General New to the forum, what do you guys think of this...?

[sebjames]

Hi guys,

I'm going to view this car soon and this is what i have found out from the advert and speaking to the guy: Let me know if i'm missing anything vital i need to know, and please if you can give me any tips on when i go to view it that would be great!


Fiat coupe 2.0 20VT
98 R reg
Bodywork in good condition
Paint is all good except a scratch at the front and stone chips on the front bumper
Leather interior
good tread on alloys
alloys not too scuffed
exhaust is in good nick although he says that the tail pipe has had a new one welded on
mileage 66K
full service history up to about 47k when the cambelt was changed and then it was privatley serviced with reciepts (sounds like he knows what he is talking about)
when i asked him about oil to see if he knew his stuff he said he uses mobil1 as aparently thats good and it uses about half litre of oil per month (normal?)
he's never had any problems with the turbo
4 previous owners, selling due to buying a house

recently had

-Brand new clutch fitted 2 weeks ago
-Recent sealed battery
-Recent Front Tyres (Goodyear Eagle F1's) very good tread.
-Recent AFM
-New thermostat and temp sender
-Replaced manifold with latest version (no more cracking)
-New Apec front discs
-Mintex pads
-Brembo 4pot callipers
-Walbro fuel pump
-recent track rod ends and full lazer tracking
The car is in very good condition, the interior is virtually spotless

all keys present
6 cd changer
sunroof


Anything else i should ask/ look for??

cheers guys

 

[Steely]

Ive always fancied a coupe turbo myself,

To be honest it looks relatively good to say its 10 years old,,

the big question is how much are they asking for it?? :chin:

 

[sebjames]

well... £2395... i'm hoping to get it down to £2100 ish... what you think?

 

[Mark20v]

Cambelt due at 72K - £400+ at a specialist.

 

[sebjames]

good point! i will have to bring him up on that!

 

[Steely]

Cambelt due at 72K - £400+ at a specialist.

cambelt was done at 47k,,,???


25k intervals?? surely not??

 

[Mark20v]

72k is generally when they should be done. 36k service is when it should have originally been done aswell I think.

I reckon you should see 90k on standard clutch under normal driving strains. New front tyres are expected if driven hard, thermos often fail so expected, AFM - ?, manifolds crack as we all know so thats expected, you should see stone chips all over the bonnet, if not it may have been resprayed (not unusual) - disks and pads to be expected - walbro fuel pump is an uprated item normally only used if the car has been modified and needs a larger capacity pump - calipers being replaced - ?. Tailpipes are known to rust and melt the rear bumper so no suprise if a new one has been welded on.

They are known to use oil and you MUST check your levels religiously, not when cold but after about 10mins of switching the car off - mobil 1 is a fully synthetic oil (about £48.00 for 5l) - the coupe usually uses semi synthetic 10w/40.

You must check the red key is an honest one, many get lost and replaced with another red key that wont be recognised by the ecu when you need it. You should check the condition of the radiator, also the turbo for movement in the shaft, smoke etc... - I know this sounds excessive but replacements for the coupe are alot of money.

Finally, there is no replacement for common sense when buying a car - especially a 155mph car that is likely to have been driven hard in its lifetime - check the panel gaps, overspray, colour differences, wear on the leather gear knob, pedals (is it consistant with a 60k mile car?) - check the paperwork thoroughly as a coupe with genuine full service history and 100k on the clock 'may' be preferable to a coupe with little or no service history and 30/40k on the clock.

4 owners on a 10 year old car is probably fair - at a dealers I would expect it to be up just under 3k if its that clean and pay less - private sale the way things are at the moment £2k tops.

Just my opinion by the way.

 

[sebjames]

haha.... someone cannot count...

 

[Steely]

47+25 =.........

No what im saying is, the cambelt was done at 47k, and your saying its due at 72?? which is 25k, time to get your abacus out mate!

so your saying 25k between intervals??

 

[Mark20v]

The service interval for cambelt and aux belts isnt 25k - 36k and 72k as far as I know, however as the cost of the change at Fiat was £1k+, it may have been left until later on. My point was that the cambelt/aux belt service 'should' be at 72k.

 

[sebjames]

haha, i see what your saying, not bad math, bad english...

So what are the proper intervals of a cambelt on a 20vt?

 

[Mark20v]

Thats the problem with forums and texts - unless you are 'crystal' about what you are trying to say the point being made can be misunderstood - I too misunderstood your post Steely mate - no offence meant.

 

[Steely]

Thats the problem with forums and texts - unless you are 'crystal' about what you are trying to say the point being made can be misunderstood - I too misunderstood your post Steely mate - no offence meant.

ha ha no worries mate none taken, i know how easy it is to misinterpret things,, Im just amased at such short service intervals,, well it must be for good reason!, i wouldnt like to se a belt going on a tubby

 

[Mark20v]

Its rarely the cambelt that goes on them but more likely to be one of the aux belts/tensioners that then throws the cambelt.

Coupe turbos - constant source of smiles, worry and expenditure :devil:

 

[sebjames]

Thanks guys, especially mark! will look out for them!