05 Neon SRT4 TURBO CHARGED


So I'm buying that SRT4, specifically my wife is buying it. She talked him down to 6000 dollars and we haven't seen the car yet. I'm about to head down there with my buddy ad some tools to check this thing over.

I dint know much about turbos, but I will check for shaft play, boost surge, and is there a way I can check for boost leak? Supposedly the thing is bone stock except for the blow off valve, which can be a common thing to be replaced because of fluttering but thats only by reviews.

How do I check for shaft play specifically?

Side note the guy selling the car works for a private dealership that buys and sells cars at auctions. Last year he sold me a 2005 Jetta GLS turbo, automatic. Which come to find ALL have horrible transmission issues... all of them. He offered a shop to help me fix it, but at no discount. I dont trust this guy at all, but are me and my wife setting ourselves up for failure in buying from him again?

What he said. ^^

$6k for a car looking that clean? Sounds fishy.

The turbos in the srt-4's sit at thefirewall behind. I havent checked one personally but they would prob be a pita to get the intake tube off. Just grab the compressor wheel and see if it has exsessive up and down move ment. It'll have some im sure considering its 7 years old. You don't want any in and out movement. I would also look at the coolant and oil. If you have acess to a carfax i would get one. Ask for any maintanance reciepts for proof of any work done.

Please don't have children. Jesus. Why you even consider buying a car from someone you don't trust when you have little to no car knowledge? Do you need to go back to kindergarten to gain the basic skills necessary to live?

Have a couple thousand dollars extra sitting around if the transmission has any sort of shifting issues, such as notchy shifts (worn clutch fork causing excessive wear of shift forks, synchros, shift selector, input shaft spline issues, etc), 2nd or 3rd gear popout (worn thrust plate below 3rd gear on input shaft along with 3rd gear, hub and slider assembly and 3/4 shift fork), grinding issues (worn synchros along with potentially damaged parts), loose shifter (worn shifter bushings or cable bushings), jerky acceleration or on/off throttle response (worn or damaged motor mounts/trans mount), steering wheel wobble hitting bumps in road (worn or damaged control arm bushings or damaged suspension parts), etc.

The cars are fun and can be cheap to purchase but the replacement parts are not cheap and cost substantially more than DSM parts for OEM parts, and are normally treated poorly by previous owners modified or stock. I build these transmissions for a living along with selling driveline parts for them and have several friends with modified ones, so I have a bit of experience with them. Find a well maintained one, or you will be spending your "money saved" on repairs.

I would suggest finding an experienced friend with a modified SRT4 that knows how to work on them to take a look at the car.

I have had numerous customers pick up SRT4's at a low low price only to have to replace the clutch, trans rebuild, mounts, shifter, cable and shifter bushings, and clutch fork almost immediately after purchasing because of abuse from prior owners.

Even better, shipping costs won't be cheap since you are in Hawaii, and there are only 3 or 4 places in the continental. U.S. that work on these transmissions including myself.

Good luck!

Check for shaft play as stated above. And the other main thing I would look for is clutch engagement. Make sure the clutch is not engaging as soon as the pedal is lifted off the floor. Its a common issue. Means the pivot ball or shift fork is worn and needs replaced, which requires the transmission to be pulled.

Well today was eventful. I test drove the car mentioned above for about an hour and a half, the cooling system, brakes were on point.

However downshifting into second gear seemed to be tricky if not impossible, but maybe it is because I'm used to my NT DSM and not a SRT4, so I let that go.

Clutch engagement and disengagment was another matter, it was alsmost if itwas brand new or the transmission was rebuilt, upon futher inspection of the transmission housing, I found fresh silicone sealant all the way around a recently degreased transmission housing. Indicating to me that it was rebuild.

There was some oild around the head and a seemingly new valve cover gasket, telling me one of few thigns either the gaset was just only replaced or the timing and water pump were done as well, all the belts were new.

Engine bay was extremely clean and tidy. Throttle and boost response was better than I had even expected. The car was very fast and very powerful at the wheel.

