Hello everyone

[Temeeo]

Hi all,

my name is Jan and I have recently joined the forum to find out more about the FTO. I'm now a proud owner of one of them, so I thought I should introduce myself as well as my "other half".

I live in Dublin and work as a web developer. I saw the FTO for the first time about ten years ago in New Zealand. I think it was the sound of the V6 and its curves that got my attention and made it stand out among the other Japanese sports cars.

Not long ago I browsed the adds for used cars and came across a few for the FTO. Before I knew it I was consuming anything and everything I could find about them. The rest as they say is history.


Now about the car:

It's a manual 99 GPX in Scotia White with little over 105K kilometres on the clock. I wonder if anyone here knows the car (99D85989)?

From what I could find from various sources it was manufactured in week 3, of June 1999. It found it's way to Ireland in June 2006 and the first owner (Alan K. from Naas?) has owned the car till roughly middle of last year.

The car seems pretty standard, the only extras/option I can see is the "aero spoiler"?

The interior code is: 22X and options code is: 020.

The previous owners have fitted:
HKS Super Power Flow (mushroom) air filter
Sparco X-Fast gear knob
and Razö sport pedals

My intention is to keep the car on the road and over time restore it to "like new" condition. Some time this week or next I'm planning on changing the oil, spark plugs and filters. The HKS filter will be replaced with a stock airbox, fitted with an ITG high flow panel filter. Undersealing is high on my list too.


Here is a few pictures:









Interior after few hours of cleaning on Saturday:








Also did a quick job on the engine bay, will be getting rid of the oxidation/corrosion on aluminium parts when I get some time






Thanks very much!

Jan

[Bernard]

Hey Jan, Welcome along.

I spotted that one on Donedeal myself a couple of weeks back, looks like a solid purchase. Well wear.

[Temeeo]

Thanks very much Bernard!

I initially walked away from the sale. I think the seller over-promised a bit (on the "no rust" and "won't find a better FTO") so I've showed up at his doorstep having a high expectations. Contrary to what the add said there is some rust on the car (it was never undersealed) none of it seems serious though - I think. The white colour juts accentuates it. The front fog lights don't work and there is a slight tear on the drivers seat. The engine and the gearbox are good - except for a smaller oil leak that I just discovered - coming from either the rocker cover gasket or the half moon seal.

Maybe I could get a honest opinion from other members at the "February club meeting" - if there is going to be one?

Jan

[goz_83]

Welcome to the club. Thats a fine gpx. First time in a long while one has sold for that money too.

[Temeeo]

Thank you Goz!

I know from reading both this and other FTO forums that some really immaculate examples were sold for less, but I got to a point where I just couldn't wait any longer and the seller wouldn't entertain the idea of getting less than 2k for the car.

[StewyD32]

[ZiNTiS]

[brccrx]

[Sebastian]

Nice looking example.
They will rise in value eventually I'm sure of it and don't forget a well maintained FTO always was on the expensive side.

[mcgon1979]

Hey Jan,

Great intro post and really nice car. I'm driving a scotia white 99 myself I had considered selling my car last year with a nw house purchase, but decided to keep it as I thought I'd only get 1500-2000e for it, and given the condition its in, this just wasn;t worth getting rid of it.
I've not been on the forum at all in last months due to work/baby/house/life etc etc, but great to see such an enthusiastic post as yours and also great to see you got some mini meet going too. I'll try to bring my FTO along to the next weekend mini meet so you can have a look at it.
I've had it 7 years now and it's been the most reliable car I've ever owned. Luckily my good buddy owns a garage so I've had the opportunity to maintain it to a very high standard as ramp time was always free and available as was his advice and experience.
If you have any questions on timing belt changes, or plug change procedures or anything else, be sure to ask on here as we've all done it several times at this stage I usually change the air flow manifold gasket when I do a rear bank plug change as its cheap on camskill.co.uk. Plus if you use denso iridium IK22 plugs they are good for at least 50k
You can see a video of my FTO here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13616&p=102991#p102991
Hopefully will get out to a mini meet soon just to get 2 or 3 white FTOs together for the photo op.