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for sale (i'm looking into buying it)



On 11:23 pm 12/31/06 "Brian Haygood"<haygood@myway.com> wrote:
>
> Well, it looks OK from the pictures he sent, but then any repainted
> car would look good from those pictures.  Things not seen: anything
> under the hood - that's scary, headliner, general shot of underneath
> showing condition of exhaust and body.  The maintenence listed sounds
> like nothing special.  Ask when the timing belt was last replaced,
> brake fluid last flushed, radiator last flushed, does it run hot?, A/C?
> (I assume not).  Inspect the condition of the battery cables (power and
> ground), is the battery tray rotten?  Chances are that the stuff under
> the hood is still old flash silver, which would look kinda crappy, but
> oh well.  Look for paint seems in the door sills or anywhere else where
> seeing the two silvers next to eachother would bother you for the rest
> of your life.  It is probably a pretty good paint job in that regard,
> just judging from how great the paint looks in the pictures, but see
> for yourself. 
>
>
>
> Also, "repainted with new front suspension" is usually a secret code
> for "wrecked hard".  Look very carefully at this car.  Take it to a
> mechanic and get a second opinion - I wish I had done that on a car or
> two, and I buy stuff <1/3 this price.
>
>
>
> The aftermarket stuff on this car sounds good.  Probably most of the
> stuff I've listed is fine.  I generally find that by asking lots of
> detailed questions like that you find out more about how this car is
> really going to behave for you and what condition it is really in
> mechanically.  Use this to encourage him to bring the price down a
> little.  $3k is up there for a Scirocco, but this looks like a nice,
> low mileage one.  Unless you find something really majorly wrong with
> this car I think it is a good price for what you've shown us so far.
>
>
>
> BH
>
Check that front cross member, in fact, ask for a picture of the front
motor mount area (on any 16V). The respray MAY be a code for hit hard, (and
front only suspension??? Yeah, maybe an accident victim) but OTOH, both of
my two "good" Sciroccos had at least partial resprays, one (the 87) had
some parts resprayed on warrantee because the 80s wasn't the best period of
time for clear coats, this car may have had crappy factory paint too. And
my other car is "reclaimed salvage", with some new front end parts. It's
straight enough that the upper strut bar slid on easily, but when I swapped
front bumpers, the new one didn't find the bolt holes lining up too easily.
But I'm delighted with both cars, both were cheaper than this one. Check
tire wear and see if it tracks straight if you suspect a front ender. And
body seams should line up. OTOH, for $3000, it should be a pretty nice
example.
Again though, if it IS a good example, you may be money ahead to pay a
slightly higher price instead of buying a rougher one that's $500 and
pouring cash into it to get it running well. Used cars are always a bit of
a crap shoot.
Oh, and a new timing belt? Yeah, my 16V had a recent timing belt when I got
it. It ate its crank key on the first trip out of my driveway after I got
it home, so I got exactly two hours of driving on that "new" timing belt.
I'm still glad I got that car though :)

Oh, and one more thing, flash photos show surface rust really well under
the car. Try taking some of the cars in your driveway and you'll see what I
mean. So even though photos can make new paint look flattering, flash in
the darker areas can make rust look really bad. This may be why you have
yet to see those areas.

GL eh? Just keep in mind that you need to reserve some cash for repairs
once you get it, even if it IS a good one.
Cathy