Since the car was not fitted with in intercooler it had an intake tubing by injen with filter running to the turbo, I removed that and was easily able to check the turbine for shaft play. It wiggled almost unnoticably up/down and side/side. Which told me the turbo itself was in pretty fair and decent mid service life (However I have no experiance or expertise in this field my friend who does was able to confirm it was good)

Now the drama. As I said before the seller sort of burned me once, but after talking with him for awhile I realized he didnt even know the those model jettas were so F'd up, he lost alot of business from selling the ones he did. So the water under the bridge was cleared, except for the fact he is still a slimmey no good scam artist. His "Boss" bought the car at an auction a day prior, and hadnt paid for the car yet, because they are allowed 45 days to pay for the vehicles they buy. So there was no title. Instead he offered a bill of sale (No thanks). Then he told me that if I leave him a 300 dollar cash deposit he would hold the car until he got the title (No thanks). After a fair bit of me using my intellect on him I foudn that the registration sticker on the rear plate was taken from another car,as well as the safety inspection sticker. The vehicle had been broken into. The stock boost gauge did not have a cover and I dont know if it worked it stayed at a constant 21 (Whatever that means)

I showed him the 6000 dollars and told him basicly this. If he doesnt want to get screwed out of the money he will call me by noon tomorrow and tell me he has the title and all the current paperwork for the car, otherwise after that hes only getting 4500 from me.

I still dont like the guy because hes a con artists, this car is very tempting to let the small definciences go for a 2005 SRT4 with on 97000 miles on it, straight body and interior everything working and a freshly built tranny, well maintained. Its hard to pass up. I need the wisemen of DSM tuners help with this one.

The car is for my wife shes 22 and just goes back and froth to doctors appts and school. our family vehicle is my 05 canyon 4 dr, and my car is my gs of course. She WANTS and SRT4, and you know how women are. Shoudl we move on or wait for this slime-ball to bring us the title

Did you see receipts for a transmission rebuild?

Personally, I would pass. You might want to do a bit more homework regarding these cars or any car in general before purchasing one, let alone lowballing someone on a broken-into semi-modified auction vehicle. You could easily be wasting your offered money in somebody's old problems, and since you are not mechanically inclined, you won't be in a good place to fix these problems to come out ahead.

Sounds like a pass to me. If your wife is still pushing you to get it then remind her of all the good points in this thread NOT to get it. Be patient and you will find the right one. I've also heard those motors don't really hold up to well when there is high mileage and it sounds like the tranny is a big concern too. Don't forget, even though it's "stock" now doesn't mean it couldn't have a 50 trim turbo, etc in the past. Do basics as in compression tests and a leakdown test. There are write-ups on here on how to do it for our cars but the same principals apply.

Goodluck!

Everyone has already told you not to deal with this dude, and from the sounds of it he is trying to pull even more crap this time. If you deal with him, don't come crying back here asking why we didn't warn you or even complaining about how big a pile it is.

Wait so why isn't there an intercooler

Dude...your still considering this??

So he cleaned up the engine bay, and the tranny...and put some gasket sealant on stuff. That warrants a rebuild?

Come on man.

The low price may be tempting, but I'd pass. The dude sounds like he's a con artist, or atleast really fvcking stupid, and I wouldn't be buying anything from him after all the stunts he's pulled. I mean your basicaly buying a car from a guy that you yourself said is a scamming ass douche, so I don't even know why you would consider it even at the price. If the the tranny has been messed with, and you think it shifts funny, it may have been screwed up, and that alone will jack up the price by the time the repairs are made . Even if it's just a clutch issue, I still wouldn't bother. Dudes full of it. Car was broken into, has tags and inspection shit off another car, doesn't shift right, no FMIC on it... sounds like waaaay more trouble then it's worth big time sketchy man. SRT-4s are pretty down in price from what I've seen now days, so save your money and get it good one. Your girl is gonna hate this car by the time it's all said and done I think .

I wouldn't say he is a con artist, it sounds like they are buying cars from an auction then flipping them with no knowledge of prior maintinence. I have done this several times before, but always let the buyer know that I had no idea what had been done to the car, other than what I could tell visually. I suggest looking into finding an auction near you that sells to the public, and see what you can find there. You may get lucky, may not. I have had decent luck over the years, but it helps to know what to look for. I still have an 01 IS300 that we got from an auction for cheap because it had a dent in the fender and Lexus wouldn't put it on the lot like that, and an 04 Redline that I got for less than half of book value. The IS has given me small problems in the last 3 years, but the Redline we have put over 50,000 miles on with no issues. Good luck.

don't be an idiot, skip on it. That trans is probably junk

cs82685 said:

Wait so why isn't there an intercooler

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Right? Im lost on why this hasnt been adressed?

