Comp test cars before buying? What is an immaculate car?

[The Running Man]

any opinions here? Going to look at a car on Saturday and am wondering if anyone has paid to have a car comp tested?

Its a 1996 car so obviously not nearly new and nearly 9k...

 

[The Running Man]

Depends what the car is, if its an RX7 then 100% yes.

Is it known for having issues with low compression? I'd personally bring my own gauge and tools to remove the spark plugs and do it myself assuming it's a fairly easy job to get to them.

Its an mr2 turbo so not renowned for comp loss but at the same time I'm paying top end.

 

[The Running Man]

Just take a spark plug tool, comp tester and a wrench and ask them. I am sure if they have nothing to hide they will have no problem but at the same time don't make them think you are a tyre kicker

Also pull the dipstick and give it a rev. If you get smoke out the dipstick that's a tell tale sign of ringlands on the 3SGTE. Although MR2's generally fare better as they have a lot more coolant as standard when compared to a GT-Four.

Thanks I hope he knows I'm not a tyre kicker I already paid him £100 deposit ha

 

[The Running Man]

Well I viewed the car it sounded fine and I didn't do a comp test

Didnt buy it though..

 

[The Running Man]

Why?

Not previously mentioned rust, light but still there and repray front bumper with slight panel gap issues indicating something.

Maybe I walked away from a good one but it was sold as immaculate...was beautiful though.

 

[The Running Man]

If you are paying 10k for an mr2 it needs to be perfect tbh.

Yeah that was my thinking. It was a really nice car.

But if i bought it knowing thefront bumper had been off, resprayed and of course it will never line up properly afterwards if only by a millimeter or so.. That would be my fault.

Last time I had one I didnt spot that it had been in a front bump till a week or so after I got it home and it annoyed me.


Are there any about that havent been in a front end bump is the question I guess.

 

[The Running Man]

If you're not desperate for one just bide your time, another will come up. If you're particularly after a Rev4/5 sonic shadow turbo (factory not conversion) then it'll take a while longer simply because that combo is so much rarer than most. If you're just after a very tidy Rev3+ turbo, there will be more for sale

Yep my preference is actually red but you can only get original toyota sunfade pink unless its been resprayed

Rev 4 or 5 is preferable but any tidy rev 3 without too much body kit etc.

I'm in no rush its a second car for me anyway. But I had lined up garage rental etc which may or not be available now in the future under existing terms.

 

[The Running Man]

Ah yes, a nice shade of Super Pink II!

I do wonder if a lot of owners of the tidier original cars (100% not mine ) are seeing the way the market is trending and are holding on. Usually there's a few nice ones for sale at any one time but it does seem to be a bit barren at the moment!

Yeah for sure there isn't 1 clean car for sale anywhere...

Didn’t consider haggling and fixing it?

I dont think he wanted to lower the price at all.

But once a car has had a bump, you can never really go back and unbump it. Without taking the bumper off you would never know the extent of the damage or repair. Could be something or nothing right?

And I was always told never buy an mr2 thats had a front ender.

 

[The Running Man]

Lose the scoop and this would be very tidy aesthetically:
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/toyota/mr2/toyota-mr2-turbo-gt-rev3/10574602

Not bad buy I always question cars that have had a full respray and why has it had a new front windscreen?

Its not common to have a new windscreen or fuel pump in my mind anyway

See im very fussy!

 

[The Running Man]

Is it not? I'm on my third in 5 years!

Ha what are you doing to them?

The way I figure it ive never had to change a windscreen in over 20 years of driving, commuting etc so a weekend car like an mr2 chances of it being damaged must be nearly nil?

 

[The Running Man]

MR2 is low with a low nose, the windscreen is much more in the line of fire from debris being kicked up off the road. Things that hit the bumper on a "normal" car will bounce off the bonnet and onto the screen in the MR2. I used the car for commuting for 4 years and a new windscreen was almost a yearly occurence.

I've even had a new rear window because a stone flicked up while I had the roof off / windows down and it went through the rear window like a bullet. These things happen!

Crikey I mean I used to commute 30 miles a day in my mr2 on the motorway but dudnt have that.

