Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 46,384
Darn, failed the MOT on the 3D carbon plates that have sailed through before. Won't be going back to this place.
What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter mattyprice4004
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Jul 2005
- Posts
- 17,616
- Location
- Bristol
[TW]Fox;30424284 said:
Apart from "It'll never last".
The M50 is an improvement but it's a decent engine that shouldn't leak and should idle fine...so I'm not sure it's a lovely ropey car, which means Acme will buy it anyway.
Off to view a car tomorrow, it is not in the slightest bit sensible, nor does it quite work properly. It would also be the oldest and highest mileage car I've ever bought if I drive it away, as well as the most expensive, and the least fuel efficient. It doesn't have the right engine and I have no idea how many miles are on the engine or the drivetrain. Its for sale at a tyre fitting shop which sells cars on the side.
I'm not expecting to buy it...
I hope this is a joke
Off to view a car tomorrow, it is not in the slightest bit sensible, nor does it quite work properly. It would also be the oldest and highest mileage car I've ever bought if I drive it away, as well as the most expensive, and the least fuel efficient. It doesn't have the right engine and I have no idea how many miles are on the engine or the drivetrain. Its for sale at a tyre fitting shop which sells cars on the side.
I'm not expecting to buy it...
Is your carer going with you?
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Jul 2005
- Posts
- 17,616
- Location
- Bristol
He's already linked to the ad, it's a touring (it is silver though). There are loads of M50 and M52 converted E30s these days too so chances are quite slim really.
Ahh missed the add, yea this is not it. Got to be honest if it was I might well have told him to run for the hills, a mate of mine had an e30 318is msport, I believe it was some sort of special edition and one of 500 cars, it even had a little plaque just above the gearstick. I imagine it would be worth a few quid today if he hadn't ruined it.
Home, without an E30. 
It generally wasn't in the condition described. It was sold as having a "pinhole" of rust on the scuttle and none elsewhere, even after asking about specific areas etc, and additional pictures which never came.
The "pinhole" was more of a 1.5cm rot hole, and on the other side it had been bodged with filler. It had rust on rear arches and corners of the doors which were painted over, it had SE sill covers and I could see a little bit of rust coming in from the inside which means there was a good chance the outer sills were shot, covered up by the covers. The inner left hand boot compartment was swimming with water and all rusty, there were metal plates covering up the floorpan where there is a common rot spot, the fuel tank mounting points (4 along the rear) were all completely rotten through which would have been a fair whack to fix because the tank would need to come out, the engine appeared to be leaking oil from both the cam cover and the oil filter housing, the diff was leaking oil, the rear disks were shot, and all that combined with the fact that none of that was mentioned, even after I asked very specific questions, was enough to turn even me away...
A shame, because from 5ft away it looked really nice, and there were no undue noises when driving along. The engine pulled really strongly as well and made an excellent noise...
I could have made an offer for it, but it was up for £3500 and I'd want to be paying at least £1K less because of its condition, so I didn't bother. I wasn't looking for a rotten project, I was looking for something which was honest and maybe a bit rough around the edges, but not going rotten.
And yes I was being serious, I chose every negative point I could and exaggerated it for comedic effect... The reactions were a bit disappointing, I was hoping for the forums to explode.
Dropped into a breakers on the way home and got an uncracked scuttle panel for the MX5 though.
It generally wasn't in the condition described. It was sold as having a "pinhole" of rust on the scuttle and none elsewhere, even after asking about specific areas etc, and additional pictures which never came.
The "pinhole" was more of a 1.5cm rot hole, and on the other side it had been bodged with filler. It had rust on rear arches and corners of the doors which were painted over, it had SE sill covers and I could see a little bit of rust coming in from the inside which means there was a good chance the outer sills were shot, covered up by the covers. The inner left hand boot compartment was swimming with water and all rusty, there were metal plates covering up the floorpan where there is a common rot spot, the fuel tank mounting points (4 along the rear) were all completely rotten through which would have been a fair whack to fix because the tank would need to come out, the engine appeared to be leaking oil from both the cam cover and the oil filter housing, the diff was leaking oil, the rear disks were shot, and all that combined with the fact that none of that was mentioned, even after I asked very specific questions, was enough to turn even me away...
A shame, because from 5ft away it looked really nice, and there were no undue noises when driving along. The engine pulled really strongly as well and made an excellent noise...
I could have made an offer for it, but it was up for £3500 and I'd want to be paying at least £1K less because of its condition, so I didn't bother. I wasn't looking for a rotten project, I was looking for something which was honest and maybe a bit rough around the edges, but not going rotten.
And yes I was being serious, I chose every negative point I could and exaggerated it for comedic effect... The reactions were a bit disappointing, I was hoping for the forums to explode.
Dropped into a breakers on the way home and got an uncracked scuttle panel for the MX5 though.
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Associate
- Joined
- 3 Mar 2009
- Posts
- 1,840
The way my insurance is being, they are basically saying "tough luck". Eurgh .....
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Home, without an E30.
It generally wasn't in the condition described. It was sold as having a "pinhole" of rust on the scuttle and none elsewhere,
These are 25-30 year old cars, you are not going to find rust free beautiful examples outside of somebodies collection. Personally I think you are absolutely nuts to buy one at all let alone for £2500. The time for lulzing about in E30's has passed.
Why not just enjoy the MX5? It seems like you've finally managed to buy a half decent car, what exactly is a shonky old E30 going to bring to the table other than yet more fail, misery and disaster?
[TW]Fox;30425577 said:
I was ready to drop £5000 on one which had a documented restoration and a fully re-built 2.8 stroker M20, and less than 40,000 miles on the clock, but it sold...
I think I was expecting too much from this one in all honesty. Its the fact that the car I went to see isn't what was described to me. I asked specifically about the mountings for the fuel tank and rear subframe and other things, and was assured that they were all fine. I get there, and immediately see a big rot hole on both of the main fuel tank mountings!
That was the killer, because my mind immediately switched to "Great, what else is lurking around in this car" mode.
Which is a new mindset that I didn't know I had...
Nothing wrong with the MX5, I've wanted an E30 forever though... I still want one somewhen... Now isn't the most sensible time, but its a time where I can comfortably buy one should I want to. And prices are continually rocketing...
The thought of phoning them up and making a low-ball offer is still flying around in my head, but realistically I should AT LEAST make sure I only have one car before looking for a second.
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