Newbie with questions
 

Hi all,

New to the site. Nice place. I currently drive a Jag XK8 convertible.
Want something with a little more oomph.

I am looking at an '03 coupe with 21k miles, one owner loaded. Haven't started negotiating yet but asking price is 32k. What, if any, problems should I look for ? And what do you guys think of the price ?

Thanks for any replies

J

RE: Newbie with questions
 

The price is okay but not great.

Things to look for with only 21K miles are any signs of abuse or modifications. Does it have any mods? Signs of abuse are uneven tire wear on the tires, leaks from the rear transaxle, fraying around the edges of the belt running the alternator, etc. Check the air filter- a dirty filter is a sign of neglect by the owner- they are cheap to replace and easy to check -- anyone who doesn't probably ignores more important things, too.

Its a a rare thing, but sometimes owners who have abusded and nearly ruined a car but modifying it will take off all the mods, return it to "stock": condition, and sell it to some unsuspecting person. We had one such situation here: engine lasted only about a week after the sale but local people knew and prevailed on the original owner to do the right thing.
Anyway, one thing to carefully are the bolts holding the alternator on and particularly the belt tensioner -- if the car has been frequently worked on, the bolts on these (particularly the tensioner) will have been loosened and tightened many times and it will likely show soime signs of wear on their faces where wrenches have touched them repeatedly. Same thing for the thrttle body bolts, etc.

RE: Newbie with questions
 

The price is a bit high, but also check prices in the Auto Trader to see what others are asking in your area. Things to ask about are:

1. Has the owner installed a column lock bypass (all trannies) or block-off plate (auto tranny)? You will need this to prevent getting stranded from suddent column lock failure. (This happened to me and I had to have the car towed to the dealership.) I have since installed the column lock bypass.

2. Have the differential seals been replaced? They tend to leak at the 15,000 mile mark.

3. Do both doors lock? If not, a door lock module has probably failed and needs replacing.

4. Does the horn work? The relay or switch may be bad.

5. Tires: My rears were worn out at 16,000 miles. Check tread depth.

Good luck.

RE: Newbie with questions
 

Thanks for the replies. I wound up getting it for quite a bit less than asking price.
No evidence of any mods. Thanks for the advice Lee & Dave.
Car is still under warranty. It has 19x11 rear and 18x9.5 front SSR Exports that were dealer installed. I'm still grinning.[X(]

RE: Newbie with questions
 

Congratulations; enjoy!

RE: Newbie with questions
 

Those are good wheels. I had a set of 18x11 SSRs on my Camaro for quite some time. They make really good, strong, lightweight wheels.