Looked up the mot history on that grey one, considering it was off the road for 10 years:

 

[The Running Man]

A list of pretty minor / easily fixed issues from an MOT 18 months ago that have since been fixed... Would you rather have original suspension on it that's way past its best but not bad enough to fail an MOT yet?

Oh no sorry thats fine i meant the offside rear inner structure corrosion is that bad?

 

[The Running Man]

Depends on what part was actually corroded.

There are two support bars on either side which are notorious for rusting out (commonly refered to as "cancer bars"), its an MOT fail and that is the rule it would fail under. Problem is you don't know if it was specifically that which is a non issue and a set of replacement stainless steel bars are about £60 a pair and take 10 minutes to fit including tea break, or if it was something actually scructural. The fact it says "assembly" suggests it was those bars.

Yeah i remember getting those replaced on mine through process or just doing preventative things. Hm

 

[The Running Man]

Surely you’re realistic enough to realise that you’re not buying a brand new car with a warranty so it’s going to have issues... even if you buy a garage queen.

Of course, as I say I could have dealt with the rust on the sill and door, the rubbed paint on the rear wheel arch, the odd thing on the paintwork etc. I also knew i would likely have to do the cambelt in the near future too @ £400 or so.

Despite being told it was immaculate with no rust.

But the front bumper issue is what stopped me. Knowing a car has been in a front ender but not really being able to check the extent (impossible without a bumper off), its off-putting for me.

 

[The Running Man]

Yeah, I’ve seen that on numerous occasions on owners club forums. Cars sold as ‘rust free‘ when they’re known to rust. So either the owner is unaware, lying or the car has been dry stored. The later being quite a rare thing.

In this instance I genuinely think it was dry stored till the current owner bought it 2 years ago and has left it outside but mostly with a car cover on it. But those 2 years were enough for a spot on the sill/door.

I could have fixed that for a couple hundred though.

Whats annoying is that looking at the original Newera advert, they are either blind, lying or just incompetent as they claimed the light reflects different off the panel but that its grade 4.5

The reason the bumper looks slightly different is because its been reprayed. If they had done a physical hand/touch along the bumper to the front wing they would have noted its out by 1mm or so indicating its been off, painted hence no stone chips and the colour discrepancy...

 

[The Running Man]

I will say even the OEM paint match on the metallic colours isn't always perfect due to the mismatch of materials (metal vs plastic and their different thermal properties) and 90's paint processes. Misalignment, overspray etc are another thing entirely of course, but it is not uncommon for the bumpers on an MR2 to be a very slightly different shade, and that is more apparent in direct sunlight due to the metallic flake.

But in this instance if the paint had been flaking on it on the inside where the bonnet closes and some paint had rubbed off on the bumper to wing joint showing yellowy colour underneath it then I truly believe its because its been reprayed for a reason I don't actually know.

 

[The Running Man]

Yeah that's more of an indicator for sure!

Thats what I mean you can tell I'm no expert, just an arm chair casual with a hankering for an mr2 again.

Everything else I could overlook. Oversized rear rear tyres, rust, etc it was all minor. Im just 100% that the front bumper even if off by 1mm wasn't 100% original.

 

[The Running Man]

update.


My mate actually bought the car yesterday and I went round to view it.

It is a nice car but after spending an hour going over it in the sunshine.

The front wing is off on alignment on the door by a millimeter or so. Its also off on the alignments to the windiw cowling especially compared to the other side

There are minor marks inside the wing that let me believe its had a full front 1/4 impact at some point so it might even have been pulled straight...


Newera sold this as auctuon grade 4.5 and stated no mismatched paint. Absolute jokers.

 

[The Running Man]

If they wanted to pay for a specialist garage to test while seller and buyer observed, that’d be fine.

No way I’m going to let Joe Random rock up and start disassembling a vehicle they don’t own yet.

Its understandable. I tried to get a mobile mechanic booked but with short notice and covid etc I only found 1 and he wanted £120-140 quid do do a comp test.

So I left it

 

[The Running Man]

The importer doesn't grade it tbf, that's done by the auction house. Could argue they should have spotted those issues if they were selling it themselves, rather than simply acting as an importing agent.

I dont know if it was auctuon graded or whether newera graded it themselves by hand but thats what they claim on their original selling advert grade 4.5

Yup they must have applied the 1 meter 10 second grading school of thumb. 'Looks rite init mate'