Calling all Mitsubishi FTO, Owners / Enthusiasts.... (Long post)

Grumps82

Grumps82

Grumps82

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Joined
30 Aug 2006
Posts
3,369
Hi guys.

I need a bit of help and guidance regarding a Mitsubishi FTO GPX i have seen at my local garage for sale.

I have had a look and really like the look of it. Its the manual version. It has been imported twice. From Japan - Australia, and Australia - UK.

There was a massive bundle of paperwork with it that i have managed to decypher and put into order of correspondance.

There are a few things that im concerned about that i will go through in a bit. Here are the details :



Date of Manufacture :1995

20/04/01 : Import to Australia

12/3/02 : Alarm, Imobiliser Etc $150 Aus

28/11/02 : Service, Muffler Loose, repair & Spray Rear Bar Cove ?
(70100Km) $550 Aus.

23/12/03 : Service, Oil Leak, (70744Km) $143 Aus.

6/1/03 : Service, Noisy, Oil Leak, | Gasket & Gasket Cover
(70837Km) $567.79 Aus.

9/8/04 : Import To UK (80199Km)

9/8/04 : Emission Test Passed

17/9/04 : Major Work @ £1791.88 - Which includes

STRIP & FIT : Front bumper, o/s/f Dorr Mirror, n/s/f Indicator/Sidelamp.

REPAIR : Remove & Refit headlining to access roof reapair, n/s/r quarter panel & roof panel.

PAINT : All repaired areas plus new front bumper & o/s/f door mirror.

PARTS : Front bumper @ £399.00 n/s/f
: Indicator / Sidelamp & £190.00
: o/s/f Dorr Mirror @ £195.00

LABOUR : £460.00

TOTAL : £1791.88

1/11/04 : SVA Testing Station, SVA passenger paid Retest.

5/11/04 : MOT (80978Km)

12/11/04 : Inspection at Driving and Vehical Licensing Agency & Number Plate Authorisation

04/01/05 : Cambelt, Fuel Filter, Inlet Gasket, Plugs

7/1/05 : New Front Tyres (KM ?)


9/2/05 : Single vehicle approval notification of refusal to issue a ministers approval certificate.

1/11/05 : Refused MOT. Nearside & Offside tyres have ply of cords exposed. (94965Km)

1/11/05 : Declared SORN

19/6/2006 : Owner Passed away

31/7/2006 : MOT Refused. Brake Efficiency Below standards
(99901Km)

25/6/2007 : Now reads 101158 Km

Now some pics

p1010070es4.th.jpg


p1010071ls4.th.jpg





I will uplaod some more pics when i can, imageshack is being silly at the mo. I can confirm that the bodywork all round looks in great condition. Just needs a bit of a wash.

Im a bit worried about the repair that was done at £1700. i have not had a chance to speak to the owner yet. I do like the car a lot but i think its a bad egg.

What do you guys think from what you have seen/read ?.
 
Im very friendly with the guys at the garage. They didnt know too much about the cars as it wasnt theirs, (as in they havnt sold it originaly etc).

Because of this they dont know too much about the history as most of the work was done at another local garage.

I wanted to take the papers and have a look to see the history of the car and to find out the servicing / importing etc. Now i have a rough understanding of the history.

After reading the forums on the internet i know that the GPX manual is rare.

The price is £3495.

Im not going to pay near that at all if i buy it. the history is iffy without further investigation.
 
Dublove said:
Been said before - walk away!


Major repair sounds bad. It needed an SVA test after the repair so it's more than a scratch! The rest says to me that it's not been maintained.

I'd be interested to know how it did 4936 miles in between two failed MOT's & after being declared sorn. There's an MOT missing there too in that time frame.
Click to expand...


Yep me too. Im going to contact the owner tommorrow night and see what she says. Hopefully i can get some good information.
 
Leeum said:
There's a good thread on the FTOOC forum which gives you an idea of what to look for. Manual GPX's are pretty common on PistonHeads at present so don't feel inclined to buy it because of the gearbox :)

Paintwork looks ok from the pictures but I don't like the sound of the roof repair - the cars are notorious for roof rust. If I were you, I'd be asking the seller to remove the headlining to check for rust on the inside of the roof - with these cars you can't just replace the skin, the roof needs chopped off and replaced! You can treat the rust with POR-15 or similar but chances are you'll be chasing the rust round until it gets sorted properly. Can you get in contact with the garage which did the major repair work for more details? Also, make sure the previous owner had the car undersealed when it came to the UK otherwise you'll be looking at some nasty corrosion from the salt on our roads.

How does the engine sound when running? If it sounds tappety when it's warmed up, the tappets may need adjusted. You can do this yourself with the tools available from the owners club or book it in at a garage familiar with FTOs and pick up the cost - I hear it can be a bit of a sod to do. Take it for a test drive and make sure it pulls into the MIVEC zone (5500rpm) without hesitation. If the engine sounds really sick then assume the bottom end is on its way out and save yourself the bill of a recon engine.

Exhaust will need declared to insurers.

Good luck :)
Click to expand...


Hey thats great, thanks very much.

I will get in contact with the garage tomorrow to see if they can shed some light on the repair. I am hoping to take it for a test drive on thursday. I will print off the detail from FTOOC and go through it all to make sure that all is correct.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks again..
 
Ah right. Just wondering whether this is all worth it now. I will have a chat with the owner and get an idea of the history etc. Wont be until monday though which is a bugger.
 
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