GTE purchase... stuff to look for? Being a non-mechanic! lol

[Stokie_Dave]

Allo all, god been months since I've been on here.

Anyway heres me thinking I'd never get a Nova and then along comes one which is fair tidy it seems and I might buy it when I go see it on Saturday!

The car in question:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/44.jpg

GTE, full closure alarm, 118k, serviced every 3k, FSH, alarmed and delocked, mint condition apparently, janspeed zorst all the way through, induction kit, chipped, lowered, he wants 650 but I know he'll take 600. A few people I know have seen it and say its quite smart and tidy.. I was worried about suspectable rust in pic under bonnet near suspension turrets but he says its oily wax rust proof stuff which wont come off.

Basically I aint no mechanic and cant really get anyone to come see it on sat with me, he has another guy coming on sunday and i dont wanna get beaten to it, so if I've got my age old REVS nova buying guide in hand and a few obvious checks such as obvious tests for each area, what SPECIAL stuff should I look for... such as which areas underneath for rust, any usual tell tale problems he might disguse etc? Also what are your opinions on the motor? Seems quite clean from the pics :)

[SRimon]

Looks tidy outside,

Have a look for rust around the seams in the engine bay, and usual bits, inner arches, boot floor, battery tray etc

[womble sri]

looks nice that check for rust everywhere and check if its been covered up chuck the steering whell about and make sure its not making any nasty sounds. engine will probably be shagged thats why its going so cheap

[Adam]

Looks quite tidy Dave, welcome back to Novaload btw :wink:

Fingers crossed you do get your hands on that GTE :)

[Ste L]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/pikey1/3.jpg

that engine bay, done look too healthy, or could just be very dirty

[ANDYRACER]

Saw this on ebay the other day and wasnt impressed, looks a lil dodgy that engine bay doesnt look nice at all and with it having mods and 118,000 on the clock i dont reckon that engine will be very healthy. Main place is defo underneath espically the chassis rails give them a good hard poke with a screwdriver if the screwdriver goes threw i would instantly walk away, just not worth the ballache of fixing. Also have a good poke around the spring cup (where the spring sits on the chassis) scraped my sr due to this. Also check the boot not a major problem jsut annoying to fix. Front panel is another place for them to go, jsut in the corner where the front wings connect. then the basics really sills, check the steering is straight seeing as it has had the doors and wings resprayed, might just be styling (delocked n dearield) or maybe at has seen the wrong side of a tree etc..

[Will F]

Looks good enough for ?600
118k is naff all on those engines, good for 200k all day, and thats assuming that it hasnt been rebuilt!

Bay just looks dirty, will prob need a few plates, but the bodywork looks very good.

[probert_nova]

i was advertising this car on here for a friend. its sold now but not to dave (sorry m8). the car is in absoulutly stunning condition and the engine bay was just dirty. i had so many people email about it.

[-Bruce-]

I think it looks good. The bit on the left of the offside strut looks abit stange maybe a plate needed. But all that yellow stuff on the engine is sprayed on in the factory to stop corrosion. It does looks very dirty but sometimes thats a good thing!! If it has a FSH and only done 112k it will be fine. As said above these engines will do silly miles if looked after!!

At that price, if the underneeth was good and there is not that much rust on it!! I would buy it!!

Bruce

[Stokie_Dave]

Aye sold now, cracking motor though someone got a good buy and managed to get there before me so beat me to it. Fair play!

I've seen another, except this one is bog standard, H reg, only a 1.2 fling for 285. Had a word with the guy and it seems rust free, engine bay etc looks fine. It'd leave me with 300 to either get a newer engine, suspension, brakes, alloys or just leave it and drive it for a bit... what do you think?

85k miles, MOT july 06, taxed till feb 06, generally very good cond, no issues with running or bodywork he says but i dont expect it to be mint...

http://i15.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/0e/bb/7d_1_b.JPG
http://i5.ebayimg.com/04/i/05/14/d0/01_1_b.JPG
http://i4.ebayimg.com/01/i/05/0e/8d/14_1_b.JPG
http://i20.ebayimg.com/03/i/05/0e/f2/ac_1_b.JPG
http://i13.ebayimg.com/04/i/05/0e/e4/8e_1_b.JPG
http://i10.ebayimg.com/03/i/05/14/90/98_1_b.JPG

any opinions? :) worth 300? i know the GTE was a better buy overall in terms of bits for the price but... clean novas are few and far between as u lot know :)

[ANDYRACER]

Wow thats mint :o Ill have that if u dont want it? :wink:

[Adam]

Hands off Andy, you've had enough cars :wink: :lol:

That one looks tidy as well dave, apart from 5th pic down, bumper has come away from the rear side, but maybe just missing a bolt.
MOT july 2006, that would deffo get me buying it :wink:

It wouldn't take much work to make it look exactly like that GTE either :wink:

[Stokie_Dave]

hehe :) cheers guys. I'm gonna hopefully go look tomorrow and maybe put a deposit down to be honest as it seems a solid motor after talking to him and from the pics. theres a bit of minor surface rust at bottom of rear arches as pics show but otherwise looks ok. back bumper is hanging off but dont the clips break? hopefully a cheap fix.

maybe if i could get a rotten GTE in white for some bits off it that'd be a useful thing if I wanna upgrade bits :)

Ad you wont feel so bad if I get a 1.2 instead of the GTE :P

[scott.parker]

Shame the GTE was a very nice car that would of been a very good buy indead,but that 1.2 is also verygood,so your not loosing out ietherway,just gte bumpers and engine and your away!

Good luck.

Scott

[Stokie_Dave]

Just been look at the 1.2. I can have it for 285 but I had a good poke around and its in very good cond for a H reg bar a few worrying spots...

Battery tray has a fair bit of surface rust around it but not holed
Boot floor passenger side has quite bad surface rust in very back corner near lights...
Same on drivers side but this one has a little split in the floor too about 3" long and surface rust quite bad around it but most metal is still solid.

The rust patches are both say 3" squared, nowt massive, but like I say ones split...

What do you guys think? Would this be a cheap repair if I got someone to weld it for me? I'll try get a pic up of what I mean. These are the only major things letting the motor down, otherwise runs well and bodywork and underneath look fine to be honest!!!

[Stokie_Dave]

here is a VERY rough drawing of the boot floor! lol :) The batt tray doesnt bother me much as its not holed, bit damp in the actual tray but carpets inside are fine and not water stained or anything.

http://www.illusional.co.uk/stuff/boot.jpg

[scott.parker]

Mine was gone there mate,no big problem unless its spred into the chassis legs etc..

Scott

[Stokie_Dave]

chassis legs looked fine to be honest, just those patches in the boot... looked in me missus old red nova boot and its immaculate but her arches are falling off lol cant win with novas :)

[Adam]

Yeah.
Most have some rust in the boot corners, as long as the chassis legs and sills are sound, it should be cool :)

[Stokie_Dave]

Heres a couple of pics of a Nova I've seen on ebay. I dont want it but its an example of boot floor, how bad it is compared to the white 1.2 fling I may have...

This one has holes at either side. Now the fling doesn't have a hole on passenger side and drivers side its more of a split than hole but the surface rust looks worse than this red one, except the red one has big holes lol. Exact same areas though, seem to be just clear of chassis legs?

http://i2.ebayimg.com/01/i/05/14/33/0c_1_b.JPG
http://i22.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/12/50/ef_1_b.JPG

But just say it was as bad as the red one.. how much you reckon it'd cost to fix?