent already been addressed.
Cam cover gasket- feel around the back of the cover under the lip for oil. Relatively easy to replace the gasket.
Oil filter housing gasket- look at the passenger side of the engine casing (waffle design). If you see any pooling it will need replacing.
The big one- you will need to get underneath the car to look at the main seal between engine and gearbox. Any evidence of oil here and i'd suggest walk away as its a major fix.
Certainly try to get underneath the car for good inspection for corrosion, leaks etc.

I did all these checks when i bought mine. Bargained down to 3500 from an asking price of 4500 simply by spotting issues.

For this one i'd be tempted to suggest you walk away as its an auto. If an auto box fails it will be mega money to replace/fix.

However, if u feel confident in addressing any potential issues yourself or are prepared for any potentially costly repairs if spotting anything then id say go for it!

Pricewise i'd put this at no more than 1500. Is that about right?

Good luck!

[Savage]

Yes, price-wise that's pretty close

I'll take my code scanner with me tomorrow, I used the one on my phone on the day I looked it over and it was clear but that's only a basic OBD scanner (Torque Pro) but the professional scanner I have will do a better job.

There were no obvious signs of leaks from anywhere, unfortunately it was tough to get underneath to check for evidence of current leaks although it was surprisingly clean (not "just scrubbed") so I don't think there were any major long-term leaks.

It turns out the autobox was replaced 18 months ago at a cost of £880 and the car has done 15,000 miles since then (less than I thought).

The MOT history shows it has been run "on a budget" the advisories mainly relate to tyres being close to legal limit and the odd suspension bush (all replaced in the last 12 months). It did take someone 3 years to replace some front ball joints but they finally got around to it in 2015.

It had a service in October just before being parked up and was serviced prior to that in April when it had new discs and pads all round.

There is an advisory for a "misting" rear shock, but I plan on lowering it anyway so all 4 shocks & springs will be gone this summer.

[Chris_D]

I say go for it then and enjoy it!
U sound like ur handy with a spanner and If theres no major fault codes, leaks, mechanical issues then its a bargain. The only issues will be cosmetic and rectifying them can be relatively easy/cheap.
Keep us posted

[john-e89]

Yes, price-wise that's pretty close

I'll take my code scanner with me tomorrow, I used the one on my phone on the day I looked it over and it was clear but that's only a basic OBD scanner (Torque Pro) but the professional scanner I have will do a better job.

There were no obvious signs of leaks from anywhere, unfortunately it was tough to get underneath to check for evidence of current leaks although it was surprisingly clean (not "just scrubbed") so I don't think there were any major long-term leaks.

It turns out the autobox was replaced 18 months ago at a cost of £880 and the car has done 15,000 miles since then (less than I thought).

The MOT history shows it has been run "on a budget" the advisories mainly relate to tyres being close to legal limit and the odd suspension bush (all replaced in the last 12 months). It did take someone 3 years to replace some front ball joints but they finally got around to it in 2015.

It had a service in October just before being parked up and was serviced prior to that in April when it had new discs and pads all round.

There is an advisory for a "misting" rear shock, but I plan on lowering it anyway so all 4 shocks & springs will be gone this summer.

You'd make a good poker player Savage, come in looking like you don't know s**t from clay then wipe the table out....

Hope it's ok though, let us know how you get on and I hope you enjoy the forum.