Newbie !

[Tombhoy]

Hi All, going to look at a GPX MIVEC tomorrow in Dublin. Never owned a FTO (Had Prelude 2.2 , Clio 1.8 and even an XR3i many moons ago)
Always wanted one and have decided to take the plunge.

Its a 95 reg looks really nice , apparently been lying up a while , lowish miles and clean looking car.

Any tips ??

BTW I am absolutely useless at car stuff just like driving them.

Ta

[paul2508]

welcome th the club mate. was it up on the net for sale ??
its not a this by any chance??
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2149774

[Tombhoy]

Cheers Paul,

No a silver one in Stillorgan , know anything I should ?

[Sebastian]

Why a tiptronic?

buy a manual

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13068

[Tombhoy]

Sebastian

Cause I only have 1100 to spend

Nice car though , I'm gonna take my time specing it up if I can get a clean one cheap

Im going to be commuting a lot and maybe spanking it the odd weekend so Tiptronic/Auto suits me

[paul2508]

Cheers Paul,

No a silver one in Stillorgan , know anything I should ?

there was a member on here from stillorgan who had a silver gpx.
cant remember his name.
what is the mileage on the car mate?
any mods on it

[Tombhoy]

Milage is quoted at 120,000kms , only mods I know of was front splitter and different rims.

lad said he was away in the US for a while and has a bike now.

Ring any bells ??

[Sebastian]

fair enough mate

you can have fun in a tip also

edit: car was not owned by anyone in the club so far ( if it's this one )




http://www.gumtree.ie/p/cars-vans-motor ... c/75966285

[Tombhoy]

Thanks Sebastian , well I hope to ensure that it becomes one of the Club Cars shortly

The Gorey Branch of the club

I'll let ye all know how it goes tomorrow , Im going to use my "Mike Brewer" skills when purchasing and just produce enough Cash to tempt the lad

Spot on thats the one , gulp !!

[Sebastian]

Make sure the engine / gearbox run fine and exhaust has no holes in it .

[Tombhoy]

Thanks Sebastian,

I'll try and spot the obvious faults if I can.

Hopefully its a good 'un

[Dragonheart]

Check for rust in the arches or underneath, make sure the tip slids nicely into gear and that the car doesn't jerk when you change up or down, drive it in manual mode to see how smooth it is. Check the belts, and when it was last serviced fully, a full 100K service costs about a grand for waterpump, belts, sparks, that sort of thing. Obviously check the oil fill cap for gunge, the usual steps to take when buying a car.
And welcome along.

[Tombhoy]

Thanks DragonHeart,

Wow a grand for that , gulp , maybe that 1.1 VW Polo might be a better investment

I'm going to try and do the basic service stuff myself , bout time too. but planning on getting the timing belt done first just in case. I dont mind spending a few quid on it once I have it.

Thanks for the welcome looking forward to joining the club.

[Sebastian]

I would rather buy a sorted car then one that I have to invest in it .

At this stage it's all down on how they were mantained over years , a 15 year old FTO would need enough work on it if it was not taken care of .
Plenty of cheap FTO's nawadays , but only a few worthy

[Tombhoy]

My logic Sebastian is that at least if I get the work done I know its been done and therefore should have years ahead of me with peace of mind.

Big change going from my Saab 2.0 for the last 7 years , but cant wait !

[Sebastian]

Fingers crossed it works well for you

[Muad_dib77]

Did we not have a buying guide somewhere?

[threediamonds]

Check for rust in the arches or underneath, make sure the tip slids nicely into gear and that the car doesn't jerk when you change up or down, drive it in manual mode to see how smooth it is. Check the belts, and when it was last serviced fully, a full 100K service costs about a grand for waterpump, belts, sparks, that sort of thing. Obviously check the oil fill cap for gunge, the usual steps to take when buying a car.
And welcome along.

Will u shut up and take that pic down!! Welcome along dude- i used live in Gorey in the good old days!

[Danny Kierans]

good to see more on the east coast.

[optical illusion]

I would suggest checking if you can get insured before you purchase.

[CJ]

Did we not have a buying guide somewhere?

Yep, it was on the old site, we could do with a dedicated thread for prospective owners. Any takets on putting something together to start with? We can all collaborate on the final result.

Old Buying Guide: http://replay.web.archive.org/200502070 ... guide.html

Welcome to the site Tom and good luck in your search.

CJ

[Tombhoy]

Hi All,

Well what a waste of flipping time.

It was a dog (That I could tell)

No NCT , no tax. Sitting up for last year. Even still had the cobwebs hanging from the wipers

She (excuse the sexism) was quite untidy inside and outside. Alloys were curbed , tyres not great , exhaust was blowing , front splitter had been smacked into something and would need a big job to fix. All this before I even got into the car !!

Inside very untidy , gearbox covering had a huge hole in it , then he tells me that the rev counter isnt working and the light indicator for third gear doesnt show.

Driving the car was alright , exhaust was very noisy , didnt seem to be huge amount of power there (Couldn't tell if I was hitting 5000rpm cause diall not working) Gear change was reasonably good , no clunking or such.

Young fella was nice enough but I tried to tell him that no way was it worth the money as I'd have to spend at least €600 to get it up and running. he was looking for €1000 for it but in my mind not a chance !

Might be a good car for someone who could do the work themselves but no way was it for me.

Looking at a Ford Cougar 2.0 tomorrow (Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry)

[paul2508]

thats bad news mate, sorry to hear.
Hope that didnt put ya off fto's altogether.
There are still some decent ones out there . at the end of the day its your choice.
Hope you find what you looking for mate.

[Sebastian]

what I was trying to say above is that cheap is not always good.

Good luck finding a siutable car ( fto or not)

[Danny Kierans]

people just look after their cars anymore. i see that first hand everyday.