How can it run without a fmic? Unless he has a custom smic somewhere?
Besides...its just a turbo neon

Well it could run, Just a lot of hot air.

I have a hard time noticing my buddy in his srt4, so I end up waving to every chick that drives by in a neon.

HAHA! You know what guys my mistake. it does have a FMIC, it was just the turbo inlet pipe and filter. I dont know crap about turbos! remember I have a NT

so i really hope you're still not even considering this

Myself personaly I would pass on getting this car, but its not my decision. I've given my significant other all the information you all have shared with me but the finaly choice is up to her really, shes a grown women and its her 6000 not mine. She already knows i'm not invesing any of my money into fixing anything that might be wrnog with this car, but I'd be glad to do the wrench turning for it

So in the end I'll et you knwo if she buys it or not. Which should be pretty soon. right now shes doign her own research.


UPDATE

Ladies and gentle do not buy a used car without a carfax, they are onyl 34.99 and if you can afford a used car you can afford the carfax. Got my wife to run one and we now know why the transmission was freshly sealed. It had a full service on it about a month ago. We also found it had 4 previous owners, and was in 1 side impact accident, the fact the car still looks new shows me that it was taken to a shop and body fixed and newly painted. Very wel maintained. Last record showing it being sold at auction.

I just learned about curbstoning. Which is the illegal process of "flipping"

Should I report that guy?

I don't know what part of sketchy you guys don't understand, but if you purchase this car with illegal tags and smog on, let alone a previously broken into or stolen vehicle with questionable modifications and/or repairs and no service history, you are dumb enough to not listen to others warnings and don't deserve help, since you clearly are still considering this car after numerous pieces of advice from experienced people. You seriously need to do more research and learn anything you can about the vehicle you are interested in before impulse purchasing. This car dealer seems to prey on suckers, and he certainly has you guys pegged as them.

Its not an impulse buy, the registration, and safety inspeaction are an easy fix, the car fax shows nothing of a vehicle break in. in fact the car fax disproves alot of bad vibes I had about the car itself. If the car was stolen once it would indicate on teh car fax, unless it wasnt reported which who wouldnt report thier car being stolen

The car fax is good, which means the car is good. After being inspected by myself and my friend the car mechnically checks out.

The guy is still a slime ball, because he flips cars but alot of people are slime balls, and I have to deal with them ona daily basis to get what I need anyway so whats the difference.

The fact still remains the title is nowhere to be seen, so no money can change hands.

Leonthefaded said:

The car fax is good, which means the car is good. After being inspected by myself and my friend the car mechnically checks out.

The guy is still a slime ball, because he flips cars but alot of people are slime balls, and I have to deal with them ona daily basis to get what I need anyway so whats the difference.

The fact still remains the title is nowhere to be seen, so no money can change hands.

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1. Carfax isn't a magic tell all solution to any question you have about a car. Yes it will tell you if its been in an accident, or stolen, or been to the dealer for some work. But it wont tell you about jim bob sticking some chewing gum on a stripped bolt and thinking it should hold, or any damage that was dealt with outside of insurance companies. (I may be wrong about the last part, not 100% sure, but my point still remains.)

Also you have admitted yourself that you know very little about the mechanics of cars. You aren't qualified to say if it is mechanically sound or not. Spend $100 and take it to a shop to be looked at. If the guy is being honest about the car, he has nothing to hide and no reason to object.

2. Not everyone who buys and sells cars is a slime ball. Its a legal profession, with many reputable sellers. Unfortunately you don't hear about them, and the bad guys ruin it for everyone. I myself have bought cars at auction, fixed them up and sold them. The difference is i admitted ignorance to anything previously done to the car before i bought it. And honestly Represented any work that i had done to it.

3. At least you have this much down. I've seen people fully pay for a vehicle, get no title, and then a month later with no title in hand wonder how they got screwed.

4. Regardless if its her money or not, i wouldn't let my wife get hosed by some idiot just because i didn't have the balls to overrule a decision where i clearly have a better understanding of the situation then her.